Suggested Changes to Bless Bonuses

Sombre · #1 October 22nd, 2007, 08:01 AM

S9 bless isn't actually weak though. S bless isn't great, but S9 is usable, unlike blood or air. What is A9 on a pretender good for? Why would you really need air that high?

I don't really buy that balance argument. Air magic is very powerful, but air on your pretender isn't really.

Edratman · #2 October 22nd, 2007, 08:21 AM

If the blesses were changed, someone would figure out how to use this to their advantage and start a new round of calls for modifications.

Humakty · #3 October 22nd, 2007, 08:53 AM

A9 on a pretender is surely of no use, but A mages are the most powerfull battle mages around, able to toast my anathemants or witch hunters before they can even get in range for their poor F spells.

Sombre · #4 October 22nd, 2007, 01:30 PM

But what does that have to do with air bless being weak? It isn't like you can't use national air mages if you don't take an air magic pretender. I don't understand the argument that because air magic grants powerful combat spells it should have a weak bless - the combat/utility spells are used by recruitable air mages, the bless is on the pretender - they aren't really related at all. I mean sure the pretender is another air mage, but one isn't going to make much difference and he still wouldn't need anywhere near A9.

konming · #5 October 22nd, 2007, 10:26 PM

While A9 is not that useful, A4 or A5 is certainly extremely useful on your pretender, esp. considering in LA, no nation gets A4 and even A3 is not guaranteed for the strongest air nation.

Velusion · #6 October 22nd, 2007, 10:36 PM

Meh, people who think that changing things to make them more balanced promotes the same style of play are completely incorrect. Balance promotes people to try new things and encourages different strategies, rather than the obvious best.

Chris_Byler · #7 October 22nd, 2007, 11:08 PM

Exactly. Right now, anyone who wants a strong bless for sacreds with low HP takes W9 and probably F9. If they're high HP they take N6-9 and possibly E9. The rest are basically not worth consideration as blesses. MR protects against too few things, strength only helps you if you hit (and then not very much) and air shield has low percentages and limited usefulness once arrow fend and storms start flying. Death is OK for sacred battlemages but that's more a novelty than a strategy that will win games.

There are other reasons to take some of those paths on your pretender, but not high enough for a strong bless. Why can't we have 8 strong blesses that are actively desired in addition to the other uses of those paths? (Some people say that water is a weak path outside of its bless - I don't believe this is true anymore, but even if you think it is, do you want to make the same claim about nature?)

Let Death Weapons live up to the name - every hit works like Heart Finder Sword, MR or die (unless lifeless). Let S9 give luck instead of merely twist fate. Let B9 horror mark or curse any target hit (including hit by spells, like Death's afflictions bonus). And let A9 give charge body in addition to 75% SR (and maybe increase the air shield percentages, they're so low as to be almost ignorable now). Those would be some blesses that would make people think twice before reaching for W9 game after game after game.