I'm not talking about game-changers like Glass Cannon, Lone Wolf or even Pet Pal, they are fine and thought-out. Most others are the problem, the downsides they have are just a symptom. This happens because most of them either modify things that are nonsensical (like zombie), useless (like diner) or too situational. The useful ones are +damage and +AP. Not all of them should be game-changers, but I shouldn't have to blankly stare at them and pick out the one which is the least awful. At one point I did't even pick any because the ones that were left were just so inconsequential as to not be worth the downsides. If we had a MASSIVE list of talents like the feats in D&D this wouldn't be a problem, but I don't think this is feasible. Glass Cannon is fine, if hugely overpowered and can use a tweaking of numbers. Diner is useless because food is useless etc. I suggest the talents don't have any +damage, they are just too lucrative and are a no-brainer. It's even easier to balance the mobs, because you aren't balancing them with the lack of talents for +damage in mind and having them be pathetically easy for characters who do have them. There are almost no +damage feats in D&D which works great. Though they do have activated skills, which wouldn't be a bad idea for talents as well. If you want them to all be passive bonuses, then just refrain from straight +damage and +AP. Just balance them in such a way as to not have the final result be boring talents with no use that nobody picks up.
