For Keras specifically technique wise I think they're pretty well rounded right now. One thing I think we should keep in mind is that 5 techniques is actually a lot of techniques for a Path to have. Cradle goes hard on that "fear kick practiced one thousand times not one thousand seperate kicks practiced once" thing. Lemme just run through em all.
Verdant Valley: Mastered Life-aspected Ruler technique
You can force plants to grow quickly or grow healthy with a thought, compressing weeks' worth of growth into seconds. You have additionally learned to heal using this. After weeks of Bronze Serpent coaching, while you cannot wholly replace lost or mutilated organs or extremities, with enough time and madra, little else is beyond you. Even poisons and diseases will give way. The chief limitation is if powerful madra opposes you: you must overcome it to heal. With plants, your field of effect has both reach and breadth: it encompasses far more area and reaches farther than others expect, encompasses dozens of square yards.
Verdant Valley is the utility technique which exists as the reminder Keras is running a farmer's Path. That doesn't mean it's utility isn't huge though. Healing is an amazing utility to have and for a refiner being able to boost plant growth has obvious benefits. It can be developed further (all of them can) but as is it's great. It does it's job.
Field's Strength: Mastered Life-and-Dream-aspected Enforcer technique
You draw energy from your core and the Remnant you've taken in to enhance your body and mind. You are faster, stronger, and tougher with it buoying you. While this much is obvious and wreathes your body in the faint impression of ivy, the other benefit it grants is speeding your mind and senses, so you can think and react quickly. Overuse of this last benefit can strain you.
This is honestly one of Keras' best techniques currently. It's well refined with the general benefit people use enforcer techniques for with the power of its Dream boosted sense enforcing specialty giving it flavour. I don't think we can justify another enforcer technique with this as it is. We can build on it but another would just be overlapping two seperate techniques requiring two seperate costs and that's not what we should be focusing Keras' concentration specialty on honestly.
Clinging Vines: Advanced Life-and-Death-Aspected Forger technique
You throw out a string of madra meant to catch and bind. It can be dodged by someone sufficiently quick, but otherwise ghostly ivy will manifest and restrain your target. You can use it to hold things or bind things together although sufficient raw strength or the right technique will break it. It has a currently-subtle effect that tries to kill techniques on those it binds, making it a little harder to activate or keep active techniques.
I am biased for Clinging Vines I believe in its power as a supporting combat technique. Especially with how specced Keras is into concentration and having 4 hands. Clinging Vines can ge incredibly hard as the main control technique of the Path and I really want to empower it's draining aspect. We could use more forger techniques though. Another boosted by the iron body isn't something to complain about.
Dandelion Rain: Basic Life-aspected Striker technique, with Forger elements
Although it can also be used as a basic ranged Striker technique, launched from your hand, like most Striker moves, its real power is in your ability to throw a "seed" of madra that will only shoot after a delay, from the point it was thrown to. This can be used for surprise or as a way to multiply your power by having them strike simultaneously. At present, you can maintain only two seeds at a time.
This functions as the ranged damage option and honestly I think it's better to keep it focused on an ambush of damage. I don't think we want to split its focus further and weaken the damage potential considering the access Keras has to other debuffing techniques. It's the technique that really brings the Path together currently. This and Clinging Vines is where Keras's concentration can shine by sheer weight of techniques used in unison to harass the opponent.
Desiccated Valley: Basic Life-and-Death-aspected Ruler technique
A technique where you use a spinning boundary field of life madra to try to suck out life power. Originally a gardening technique meant to clear an area of plant life, you've found that the life-suction is much more potent if you also pour in death madra to replace the removed life madra. Although you're loathe to use this to a lethal degree, even a lesser form of the death madra claws at senses, making others sometimes miss crucial details.
And finally. The showstopper. The (current) finisher. The big charged up ruler technique trump card. This is also where concentration gets to pop off. It's funny how this technique pretty much perfectly aligns with a Life/Death Path in concept and functions as a foil to Verdant Valley. Keras is already inclined to Ruler techniques from the first technique vote. The iron body empowered them as an option even further. The goldsign combos with the iron body to allow multitasking. Keras can be an utter monster of building ruler fields and harassing with Clinging Vines and Dandelion Rain to overwhelm by sheer weight of techniques. All things grow and wither at their whim.
Following on that if we really want more techniques at some point I'd definitely go for a ruler or forger one for sure, though the current 5 is probably fine. stat wise I think we need stamina, we really want stamina to really pop off with technique spam. For refining current techniques it's gotta be dandelion rain, clinging vines, or desiccated valley in my opinion.
If we can somehow pull out a ruler/forger technique that could be incredibly funny for Keras. Otherwise I just really want people to consider the power of overlapping ruler fields as an option Keras has available. We don't actually get to see many of those in canon but the concept of it is terrifying. It could be cool if we could somehow do a dual cast technique combo of Verdant and Desiccated Valley for an ultimate ruler technique but that is probably difficult to pull off.
Another thing I'd want to mention technique wise is that a technique has refinement but it is also bounded by advancement so a technique will always relatively grow in scope and ability as the Sacred Artist advances and practices the technique. Limitations will naturally fall off as we go, unless of course VagueZ prefers giving us more control there which would make sense in a quest.
