[Squirrelloid]

Illuminated One: that's assuming you're trying to duplicate the bless.

Every time you can substitute blood items instead you come out ahead, vastly ahead, because slaves << pearls, and can't be converted.

Also, think about it this way: you're gaining 1 gem at the cost of how many design points? Now think about how much better your scales could have been, and how much more cash and therefore jarls/skratti or castles/temples/labs you would have had with those better scales.

(Ignoring whatever the increased cost for dominion is because you're using a dom 1 chassis, the cost of the E9N4 alone is 336 on a master druid. That's *8* scales. I'd spend an extra gem for +8 scales - ok, no, I'd choose better items instead, like dual blood thorns.)