Is it worth it? [Exalted]

[OracleofSilence]

So i was rereading the Core book after getting brought into a local Exalted game, and i finally read th CHarms Infinite (Ability) Mastery, and (Ability) Essence Flow. The first seems that it may be worth it but i canot tell about the second.

So, simply are these charms worth the experience?

[Hiro Protagonest]

(Ability) Essence Flow is useless. If you're using the errata. Otherwise, it's great.

I would be surprised if they didn't change it in the errata though...

And as always, the best way to get an answer is to ask the question in the discussion thread.

[Friv]

Allow me to summarize those two Charms, pre- and post-errata.

Infinite Mastery - Pre-Errata, this Charm is good at Essence 3, and necessary in combat at Essence 4+. Post-Errata is the same thing, but even more so.

The ability to throw an extra 3 dice on all rolls you make in a scene without cost is exceptional for any situation where you make lots of rolls in a scene. Typically, that means combat, social combat, and possibly Stealth, Athletics, Investigation and similar things (depending on your ST. Some just call for one roll for a whole scene, while others do step-by-step stuff). Pre-errata you still need to spend WP on Combos, so you won't do it nonstop, but it's nice.

As for Essence Flow... it's a bit trickier. Pre-Errata, it has only one use - to reduce dependency on Combos. It lets you pull up Charms that you wouldn't normally be able to. It is thus very useful for Charms that pair with other Charms but you don't want to waste the experience to buy thirty Combos (social juggernauts, for example), or for Charms that you don't use often but don't want to spend experience to dump into every Combo you own (Resistance or Integrity, for example). Social actions are where it is most useful, because you don't usually make a lot of rolls, but you also don't want to be spending Willpower every action.

Post-errata, Essence Flow has a totally different purpose, letting you add an extra 1-3 dice to a roll. As a Charm that can help you beat die caps, it is amazing.

*EDIT* It's worth mentioning that I've never actually bought Essence Flow as a character. Usually, I want all of my Combos while I'm still Essence 3, so that experience has been pre-wasted, and there aren't many Abilities where I'm likely to be saving more than 8 XP on Combos. But there are situations where it's useful, especially if the game is going to go on for a long time and new Combos will always be a thing.