So, my poor heart is torn on what to vote for regarding Hanyi. But what I can do is gush over the new techs, or the evolutions to already existing techs, that our wonderful spirits just got. Because every single one of them sounds pretty amazing.
First up is Sixiang, our wonderful little muse of dreams. This is the new tech that I spotted.
Whispering Muse's Mockery: C
Duration: Short
Mingling dream qi with the flows of wind, Sixiang distorts light and sound to create short lived illusory images, complete with sound. This technique may be used in a number of ways, but in combat it grants an ally a large bonus to Physical avoid or an attempt to enter stealth.
I don't think she had this after our dream escapades from last month, but I could be wrong. Overall, it is a nice little buff to an allies' physical avoid or gives them an attempt to enter stealth. Ling Qi already has good physical avoid and stealth, so this seems like a nice little thing that Sixiang can do to help Ling Qi out of sticky situations. Other than that, not much seems to have changed tech-wise since her significant upgrade during the Dream sequence.
Next up is Hanyi, our wonderful little blizzard angel, who if given half a chance will devour every last scrap of qi you have.
Enrapturing Silhouette: C
Using this technique Hanyi draws the attention of targets at Far range to herself. She may target up to five creatures. On success the targets must move toward Hanyi at full base speed and cannot attack her until after her next action. The target receives a large penalty to their Avoid while under this effect, which lasts for a Short time. This effect may be renewed freely on affected targets at E rank cost if uninterrupted.
Mournful Lullaby: D
Usable only against those caught in the effects of Enrapturing Silhouette, this technique receives a significant bonus to hit against such targets. Targets of this effect receive penalties to All Hit, Avoid, and Initiative, which stack with each application.
And this is where things start getting nasty for our opponents. These are not new techs, but rather refinements on the previous techs. And, it seems to amount to a "save or die" effect, which is really awesome. The reason why I say this is because Hanyi can now, without costing an action, extend the effect of Enrapturing Silhouette. Which means that the opponent can't target Hanyi, continues to have a large penalty to avoid (important for Zhengui), continue to be drawn to her, and can more easily be layered with Mournful Lullaby or eaten with Snow Maiden's Embrace (which I didn't quote, but basically steals qi and health from opponents in melee range). With the ability to target five opponents at once she can more easily drag specific individuals to their doom. The only thing I wish for is some way for her to punch up and snag one really important guy.
However, Hanyi is part of a 2 spirit combo. Because as she draws victims closer to her, she draws them closer to Zhengui. Speaking of Zhengui... he is, in my opinion, the man of the hour here.
Blood Boiling Venom: D
Upkeep 5
Damage: D(Bonus, poison)
Zhengui strikes with venomous fangs injecting a terrible, deadly heat into the target. With the boiling venom flowing in their veins, the victim finds themselves weakened and slowed until the effect burns out. Alternatively this effect may be applied to the Paradise Bedrock technique
Volcanic Stone Shell: C
Duration: Long
Response
Zhengui infuses his shell with withering heat and stony resilience, burning bright with a volcanic blaze. Enemies who strike Zhengui with melee weapons suffer C rank fire damage. Enemies within Very Close Range suffer constant E Rank fire damage
...
Paradise Forge: B
Instant:
Damage: B
Channels fire into the earth, awakening the latent volcanism in the memory of stone. The powerful flame qi pressurizes the molten stone forming beneath the surface until it explodes upward in a rolling ring of eruptions. Upon activation, enemies within close range of Zhengui are targeted, on Zhengui's next action enemies between Close and Far range are targeted. This technique has a significant bonus to hit and and penetration against any target in contact with the ground.
Now, we voted to help Zhengui develop his Blazing Blood abilities. And they really seem to have improved, with a whole new tech "Paradise Forge." First off, let's talk about Blood Boiling Venom, which can now be applied to his Paradise Bedrock technique. This is wonderful in my opinion because Paradise Bedrock enables more attacks, which means more chances to tag people with his venom. And given that Hanyi can reduce the avoid of opponents with a successful hit, that means a lot more people getting tagged with more venom.
Volcanic Stone Shell gets some more clarification and added bonuses. Coming in at C rank damage for opponents who think that hitting Zhengui in melee is a good idea and E rank fire damage in very close, Zhengui is going to be a monster in close-quarters combat, which, conveniently, Hanyi can provide.
But the new tech takes the cake. Paradise Forge continues the trend of techs that Zhengui is a tropical Volcano that will obstruct opponents in difficult to get through jungles and smother them in lava. Furthermore, I just think that Paradise Forge is a really cool name. But back on topic about why I like Paradise Forge so much, well, we've seen what it can do. It destroyed the hill Zhengui had been practicing on and seems like it could do a ton of damage, especially if an opponent is within the sweet spot of close range, or tries to flee the initial eruption but doesn't get far enough. Because then it can hit them twice.
Paradise Forge additionally has a very nice bonus against people who are touching the ground when the tech goes off. While not particularly useful against the flighty Cloud Barbarians, it will be immediately useful against the Gnawing Ones who seem to live their entire lives in the ground or at least touching the ground. And, we'll be heading into the Corrupted Caverns this month. Hopefully, we'll have a chance to see Zhengui pull this tech out and devastate the Gnawing Ones who try to attack our party. While it'll be expensive for him, he has qi regen and we can provide him with some more qi regen through our domain.
All in all, I'm really liking the additions that our spirits got, and I am going to be excited to see them in action under the earth when we go on our trip.
