> Why does water get screwed here?
Because it is way more difficult to tap into the dreams of Apsu, the underground ocean, than it is to speak with the dead. To listen to Tiamat, a being of eaven greater powers, is even more difficult, thus it is more difficult to cast voice of Tiamat, which might seem strange
In short: balance has little to do with it.
I have had thoughts about making voice of Apsu 2W1E, but that might be going a bit too far.
> Then there are some that kind of make no sense -
Why is murdering winter 50 gems and flames from the sky 35? Level earlier? Aren't both boosted by the temp of the target province? I'm just unaware of the reasoning, although it probably exists.
Flames have no temperature effects. It is not armor negating. There is a Wolven Winter to pre-boost the climate for ideal casting temp.
> I can definitely see the draw of having the two paths be different in some sense, but when you have 2 spells that essentially do relatively similar affects, I think it would be nice to have more reasoning behind the different requirements.
Mechanic-wise or thematically?