[curtadams]

It's a tough call on what to do with national paths. You will be able to get strong magic in national paths eventually, but unless you can get level 4 nationals your rainbow pretender can cast and search for your national paths better. Since you get bonus gems in your national paths - and generally can best use gems in your national paths - 4 in national paths can have big benefits in the early and midgame. Of course there's also bless benefits. People ignore the small benefits because they seem so wimpy compared to the level 9 blesses, but if your sacreds are worth getting anyway, +2 attack/defense/+afflictions/etc. is a pretty nice boost.