Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

This is way way WAY earlier than I ever close votes, but considering what happens next will probably cause some questions and I have work starting tomorrow so wouldn't be able to answer until late at night (and it's such a clear winner), I'm going to part 2 of the vote up now.
Adhoc vote count started by Silently Watches on Dec 6, 2019 at 5:00 PM, finished with 122 posts and 34 votes.
 
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Vote part 2

Reforge Armor, huh? That means you get your second and last cross-training opportunity!

For the sake of ease and common sense, I'm taking Transcendent Gadgeteer out of the running. If you had picked it for first cross-training, it would make more sense, but not for 3 tech skills.

Because oh yeah, just to remind you, this second batch will only give you three more spells.

[ ] Arms Master – Specialization of Extinction Knight, upgrades Flare Blade
[ ] Assault – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches offensive self buffs
[ ] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs
[ ] Infinite Enhancement – Teaches basic Boost spells to support your allies
 
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I'm thinking something defensive, we're already real heavy on the offense. Maybe minor support for team building.
 
Leaning towards Undaunted myself. Given the higher tiers we will be fighting on we are going to need defense buffs. Especially since Behemoth will be the next Endbringer fight and he's all about blaster and brute.
 
[ ] Assault – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches offensive self buffs
Okay, most questions that come to mind aren't likely to be answered, but this one might: presumably the offensive self buffs would apply to all spells rather than just the Extinction Knight ones?

I'm leaning towards more defence anyway, so

[X] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs
 
[X] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs

We already have all the tools we need to kill anything in our path. What we need now is survivability beyond our Barrier Jacket. The more defense buffs, the more Teraflare equivalents we can survive.
 
[X] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs

The Calamity Witch template and basics of the Extinction Knight already offer a fair chunk of offensive power, so more defense should be good
 
Leaning towards Undaunted myself. Given the higher tiers we will be fighting on we are going to need defense buffs. Especially since Behemoth will be the next Endbringer fight and he's all about blaster and brute.
Unless one of the other Endbringers awakens, I guess.


Increasing defense would be good. Though what sort of ally boosts are we talking about, because this could actually make us powerful trumps even if they're basics
 
If I may ask, could we have a preview of each of Extinction Knight's trees? It kinda feels like voting a bit blindly.
 
[X] Arms Master – Specialization of Extinction Knight, upgrades Flare Blade

I believe offense is the best defense option for Taylor, and the flare blade has proven it's usefulness. Upgrading it seems like the best option to me.
 
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Not sure if this is a dumb question. Right now, the skills that develop from Flare Blade are:
  • Blitz Action (2/2 Master) – Move at high speeds in a straight line. Can change direction three times in a row.
  • Mistilteinn (2/4 Adept) – Drop spikes that petrify any living thing they hit onto a target up to 60 feet away. This effect is inherently lethal.
Neither of which are direct upgrades to Flare Blase, though Blitz Action synergizes quite well. Does Arms Master upgrade Flare Blade directly (e.g. make a bigger blade), or is it more in line with Flare Blade's secondary skills that we have now, which help in melee combat, but don't directly improve Flare Blade?

Right now I'm leaning towards:

[X] Undaunted – Derivative of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs

for the survivability, though.
 
Don't you mean Dauntless for that last option?
You get a funny for that.
What things might be included in these options?
If I may ask, could we have a preview of each of Extinction Knight's trees? It kinda feels like voting a bit blindly.
Okay, most questions that come to mind aren't likely to be answered, but this one might: presumably the offensive self buffs would apply to all spells rather than just the Extinction Knight ones?
And this is why I wanted to post this today and not tomorrow. :)

To start @Elwyn the only specialization that will affect a spell you already have is Arms Master. The others have buffs that do not directly apply to any Knight spells but would be more useful in melee combat than ranged combat.

To give a very brief preview (because there isn't a lot of room to spoil stuff with only 3 spells),

Arms Master would let you do stuff with Flare Blade like make it do a (nonlethal) damage over time
Assault would let you hit harder in melee
Undaunted would let you wrap yourself in a secondary defensive barrier

Also, the latter two are BUFFS, not permanent upgrades. They would be active spells you have to use and would wear off, just like Blitz Action doesn't make you permanently faster.
Neither of which are direct upgrades to Flare Blase, though Blitz Action synergizes quite well. Does Arms Master upgrade Flare Blade directly (e.g. make a bigger blade), or is it more in line with Flare Blade's secondary skills that we have now, which help in melee combat, but don't directly improve Flare Blade?
Those skills are under Flare Blade because that is just how the tree is arranged. Arms Master would be direct upgrades.
To be fair, unless Undaunted gives Alexandria tier durability we're not face tanking melee hits from Benny and would be dumb to try it imo.
Yeah, no, you still won't be indestructible like Alexandria.
 
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[X] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs
 
[X] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs

We may have a reincarnation mechanic, but I'd be happy never seeing it. I have a tendency to play glass cannons in many games because the longer a fight lasts, the more opportunities you have to mess up, but the converse is true about the other side messing up, and failing here means a bit more than having to warp to a waypoint to resurrect yourself. I doubt the upgrade to Flare blade would be enough to justify going into melee with Behemoth or Leviathan, and so far we haven't fought anything that could hold up against it, so sticking to Armsmaster seems less than the wisest choice.

Unless one of the other Endbringers awakens, I guess.


Increasing defense would be good. Though what sort of ally boosts are we talking about, because this could actually make us powerful trumps even if they're basics

No more Endbringers. SW has said this explicitly. We only have to deal with the remaining two.
 
Upgrading the Flare Blade would require one to go into melee in order to leverage it(unless the upgrade somehow turns it into a ranged attack). A defense buff, however, can be used at any range.
 
[X] Undaunted – Specialization of Extinction Knight, teaches defensive self buffs

By that logic, Undaunted wouldn't be enough to justify going into melee with Behemoth or Leviathan either. It WILL NOT make you invincible.

Nope, but it will make it easier to soak grazing shots and mostly-dodged and the like while staying at Calamity's range using her powers (or give more of a prayer when Blitzing into mistelteinn range).

And as others have said, anything less than them we haven't quite found something that needed moar power other than those needing exotic effects. (Any of the upgrades or offense-buffs do something like attack multi-dimensionally, or negate durability/regen like Shredding Claw, or hinder/revert a breaker state like either of the tricks used on Cadejo ? )
 
In fact, I'm just going to lay this one out here before any more faulty assumptions take root. If you are picking a specialization because you think it will let you successfully fight or survive an Endbringer hand to hand, YOU ARE WRONG and will be exploring the reincarnation mechanic.

The timing for this vote is actually rather appropriate in that all four of these options will give the most benefit in mid-level fights, such as fighting several capes at once. You can shore up your weak points (Undaunted or Infinite Enhancement) or polish up your strengths (Arms Master or Assault), but do not think that any of these are about to turn you into a melee expert.

Regarding the Endbringers… Taylor's primary template, which is the main way she fights and where her strongest abilities lay, is still and always will be the bombardment specialist Calamity Witch. If you want to play at being a Knight against Behemoth, I can only wish you good luck and will be laughing when you fail.
Nope, but it will make it easier to soak grazing shots and mostly-dodged and the like while staying at Calamity's range using her powers (or give more of a prayer when Blitzing into mistelteinn range).
This is a better mindset, though dodging is still superior.
Any of the upgrades or offense-buffs do something like attack multi-dimensionally, or negate durability/regen like Shredding Claw, or hinder/revert a breaker state like either of the tricks used on Cadejo ?
NOPE. The secondary cross training is honestly more for flavor than anything else.
 
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