Above are the changes to TRF this turn. Here are the highlights:
- We now give ourselves and nearby allies +1 to Armor Value, which is a really impressive passive.
- Deepwood Vitality got a MASSIVE boost. It can now link more allies (3->5 targets), and give TWO bonus health instead of one. And the dispel gets +3 now.
- Ten Ring Defense also got an impressive boost. It lasts longer (3->5 turns), and now downgrades two points of damage instead of just one. It also grants us +2 Qi/turn in recovery on turns when we don't take damage.
- Hundred Ring Armament got nothing. Well, it can target more allies now, but since we have to pay 4 Qi per ally targetted we are highly unlikely to use that upgrade.
Some thoughts on what this actually means.
First of all, Deepwood Vitality is now absolutely amazing. Not only does it now give TWO health boxes, but it can target up to five allies and ourselves; so that can be as much as TWELVE health. And we get this from an Instant, and not even an exceptionally expensive one at that (4 Qi after discounts right now). Oh, and it gives +3 to each of our (and out allies') physical defense rolls. In a team, this is absolutely absurd. Even if it is just Ling Qi, and Zhengui, this is likely to be a worthwhile cast, and when it does that it shows literally 1/3 of its potential. This technique is STRONG.
Ten Ring Defense is now a great technique for long, drawn-out fights against lesser opponents. Basically, in the same way that FVM lets us bleed out enemies to death, TRD lets us regen Qi if we have it up and the enemy can't hit us. I imagine it would help considerably to "marathon" type events, where we have to go through multiple conflicts without a chance to properly recover between them. In a more standard fight, TRD is likely to get us a couple of bonus Qi on average, but other than that its value remains in being able to block otherwise unblockable damage.
Finally, we have a new passive - and it is a big one! Any ally hanging around us gets +1 to their Armor Value (if they have any armor, anyways). That puts us personally at 3 armor, which is very respectable - and puts Zhengui at 6 Armor. That is a LOT of armor.