[Shujin]

Additional Playstlye/Class Expansion:
Verglas:
Verglas needs a bit more love in general, it fell really behind. It's way to FP heavy for a Combo class. It needs a Throw Snowball skill, obviously. Icicle spear needs some more love it needs 9 M to be cast and removes a decent buff from yourself, Neither Damage nor the effect are good enough to compensate for that, it being a map wide snipe is the only boon.(Miu is almost better in that, minus the range. But it's also just 3M).
Generally I think it needs a few more toys maybe, for utillity sake. Maybe something that makes them actually use the Ice tiles they produce? Like they absorb so and so many Ice tiles around themselves for some special attacks of maybe even a Barrier around themselves that works like Jarmor but also makes you immobile, but at the same time while active you recover a bit of FP/HP each turn? I think being able to use Ice tiles in general would fit them lore wise aswell, since its said they are even stronger when there is Ice all around them, the abbility to use those ice tiles would perfectly reflect that.

Bonder:
Bonders are meant to have little few friends but you fight with them together in a more effective way!

While it has a few features that are really cool it also lacks the part with "I fight with them!"

I think it lacks fundamental battle skills to make Bonder able to fight with their youkai, 1 skill in each weapon category doesn't really fullfill it (the spear one is basically unuseable aswell, cause your youkai can't hit for shit anyway.)
It doesn't need to reinvent the wheel either, skills as basic as Sidecut are actually some of the most fun skills in the game. Have something along that tier with some youkai single/multi bond effects and they become alot more viable in combat and a lot more fun to play.
Again, they lack ways to fight on their own. And the youkai are so short lived that once they are dead you are basically defenseless entirely for the rest of the fight or well, you are fighting wih only one class.

To make it able to appeal to more classes I guess 3-4 skills in each weapon category would make it quite cool.(as sword bonder you can actually legitamely not use a duelist promotion anymore. And still do stuff.) Adding more categories to open up more different class combination? Even better. But if it's either or? Just flash out the existing weapon categories so you have some options to fight even if your youkai are dead.
Then adding some mechanics that resolve around keeping your team alive and giving them buffs to hit and so on, so that they can actually viable fight without only being able to spam their inbound youkai skill all the time.
I imangine that it would be very much possible to grant them skills the Bonder purchases, to make them more versatile? (Like if the youkai could use the spear skill on it's own, without the bonded youkai effect, that would be pretty neat....If they could hit aswell...)

Bonder has been a niche class for way to long, which is mostly because it can't really stand on its own and is used for additional buffs currently. Now that Fast offense got it's well deserved nerf atleast.


I actually only voted one cause I derped, but my second vote would go for either Subpath talents or Ice dungeon...Cause my ice characters need a buff. Clearly. But probably subpaths

For Subpath talents:
-Alternate paths for weapons to approach different playstyles. (like in the topic about swapping Reliabbility with thin tip. Just give weapons differnt path to compliment their playstyles.)

-Shield subpath: Let me captain america those fuckers in someones face and bash the shit out of people with a character who uses nothing but a shield. Maybe some generic flat reductions. I know could be Soldier sklls but...Why if you could just aswell make it a generic thing to allow some out of the box combinations like a shield martial artist! I feel like certain skills like protect, throw sand and so on could just aswell be generic "Skills".

-Having something for lightweight weapons, to help compete with twohanding. Maybe even dualwielding/multiweaponing. Actually, something to help with barefists couldn't hurt either?

-Wrestling talent tree...I am not even kidding. Let us use grapple and suplex the shit out of scare bears or something. Tag team grapple moves!? I am serious. I want this. And choking maybe, so you can acually do something while holding someone. Also grappled people should lose evade.

-More skills with niche effects like that. Like pick pocketing: stealing one item from their item belt, Rouges throw sand would probably do better as a Talent tree like "Dirty fighting". The long longed for "Turn Around" skill could also fit into it. Also opposite form "honor" tree path.

-Stances: Basically a "buff" type that aslong as you haven't been knocked down or something gives you certain boni/mali in certain conditions. Maybe even just additional effects like bleeding, staggering (people are thrown of balance for evade reduction or whatever).

-Maybe trees that compliment cetain character arche types. Like "Lone Wolf" that gives them benefits aslong as they are not in a party/have youkai or something. I am not talking about anything to big, just small boons that even maybe just work in PvE like Exp boosts cause alone is the ultimate experince...As shown by Kirito in SoA...I am kidding here. Maybe minimal demage reductions aswell, for aslong as your party size is =1

-Crafting enhancements, but probably not needed. I still think the whole crafting system needs a huge overhaul.

-PvE Dungeoning Talents for more loot chance and stuff like that. Maybe even an additional roll per battle for loot?

I think thats all what I can think of Spontanously.