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[Spirit_Crusher]

The biggest problem is that Armor, WMs best tool, becomes progressively less useful as the game progresses. So WMs are very strong at first levels and suck later when everybody and their cousin's attacks are energy based. Really, in the next edition of the core armor should be simplified and protect equally from all sources of damage.
Leather = 1; Leather and Mail = 2; Heavy Mail = 3; Plates = 4; Mail and Plates = 5;   Full = 7 would work.

[Sharpandpointies]

Having high armor and high life points can be an incredible thing in Anima.

Again, the Weaponmaster might not be tossing out army-busting blasts.  He might not have any Ki abilities beyond a couple, or maybe a couple of minor dominions, or an Ars Magnus (and an Impossible Weapon, always good for a weaponmaster!).  Now, he probably ignores a couple of points of armor (plus his weapons) when fighting, or has a special disarm or immobolize, or something like that as well.  But it's not the same as 'boom, army go bye-bye'.

But having a veritable ton of armor, wearing the best in the game, and buying a few extra life point multiples at level one and every couple of levels after that...well, when coupled with having +20/level already (and possibly throwing on 'Hard To Kill'), you end up with Weaponmasters with literally hundreds of life points at high levels and the armour to keep them from spilling out.

Again, this means he doesn't do as well whupping on large groups of Teckla, not having massive area attacks, and he doesn't dish out the kind of awesome damage the technician can, but...at the end of the fight with the demon lord, he may well be the last guy standing who drives his sword home for the finishing blow.

The armor issue IS an issue, I admit.  It still helps, though, especially when one gets a +5 or +10 suit of it at higher levels. 

[Lizbeth]

Energy based attacks are not THAT common (unless you force everyone to take one Dominion technique).
WM is a steady reliable guy who does his job from round 1 (unlike technician and wizard who have to accumulate), and also he is often the last guy standing — his hp amount is great.
He is "simple fighter" type of character for players who don't want to read spellbooks and create techniques, and he is good at his role, unlike DnD fighters.

[exarkfr]

Energy based attacks are not THAT common (unless you force everyone to take one Dominion technique).

Against heavy/metallic armours, what you want is ELEctricity damage. Easily available (Aura Extension as requisite), and rather cheap (10 MK), if you can persuade your GM of course.
A nice choice for any fighter expecting "tanks"

[Spirit_Crusher]

That is incorrect Spirit_Crusher, Ars Magnus are indeed part of the Combat Primary limit, but nowhere does it state they are General Weapon Modules, Archetypical Weapon Modules, or Style Modules.

Note, it does refer to them as Unique Combat Styles, but it never refers to them as Style Modules.

Ars Magnus is its own unique category, this is apparent from reverse-engineering the Anima NPC's that I translated several months ago.

Zeru, I reverse engineered Griever's character sheet, and found out the following:
At 10th level he has maxed out attack and defense (380 dp in attack and 370 in defense), has bought 10 points of wear armor (has total 130. 100 from class, 20 from Str bonus , so he has 10 dp sepnt there). This leaves 140 points for natural abilities. He has
Table area 50 dp  ataque encadenado 50 dp defensa projectiles 40 dp sujecion 10dp critico incrementado 20 dp guardaespaldas 30 dp arma distinta 20 dp : total 220 dp, halved for 110. He has advanced pankration, for another 25. This would leave 5 points for the 30 points expenditure for the Ars Magnus he has. My assumption is that the 130 wear armor is an error, should be 120 with no expenditure, and the ars magnus developement costs are actually halved for weaponmasters.
I spotted another small error, Griever has 180 CM spent but really has only 150 bought\gained. Ki Control is listed under his abilities, but he has no tecniques, nor is ki control prerequisite for any of his other abilities... Just those 30 extra points. I suppose Ki control shouldn't be there.

[Lia Valenth]

There are two really good ways to increase the defensive capabilities of the Weapon Master,

1) Become a smith. At low levels you can craft your own stuff to save money, by level 3 you can make +5, and by level 5 you can make +10 equipment fairly quickly. By level 10 you could in theory make +15 or +20 stuff in a few months, if you can find the materials (good luck with that, unless Promethean Exxet has something).

2) Layer armour. You can wear 3 armours, one hard and up to two soft, but you take a -20 to initiative and a few secondary abilities per additional armour. Assuming really high level (lets say 10) you could have +10 Full Field Plate, +5 Complete Leather, and +5 Fur, with a penalty of -40 initiative for;

Cut	Impact	Thrust	Heat	Elec	Cold	Ene
13	9	15	10	6	10	4

This gives pretty good armor against everyhing. As pointed out Electricity and Energy are low, but 60 armor does decrease damage by "60%" and Energy is rare (and intentionally difficult to defend against). Albeit with a few MK in the Ki Energy Armor abilities you can increase your Energy armor by 2-6.

Also, there is the little thing about 10 being the maximum amount of armor you can have, we spoke on this on the Fantasy Flight boards, but there was really no conclusion as that the rules do state AT goes from 0 to 10 but some creatures have more than 10 AT.

I do not know how to increase a Weapon Masters damage without artifacts.

[exarkfr]

Also, there is the little thing about 10 being the maximum amount of armor you can have, we spoke on this on the Fantasy Flight boards, but there was really no conclusion as that the rules do state AT goes from 0 to 10 but some creatures have more than 10 AT.

Anyone knows if Core Exxet solves that ?
I think it uses a formula, now. It would remove the "artificial 10-point limit" created by the fact that "the table must fit within the page"

[Spirit_Crusher]

Core exxet simplifies the combat table substituting it with a formula.
Every character has Absorption 20 + armor level. Meaning that if he has   armor 0 you have to score 30 over said character's defense for a 10% damage, 40 for 20% damage etc.
Armor simply adds to absorption without limits.1 point of armor against particular attack= +10 absorption.
The Arcane version of Light Armor gives 12 armor level against energy, so I uppose the limit is no longer there.

[Zeru]

@ Spirit Crusher

Your correct about the Wear Armor being off, but your other numbers are incorrect.

Here is the math:

Attack: 380 DP
Block: 370 DP

Style Modules: Area Attack (20 DP), Additional Attacks (20 DP), Defense Against Projectiles (20 DP), Increased Critical (10 DP), Bodyguard (15 DP) = 85 DP

Martial Art: Pankration (Advanced) as his base proficiency = 25 DP.

Weapon Module: Different Type (Two-Handed Sword) = 10 DP

Ars Magnus: Final Attack = 30 DP

That comes out as exactly 900 DP, 60% of his total DP.

Also, he only has 140 MK Spent:

Use of Ki (40), Ki Control (30), Presence Extrusion (10), Aura Extension (10), Use of Necessary Energy (10), Inhumanity (30), Final Attack (10) = 140 MK

So in the end, no, Griever does not have a discount towards the Ars Magnus.


Edit:

As for Armor, people often exaggerate how much it declines at higher levels. Certainly, some opponents possess attacks capable of bypassing/piercing through Armor, but many people forget that despite these attacks Weapon Masters still generally take less damage then their teammates do, while possessing a lot more LP.

An attack that has -4 AT will ignore a lot of armor on the Weapon Master, but likely ignores ALL the armor on his teammates. Energy based Attacks are also relativity easy to resist with the use of the Mystical Armor Advantage, or simply taking Energy Armor and its upgrades, which require no Ki to use.

Also, since Weapon Masters generally spent less on "secondary" primary abilities then most combat classes, their total Attack/Block score tends to be the highest in the group from my experience.

[Sharpandpointies]

I do not know how to increase a Weapon Masters damage without artifacts.

Low-level Ki dominions are certainly possible.  Ki ability for +10 damage as well, Presence Extrusion as well - a Weapon Master buying those could have them both by level 7, for +20 to his damage.  Constantly. 

They don't massively increase the damage, but they help. 

Armor Reduction module ends up being a damage bonus against anyone with any armor.

Final Attack gives him a better bonus when he burns his fatigue, and a better bonus to hit translates into better damage.  Same deal with Magnum, if he wants to go that route.

Taurus, Leo, and definitely Libra are all means for the WM to gain a sizeable damage bonus over his base, though Libra will be out of reach for a touch longer time without buying a level of Martial Mastery (the total cost for it is 100, toss on PE and Damage Bonus and we're at 120, so 8th level with 1 level of Martial Mastery).

None of these massively increase his damage, but they provide a chunk of a bonus, and every little bit helps when one doesn't have access to the higher-end Ki abilities.

I would advise budding WM's to take a level of Martial Mastery, just to allow them to start USING that +10 per level of MK, allowing them to pick up small Ki bonuses or work toward an Ars Magnus more quickly.

[Lizbeth]

Actually "use of ki" prerequisite is annoying for any class. Even for Technician.

[Spirit_Crusher]

@ Spirit Crusher

Your correct about the Wear Armor being off, but your other numbers are incorrect.

Here is the math:

Attack: 380 DP
Block: 370 DP

Style Modules: Area Attack (20 DP), Additional Attacks (20 DP), Defense Against Projectiles (20 DP), Increased Critical (10 DP), Bodyguard (15 DP) = 85 DP

Martial Art: Pankration (Advanced) as his base proficiency = 25 DP.

Weapon Module: Different Type (Two-Handed Sword) = 10 DP

Ars Magnus: Final Attack = 30 DP

That comes out as exactly 900 DP, 60% of his total DP.

Also, he only has 140 MK Spent:

Use of Ki (40), Ki Control (30), Presence Extrusion (10), Aura Extension (10), Use of Necessary Energy (10), Inhumanity (30), Final Attack (10) = 140 MK

So in the end, no, Griever does not have a discount towards the Ars Magnus.


Edit:

As for Armor, people often exaggerate how much it declines at higher levels. Certainly, some opponents possess attacks capable of bypassing/piercing through Armor, but many people forget that despite these attacks Weapon Masters still generally take less damage then their teammates do, while possessing a lot more LP.

An attack that has -4 AT will ignore a lot of armor on the Weapon Master, but likely ignores ALL the armor on his teammates. Energy based Attacks are also relativity easy to resist with the use of the Mystical Armor Advantage, or simply taking Energy Armor and its upgrades, which require no Ki to use.

Also, since Weapon Masters generally spent less on "secondary" primary abilities then most combat classes, their total Attack/Block score tends to be the highest in the group from my experience.

It's your numbers that are incorrect. Area attack is 50, halved for 25 (Core Exxet). He does not have additional attack, but Ataque encadenado from core exxet, 50 dp halved for 25. He DOES have Tabla of Sujection from Dominus Exxet, the one for not being desarmed, 10 points halved for 5. you're not listing that. You come out 15 points lower than how the character is actually written.
 Please re-check Griever's sheet and the DP costs you listed.
On the other hand, you are right, I was looking for the wrong Magnus, he has Ataque Final, not the one I was looking for (Liberacion de Poder). So the Martial Knowledge numbers are legal.
He very probably HAS the discount for the ars magnus.


As for armor, the point is that with the increase of energy-based attack frequency, the utility of armor decreases. That mighty 8 armor against physical damage for a full plate +5 is going to count as just a +1 on the only relevant table, the energy one. Ki Armor is there for everybody, and probably everybody is going to buy it.
 

[Sharpandpointies]

Actually "use of ki" prerequisite is annoying for any class. Even for Technician.

It's no different from having to have 'The Gift' or 'Access to Psychic Powers'.  1 CP opens up the Ki abilities completely at level one (1 level of Martial Mastery).

...actually, it is different, because anyone can get it later without spending the CP.  They just have to wait a little longer.  :)

[Zeru]

It's your numbers that are incorrect.

Area attack is 50, halved for 25 (Core Exxet).

I don't have Core Exxet, but Area Attack is 40 DP in the Core Rulebook, hence my calculation. Is there any particular reason they raised the cost on Area Attack?

He does not have additional attack, but Ataque encadenado from core exxet, 50 dp halved for 25.

Ataque encadenado roughly translated into "chained attack" the closest skill I know of is Additional Attack for 40 DP. What does this skill from Core Exxet do?

He DOES have Tabla of Sujection from Dominus Exxet, the one for not being desarmed, 10 points halved for 5. you're not listing that. You come out 15 points lower than how the character is actually written.

Please re-check Griever's sheet and the DP costs you listed.
On the other hand, you are right, I was looking for the wrong Magnus, he has Ataque Final, not the one I was looking for (Liberacion de Poder). So the Martial Knowledge numbers are legal.

Yes, I just noticed that as I read him over again, which does put him 5 DP over with my calculations. This, however, just returns to the original problem Griever has, that he is over DP Combat DP limits by RAW.

He very probably HAS the discount for the ars magnus.

If so, it is against the RAW unless Core Exxet changes the wording on Weapon Master's discount (which is possible), and technically, he is still over DP due to Wear Armor.

I really felt Griever was one of the more poorly mathed out characters from Dramatic Personae, though many of them have a ton of errors.

As for armor, the point is that with the increase of energy-based attack frequency, the utility of armor decreases. That mighty 8 armor against physical damage for a full plate +5 is going to count as just a +1 on the only relevant table, the energy one. Ki Armor is there for everybody, and probably everybody is going to buy it.

Energy-based attacks are indeed more frequent at higher level, but I am not seeing how they undermine the Weapon Master's durability when most classes are going to have 0 Energy AT as well without Energy Armor while having much less LP.

It is not like every encounter has a creature that does energy damage as a primary form of attack anyway. Even Omega and Rudrashka rely more on non-energy attacks for most of their combat cycle.

and for the record, most high level characters I have seen written up rarely go beyond Energy Armor (2 Energy AT). Wizard types are usually the only ones that get any significant Energy AT, it is supposed to be a low AT for most people.

[Tarrant12]

What is the equation for damage from core exxet? 20+armor... Whatelse and how does it work?