Arcimous Primus – Comparative Study

So with all the focus this week on Arcane Strike and the recent claims that this Fighting Style is overpowered, I thought I would present a (hopefully) objective view of the benefits and why I feel the Style is fine as is.

Requirements
The fighting style has the 2nd most Talent Requirements of any Fighting Style with 4 (Dimachaerus Primus has 5 Talents), but also has the lowest Skill Requirements of 2 Ranks (Most have a total of 6-10 ranks). However, the requirements of Arcane Spell Casting and Medium Armor mean that a character needs specific choices along the way to accomplish this (Arcane Archetype with appropriate Background or Expert/Martial Archetype and the Arcane Apprentice Path). Given this, the requirements are not easy but appropriate.

Tier I
Arcane Strike: This is a Base Maneuver that combines a melee attack with the casting of a spell. The restrictions are as follows:
– The spell must require an attack roll
– The spell only affects the target of the attack (Even if it’s normally an AoE or multi-target attack)
– Damage does not bypass AR (Even if the spell usually bypasses AR)
– Elemental AR applies to the entire damage of the attack if the spell does elemental damage (Even if the weapon part of the attack isn’t normally subject to elemental AR)

For those restrictions, the benefit is:
– Damage: Weapon Die + Spell Damage Die + Weapon Attribute Die (For most unadapted spells, this is going to be an additional 1d6 damage or 3.5 average damage).
– Speed: The attack becomes Speed X (Recovery Y, Strain Z), where X is the higher of the Weapon Speed or Spell Speed, and Y is the lower of the two. Strain stays whatever the spell’s strain was.

Analysis: – Using a Speed 4, d6 Weapon
Damaging Spell (For comparison, Elemental Bolt [Spd: 4, Str: 2] is used. No Adaptations assumed)
For the cost of: Speed 4, Recovery 4, Strain +2, and dealing with Elemental AR, the user gets Weapon+3.5 average damage and the ability to deal elemental damage with a weapon.
– Compare to Mighty Swing: For the cost of: Speed 5, Recovery 3, Strain 0, the user gets Weapon+5 additional damage. (The equivalent spell bump would need to be a 1d10 Spell Die to be greater damage than Might Swing.)
– Compare to Smite Heretic: For the cost of: Speed 6, Recovery 3, Strain 3, the user gets Weapon+3.5 average damage. This is a spell ANY Divine Caster receives and has no requirements as the Fighting Style does.

Status Effect Spell (For comparison, Enemy of my Enemy [Spd: 5, Str: 3] and Delusions of Grandeur [Spd: 4, Str: 2] are used. No Adaptations assumed)
This is where Arcane Strike has some unique and interesting options. By forgoing some damage of a Damage Spell, the user can instead impose a ‘status effect’ of some type on the target.
For the cost of Recovery 4, Strain +3, and requiring melee range, the user gets to add Weapon damage and place a status effect that they could cast at 30′ range with no Recovery. It can be a powerful ability, but balances the restrictions above on damaging spells. In addition, the user has Recovery and is not likely to have the damage potential normally available in their next attack (Likely a Basic Attack).

NOTE: The only time this becomes way more powerful than just casting the spell is when combined with Multi-Attack Maneuvers. Combining this with movement or other maneuvers does not create the same unbalancing situation.

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Result: Arcane Strike used with damaging spells is slightly weaker than Mighty Swing and slightly better than Smite Heretic. Might Swing and Smite Heretic require no special training beyond taking the Talent or Spell to do so. Arcane Strike is limited and requires an investment in the Fighting Style.

Arcane Strike used with status effect spells gives added flexibility over just delivering damage. It also trades the spell’s longer range and adds Recovery for add an average of 7.5 damage to the spell’s normal effect.

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Tier II
Bound Weapon: A flavorful and useful Talent. It’s weaker than the spell of the same name in terms of distance and only applicable to a weapon. This is comparable to the ‘special abilities’ granted by many other Fighting Styles.

Tactical Edge: Another standard among Fighting Styles. You gain Tactical Edge when using certain attacks, maneuvers, or spells against an opponent. While most Techniques grant the Tactical Edge as long as the user is in the Stance, Arcimous Primus has the additional requirement that the user gets the Tactical Edge on the spells only if they used a Martial Maneuver on their previous action. This can be limiting and situational; however, it fits the flavor of the style and is something a practitioner is likely to be doing anyways.

—–
Result: The Tier II abilities are in line with other fighting styles, with an additional restriction.

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Tier III
Deflect Attack: This is a free Martial Technique used in the stance. This is comparable with the free Martial Technique given by all other fighting styles. The main difference is for Arcimous Primus this is only usable with your Bound Weapon, whereas other styles allow it to be used with a generic weapon of the style.

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Result: The Tier III ability is the same as other fighting styles, with an additional restriction.

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Tier IV
Strain Reduction: The idea behind this capstone ability is that while under Strain, the user reduces their current strain by an amount equal to the Recovery of a maneuver they just performed.

NOTE: One thing to keep in mind is that a practitioner of Arcimous Primus WANTS to be under Strain for as long as possible until the next opportunity comes up to cast a spell. With Battle Magi, that is an additional 1 Avoidance. Anytime the character is unable to act and is not under strain they are easier to hit.

Analysis:
– Assumption: Weapon is Speed 3, d6 Damage (By now most have Exceptional Weapons)
– Assumption: Tier IV Base Maneuver used is Speed +2, Recovery 3 (This is Whirlwind Attack, because most higher tier melee maneuvers don’t have Recovery)
– Assumption: Tier IV Advanced Maneuver used is Speed +2, Recovery 5 (Simulating combining 2 Base together)
– Assumption: Tier IV Base Spell used is Speed 4, Strain 4 (This seems a good baseline for Tier IV)
– Assumption: Tier IV Advanced Spell used is Speed 6, Strain 6 (I didn’t want to get into Incorruptible Actions)
– Assumption: Adaptations to the spell add: Speed +2, Strain +2

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Scenario 1A: No Arcimous Primus, Base Maneuvers, Base Spells
Tick 1: Cast Base Spell (Speed 5, Strain 4)
Tick 6: Use Base Maneuver (Speed 5, Recovery 3) – Strain at: 4
Tick 10: Strain at: 0 (Avoidance bonus lost)
Tick 11: Next Action Available. Repeat above – Recovery at: 3

Scenario 1B: Arcimous Primus, Base Maneuvers, Base Spells
Tick 1: Cast Base Spell (Speed 5, Strain 4)
Tick 6: Use Base Maneuver (Speed 5, Recovery 3) – Strain at: 1
Tick 7: Strain at: 0 (Avoidance bonus lost)
Tick 11: Next Action Available. Repeat above – Recovery at: 3

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Scenario 2A: No Arcimous Primus, Advanced Maneuvers, Advanced Spells
Tick 1: Cast Advanced Spell (Speed 6, Strain 6)
Tick 7: Use Advanced Maneuver (Speed 5, Recovery 5) – Strain at: 6
Tick 12: Next Action Available. Strain at: 1, Recovery at: 5
Tick 13: Strain at: 0 (Avoidance bonus lost). Repeat Above.

Scenario 2B: Arcimous Primus, Advanced Maneuvers, Advanced Spells
Tick 1: Cast Advanced Spell (Speed 6, Strain 6)
Tick 7: Use Advanced Maneuver (Speed 5, Recovery 5) – Strain at: 1
Tick 8: Strain at: 0 (Avoidance bonus lost)
Tick 12: Next Action Available. Repeat above – Recovery at: 5

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General Scenario 3A: No Arcimous Primus
Tick 1: Cast Spell (Speed: X, Strain: Y)
Tick 1+X: Use Maneuver (Speed: A, Recovery: B) – Strain at: Y
Tick 1+X+Y: Strain at: 0 (Avoidance bonus lost)
Tick 1+X+A: Next Action Available – Recovery at: B (If AResult: By using the Tier IV ability of Arcimous Primus, the character is able to act on average 1 Ticks sooner. The price for this is a lowered Avoidance for earlier Strain removal.

For characters under sufficiently high strain, the Arcimous Primus gives a 1-5 Tick advantage assuming the character either waits for Strain to bleed off completely, or a Damage Reduction from casting through Strain if they cast right away. Using another basic attack would still be prudent if the Strain is that great.

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I hope that this analysis is reviewed and I welcome comments, criticisms or errors found. I would like to hear dissenting opinions about this fighting style by those who still think it is overpowered as written.

John