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[Let's Read] Spheres of Power & Might for 5e
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<blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 8371976" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Chapter 4: Spheres, Part I</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Note:</strong> I forgot to mention a specific bit of terminology. Those who make use of martial spheres are known as <strong>Practitioners,</strong> in much the same way that those making use of magic spheres are known as Spherecasters.</p><p></p><p>Unsurprisingly the longest chapter in the book, we’ll cover Might’s Spheres in four parts. There are 22 different Spheres covering a variety of fighting styles, tools, and non-magical skills, although 2 of them are special cases and will be reviewed out of order. The first is the Equipment sphere, which is the universal Sphere for determining armor/weapon proficiencies and has some talents designed for specific weapon usage. The other is the Leadership sphere, which grants the character NPC minions. It’s not suitable for all campaign styles and labeled an optional Sphere, and so will be covered last.</p><p></p><p>Like Power there are Spheres which have default abilities when unlocked, and others grant you a bonus talent when taken. However, what separates Might from Power is that about half of the Spheres (10 out of 22) grant proficiency in a skill, tool, or in one case weapon group when the base sphere is taken. And in the former two examples if you’re already proficient with the skill/tool then you either gain another proficiency (in the case of Alchemy or Athletics) or a bonus talent from the sphere to reward your focus. Furthermore there are many talents in those spheres and others which can grant you proficiency in such things or double proficiency if already proficient. What this means is that it’s relatively easy to create skill-monkey characters with the right spheres and talents even if your default class doesn’t grant many skills. This is in line with the original Pathfinder rules which gave you skill ranks for free when taking certain spheres and talents. Like Power there are basic talents that can be taken more or less prerequisite-free as well as Legendary Talents which are optional via GM discretion and have steeper (usually level-based) requirements. Talents are separated into parenthetical tags denoting whether or not they make use of a base sphere ability, and most have Variants which can grant a bonus talent in exchange for more restricted use of the default sphere abilities.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/oGdWwU1.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>The <a href="http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/equipment" target="_blank"><strong>Equipment Sphere</strong></a> is the major determinant for our Sphere-user’s favored weapons and armor. It has no default sphere ability, instead granting a bonus talent of choice if taken by someone who didn’t have a Martial Tradition (otherwise the initial talents are pre-selected). (discipline) talents determine weapon proficiencies, while (other) talents cover armor proficiency* and miscellaneous abilities. Most (discipline) talents grant proficiency in 5-7 martial weapons, while a few grant less but have special abilities. For instance, Crossbow Expert grants proficiency in all crossbows but allows all wielded ranged weapons to ignore half and three-quarters cover, while Bombardier Training allows one to be proficient in alchemical items and can hit an adjacent target if the initial attack roll misses. Rock Toss is notable in that it allows you to throw heavy objects and even creatures in general as heavy-hitting thrown weapons, while Staff Mastery can turn quarterstaffs into Reach weapons and grants the two-weapon “d4 bludgeoning” attack of the Polearm Master feat. The weapon groups of (discipline) talents are such that taking two of them can be enough to grant a character more than enough diverse proficiency options to last them an entire campaign, although going for a “proficient in everything” build creates diminishing returns as there’s a bit of overlap in weapon types between several (discipline) talents.</p><p></p><p>*which seems counterintuitive.</p><p></p><p>Non-discipline talents don’t grant proficiency save in the case of Armor Training, but do other things. Einhandler lets one make an opportunity attack as a reaction vs a missed attack when fighting with finesse weapons one-handed and without a shield, while Mystic Fists treat unarmed strikes as magical and let them deal piercing or slashing damage in addition to bludgeoning. There’s a lot of useful talents here for those who wish to specialize in a certain weapon or armor and shield type. Legendary Talents grant proficiency in “advanced era” equipment, such as modern day firearms and grenades.</p><p></p><p><strong>Combos:</strong> Crossbow Expert is a good choice for non-crossbow “sniper” type characters. Rock Toss combined with Throwing Mastery lets a thrown creature boomerang back towards the thrower, while the Telekinesis’ Dampening Field can negate damage done to the thrown creature. The Alteration sphere’s Size Change, the Brawler subclass, and Brute sphere’s Muscular Surge lets the Rock Tosser lift and throw creatures and objects of larger size categories. Staff Mastery goes well with the Dual-Wielding sphere given it’s considered two-weapon fighting, while Expert Reloading lets one use the Barrage sphere with Loading property weapons easily. Polearm Guard plus the Guardian sphere’s patrol package and Fencing sphere’s Lunge lets a character strike and even shut down movement from farther-away targets. Sling Combatant and Bombardier Training are ideal for Alchemy sphere abilities, while Throw Shield specifically calls out the Shield sphere. Whip Fiend can work well with the Athletics sphere’s Rope Swing talent.</p><p></p><p><strong>Existing Comparisons:</strong> Quite a bit of these talents (and some talents in other spheres as well) derive partial benefits from quite a few feats. Crossbow Expert’s cover-ignoring attack comes from Sharpshooter, while Expert Reloading has a similar ability to the Crossbow Expert PHB feat but applies to Reload property weapons in general. This highlights a pretty nifty advantage of Spheres of Might; in traditional 5th Edition many characters are torn between the choices of taking a feat or an Ability Score Increase every 4 levels. By splitting like-minded feat benefits into individual talents, this eases the burden for martial characters while also having a faster sense of progression. This is similar to the original Pathfinder version, which made certain talents count as Associated Feats for the purposes of meeting prerequisites for other feats, Prestige Classes, and the like. As even Pathfinder talents were virtually prerequisite-less, this gave Sphere Practitioners a lot more freedom in character-building.</p><p></p><p><strong>Just for fun:</strong> I decided to see how many talents it would take to gain near-universal weapon and armor proficiency to be closer to the “core martial” classes. Being a Githyanki with the Pikeman Martial Tradition starting out gives them proficiency in all armor and shields along with every non-whip reach weapon and “sword-suffix” weapons. Bruiser Training and Rogue Weapon Training make them proficient with every PHB weapon save the Longbow and Net, although at that point they aren’t really starved for choices. Spheres of Might also has four new weapons which are also covered in the Equipment sphere talents, so taking Custom Training (3 weapons of choice) 2 more times expands them to all manufactured weapons. For unarmed strikes and improvised weapons they’d need Unarmed Training and the Barroom sphere (detailed later).</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/iSyJEUx.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>The <a href="http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/alchemy" target="_blank"><strong>Alchemy Sphere</strong></a> specializes in volatile mixtures, poisons, medicine, and chemical enhancements. The base sphere grants proficiency in alchemist supplies or a poisoner’s kit and lets one create a batch of formulae or poison every short rest whose number is based on one’s Proficiency Bonus + the number of talents possessed in the sphere. Talents who share the same name as an existing piece of equipment, such as alchemist’s fire, lets the character apply the talent’s benefits when using that item, and virtually every talent has a Potency option that makes its effects more powerful when martial focus is expended. (formula) talents include classic options such as Alchemist’s Fire and Holy Water, giving many options for various kinds of energy damage and negative conditions to impose on targets, along with more beneficial talents such as Salve which restores Hit Points or War Paint which grants advantage/resistance to various effects depending on the color of the paint. (poison) talents are self-explanatory and impose various negative conditions and even damage to targets that fail a Constitution saving throw. (other) talents are auxiliary benefits that can enhance and alter how formulas and poisons are used and applied, while Legendary Talents include more potent effects such as powerful explosives, being able to create Sovereign Glue or a Universal Solvent, poisons that can lower one’s Proficiency Bonus or petrify, and even a youth-granting elixir or philosopher’s stone which are incredibly costly to make (an exception to the otherwise “free” rules for alchemical creation if possessing the right tools).</p><p></p><p><strong>Combos:</strong> Energy-damaging formulas applied to weapons don’t mention that they can’t stack with each other, so multiple characters with martial focus and the right Alchemy talents (as well as Enhancement’s Energy Weapon talent) can focus on a single weapon that deals several d6s of various energy damage. Performance Enhancer’s advantage-granting on certain ability checks can be combined nicely with abilities that focus on skill use, such as the Brute, Scout, and Wrestling spheres. The Alteration sphere’s Enhanced Poison talent can apply to (poison) sphere talents, while the Equipment sphere’s Poison Blowgun Expert can increase their DC to further guarantee their effectiveness. The Creation sphere's Alchemical Creation talentcan be used to make more formulas and poisons. Gaseous Application plus the Nature sphere’s Air Mastery talent lets a character relocate the gas to another square by breathing it in and releasing elsewhere, while the Barroom sphere’s Brutal Breaker base ability grants proficiency in alchemical weapons given their improvised weapon status, and that sphere’s (fragile) talents can grant further damage and debuff on top of the existing effects. The Barroom sphere’s Alchemical Dragon and the Tinkerer sphere’s Pressurized Liquid Applicator talents can turn alchemical items into AoE attacks. The Leadership sphere’s Alchemists (followers) talent allows one to craft and maintain 1 more formula/poison than normal.</p><p></p><p><strong>Existing Comparisons:</strong> In terms of feats and subclasses, there aren’t many abilities which replicate Alchemy sphere talents. The closest is the Artificer Alchemist’s Experimental Elixir, which both has generally fewer uses in terms of refresh rate and a smaller number of potential effects. There is an Alchemist feat for Unearthed Arcana, but it doesn’t really map to any sphere talents save for proficiency-doubling for the appropriate tools.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/iaEED7W.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>The <a href="http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/athletics" target="_blank"><strong>Athletics Sphere</strong></a> focuses on mobility of all kinds. As a base sphere ability it grants proficiency in either Acrobatics or Athletics (or a bonus talent if proficient in both) and lets one regain martial focus when taking Dash or Disengage as an Action but not as a bonus action. The sphere has 3 (motion) talents which apply buffs or a debuff when the character moves a certain amount or through a hostile creature’s space, but the vast majority of talents are miscellaneous (other). Some interesting choices include Mighty Conditioning which lets one use STR or DEX for Acrobatics or Athletics and DEX for determining jump distance if so desired, Rope Swing which lets someone move through squares in midair and even stop in midair provided that there is something their rope/whip/tentacle/etc can latch onto, Tumbling Recovery which lets the character drop prone and move 10 feet to avoid hostile effects with advantage/disadvantage as appropriate, and Wall Stunt which lets one ascend vertical surfaces and even larger creatures as difficult terrain. Legendary Talents include such options as gaining fly, swim, and burrowing speeds, short-term speed boosts in exchange for a level of Exhaustion, and creating afterimages which can foil enemy attacks by having them target the duplicate.</p><p></p><p><strong>Combos:</strong> Mighty Conditioning can make a DEX-focused shover/grappler build possible. The Alteration sphere’s Aberrant Body and the Tinkerer sphere’s Artillerist Gadgets grant a natural reach weapon and item respectively that can be used with Rope Swing. Capoeira Spin works well with removing the prone penalty from Tumbling Recovery, while Scale Foe calls out uses with the Beastmastery and Wrestling spheres. Sudden Flank’s granting of advantage goes well with the (exploit) talents and Fatal Thrust base ability of the Fencing sphere given the latter’s melee-based requirement. Rapid Motion, Swift Movement, and Speed Boost can stack with other movement-boosting effects to make a very speedy character, as well as take advantage of the “must move at least 40 feet” greater aspect of the Moving Target talent without spending one’s Action on movement. Shark Swim and Strong Lungs allows a character to hold their breath for hours, which can work nicely for storing gas-based attacks for a long time with the Nature sphere’s Air Mastery talent as mentioned before.</p><p></p><p><strong>Existing Comparisons:</strong> Rapid Motion clearly has origins with the Rogue class’ Cunning Action and helps increase the mobility of sphere-users. Mighty Conditioning’s use of Dexterity to determine jump distance is similar to the Thief subclass’ Second-Story Work. The various Legendary Talents which grant variant movement speeds are similar to Spider Climb, Alter Self’s Aquatic Adaptation, and the at-will teleports of the Way of Shadow Monk and Shadow Magic Sorcerous Origin. In Spheres of Might’s case they are permanent effects and the teleportation requires using Dash and expending martial focus, so they’re a bit more powerful on account that they cannot be dispelled, don’t have a set duration, or must be used under a certain kind of illumination. In exchange, they require payment in talent slots which don’t grow on trees.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/OmIRRC8.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>The <a href="http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/barrage" target="_blank"><strong>Barrage Sphere</strong></a> is a ranged combat exclusive sphere, focusing on firing off flurries of projectiles in comparison to the Sniper sphere’s range and accuracy. It grants no bonus proficiencies upon taking it, instead granting a Special Attack known as a Barrage where a character can make an additional ranged attack in addition to a normal attack as a bonus action that doesn’t apply one’s ability bonus to damage. Sort of like a ranged Two-Weapon Fighting in rules mechanics. (barrage) talents enhance or alter the Barrage in some way, such as intentionally missing the bonus action attack to gain advantage on the regular one, replacing the bonus attack with a melee attack or shove, the bonus attack striking the regular attack to turn up to 90 degrees mid-flight and strike around corners and behind cover, and so on. (other) talents include options such as recovering more spent ammunition from the battlefield after combat, regaining martial focus if hitting with at least two attacks when making a Barrage, and being able to make opportunity attacks with ranged weapons by treating them as a melee weapon with the Reach quality. The three Legendary Talents include attacking with a selective 30 foot AoE cone, never running out of non-magical ammo as long as you have 10 pieces of that particular ammunition, and using arrows and bolts to create staircases and platforms when shot into walls, large creatures, and the like.</p><p></p><p><strong>Combos:</strong> Hammering Shots expends martial focus when making a Barrage to add one’s ability modifier to the bonus attack, but Blitz Focus lets one regain martial focus if at least two attacks hit when making a Barrage, meaning that one could effectively not use martial focus if two attacks hit that round. Mixed Barrage’s shove capability works well with the Brute sphere which is also focused on shoving. While the Sniper sphere’s Snipe Shot and related talents are a Special Attack and cannot be used with a Barrage, that sphere’s Deadly Aim ability applies to all ranged attack rolls which have advantage which means that it can work with Distracting Shot. Additionally the Fencing sphere’s (exploit) talents come into play when making an attack with advantage, and not just melee attacks. The Sniper sphere’s Trap Technician allows one to disable traps with ranged attacks, meaning that if done as part of a Barrage you can feasibly disable several traps at once if you’re ever in such a sticky situation. The Haste spell, the Time sphere’s Adjusted Frequency, and the Equipment sphere’s Splitshot can grant additional attacks, making it easier to regain martial focus via Blitz Focus and also get in more attacks. The Equipment sphere’s Point-Blank Shooting removes disadvantage on ranged attacks from being within 5 feet of a hostile creature, making it ideal for Mixed Barrage, and that same sphere’s Expert Reloading lets one use weapons with the Reload quality with the Barrage sphere. The Scout sphere’s Wind Reader is ideal for ranged weapon users in ignoring environment-based disadvantage. Using Cone of Death with thrown alchemical items can be a way of performing an AoE alchemical attack, albeit pricey unless one invests in the Alchemy sphere!</p><p></p><p><strong>Existing Comparisons:</strong> The Ranger’s Hunter subclass has a Volley ability which is similar to the Barrage sphere’s Cone of Death, albeit it’s longer-range and hits all enemies within a 10 foot radius rather than a larger cone. The Arcane Archer’s Curving Shot sounds similar in the “bonus use to effectively gain advantage via reroll” although that class’ magical arrow shots can only be used twice per long rest rather than being effective at-will abilities (plus or minus martial focus).</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/YvRV7wC.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>The <a href="http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/barroom" target="_blank"><strong>Barroom Sphere</strong></a> is a bit narrower in thematic focus than the previous spheres. It specializes in the use of improvised weapons and alcoholic beverages to apply various buffs and debuffs in combat. It has two base default abilities: Brutal Breaker makes one proficient with all improvised weapons and can grab and attack any such weapon as part of the same action, while Hard Drinker treats drinking any liquid including potions as interacting with an object and can grant the Drunk status for 1 minute whenever an alcoholic beverage is imbibed. Certain talents can trigger special abilities by expending this Drunk status, requiring one to get drunk again before performing similar abilities. However, a person can only consume a number of such beverages before suffering the poisoned condition (which can be altered via the Conscript’s Brawler subclass and the Iron Liver talent), which makes it limited-use.</p><p></p><p>(drunk) talents are mostly buff-related in nature, such as gaining temporary hit points, gaining +2 to STR, DEX, or CHA for a limited number of rounds, gain advantage when escaping grapples and restraints, vomiting to reroll a failed save against an ingested poison and turning an adjacent square into difficult terrain that can knock people prone who move through it, and dealing 1d6 unarmed damage if a lower damage die and expending Drunk status to auto-roll max damage with unarmed strikes.</p><p></p><p>The (fragile) talents specifically require use of fragile objects which are improvised weapons made of weak material, typically softer than iron unless one has the Steel Breaker Legendary Talent. They include wielding such objects as +1 AC shields and breaking the object as a reaction to turn a critical into a normal hit, breaking the weapon to deal bonus damage based on level, and imposing the Confused condition on a failed CON save. That last one, Concussion, has a bit of strangely-worded text:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Increasing the result sounds good, right? Well a result of 1 is random movement, 2-6 can’t move or take any actions, 7-8 hits a random creature with a melee attack, and 10 or higher the creature can act normally. While I can see certain higher results being better than others, there’s not as much control given it’s a static number that only goes up, so a character with a +4 or +5 KAM may very well be less able to impose the “can’t take actions” penalty if doing so is more advantageous than a random weapon attack.</p><p></p><p>The (other) talents don’t fit anywhere else, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16RdEtQL9EQ" target="_blank">such as being able to deal damage with any object including those that bear no resemblance to a standard weapon (1d6 or 1d8 instead of 1d4),</a> being able to throw any weapon with a 40/120 foot short and long distance range, and being able to spend Hit Die to heal oneself when drinking an alcoholic beverage. We have a lot of Legendary Talents, such as being able to drink alchemical liquids and poisons and spit them out as a 15 foot AoE cone, break a fragile weapon as a reaction to automatically crit, expend Drunk status to gain resistance to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage against one attack, and treat unarmed strikes and improvised weapons as +1 magical weapons.</p><p></p><p>There are a few talents which feel a bit...underpowered. Surprise grants advantage on an attack roll when attacking a target with a weapon they weren’t aware of (including improvised weapons that haven’t been used in a hostile manner), which honestly sounds like something you’d gain advantage for by default. Additionally, the Blazewater Legendary Talent allows one to spill alcohol on a weapon and light it on fire to deal +1d6 fire damage, which is the same as the use of the Alchemist’s Fire talent. Granted, that last one requires the expenditure of martial focus and a more expensive or limited-use item, but given the former’s 7th Level prerequisite I expected something more.</p><p></p><p><strong>Combos:</strong> The Alchemy sphere’s Panacea, the Life sphere, and magic which can remove the Poisoned condition are good ways of mitigating the overuse of (drunk) talents. Drunken Boxer works great when combined with features and talents which increase one’s unarmed damage, such as the Equipment sphere’s Unarmed Training and Mystic Fists talents and the Alteration sphere’s Size Change. A Charisma-using spellcaster or practitioner can boost their spells and abilities via Miracle Drink. Improvised Shield specifically calls out use of the Shield sphere. As mentioned before, alchemical weapons count as improvised weapons and work well with this sphere. Bottle Rocket greatly extends the range on most thrown weapons and is a good choice for those using them with the Barrage and Sniper spheres. The Blazewater Legendary Talent should be able to stack with other +1d6 energy damage Alchemy talents and the Enhancement sphere’s Energy Weapon talent.</p><p></p><p><strong>Existing Comparisons:</strong> The two things that most immediately spring to mind are the Tavern Brawler feat and the Way of the Drunken Master Monk subclass. In the case of the former the improvised weapon proficiency and unarmed strike damage increase is similar to the Barroom sphere and Equipment’s Unarmed Training talent, in line with the “2 talents equals 1 feat” balance. But the ability to grapple when attacking with an improvised weapon matches none of the existing Barroom talents. As for Drunken Master, very few of its class features map to Barroom either. This makes Barroom more or less its own thing as far as I can tell.</p><p></p><p><img src="https://i.imgur.com/qx42BAJ.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>The <a href="http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/beastmastery" target="_blank"><strong>Beastmastery Sphere</strong></a> is one of this book’s minion-centric Spheres, the other being Leadership. It grants proficiency in Animal Handling (or 1 bonus sphere if already proficient) along with one of two packages. The Rider package and (ride) talents center around mounted combat, and its base ability allows the mount to gain an evasion-like effect (half/no damage on DEX save damaging effects). The Tamer package and (tamer) talents focus around training animals to be loyal and able to perform special tasks. Unlike Spheres of Power’s Conjuration or Death spheres which provide default stat block templates that are further customized by talents and leveling up, the beasts gained via the Tamer package are out and out Monster Manual creatures of the Beast type with a variable maximum Challenge Rating based on one’s character level. And the Broad Skills talent can let one domesticate any non-Humanoid creature provided it has a maximum unadjusted Intelligence of 4.</p><p></p><p>Needless to say, this is a Sphere with a lot of open-ended possibilities. <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FIjaz6S0JXrXaCVhHEDeq-nH7xHzlqAx6inuRbDjhjU/edit#gid=1346812326" target="_blank">Just look at this list and sort by Intelligence.</a> Beasts overall stick to one role, that of physical melee attackers who may have a special sense type or alternative movement, but you may be able to get a Flailsnail with its AoE stun effect, a Beholder Zombie with its multiple eye rays, a Stone Defender bodyguard to remain by your side at all sides to grant you +5 AC as its reaction, or even a hydra or clay golem at the higher levels!</p><p></p><p>The (ride) talents include substituting your Animal Handling in place of your mount’s Acrobatics/Athletics, redirect attacks targeting the mount to hit you instead, have your mount do the Disengage action as a bonus action, or take temporary control of a creature you climb on by making it a mount if it fails a CHA save. (tamer) talents include granting yourself and your tamed creature the benefits of the Help action as joint bonus actions, boosting the other’s AC by 2 as a reaction while within each other’s reach, making an attack as a reaction if your tame beast succeeds on a grapple or shove, and you and your tamed creatures use the individual’s highest passive Perception for the whole group. Legendary Talents include short-term mind control to tame a creature by expending martial focus, the ability to summon all of one’s animal allies with a bonus action (they still have to get there normally), and the ability to speak with animals. The first mentioned ability is Beast Tamer, and there are 4 other Legendary Talents which have it as a prerequisite and build off of it, such as increasing its duration and range.</p><p></p><p><strong>Combos:</strong> Acrobatic Mount mentions that it can be used with the Athletics sphere’s (motion) talents, while that same sphere’s Scale Foe can be used with Bronco Buster by substituting Strength (Animal Handling) for Strength (Athletics) checks. The Commander’s Drill Sergeant subclass can grant animal allies temporary sphere access, and Brute and Wrestling are highly appropriate for many animals and several Beastmastery talents make use of them in grappling or shoving enemies. Focusing Connection used on a mounted animal is an easy way to regain martial focus as long as you’re not dismounted. The Leadership sphere’s Rangers (followers) talent has those allies automatically capture a set number and CR of beasts each day which you can tame. The Scholar’s Zoology Study adds KAM to the Practitioner’s effective level for determining the CR of tamable beasts, making it useful for a 2-level dip for characters focusing on this sphere.</p><p></p><p><strong>Existing Comparisons:</strong> The Conjure Animals spell is the closest approximation to this sphere, although given the Broad Skills talent other Conjure [Creature Type] spells can fit the bill. Generally speaking those spells have lower maximum Challenge Ratings save for the higher-level ones, and are Concentration spells with limited duration while Beastmastery’s tamed creatures are indefinite in duration barring the Beast Tamer Legendary Talent. The Mounted Combatant feat’s three features are available as individual talents, so that’s a pretty direct comparison.</p><p></p><p><strong>Thoughts So Far:</strong> These six Spheres have a fair amount of variation between each other and a good assortment of offensive, defensive, and utility features. If anything Barrage stands out as being the only one with mostly attack-themed options. The Alchemy sphere has a lot of energy type damage and useful means of non-magical healing and debuffs, although it’s Elixir of Youth and Philosopher’s Stone talents felt too expensive and high level to be of use in most games. Athletics is a neat Sphere, granting many kinds of mobility rather than anything directly offensive. I really like Beastmastery, although I feel that certain monster combos are bound to be overpowered with anything that broad. If I had to pick a least favorite it’d be Barroom. The alcohol and drunk status stood out as being limited-use while also imposing a debilitating condition.</p><p></p><p><strong>Join us next time as we cover the next 5 spheres and stat up Shovel Knight!</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>PS</strong> I know you’re all still waiting on Geralt, but I promise to get around to him in my next post.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Libertad, post: 8371976, member: 6750502"] [CENTER][B]Chapter 4: Spheres, Part I[/B][/CENTER] [B]Note:[/B] I forgot to mention a specific bit of terminology. Those who make use of martial spheres are known as [B]Practitioners,[/B] in much the same way that those making use of magic spheres are known as Spherecasters. Unsurprisingly the longest chapter in the book, we’ll cover Might’s Spheres in four parts. There are 22 different Spheres covering a variety of fighting styles, tools, and non-magical skills, although 2 of them are special cases and will be reviewed out of order. The first is the Equipment sphere, which is the universal Sphere for determining armor/weapon proficiencies and has some talents designed for specific weapon usage. The other is the Leadership sphere, which grants the character NPC minions. It’s not suitable for all campaign styles and labeled an optional Sphere, and so will be covered last. Like Power there are Spheres which have default abilities when unlocked, and others grant you a bonus talent when taken. However, what separates Might from Power is that about half of the Spheres (10 out of 22) grant proficiency in a skill, tool, or in one case weapon group when the base sphere is taken. And in the former two examples if you’re already proficient with the skill/tool then you either gain another proficiency (in the case of Alchemy or Athletics) or a bonus talent from the sphere to reward your focus. Furthermore there are many talents in those spheres and others which can grant you proficiency in such things or double proficiency if already proficient. What this means is that it’s relatively easy to create skill-monkey characters with the right spheres and talents even if your default class doesn’t grant many skills. This is in line with the original Pathfinder rules which gave you skill ranks for free when taking certain spheres and talents. Like Power there are basic talents that can be taken more or less prerequisite-free as well as Legendary Talents which are optional via GM discretion and have steeper (usually level-based) requirements. Talents are separated into parenthetical tags denoting whether or not they make use of a base sphere ability, and most have Variants which can grant a bonus talent in exchange for more restricted use of the default sphere abilities. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/oGdWwU1.png[/IMG] The [URL='http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/equipment'][B]Equipment Sphere[/B][/URL] is the major determinant for our Sphere-user’s favored weapons and armor. It has no default sphere ability, instead granting a bonus talent of choice if taken by someone who didn’t have a Martial Tradition (otherwise the initial talents are pre-selected). (discipline) talents determine weapon proficiencies, while (other) talents cover armor proficiency* and miscellaneous abilities. Most (discipline) talents grant proficiency in 5-7 martial weapons, while a few grant less but have special abilities. For instance, Crossbow Expert grants proficiency in all crossbows but allows all wielded ranged weapons to ignore half and three-quarters cover, while Bombardier Training allows one to be proficient in alchemical items and can hit an adjacent target if the initial attack roll misses. Rock Toss is notable in that it allows you to throw heavy objects and even creatures in general as heavy-hitting thrown weapons, while Staff Mastery can turn quarterstaffs into Reach weapons and grants the two-weapon “d4 bludgeoning” attack of the Polearm Master feat. The weapon groups of (discipline) talents are such that taking two of them can be enough to grant a character more than enough diverse proficiency options to last them an entire campaign, although going for a “proficient in everything” build creates diminishing returns as there’s a bit of overlap in weapon types between several (discipline) talents. *which seems counterintuitive. Non-discipline talents don’t grant proficiency save in the case of Armor Training, but do other things. Einhandler lets one make an opportunity attack as a reaction vs a missed attack when fighting with finesse weapons one-handed and without a shield, while Mystic Fists treat unarmed strikes as magical and let them deal piercing or slashing damage in addition to bludgeoning. There’s a lot of useful talents here for those who wish to specialize in a certain weapon or armor and shield type. Legendary Talents grant proficiency in “advanced era” equipment, such as modern day firearms and grenades. [B]Combos:[/B] Crossbow Expert is a good choice for non-crossbow “sniper” type characters. Rock Toss combined with Throwing Mastery lets a thrown creature boomerang back towards the thrower, while the Telekinesis’ Dampening Field can negate damage done to the thrown creature. The Alteration sphere’s Size Change, the Brawler subclass, and Brute sphere’s Muscular Surge lets the Rock Tosser lift and throw creatures and objects of larger size categories. Staff Mastery goes well with the Dual-Wielding sphere given it’s considered two-weapon fighting, while Expert Reloading lets one use the Barrage sphere with Loading property weapons easily. Polearm Guard plus the Guardian sphere’s patrol package and Fencing sphere’s Lunge lets a character strike and even shut down movement from farther-away targets. Sling Combatant and Bombardier Training are ideal for Alchemy sphere abilities, while Throw Shield specifically calls out the Shield sphere. Whip Fiend can work well with the Athletics sphere’s Rope Swing talent. [B]Existing Comparisons:[/B] Quite a bit of these talents (and some talents in other spheres as well) derive partial benefits from quite a few feats. Crossbow Expert’s cover-ignoring attack comes from Sharpshooter, while Expert Reloading has a similar ability to the Crossbow Expert PHB feat but applies to Reload property weapons in general. This highlights a pretty nifty advantage of Spheres of Might; in traditional 5th Edition many characters are torn between the choices of taking a feat or an Ability Score Increase every 4 levels. By splitting like-minded feat benefits into individual talents, this eases the burden for martial characters while also having a faster sense of progression. This is similar to the original Pathfinder version, which made certain talents count as Associated Feats for the purposes of meeting prerequisites for other feats, Prestige Classes, and the like. As even Pathfinder talents were virtually prerequisite-less, this gave Sphere Practitioners a lot more freedom in character-building. [B]Just for fun:[/B] I decided to see how many talents it would take to gain near-universal weapon and armor proficiency to be closer to the “core martial” classes. Being a Githyanki with the Pikeman Martial Tradition starting out gives them proficiency in all armor and shields along with every non-whip reach weapon and “sword-suffix” weapons. Bruiser Training and Rogue Weapon Training make them proficient with every PHB weapon save the Longbow and Net, although at that point they aren’t really starved for choices. Spheres of Might also has four new weapons which are also covered in the Equipment sphere talents, so taking Custom Training (3 weapons of choice) 2 more times expands them to all manufactured weapons. For unarmed strikes and improvised weapons they’d need Unarmed Training and the Barroom sphere (detailed later). [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/iSyJEUx.png[/IMG] The [URL='http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/alchemy'][B]Alchemy Sphere[/B][/URL] specializes in volatile mixtures, poisons, medicine, and chemical enhancements. The base sphere grants proficiency in alchemist supplies or a poisoner’s kit and lets one create a batch of formulae or poison every short rest whose number is based on one’s Proficiency Bonus + the number of talents possessed in the sphere. Talents who share the same name as an existing piece of equipment, such as alchemist’s fire, lets the character apply the talent’s benefits when using that item, and virtually every talent has a Potency option that makes its effects more powerful when martial focus is expended. (formula) talents include classic options such as Alchemist’s Fire and Holy Water, giving many options for various kinds of energy damage and negative conditions to impose on targets, along with more beneficial talents such as Salve which restores Hit Points or War Paint which grants advantage/resistance to various effects depending on the color of the paint. (poison) talents are self-explanatory and impose various negative conditions and even damage to targets that fail a Constitution saving throw. (other) talents are auxiliary benefits that can enhance and alter how formulas and poisons are used and applied, while Legendary Talents include more potent effects such as powerful explosives, being able to create Sovereign Glue or a Universal Solvent, poisons that can lower one’s Proficiency Bonus or petrify, and even a youth-granting elixir or philosopher’s stone which are incredibly costly to make (an exception to the otherwise “free” rules for alchemical creation if possessing the right tools). [B]Combos:[/B] Energy-damaging formulas applied to weapons don’t mention that they can’t stack with each other, so multiple characters with martial focus and the right Alchemy talents (as well as Enhancement’s Energy Weapon talent) can focus on a single weapon that deals several d6s of various energy damage. Performance Enhancer’s advantage-granting on certain ability checks can be combined nicely with abilities that focus on skill use, such as the Brute, Scout, and Wrestling spheres. The Alteration sphere’s Enhanced Poison talent can apply to (poison) sphere talents, while the Equipment sphere’s Poison Blowgun Expert can increase their DC to further guarantee their effectiveness. The Creation sphere's Alchemical Creation talentcan be used to make more formulas and poisons. Gaseous Application plus the Nature sphere’s Air Mastery talent lets a character relocate the gas to another square by breathing it in and releasing elsewhere, while the Barroom sphere’s Brutal Breaker base ability grants proficiency in alchemical weapons given their improvised weapon status, and that sphere’s (fragile) talents can grant further damage and debuff on top of the existing effects. The Barroom sphere’s Alchemical Dragon and the Tinkerer sphere’s Pressurized Liquid Applicator talents can turn alchemical items into AoE attacks. The Leadership sphere’s Alchemists (followers) talent allows one to craft and maintain 1 more formula/poison than normal. [B]Existing Comparisons:[/B] In terms of feats and subclasses, there aren’t many abilities which replicate Alchemy sphere talents. The closest is the Artificer Alchemist’s Experimental Elixir, which both has generally fewer uses in terms of refresh rate and a smaller number of potential effects. There is an Alchemist feat for Unearthed Arcana, but it doesn’t really map to any sphere talents save for proficiency-doubling for the appropriate tools. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/iaEED7W.png[/IMG] The [URL='http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/athletics'][B]Athletics Sphere[/B][/URL] focuses on mobility of all kinds. As a base sphere ability it grants proficiency in either Acrobatics or Athletics (or a bonus talent if proficient in both) and lets one regain martial focus when taking Dash or Disengage as an Action but not as a bonus action. The sphere has 3 (motion) talents which apply buffs or a debuff when the character moves a certain amount or through a hostile creature’s space, but the vast majority of talents are miscellaneous (other). Some interesting choices include Mighty Conditioning which lets one use STR or DEX for Acrobatics or Athletics and DEX for determining jump distance if so desired, Rope Swing which lets someone move through squares in midair and even stop in midair provided that there is something their rope/whip/tentacle/etc can latch onto, Tumbling Recovery which lets the character drop prone and move 10 feet to avoid hostile effects with advantage/disadvantage as appropriate, and Wall Stunt which lets one ascend vertical surfaces and even larger creatures as difficult terrain. Legendary Talents include such options as gaining fly, swim, and burrowing speeds, short-term speed boosts in exchange for a level of Exhaustion, and creating afterimages which can foil enemy attacks by having them target the duplicate. [B]Combos:[/B] Mighty Conditioning can make a DEX-focused shover/grappler build possible. The Alteration sphere’s Aberrant Body and the Tinkerer sphere’s Artillerist Gadgets grant a natural reach weapon and item respectively that can be used with Rope Swing. Capoeira Spin works well with removing the prone penalty from Tumbling Recovery, while Scale Foe calls out uses with the Beastmastery and Wrestling spheres. Sudden Flank’s granting of advantage goes well with the (exploit) talents and Fatal Thrust base ability of the Fencing sphere given the latter’s melee-based requirement. Rapid Motion, Swift Movement, and Speed Boost can stack with other movement-boosting effects to make a very speedy character, as well as take advantage of the “must move at least 40 feet” greater aspect of the Moving Target talent without spending one’s Action on movement. Shark Swim and Strong Lungs allows a character to hold their breath for hours, which can work nicely for storing gas-based attacks for a long time with the Nature sphere’s Air Mastery talent as mentioned before. [B]Existing Comparisons:[/B] Rapid Motion clearly has origins with the Rogue class’ Cunning Action and helps increase the mobility of sphere-users. Mighty Conditioning’s use of Dexterity to determine jump distance is similar to the Thief subclass’ Second-Story Work. The various Legendary Talents which grant variant movement speeds are similar to Spider Climb, Alter Self’s Aquatic Adaptation, and the at-will teleports of the Way of Shadow Monk and Shadow Magic Sorcerous Origin. In Spheres of Might’s case they are permanent effects and the teleportation requires using Dash and expending martial focus, so they’re a bit more powerful on account that they cannot be dispelled, don’t have a set duration, or must be used under a certain kind of illumination. In exchange, they require payment in talent slots which don’t grow on trees. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/OmIRRC8.png[/IMG] The [URL='http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/barrage'][B]Barrage Sphere[/B][/URL] is a ranged combat exclusive sphere, focusing on firing off flurries of projectiles in comparison to the Sniper sphere’s range and accuracy. It grants no bonus proficiencies upon taking it, instead granting a Special Attack known as a Barrage where a character can make an additional ranged attack in addition to a normal attack as a bonus action that doesn’t apply one’s ability bonus to damage. Sort of like a ranged Two-Weapon Fighting in rules mechanics. (barrage) talents enhance or alter the Barrage in some way, such as intentionally missing the bonus action attack to gain advantage on the regular one, replacing the bonus attack with a melee attack or shove, the bonus attack striking the regular attack to turn up to 90 degrees mid-flight and strike around corners and behind cover, and so on. (other) talents include options such as recovering more spent ammunition from the battlefield after combat, regaining martial focus if hitting with at least two attacks when making a Barrage, and being able to make opportunity attacks with ranged weapons by treating them as a melee weapon with the Reach quality. The three Legendary Talents include attacking with a selective 30 foot AoE cone, never running out of non-magical ammo as long as you have 10 pieces of that particular ammunition, and using arrows and bolts to create staircases and platforms when shot into walls, large creatures, and the like. [B]Combos:[/B] Hammering Shots expends martial focus when making a Barrage to add one’s ability modifier to the bonus attack, but Blitz Focus lets one regain martial focus if at least two attacks hit when making a Barrage, meaning that one could effectively not use martial focus if two attacks hit that round. Mixed Barrage’s shove capability works well with the Brute sphere which is also focused on shoving. While the Sniper sphere’s Snipe Shot and related talents are a Special Attack and cannot be used with a Barrage, that sphere’s Deadly Aim ability applies to all ranged attack rolls which have advantage which means that it can work with Distracting Shot. Additionally the Fencing sphere’s (exploit) talents come into play when making an attack with advantage, and not just melee attacks. The Sniper sphere’s Trap Technician allows one to disable traps with ranged attacks, meaning that if done as part of a Barrage you can feasibly disable several traps at once if you’re ever in such a sticky situation. The Haste spell, the Time sphere’s Adjusted Frequency, and the Equipment sphere’s Splitshot can grant additional attacks, making it easier to regain martial focus via Blitz Focus and also get in more attacks. The Equipment sphere’s Point-Blank Shooting removes disadvantage on ranged attacks from being within 5 feet of a hostile creature, making it ideal for Mixed Barrage, and that same sphere’s Expert Reloading lets one use weapons with the Reload quality with the Barrage sphere. The Scout sphere’s Wind Reader is ideal for ranged weapon users in ignoring environment-based disadvantage. Using Cone of Death with thrown alchemical items can be a way of performing an AoE alchemical attack, albeit pricey unless one invests in the Alchemy sphere! [B]Existing Comparisons:[/B] The Ranger’s Hunter subclass has a Volley ability which is similar to the Barrage sphere’s Cone of Death, albeit it’s longer-range and hits all enemies within a 10 foot radius rather than a larger cone. The Arcane Archer’s Curving Shot sounds similar in the “bonus use to effectively gain advantage via reroll” although that class’ magical arrow shots can only be used twice per long rest rather than being effective at-will abilities (plus or minus martial focus). [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/YvRV7wC.png[/IMG] The [URL='http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/barroom'][B]Barroom Sphere[/B][/URL] is a bit narrower in thematic focus than the previous spheres. It specializes in the use of improvised weapons and alcoholic beverages to apply various buffs and debuffs in combat. It has two base default abilities: Brutal Breaker makes one proficient with all improvised weapons and can grab and attack any such weapon as part of the same action, while Hard Drinker treats drinking any liquid including potions as interacting with an object and can grant the Drunk status for 1 minute whenever an alcoholic beverage is imbibed. Certain talents can trigger special abilities by expending this Drunk status, requiring one to get drunk again before performing similar abilities. However, a person can only consume a number of such beverages before suffering the poisoned condition (which can be altered via the Conscript’s Brawler subclass and the Iron Liver talent), which makes it limited-use. (drunk) talents are mostly buff-related in nature, such as gaining temporary hit points, gaining +2 to STR, DEX, or CHA for a limited number of rounds, gain advantage when escaping grapples and restraints, vomiting to reroll a failed save against an ingested poison and turning an adjacent square into difficult terrain that can knock people prone who move through it, and dealing 1d6 unarmed damage if a lower damage die and expending Drunk status to auto-roll max damage with unarmed strikes. The (fragile) talents specifically require use of fragile objects which are improvised weapons made of weak material, typically softer than iron unless one has the Steel Breaker Legendary Talent. They include wielding such objects as +1 AC shields and breaking the object as a reaction to turn a critical into a normal hit, breaking the weapon to deal bonus damage based on level, and imposing the Confused condition on a failed CON save. That last one, Concussion, has a bit of strangely-worded text: Increasing the result sounds good, right? Well a result of 1 is random movement, 2-6 can’t move or take any actions, 7-8 hits a random creature with a melee attack, and 10 or higher the creature can act normally. While I can see certain higher results being better than others, there’s not as much control given it’s a static number that only goes up, so a character with a +4 or +5 KAM may very well be less able to impose the “can’t take actions” penalty if doing so is more advantageous than a random weapon attack. The (other) talents don’t fit anywhere else, [URL='https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16RdEtQL9EQ']such as being able to deal damage with any object including those that bear no resemblance to a standard weapon (1d6 or 1d8 instead of 1d4),[/URL] being able to throw any weapon with a 40/120 foot short and long distance range, and being able to spend Hit Die to heal oneself when drinking an alcoholic beverage. We have a lot of Legendary Talents, such as being able to drink alchemical liquids and poisons and spit them out as a 15 foot AoE cone, break a fragile weapon as a reaction to automatically crit, expend Drunk status to gain resistance to bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage against one attack, and treat unarmed strikes and improvised weapons as +1 magical weapons. There are a few talents which feel a bit...underpowered. Surprise grants advantage on an attack roll when attacking a target with a weapon they weren’t aware of (including improvised weapons that haven’t been used in a hostile manner), which honestly sounds like something you’d gain advantage for by default. Additionally, the Blazewater Legendary Talent allows one to spill alcohol on a weapon and light it on fire to deal +1d6 fire damage, which is the same as the use of the Alchemist’s Fire talent. Granted, that last one requires the expenditure of martial focus and a more expensive or limited-use item, but given the former’s 7th Level prerequisite I expected something more. [B]Combos:[/B] The Alchemy sphere’s Panacea, the Life sphere, and magic which can remove the Poisoned condition are good ways of mitigating the overuse of (drunk) talents. Drunken Boxer works great when combined with features and talents which increase one’s unarmed damage, such as the Equipment sphere’s Unarmed Training and Mystic Fists talents and the Alteration sphere’s Size Change. A Charisma-using spellcaster or practitioner can boost their spells and abilities via Miracle Drink. Improvised Shield specifically calls out use of the Shield sphere. As mentioned before, alchemical weapons count as improvised weapons and work well with this sphere. Bottle Rocket greatly extends the range on most thrown weapons and is a good choice for those using them with the Barrage and Sniper spheres. The Blazewater Legendary Talent should be able to stack with other +1d6 energy damage Alchemy talents and the Enhancement sphere’s Energy Weapon talent. [B]Existing Comparisons:[/B] The two things that most immediately spring to mind are the Tavern Brawler feat and the Way of the Drunken Master Monk subclass. In the case of the former the improvised weapon proficiency and unarmed strike damage increase is similar to the Barroom sphere and Equipment’s Unarmed Training talent, in line with the “2 talents equals 1 feat” balance. But the ability to grapple when attacking with an improvised weapon matches none of the existing Barroom talents. As for Drunken Master, very few of its class features map to Barroom either. This makes Barroom more or less its own thing as far as I can tell. [IMG]https://i.imgur.com/qx42BAJ.png[/IMG] The [URL='http://spheres5e.wikidot.com/beastmastery'][B]Beastmastery Sphere[/B][/URL] is one of this book’s minion-centric Spheres, the other being Leadership. It grants proficiency in Animal Handling (or 1 bonus sphere if already proficient) along with one of two packages. The Rider package and (ride) talents center around mounted combat, and its base ability allows the mount to gain an evasion-like effect (half/no damage on DEX save damaging effects). The Tamer package and (tamer) talents focus around training animals to be loyal and able to perform special tasks. Unlike Spheres of Power’s Conjuration or Death spheres which provide default stat block templates that are further customized by talents and leveling up, the beasts gained via the Tamer package are out and out Monster Manual creatures of the Beast type with a variable maximum Challenge Rating based on one’s character level. And the Broad Skills talent can let one domesticate any non-Humanoid creature provided it has a maximum unadjusted Intelligence of 4. Needless to say, this is a Sphere with a lot of open-ended possibilities. [URL='https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FIjaz6S0JXrXaCVhHEDeq-nH7xHzlqAx6inuRbDjhjU/edit#gid=1346812326']Just look at this list and sort by Intelligence.[/URL] Beasts overall stick to one role, that of physical melee attackers who may have a special sense type or alternative movement, but you may be able to get a Flailsnail with its AoE stun effect, a Beholder Zombie with its multiple eye rays, a Stone Defender bodyguard to remain by your side at all sides to grant you +5 AC as its reaction, or even a hydra or clay golem at the higher levels! The (ride) talents include substituting your Animal Handling in place of your mount’s Acrobatics/Athletics, redirect attacks targeting the mount to hit you instead, have your mount do the Disengage action as a bonus action, or take temporary control of a creature you climb on by making it a mount if it fails a CHA save. (tamer) talents include granting yourself and your tamed creature the benefits of the Help action as joint bonus actions, boosting the other’s AC by 2 as a reaction while within each other’s reach, making an attack as a reaction if your tame beast succeeds on a grapple or shove, and you and your tamed creatures use the individual’s highest passive Perception for the whole group. Legendary Talents include short-term mind control to tame a creature by expending martial focus, the ability to summon all of one’s animal allies with a bonus action (they still have to get there normally), and the ability to speak with animals. The first mentioned ability is Beast Tamer, and there are 4 other Legendary Talents which have it as a prerequisite and build off of it, such as increasing its duration and range. [B]Combos:[/B] Acrobatic Mount mentions that it can be used with the Athletics sphere’s (motion) talents, while that same sphere’s Scale Foe can be used with Bronco Buster by substituting Strength (Animal Handling) for Strength (Athletics) checks. The Commander’s Drill Sergeant subclass can grant animal allies temporary sphere access, and Brute and Wrestling are highly appropriate for many animals and several Beastmastery talents make use of them in grappling or shoving enemies. Focusing Connection used on a mounted animal is an easy way to regain martial focus as long as you’re not dismounted. The Leadership sphere’s Rangers (followers) talent has those allies automatically capture a set number and CR of beasts each day which you can tame. The Scholar’s Zoology Study adds KAM to the Practitioner’s effective level for determining the CR of tamable beasts, making it useful for a 2-level dip for characters focusing on this sphere. [B]Existing Comparisons:[/B] The Conjure Animals spell is the closest approximation to this sphere, although given the Broad Skills talent other Conjure [Creature Type] spells can fit the bill. Generally speaking those spells have lower maximum Challenge Ratings save for the higher-level ones, and are Concentration spells with limited duration while Beastmastery’s tamed creatures are indefinite in duration barring the Beast Tamer Legendary Talent. The Mounted Combatant feat’s three features are available as individual talents, so that’s a pretty direct comparison. [B]Thoughts So Far:[/B] These six Spheres have a fair amount of variation between each other and a good assortment of offensive, defensive, and utility features. If anything Barrage stands out as being the only one with mostly attack-themed options. The Alchemy sphere has a lot of energy type damage and useful means of non-magical healing and debuffs, although it’s Elixir of Youth and Philosopher’s Stone talents felt too expensive and high level to be of use in most games. Athletics is a neat Sphere, granting many kinds of mobility rather than anything directly offensive. I really like Beastmastery, although I feel that certain monster combos are bound to be overpowered with anything that broad. If I had to pick a least favorite it’d be Barroom. The alcohol and drunk status stood out as being limited-use while also imposing a debilitating condition. [B]Join us next time as we cover the next 5 spheres and stat up Shovel Knight! PS[/B] I know you’re all still waiting on Geralt, but I promise to get around to him in my next post. [/QUOTE]
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