Ok, I know I'm totally biased here, but I disagree for a few reasons, primarily that the skillset is designed around giving buffs to other people, and it wouldn't be so much of a problem if the NON-paid-for buffs were lowered a bit by comparison.

But it wouldn't work anyway. For one thing, you need to be able to use negative spheres on the enemy; there is no distinction between negative spheres and positive spheres when you cast them, so it just wouldn't work in practice.

I don't like all the buffs you can get either. Its a bit rediculous in my opinion how powerful you can get with a few buffs.

I think astological spheres are fine, with the following exceptions:

1) They should last longer for the astrologer; and
2) Bumble Bee and Spider should have a much larger impact, since 5 to 20% change to 1 second is hardly noticeable.
3) Power cost should be halved. 10p for a blessing that lasts for an hour or so is too costly.

Sorry Malicia, but I'm going to have to call BS here.

The 25-95% it costs to remove a curse is a pittance, but the 1-10% it costs to kill is debilitating? Make up your mind.

I think Karma should be based off level, like XP sorta is. so level 1 char leads a scholar, he get 10% while a level 100 gets 0.1% type of thing. that way high level people will be encouraged to do high level quests, and you know, be heroic.

What high level quests?

That's not at all such a terrible idea. Experience is scaled, why not karma?

1. Nah. The durations are already fine.
2. Bumblebee, at least, works off of the 4 second value, not the current value, so to speak. It cut Diamante's fbody down to 0.5 seconds at 15%. That's very nice. Spider I'm less sure of.
3. Power cost is fine. You can usually avoid it anyway. And some of the blessings you can get for an hour are great.

Because very few quests actually require a high level to complete. Karma IS scaled. More blessings, more karma drain.

It is scaled in favour of higher level characters when it comes to Karma from bashing, though.

You lost me.

And if you do, it is possible to cure it in under 3 seconds.

You already mentioned that it was cured quickly with focus mind, I was just pointing out if you don't you're screwed.

It depends. If you have the Healing skillset, you can cure it without focus mind easily. There are other ways as well.

In the context of buffs I see the following problems:

For sake of clarity I'm only going to discuss warriors.

If everyone can get buffs, then that means that combat balance needs to take buffs into account.

However, if you take buffs into account, then a warrior doing 2K damage as the maximum damage is no longer scary. 2K per hit is scary if you don't have buffs, but if you've got 20% health on top of 10% health, ontop of all the buffs, the 2K becomes similar to a 1K hit on people who don't have buffs. Problem there is that not everybody really gets all the buffs, and you have people complaing about dieing in only one hit (they would not have died in one hit if they had the buffs)

I think therefore that saying "anyone can get a buff" is not really a factor that should be looked at, unless your fine with half the population dieing in 1 or 2 rounds of combat.

I believe the buffs are the reason that people say that the top fighters don't die to damage, its not that they have amazing healing abilities, its that they have more health than the balacing accounts for. When I played Achaea and Aetolia I remember 7K health being amazingly high, here its normal.

Daganev, I have 4k health - with Tosha. I'm level 92.

Ummm your point?

Read the second line of the post again..

Okay. Most people without focus mind are dead.

1. I meant lengthening the duration for the astrologer only, casting the spheres onto himself. I often find myself having to go back to the astolabe to check the stars when a sphere runs out, in case the stars have shifted. Lengthening the duration is more of a convenience than an upgrade.

2. I tested writhe time myself and found that I was about 0.2 second faster with a 10% positive effect. Although, given lag and other variables over my connection, it could be completely off. But then my point is that the effect is hardly noticeable.

3. Power cost is fine for you may be. But life in Glomdoring is harsh, I only get 15% reserve per month. So 5% for Nightkiss, another 5% for Faes, that leaves me 5% for other things like fighting, yellow, teleport, gathering shadows etc. Avoidable? Yes. Affordable? No.

Not really, i mean, i go around with no power, and i still manage to cast enough spheres, usually i only do spheres if they've got a good random factor, then i just keep casting until the random cancels out the powercost.