MA: Jomon: The Courts of the Ryu - Looking for insight

[shatner]

Originally Posted by kianduatha

I disagree on the Saigu--the idea is there and they are a very valuable addition to your lineup. They'd be better with a second random(or even better a linked random so they get 2 in a path all the time), but even as-is they're terrific force enhancers. You get easy access to H3 and up, power of the spheres, reinvig in communions(mmm), and a more efficient base to start arrow fending guys. No need for something spectacular.

If the Seigu ends up as a S2H2 + 1xAA/EE/FF/NN/WW that'd be fine provided it was fairly inexpensive. A 4-path, 2-holy cap-only mage is fairly uninspiring by MA standards, but make it cheap and it could work since the nation already has a super-expensive, recruit anywhere underwater dragon mage.

That said, I think kianduatha is overstating the usefulness of the five sign spells within a communion. Let's break 'em down:

Air: This one is the nicest since it hits an ever widening area (scales with holy power) with sermon of courage and air shield. However, only 1 in 5 Seigu can cast this and by the time I'm sending out large communions, I'm usually well on my way to arrow fend if that's a priority for me. Good but not amazing.

Earth: Hits one demon with an easy-resist, shorter range soul slay. That's a pretty big waste of an action for a communion master.

Fire: Hits one unit with an easy-resist charm spell. This is better, especially if you deck out your caster with penetration-boosting items. Still, anything worth casting it on is going to have at least a decent MR meaning any success is a statistical outlier. For everything it can succeed reliably against, your better off dropping some communion-boosted evocation on instead.

Nature: Bestows the caster and all communion slaves with Power of the Spheres, without requiring an astral pearl. Nice, certainly, but since PotS isn't exactly expensive or out of Jomon's research path (conjuration), it isn't anything to write home about. Note that this does NOT stack with PotS... nor does it scale in any way.

Water: I don't actually know how much fatigue this spell removes, or whether that amount scales with holy power or not. However, it would only really be worth scripting in a communion with a whole lot of slaves (preferably a reverse communion). Depending on how much fatigue it removes, it might approximate what a blood mage can do with reinvigoration. However, Jomon can already get this benefit from the recruit-anywhere Envoy of Ryu (guaranteed to have at least W1H1) and a crystal matrix (which almost 2 out of every 5 Onmyo-ji can forge).