So, time to talk shop about a revealed tech that I am extremely excited about. "Joyous Toast"
Joyous Toast: C
Duration: Immediate
Usable only while Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active. The guests of the festival raise their voices and cups and stamp their feet in joy, roaring encouragement for the user and their allies and jeering at their foes. The next music, dance or art based technique used by those affected is treated as if it is one rank higher for determining effects.
There is a couple of things to note here. First off, this tech is slow, like really slow. You have to have IPF active already, then you do this which does nothing on the turn that it is activated, and then the next music, dance, or art based technique (presumably next turn) is bumped up a rank for determining effects. Slow, but very powerful, especially when used with higher ranked music, dance, or art based techniques. Lower ranked techniques aren't as valuable for being buffed, however, as the difference between those ranks are smaller compared to say... the difference between B and A (or A and S).
So, what techs does "Joyous Toast" work on? Well, anything from PLR, SCS, FSS, and FVM as those all have dance or music in their categories. Which ones should we use Joyous Toast on? Well, a couple spring to mind. First off, all of these techniques are all going to be the improved versions which we don't have yet, the non-improved versions work as well.
Lunatic Whirl: C
Duration: Persistent
Usable only while Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active. The ghostly dancers gather around an intruder in the festival, laughing, singing and demanding a dance, forcing them to join the revelry. The dancers seize their arms and hands, dragging them through the chaotic revelry. Though the dancers will do no harm to their captive, the frenetic pace of the revelry is highly draining, and victim finds their qi dribbling away, siphoned to the user while the sights and sounds of the revel cloud their minds and steal the strength from their limbs. So long as their hands lie in the grasp of the dancers, they will also find the meridians in their arms blocked and unusable.
Bumping this up to B means that the qi drained will be more (which means more for us) and there will be more of a debuff when the sights and sounds cloud the target's mind and steals their strength. All in all, a pretty good buff.
Hoarfrost Caress: C
Duration: Immediate
Damage: C
The user's song rises into the howl of of a blizzard in the depths of winter as they focus the expression of their will upon a single enemy. The song tears and freezes the flesh of the singers enemy, and spreads through their blood and meridians, carrying the chill deeper still, like a frigid poison seeking the heart of its victims warmth. The chill clings long after the technique ends, sapping the targets vitality and will
This one is actually interesting it should increase the damage by a rank as well as increasing the debuff to the target's vitality and will. This is important, as we have other debuffs that have additional effects when a target fails a save that has something to do with their will. So increasing the debuff to the target's vitality and will could be used to trigger some other debuffs.
Grinning Crescent Dancer: B rank
Duration: Long
Calling upon the favor of the Grinning Moon, and using their skill at manipulating dark qi, the user's becomes an indistinct phantom, a flicker of shadow dancing between lights. Greatly enhances the dancers ability to avoid attacks and stay ahead of foes. The deeper the darkness grows the quicker their reactions and movement become. In darkness the dancers immaterial form may ignore the some of the impact of even those attacks which strike its flitting form. No mundane obstacle may block the movement of the Dancer, so long as they can perceive their destination, and entrapping them through wholly physical means becomes impossible.
Using Joyous Toast on Grinning Cresent Dancer means that we can have our first A ranked defensive technique. Enhancing this technique to A would mean an even greater ability to avoid attacks and stay ahead of foes, while in darkness ignoring more of the impact of even those attacks which strike us. Having this at A rank will be fantastic for our continued survivability.
And finally, my favorite wombo combo
Travelers End: B
Duration: Scene
Damage: B
In a distant, misty valley, far from the works of mankind, a traveler completed a melody and offered it to the moon, the final notes echoing long after his last breath. This melody is but a shadow of that… but even shadows hold power. Only usable if all other Forgotten Vale Melody techniques are active.
The mist grows darker and more cloying still, blotting out almost all external light, and draining the warmth from those trapped within. The mist grows potent with dark qi, fogging the senses still further to bring them the lonely despair of the travelers final days. While active all Forgotten Vale techniques are considered one rank higher, and attempts to dispel them must first dispel Travelers End.
The user may choose to end the melody at any time after Travelers End has been used. If they do so, the song reaches its finale, and all other techniques of the Forgotten Vale are ended as well. All who were still lost within the mist suffer an immediate spiritual attack of great magnitude, an echo of the travelers death in that far away vale. Those damaged by this attack may be paralyzed utterly by the assault, if their composure is too weak.
Making this an A-ranked technique could be utterly broken. First off, "While active all Forgotten Vale Techniques are considered one rank higher, and attempts to dispel them must first dispel Travler's End." Using "Joyous Toast" with Traveler's End means that TE will be considered one rank higher for determining effects, while also buffing itself to be one rank higher. This means that TE could reach S-Rank and require an S-rank dispel before dispelling any other FVM techniques.
This also means that the nuke for ending the melody would be calculated as if it was from an S-ranked technique as well as the paralysis effect. Which is utterly bonkers.
Joyous Toast serves as a potentially powerful defensive and offensive buff, depending on the situation at hand. While slow and tedious to set up, the effects of this technique when properly used could be devastating. As in... a nuke with a radius of "very far" computing its damage as if it was an S-ranked technique.
Edit: Just asked Yrs in Pm about Traveler's End buffing itself and that is a typo. It should be "all other Forgotten Vale Techniques." So, no getting an S-ranked nuke for us. Shame, but probably more balanced that way. Still though, buffing Traveler's End with Joyous Toast means that you need A-ranked dispell to even touch the other techs.