[chrispedersen]

My personal opinion is that the arena item now is too strong.
Having had to kill the wielder of it, I can tell you its real difficult in the early to mid game.

Essentially it allows many nations to field about an SC quality cmdr real early in the game. Suggest you prophetize a dai oni, or ulm lord - or even a man warden - give him 5-10 gems worth of items - and then try to bring him down.

In the armor revamps - I think Jomonese armor offers too much protection, for its encumbrance/defense penalty/map move.

I find ulm too strong. Never thought I'd say that. The combination of forge, plus having forge bonuses when no one else can access dwarven hammers is strong.
Throw in the changes to the armor and the astral .....