If we want Keras to hit harder, working on improving Keras's existing damage dealing technique Dessicated Valley (Life/Death - Basic or Dandelion Rain (Mix Forger) (Life - Basic) will let Keras hit harder, sooner than anything else. Hmm, maaaybe more Prachi training or other combat experience would be as useful, but advancing basic techniques seems like more of a low hanging fruit.
Rock the Cradle: A cultivation story
- Thread starter VagueZ
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It started boosting our Speed when we got it to Advanced, adding Dream took it to Master and improved the mental boost/partially mitigated the strain from overuse.
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Using Death for that kind of technique would practically guarantee getting a slaughter mark at some point, but I think it could be perfectly viable with just Life. I actually had an idea for a Enforcer-primary/Forger-secondary technique using what Keras knows from the below quotes.
Make a technique that enhances/Enforces our axe as a primary benefit, or as a secondary can be used to forge axe-blades over our hands in the event we lose the axe, similar to how one of the potential variants for our Striker tech could be used the same way. And Prachi just recently showed us the benefit of a sidearm if someone gets in close.
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I mean, here's the pitch for folding Dream into Field's Strength.
So it definitely boosts speed more due to Dream.
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IIRC you can kill with Death madra, you only get a slaughter artist mark if you cycle from your kills.
Ferb_Ancos
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The idea to make an axe of Madra is because Keras fighting style focuses on it. Without it Keras won't be defenseless, but their combat potential will drop substantially. The idea is to mitigate that.
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Theoretically you could adapt a Forger technique to make other weapons. So Keras could have a Forger technique they mostly uses to make axes, but with enough control they could still use it to create pseudo-Striker techniques by creating a Forged weapon right into someone.
I think. Not sure if Forger techniques can create anything, or you need a separate Forger technique for each new object you're trying to Forge. (ie. you need two different techniques to make an axe and a sword.)
(Also one benefit of Forged axes is throwing them. It was one of the Kingsday fights where they threw their axe then kind of floundered when it wasn't enough to finish the fight.)
I think. Not sure if Forger techniques can create anything, or you need a separate Forger technique for each new object you're trying to Forge. (ie. you need two different techniques to make an axe and a sword.)
(Also one benefit of Forged axes is throwing them. It was one of the Kingsday fights where they threw their axe then kind of floundered when it wasn't enough to finish the fight.)
1337Procrast
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Refusing to use Death madra out of terror of being called a slaughter artist is like the worst thing we could do at this point. You gotta live with the consequences of your choices at least have the dignity to commit.
We should be folding Death into as many of our techniques as possible, if not doing some weird life technique flows into death technique idea which requires them to be seperate.
We should be folding Death into as many of our techniques as possible, if not doing some weird life technique flows into death technique idea which requires them to be seperate.
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I completely agree. We've got it now, we need to use. Not including it in our techniques means only using half of our madra's potential, which I would expect to make it half as effective.
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Generally it'd need to be a 'theme' of some sort, with the theme getting broader the more developed it is. One of my favorite canon Forger techniques is from the first book, where one of the protagonist's rivals has a Forger technique that's literally just "make a brick, and then I physically throw it at you", which is treated way more seriously than the comedy beat that it sounds like. The character's only Iron, and not actually that skilled at the sacred arts as far as the wider world of Cradle would consider things, and his technique topped out a "makes one(1) brick per use". The inverse of this is Mercy's Strings of Shadow technique, which Mercy has used to make bows, arrows, restraints of all sorts, bind herself to something and then shorten the string to yank herself around... it's one move that can be attack, defense, mobility, and general other utility: she uses it to do even things like stand up a chair that had fallen over so she doesn't have to look away from something she's focused on.
Right now, we've already seen Keras grow replacement axes, although they've used that for blunt training things instead of an equivalent weapon, but, yeah, a Forger technique to create "generally a hand weapon" or "specifically an axe" is fine. More advanced sacred artists often start with "a really big version" as a flashy opener when they have one of these techniques. It's one of the techniques we see King Seishen Dakata use in "Underlord", in fact: he Forges a huge sword as an anti-flying-ship move. Keras could certainly develop a Forger technique in the sort of direction you both are talking about, but there were two vote options so far about combining their current Forger technique with axes and they weren't taken. I have pages of other shiny thoughts that might grab even more attention than this type of new Forger move.
...More seriously, though, generally learning a new technique is a fairly serious thing, so the real concern really is opportunity cost. This proposal is a good one, but it might or might not be worth it to develop like this. It's almost certain to show up as a vote option at some appropriate point, though!
Copying Miera's Scythe but with Life and Death instead is what I was thinking of. Verdant Valley is a great technique it's just that it's not built from the ground up for healing and something that is would be potent. But Keras's technique library is versatile in terms of abilities and madra types.
Getting more skilled with the techniques and getting more combat training with Prachi is good. Keras has gotten to the point they're competent enough to be an explorer but isn't a dedicated warrior,
Adding Dream makes the speed boost a lot smoother and boosts the mental stuff and senses.
Death as a weapon doesn't make someone a slaughter artist. Also if we're going to make a technique then we may as well make it a forger due to being able to access that at any time.
Being able to throw the weapons is a use of it.
Death is a valuable asset that we've used enough that it's an important part of Keras's path so taking advantage of it is only natural.
I hadn't thought about the ability to be so flexible with our techniques, it's something I'll keep in mind in the future.
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I could see a purely Death madra axe Forger technique based around the concept of an executioner's axe.
Now that I think about it a Pure Death Axe or Scythe would have more symbology and it would be fitting to make Keras have one pure life technique and one pure death technique with everything else being mixed.
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Eithan would surely love to see a kid with a Death scythe.
1337Procrast
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I think this is an important thing to nail down like, techniques should usually not be a one trick pony and especially your bread and butter techniques should have some real versatility. If it's some big finisher technique it can be fine for it to do one thing but for Keras the finisher should be a ruler technique like Desiccated Valley more than anything.
This is probably just me being a contrarian but I think copying a technique from someone in story is just boring. Cradle has so much possibilities for techniques narrowing ourselves down like that is just not interesting to me.
If anything for our forger technique we'd want to improve Clinging Vines some more. That technique could absolutely be incredibly versatile. It's create a vine of forged madra, creating a vine can be used in so many ways.
Like a forger technique could be creating a tree of life/death life and or madra sapping bark that grows and encloses in on the opponent, it could even grow by absorbing madra and or aura from the environment and it's targets on top of Keras' own madra. Hell you could justify that as a ruler/forger technique probably lmao. Could be used as an obstacle, used as a trap, used as a finisher. Hell if it's based on absorbing madra Keras could refine cocktails of madra to throw into it for special effects.
Honestly that could be an evolution of Clinging Vines too.
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If we do end up going that route it would probably be Death-Axe and Life-Sickle, possibly attached to the end of vines.
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Or, expanding off of Dandelion Rain, possibly by planting "seeds" that sprout into purposed "plants"/constructs.
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Hmm....
Are there any other "chains" of choices we know about?
Besides the two that showed up in dreams.
Are there any other "chains" of choices we know about?
Besides the two that showed up in dreams.
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Man I forgot how good Mercy's path is. It's easy since she gets less focus in the later books, but man her path is super versatile.
Yeah this is my main concern with making new techniques. A Forger for weapons is a good idea, but otherwise I think we have a really solid arsenal.
Agreed. While we probably can't do all the things Mercy can (Shadow and Life don't have the same properties), her Forger technique shows how many possibilities there are, more than just trapping enemies.
Hmm, I'm not sure about ones that have shown up more than once. The other big decision point was our choice of Luxe training path, where we could've gone Dream reader or Bronze Serpant, but chose the Beti wildcard.
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Forged Vines should theoretically be capable of most things that forged Strings can do, if you can get them thin/strong enough.
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....I don't think that we could manage it, but-
-Vines mimicking muscle fibers?
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You're right, I think I conflated it somewhere with the speed boost we got from contracting with Beti.
That's two for two, I think I remember that now. My bad.
By the same measure if they already have an axe (which we do) then forging another one feels superfluous.
No-ones arguing that, least of all me? I was wrong about using it to kill being a risk, but nowhere did I state that we should avoid using it entirely.
That's why I like some kind of axe-blade forging, it'd double up as a tool if they don't have their axe or new knife on-hand.
Wouldn't learning to use a scythe at this point be a bit late? No real reason to other than aesthetic.
My idea includes that though?
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Speaking of vines mimicking muscles, Treelancer on YouTube has several videos I think would easily fit Keras' style.
Honestly Eithan would really like Keras given that they're a talented, well natured Sacred Artist that loves what they do for it's own sake, is able to heal and Eithan values that skillset, and they're brining their friends up with them on their Sacred Arts journey.
Yeah they're not one trick ponies they're entire skillsets that is tied together by a concept.
That would be a very interesting way to develop Clinging Vines.
Keras as a Dragon build, as a Dreamer and working for Luxe, Keras going all in on life and living in the capital.
It was the path that Malice wished she walked of course it's bullshit.
We have a personal buff, a single target attack, a debuff and restraining ability, a general AOE attack, and we have a Verdant Valley grows and heals things. Personally I'd only really develop the Forger technique for weapons and.
Keras could do stuff like that with Verdant Valley and Clinging Vines.
There was the Dragon path, the Capital Path and the Luxe path.
That would be an interesting way to develop it.
For this specific bit I was more talking about making a weapon that would target someone's lifeline and lifeforce and due to it being a life and death madra thing it would be even more impressive then Miera's Scythe. Learning another weapon would be tricky and leaning into the Executioner symbology with the Axe would be more pratical.
I was agreeing with you.
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Yeah this is my main hesitation. Not specifically our current axe, since it's just high-quality materials. But someday we might get an actual soulsmithed axe, so it's a waste if we spend a lot of time on a Forger technique for axes. But Forged axes are probably absurdly deadly, between Lifeline attacks and Death madra.
One possibility might be a soulsmith haft, and then Forged axeheads?
Another possibility is simply...not ever getting a soulsmithed weapon. Mercy, for example, didn't take a weapon as her reward in the UKT, she grabbed an eyeglass that helped her sensory abilities.
Remind me what the Capital path was? Was that just going with Miera's family?
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I'm actually concerned about his reaction considering he'll likely be able to see Etaja's bracelet.
Though I do admit I want to see how well our version of the Dessicated Valley works on him.
It starts with us going back with Meira to the Capital. The route we saw had the Second Prince pick us up pretty soon afterwards, though I think if we'd actually gone that route in-quest there might have been a way of avoiding that?
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I really doubt Eithan can see the bracelet. Remember Eithan locked away his abilities, and even his soulsmithing knowledge. Eithan is, for most purposes, simply an insanely skilled and naturally talented Underlord. Eithan, had he ever made it to Sage or Monarch, might be able to see the bracelet. But not before then.