I really should get around to posting my thoughts on some of the Talent suggestions from people. I've been meaning to do that for almost two months but I kept getting sidetracked whenever I found a Talent I wasn't sure what to say about.
In the meantime, I'll first reply to the latest one.
Sting: normal damage inflicted on armored characters (ie bypass armor) OR inflicts status effects even to armored enemies
Direct health damage is what kills enemies, so a no-downside to bypass armor to deal direct damage to health seems a little too strong. Using the "status effects through armor" variation is better, although most of the point of armor is to prevent statuses from landing.
First Blood: character gets first turn. in case of multiple characters/npcs with it, enemies get priority.
There are gripes about needing a lot of initiative to go before enemies, and the initiative system might need tweaks, but flat-out making initiative irrelevant might be a bit much.
Berserk Mage: AP cost of magic skills is doubled, but they inflict 50% more damage.
Interesting. I'd have to think about this. You'd be spending 2.0 times the AP to do 1.5 times the damage. It would also completely cut you off from using any 4 AP skills.
Alchemist: all potions/ non-food items have their potency doubled
This one seems okay, though maybe it should probably apply only to potions with temporary effects (not the Blood Rose permanent attribute-boosting potion).
Expert Mage: all magic skills cooldowns are reduced by half
I think this one would need a downside attached otherwise it would be a must-have for all primary casters - especially given the lack of other good magic-oriented Talents. Cooldowns are also the primary mechanism for balance, so a two-tier system for power would be an issue.
Master Sorcerer: all magic skills, including source skills, cost 1 AP (something could also be done for memory...)
Broken. Too overpowered. It breaks the other balance mechanism.
Impatient: permanent Haste Effect on character
Too overpowered. It would need a substantial downside.
Bulwark: permanent 50% of physical armor value (cannot be decreased)
Aegis: permanent 50% of magical armor value (cannot be decreased)
I'm not entirely sure what that means. Do you mean that it boosts every point of X armor by 50%, effectively increasing your total by 50%?
What does "cannot be decreased" mean? That your armor can never go below 50%? Under the current way armor works, wouldn't that render you immune to all status effects of that type?
Mirror: reflects all magic skills, beneficial or not, to the caster (excluding some, maybe source/void skills?)
Immunity to magic damage and CC. Too OP.
Gushing: permanent Regen effect
This one might work, it depends on how much you regen per turn. Too little and it's useless. Maybe limit it to 20% or 25% at a maximum. Might be interesting to put onto some boss enemies.
Aesculapius: immune to negative status effects, all of them.
Broken. Too overpowered.
