Syntax: FOCUS SPIRIT
You can lift curses from your spirit, though the mana cost for this is
extraordinary.

Why is the bolded part not true at all?

Currently, focus spirit costs 250 mana, in line with focus body and focus mind. Focus spirit cures a variety of different abilities, some costing power, some not. Herein lies the problem, abilities that cost medium to large amounts of power being cured instantly by a mere 250 mana. I thought about it for awhile, then came up with a solution and discussed it over with Thorgal and a few others, and Thorgal and I agreeing (Heh) that it would be the most balanced solution. Here's how I think it should work.

Focus spirit should have a base cost of 250 mana like it does now. It will cost 250 like it does now if you focus spirit when you have no afflictions. However, it will have an additional cost of 250 mana per 1 power of the ability it's curing. So for example, to cure Omen, which costs 4 power, using FOCUS SPIRIT to cure it would cost 1250 mana (4 power * 250 mana = 1000, and then the original base of 250 added on, so 1250). To cure an 8 power ability like Dark Moon or Stag Curse (not like there is a point to curing them at this stage) would cost 2250 mana (8 power * 250 mana = 2000 mana, plus the base of 250 so 2250). To cure abilities that don't cost power, like Daeg/Faeriefire, it'd still simply cost the same 250 mana. It'd also cost 250 mana to remove the "glowing" from Heretic/Infidel (since Heretic/Infidel aren't actually cured by Focus spirit).

I feel that this is the most balanced solution for focus spirit, so that'd it would still be useful for curing the lesser abilities, but cost an extreme amount of mana on higher costing abilities. A static cost of mana or power that doesn't change will lead to the ability being to expensive to cure somethings, and to cheap to be balanced when curing others.

The numbers listed above could always be readjusted, say to like 300-400 mana per power, or whatever is deemed necessary. In general, I feel it needs a variable mana cost to be balanced, rather then a static cost, and I also feel Critique in Arts could use the same treatment.

Thoughts?

Edit: I despise people who move my threads. *peer*

Edit 2: Unless your a God, then I love you.

Being someone who has less than 2.5k mana (though I don't have anywhere near the level of Discipline to be able to focus spirit yet), I'd say that this cost seems a tad on the high side. Perhaps only 100-150 per power. Curing a stag curse for 2250 would completely wipe me out and then someone could just come along and toad me or absolve me.

If you don't have 2.5k mana, then why should you have the ability to instantly remove an 8 power ability that wears off naturally anyway? That's right, you shouldn't. It's an option, is all, you don't have to choose to cure it instantly, instead you can wait out the couple of seconds.

Secondly, you can't balance combat around teams.

And thirdly, if your fighting a single person, and you choose to cure it for the 2250 mana, you are safe, because they just used 8 power, and you are merely down a little mana, and they certainly can't toadcurse/absolve/wrack you, since that costs 8 power in itself. I actually thought 2250 mana is to LOW to be able to cure an 8 power ability.

So, if someone has transcended Discipline, just to get FocusSpirit, and they don't have the 2k+ mana to use the ability, you're going to preclude them from being able to use it? Why not just make FocusSpirit cost power instead? Everyone has the same amount of power available to them (unless you went rogue, but you knew there'd be a price for that action, eh?)...

Perhaps if the power cost to remove something was the same as the power cost to cast it on to you? That 2250 mana to use is pretty brutal, makes me wince, and my mana can get up to 6k or so with staff.

Then focus spirit would truly be useless. Am I going to waste any amount of power to cure Daeg rune or Faeriefire? No. Am I going to use power to cure Omen when it would wear off in 12 seconds? No. You'd end up with a situation similar to the Critique ability in Arts. For 8 power you can use Critique to cure Phantoms, which costs a small amount of mana to afflict you with. If you bother to use Critique to cure Phantoms, they'll just reapply it moments later for free.

Either Focus Spirit needs an extraordinary mana cost like the AB file suggests, or it needs to be scrapped entirely and replaced, because it makes quite a few abilities worthless. It's should be a bonus to have, an option if you can afford the mana cost, not an end all be all.

Focus spirit would still be useful. You could easily afford the 1250 mana to cure Omen, or the 1000 mana to cure winter, the 250 mana to cure Faeriefire or Daeg rune, the 250 mana to remove the glowing affect from Heretic/Infidel to throw off an Inquisition, etc. To cure an 8 power ability instantly, you will have to take a hit, but the option will be there if and only if you can afford the mana, otherwise you take the 2-3 afflictions it gives, and move on.

Maybe the cost could be based on percentage value? Like...
250 + 5% per power point
It would be like half of your max mana for 8 power abilities.

No, that would be foolish because it would simply cost way to much mana for some people, and way to little for others.

How's that?
If it costs 2250 mana, it won't be even available to some of people, some warriors for example, who tend to choose low intelligence races (not to mention surge, because it's a choice). If it was based on percentages, everyone could use it for half of their mana, and still would need 2 or 3 mana sips to regain it. *scratch

Ok then, Focus Spirit needs to be scrapped then. You should not be able to cure 8 power abilities (or ANY power costing abilities for that matter) for a trivial cost in mana instantly (or a few sips as you say). Sorry, it shouldn't work that way.

I believe there is an essay on IRE combat by Matt somewhere, where he states that combat in IRE games is "give and take". It is give and take, you should not be able to cure something costing so much to do so pointlessly.

Tuek's absolutely right here...focus spirit as it is makes skills like dark moon, stag curse and omen totally useless against anyone with trans discipline, the change adding 250 added mana per power is a bare minimum, skills that cost 8 power shouldn't even be curable at all in the first place. But since they are, the cost to it better be steep.

I've just came up with some idea, it's not well-thought-out and I'm not too knowledgable about combat actually, so feel free to flame... *cough

What if it worked like that:
When you're hit with one of these abilities you can use focus spirit to temporarily hold it's effects, not to cure it. You use focus spirit, lose focus balance and are protected from the effects during that time until you regain focus balance. Stagcurse and so give you some afflictions per tick for some amount of time, right? So you could use focus spirit continually whenever you regain focus balance and protect yourself from it, but it would cost you mana (maybe the cost should be upped) and you would be off focus balance all the time (no focus body, no focus mind).
Well I don't know if it makes sense.

It doesn't, but a nice try anyway, no offense (not being sarcastic in any way!).

Tuek's idea is still the best I've heard so far.

I quite like Tuek's idea. And really, 2250 mana isn't that much if you're at the levels supposedly required for combat. Doesn't gateweaving require about 2000 anyway?

Yes, gateweaving requires about 2000 mana. Oh no! People who have less can't use it!

But, did I word it incomprehensibly, or is the idea stupid?

Cause I could see it work! Really, if you get hit with some power costing ability lasting for 30 seconds and assuming focus spirit would protect you for let's say 3 seconds and costed 500 mana to use, you would lose 5000 mana during that period if you wanted to be immune to it's effects. And you couldn't use other focuses too...


But you don't spend near 100cr -just- to get that one ability. And you don't use that in the heat of combat, so you can throw literally all of your mana into it, no harm.

Also, usually guardians would take care of it, and guardians rather don't choose low intelligence races...

Nor do you spend 100cr just to get focus spirit. Discipline is more than the abilities.

Well you're right... but some people who don't have lots of mana could have chosen not to trans it just to get a bit faster power regeneration (and a bit faster focus balance, it affects that too right?) if they knew they won't be able to use the skill.

The idea just wouldn't work, focus balance is only 1.5 second.

Well, I transed it hoping to get the skill, becuase I thought it was a shortcut through the portal of fates. Focusing your spirit after you died, and some such.

Then I find not only is it a cure, it doesn't actually cure the spiritual curse I get afflicted with most often.

Big disappointment.