Poll: How much will the new bless effects affect your pretender design?

[Psitticine]

I have a question for the Dom I players. I've been a bit surprised while reading this at how many people prefer Pretenders with such weak magic skills. In Dom II, the really good stuff, like Arcane Nexus, Undead Mastery, Master Enslave, and so forth all require powers of 6-8. Is that a new thing, or do you just find other ways to meet the power criteria?

I can think of Empowerment, Communion/Sabboth, and magical items as ways to unlock those world-shakers, but they all have their drawbacks.

Empowerment can certainly boost one's Pretender up to a more godlike potency, but that would be so costly, and those gems can be used for so many other things! Communion and Sabboth are potent, but they only work on the battlefield and are no help at all for rituals. The magical items seem a good choice, but they are limited in how far they can boost you, plus they are expensive as well, and often also require a high level of power to forge in the first place!

I can't imagine wanting to have less than 6 or 7 in at least one magic path for my Pretender. Is it that the path requirements are higher in Dom II, or am I missing something in my equation here? The high power levels seem so very worth the cost!