SangoProduction
2022-01-08, 05:50 AM
Preamble: I felt like ranking the spheres, based on two criteria, as either a dedicated spell list for a dedicated caster, and as a splash sphere, from which you would just loot the few things that you find useful, and get out.
Why? Do I think it's particularly useful? No, but everyone does year-end tier lists. I want to as well.
No hard ratings. Just general tiering of "best to not-so-best."
Note: 99% of this is from memory. While procrastinating on going to bed. You got a complaint or correction? Make it known.
Illusion - Assuming you have at least some DM buy in, and some deal of creativity, and a few levels under you for the talents, this is probably the single best sphere you can dedicate to. All without any substantial out-of-sphere support. It's just so infinitely flexible.
Mind - Getting DC 30+ at level 1? Yeah, potentially really insane, and effectively irresistible, if you focused on making it like that. It's also got room for buffs and recon in addition to the obvious social and "combat" uses.
Divination - This does one thing, but it kind of does it well, especially if you focus on it. Definitely feels like an NPC sphere, unless you're taking the Soul Weaver to support it. And you can still contribute to social encounters, hypothetically.
Weather - Despite all the complexities of the weather sphere, and where you'd easily guess wrong about where the power is held in the sphere, it does have support for dedicated weather specialists. Granted, there aren't a lot of "extra" uses for a weather mage. But you control the weather. Imagine the money you can make by ensuring that your weddings never have a rainy day.
Death - Undead can be incredibly flexible, especially given DM buy in and some useful bodies. You might even be allowed to Frankenstein your own bodies. And while your puppets are dealing damage, you can debuff large swathes of the battlefield. Careful of being too good at your job.
War - Very potent. Momentum is one of the most efficient mechanics in all of Spheres. But you really do only have tools for combat.
Nature - Nearly each talent's versatility grows with each package taken. Is it excessively versatile? Eh... Not really. But it is some.
Fallen Fey - You only activate the fey link once (per period of duration), and get to place all of your fey-blessings onto that link for 1 spell point each as a free action. Easily dispelled? Yes. Excessively synergistic? No. But still, free action buffs that work off the same mechanic.
Bear - Some of these talents scale with your number of Bear talents. Which is definitely strange, but useful. No real synergies otherwise. It's just a random assortment of powers.
Dark - There is plenty of support for a dark caster. And for an AoE debuff bot, it can be fairly potent. Multiple times more so in enclosed spaces. I simply feel fairly uninspired when looking at the sphere itself. Maybe if I were more into edgy characters...
Destruction - I mean, it's not Pokemon. Type coverage isn't that notable. Until it is. Also dedicated destruction casters can often be seen as way too good at their job. Rightfully or otherwise. Flexibility is very limited.
Life - You easily become way too good at your job with the Life sphere, making dedication to the sphere a generally bad idea. There is some limited buffing utility.
Everything Else - I wouldn't.
War - Momentum is easily the most efficient mechanic in all of Spheres. And it's all paced out, so despite getting multiple times more damage than Destruction for the same spell points, no one complains.
Destruction sphere - One and done. You can even get your preferred shape and flavor of blasty magic. It'll scale with you on its own.
Life - Just one talent spent ramps up your team's durability exponentially. Taking a second or third well-placed talent can make you nearly unkillable.
Fate - Huge potential sources of buffs and debuffs. Grabbing what your group in particular needs and then getting out is great. Especially the extra saves.
Weather - You can be your team's stealth bot with 1 talent.
Illusion - You can attempt to be your team's stealth bot.
Alteration - Offensive casters who just transform the big bad into an abomination of twisted flesh and tortured cries of agony are... offensive. And also don't take many talents at all.
Conjuration - Grab your mount and don't linger long. The talents are very inefficient.
Warp - Ship combat can get turbulent. Hopping back into the ship is nice. Alteration might be a safer bet. Unless you've got long range teleport. And can mass teleport your crew to board the enemy.
Everything Else - Eh. Grab what you need / want. I'm not stopping you. It's an open system. Do what you want man.
Why? Do I think it's particularly useful? No, but everyone does year-end tier lists. I want to as well.
No hard ratings. Just general tiering of "best to not-so-best."
Note: 99% of this is from memory. While procrastinating on going to bed. You got a complaint or correction? Make it known.
Illusion - Assuming you have at least some DM buy in, and some deal of creativity, and a few levels under you for the talents, this is probably the single best sphere you can dedicate to. All without any substantial out-of-sphere support. It's just so infinitely flexible.
Mind - Getting DC 30+ at level 1? Yeah, potentially really insane, and effectively irresistible, if you focused on making it like that. It's also got room for buffs and recon in addition to the obvious social and "combat" uses.
Divination - This does one thing, but it kind of does it well, especially if you focus on it. Definitely feels like an NPC sphere, unless you're taking the Soul Weaver to support it. And you can still contribute to social encounters, hypothetically.
Weather - Despite all the complexities of the weather sphere, and where you'd easily guess wrong about where the power is held in the sphere, it does have support for dedicated weather specialists. Granted, there aren't a lot of "extra" uses for a weather mage. But you control the weather. Imagine the money you can make by ensuring that your weddings never have a rainy day.
Death - Undead can be incredibly flexible, especially given DM buy in and some useful bodies. You might even be allowed to Frankenstein your own bodies. And while your puppets are dealing damage, you can debuff large swathes of the battlefield. Careful of being too good at your job.
War - Very potent. Momentum is one of the most efficient mechanics in all of Spheres. But you really do only have tools for combat.
Nature - Nearly each talent's versatility grows with each package taken. Is it excessively versatile? Eh... Not really. But it is some.
Fallen Fey - You only activate the fey link once (per period of duration), and get to place all of your fey-blessings onto that link for 1 spell point each as a free action. Easily dispelled? Yes. Excessively synergistic? No. But still, free action buffs that work off the same mechanic.
Bear - Some of these talents scale with your number of Bear talents. Which is definitely strange, but useful. No real synergies otherwise. It's just a random assortment of powers.
Dark - There is plenty of support for a dark caster. And for an AoE debuff bot, it can be fairly potent. Multiple times more so in enclosed spaces. I simply feel fairly uninspired when looking at the sphere itself. Maybe if I were more into edgy characters...
Destruction - I mean, it's not Pokemon. Type coverage isn't that notable. Until it is. Also dedicated destruction casters can often be seen as way too good at their job. Rightfully or otherwise. Flexibility is very limited.
Life - You easily become way too good at your job with the Life sphere, making dedication to the sphere a generally bad idea. There is some limited buffing utility.
Everything Else - I wouldn't.
War - Momentum is easily the most efficient mechanic in all of Spheres. And it's all paced out, so despite getting multiple times more damage than Destruction for the same spell points, no one complains.
Destruction sphere - One and done. You can even get your preferred shape and flavor of blasty magic. It'll scale with you on its own.
Life - Just one talent spent ramps up your team's durability exponentially. Taking a second or third well-placed talent can make you nearly unkillable.
Fate - Huge potential sources of buffs and debuffs. Grabbing what your group in particular needs and then getting out is great. Especially the extra saves.
Weather - You can be your team's stealth bot with 1 talent.
Illusion - You can attempt to be your team's stealth bot.
Alteration - Offensive casters who just transform the big bad into an abomination of twisted flesh and tortured cries of agony are... offensive. And also don't take many talents at all.
Conjuration - Grab your mount and don't linger long. The talents are very inefficient.
Warp - Ship combat can get turbulent. Hopping back into the ship is nice. Alteration might be a safer bet. Unless you've got long range teleport. And can mass teleport your crew to board the enemy.
Everything Else - Eh. Grab what you need / want. I'm not stopping you. It's an open system. Do what you want man.