FFT Arena: Questionnaire Time Again! (For 131)

[The Damned]

(Only made it through like 2 hours of Wiz's video before Firefox crashed on me. Great. This computer....)

I see, Raven. Very well then.

Agree that Persevering probably doesn't need to be done with regards to Songs or Dance, but if it's what most people are agree on, then I'd rather than not allowing Mimes to mimic Songs or Dances at all. "Lesser evil" and everything.

I don't get it... Witch Hunt was stupidly powerful in some of those matches. I doubt the AI will use MP Regen correctly though, but I fail to see why letting the Time Mage with 0 mp do more than a suicidal staff whack is horrible. Or is every mage supposed to use Ether/Angel Song (so broken, even if it triggered only once due to mimes.) secondary? Currently I see Move-MP UP as a necessity, not a decision.

If Mist/MP Regen is innate, it doesn't matter how the AI would otherwise use it as a skill since it would be innate, which is the problem that I'm getting at: why would anyone use MP damage if the game was automatically geared towards negating that damage every turn? Every turn spent using a MP damage spell is essentially wasted unless it negates a spell being cast, and even then, it at best turns matches into a stalemate based upon AI stupidity if it manages to be "effective" still at all.

As for Witch Hunt being "stupidly powerful", realize you said in some matches. I could understand if Witch Hunt was a dominating force (like Quickening) that basically screwed all other strategies if it appeared (luck aside), but you're honestly trying to convince me it's "stupidly powerful" just because once a great while it can actually, against all odds, succeed at the thing it was supposed to do?

What? How is that "stupidly powerful"? Especially when the only shitty mage weapons (in terms of pure WP) are pretty much all Rods? You saddle your mage with that (or a Bag) as means of last resort physical attack and have no reliable means of restoring MP and it's your own damn fault when they become dead-weight.

Even if the only solutions were the ones you listed and we ignored Chakra, the boost to MP Restore, Absorb Used MP & Spell Absorb, you act like those three options are in skill sets that are out of the way. Honestly, when was the last time you saw a team forego Item? The only teams that I can think of have all Mimes on them, which tend to have Bards on them. And can you tell which Movement mages would benefit from more?

This is like saying Silence Song is stupidly powerful because in some matches it would utterly shut down mages who didn't bring gear to block it or means to cure it, even though the majority of the time, as with Witch Hunt, it's pretty inconsequential.

[Squidgy]

This is like saying Silence Song is stupidly powerful because in some matches it would utterly shut down mages who didn't bring gear to block it or means to cure it, even though the majority of the time, as with Witch Hunt, it's pretty inconsequential.

Yes, it is. Except Witch Hunt doesn't have an equip or skill to counter it (except OP Angel Song, maybe). The way you counter it is by making teams with little mp reliance, not by throwing on easy-to-find anti-Silence equips and skills. Witch Hunt would be OP if casters were better than phys units. Right now it's just stupid, because it's a hard counter to something which doesn't need a hard counter in the first place. That's the main reason you don't see Magic Ruin and Spell Absorb much, not because MP Damage is worthless; it will gut certain teams, but those certain teams aren't very powerful.

I'm curious what sort of numbers you think this innate MP regen would be cranking out, because I was thinking of it like FFTA, ~5, for a caster, therefore much less for people without robe gear. Even if it was a huge number, the AI will churn out high cost spells until it hits 0, then either spam low-cost stuff, gimping itself, commit suicide by going into melee, or most likely use the inevitably equipped Hi-Ether/Angel Song, and still lose a turn.

[RavenOfRazgriz]

I'm actually all for a 6% (1/16th) MP Regen on every unit, because of the nature of Arena.  Right now, MP costs are biased heavily towards casters, given their skills both have the higher MP costs and their Attack command is usually shittier than a non-caster's.  If you were to fix this issue and instill some parity (better Mage-based Attack options, more MP costs on non-Mages)... you'd still probably want this 5% MP Regen floor both because the AI is absolutely retarded with MP and because MP breaking would become an easy means of forcing units out of relevance as more than a matchup-based thing.

I think this fills nicely with the reduction to Move-MP UP - you get a 5% MP Regen "floor", then if you need MORE MP, you have Move-MP UP.  But maybe that's just me.

[The Damned]

(Ugh. I feel like there's something unrelated to equipment I'm forgetting to mention.)

I'm not sure I even agree with the Move-MP Up reduction, actually. I'd much rather resurrection skills be made to cost [slightly] more MP so you can't have an infinite supply of it (but would run out extremely slowly, normally) like Redworld's team than Move-MP Up be made nigh-worthless.

I also can't really agree with even a minor "auto-MP Regen"--I figure it will only be "5" MP every turn like FFTA overall--if Quickening is staying around and a few other cheap abilities (pretty much all Paladin skills and some Ninja skills) are potentially getting buffed. If you want to add Mist as an active ability/status to further test out the AI (since that's another large part of what ARENA is about, IMO), then please do that rather than being "lazy" about it and just making things even easier to get around by giving it to everyone innately.

If it was really going to be as low as 1/16 MP turn, then perhaps I'd be more willing to consider it, but then it would be rather useless to give to everyone since only casters would benefit from it, which, again, makes seem silly if you're making it innate. That it wouldn't show up every turn just cause it to have another strike against it for me, but it's not like I'm the ultimate decision maker on this, so let's just move on.

Yes, it is. Except Witch Hunt doesn't have an equip or skill to counter it (except OP Angel Song, maybe). The way you counter it is by making teams with little mp reliance, not by throwing on easy-to-find anti-Silence equips and skills.

Witch Hunt doesn't have equips or skills to counter it? Perhaps it doesn't have anything to block it (or anything that automatically gives you Move-MP Up or Mist), but Robes arguably "counter" it considering that Witch Hunt tends to hit only for 23 MP twice or four times before the Dancer either dies or does something else. Most dedicated mages have a lot more than 92 MP even without Robes.

Also, while Move-MP Up may be the only skill that out and out counters it, again, it's not like it's asking mages to bend over backward and use a Movement skill they aren't going to use anyway. They hardly benefit from Movement skills that augment actual Move or Jump stats, which either that, Float or Move-HP Up when they tend not to have that much HP. And, hell, Move-MP Up counters Witch Hunt without needing to waste an action on it, which is what I'm getting at: Witch Hunt managing to do it's job is far, far less common than it just being a pointless, wasted action. So how can it be "overpowered"?

(It's also arguably countered by Half of MP, though few people have been using that give its cost versus MP Restore and having to compete with Magic Attack UP & Short Charge.)

Witch Hunt would be OP if casters were better than phys units. Right now it's just stupid, because it's a hard counter to something which doesn't need a hard counter in the first place. That's the main reason you don't see Magic Ruin and Spell Absorb much, not because MP Damage is worthless; it will gut certain teams, but those certain teams aren't very powerful.

Perhaps, though I doubt it considering if casters were outright better than physical units, than pretty much all those teams would be using Move-MP Up, which shuts down Witch Hunt (or any other MP damage move) effortlessly as just mentioned, a Monk for Chakra, a unit with Item for Ether and/or a Bard with Angel Song (regardless of whether you think it's OP or not). So, again, MP damage would be fairly pointless/easy to combat even if people were building semi-suicidal double Witch Hunt Dancer and double Mime teams.

As for Magic Ruin and Spell Absorb, that's only part of the reason they aren't used. Unlike Witch Hunt, every other MP damage has to be used from what's basically melee range, where units with them either have better options or tend to die; even Samurai have lowish HP compared to other units that get armor innately. Unlike Witch Hunt and Bizen Boat, both Magic Ruin & Spell Absorb take MP and Magic Ruin, if it were ever used, would be on melee units with piss-poor MP; Spell Absorb gets used rather often, but the AI is rather stupid about it. Both Magic Ruin & Spell Absorb also have the problem of being in skill sets where out and out better skills exist in a system where a (probably necessary) JP cap exists. Magic Ruin has to contend with being in the same skill set as the brokenness that is Quickening, sexless Steal Heart, the other Ruins and Bad Luck; Spell Absorb has to contend with, even for all my bitching about Yin-Yang Magic being severely underpowered at present, Paralyze, Life Drain, Defense UP, Move-MP Up and even Absorb Used MP.

I'm not saying that Witch Hunt isn't somewhat stupid in terms of the MP damage it does for its range and hitting the whole enemy team without fail and being unable to be countered. However, it's not overpowered just because someone's team that relies on heavily on MP--hardly any team has all casters on it--didn't have any form of MP restoration like it should.

If Witch Hunt was doing Angel Song numbers of MP damage, then, yes, I could see you calling it OP. However, it's not and it hardly does it job as it is even when Angel Song isn't around to give it the finger, so I don't see why you're so adamant on trying to prove that it needs to further weakened to the point where it would go from nigh-useless to totally useless.

I'm curious what sort of numbers you think this innate MP regen would be cranking out, because I was thinking of it like FFTA, ~5, for a caster, therefore much less for people without robe gear.

As I said above, I don't think that the MP restoration would be that much per turn. I just view it extremely unnecessary for a multitude of reasons.

To me, adding Innate Mist status to everyone is essentially the equivalent of invasive surgery for what's a perhaps unsightly but ultimately shallow flesh wound: it's absurd.

Even if it was a huge number, the AI will churn out high cost spells until it hits 0, then either spam low-cost stuff, gimping itself, commit suicide by going into melee, or most likely use the inevitably equipped Hi-Ether/Angel Song, and still lose a turn.

There are so many erroneous assumptions/conclusions here that are contradicted by all the videos Wiz, Barren and others have been doing that I really don't know what to say. However, I'll explain what I mean by that rather just condescend.

First, you're act like every low MP spell is utterly weak or that every spell team that uses mages that actually rely on abilities that use MP--since, you know, mages using Draw Out or Geomancy is still effective--uses MP heavy stuff like Flare and Bahamut for the entirety of its damage. This is pretty easily countered by the fact that, sans Flare, most of the more potent spells are dirt cheap as seen in many videos. For example, Shade's and Vilganti's magically based teams alone should show you how easy it is to blow off enemy faces with (multiple) tier 1 spells, which under the proposed auto Mist system, would effectively be free to case.

Secondly, you're acting like all mages are completely incompetent at melee. Yes, most of them shouldn't be rushing in, but that's more because of HP totals than close-combat weakness. The only mage weapons that utterly weak are, again, Rods; half of the staves still somewhat suck, but they can at least kill someone who is above single-digit HP unlike Rods. Mages with books and especially poles/sticks can fuck your shit up at melee range; Oracles, Scholars and Bards are actually some of the hard hitting melee units in ARENA if you want them to be just because of poles.

It's a pretty moot point anyway because usually, usually, a mage unit won't charge into close-range just to physically attack until it's already out of MP (or can blow your face off with its attack). So, AI stupidity aside (which I again, would rather not rely on), that kinda defeats the point of what we're talking about, especially since it's even less likely to happen now before MP drops to zero because of the additional range on all spells.

Finally, I can't think of many teams, much less effective teams, that have their method of MP restoration that takes an action on the same unit that would be doing the primary spell casting. The only effective team that comes to mind where a mage unit needs to "waste an action" using Angel Song is that Mages of Doom team, where every unit is a mage, which makes it inevitable even--an all mage team is pretty rare as it is. Every other team with MP restoration tends to just have a unit with Item chugging Ethers or Hi-Ethers around at the units that actually use magic or a unit that isn't really a mage--or at least an attack mage--that uses Angel Song or Chakra.

So, yeah, I'm not really seeing why you seem to hate Witch Hunt so much. I can understand why you could find Wiznaibus and Life Song repeating so often annoying and/or boring. However, for reasons I can't fathom, it's just starting to seem like you have a thing against Song and Dance as a whole even though they're ultimately of middling power (without currently overpowered Mimes or overpowered [innate] Martial Arts & quadratic fist formulas).

[Gaignun]

First, you're act like every low MP spell is utterly weak or that every spell team that uses mages that actually rely on abilities that use MP--since, you know, mages using Draw Out or Geomancy is still effective--uses MP heavy stuff like Flare and Bahamut for the entirety of its damage.

So you say that mages shouldn't rely on MP-intensive skill sets because they're MP-intensive skill sets?  I propose innate MP regen to shift team design away from this paradigm.  I would like players to depend on mages for their magic.  The AI is notoriously unreliable at restoring its MP.  From my testing for season 5, the AI seems to restore MP only when there is nothing left to do.  No strategy is as predisposed to the whimsy of the AI as spellcasting, and no strategy as unattractive.

A mage bereft of MP is no longer a mage.  They're the only class players expect during design to inflict its own paralysis.  Players must account for this, and it is here that discrepancies with non-mages arise.  Bards don't need support to sing, ninja to attack, or samurai to draw out.  These units are dependable.  Consequently, players don't need to design bards, ninja, or samurai with alternatives.  In this light, suggesting that mages must rely on an alternative course of action when they're out of MP is not convincing.  It is precisely what I wish to change.  If magic had more destructive power than any other form of offense, then this "self-paralysis" would be appropriate, but with the Faith system making magic damage as unpredictable as it is, it simply isn't so.

Pointing out that mages have Move-MP UP to cope with MP woes is symptomatic of the underlying problem: design is less about choice and more about necessity.  Combined with the reliance on Item (already a skill set with enough going for it) or Angel Song, the whole design process turns stale.  On the other hand, if mages did not need to rely on Move-MP Up, they could, for example, put the 500 JP into diversifying their skill sets to avoid bad status/elemental matchups.  

The proposed MP regen would be small.  Raven's suggestion of 1/16 sounds fair.  This rate would keep low-tier spells accessible to units with high MP pools.  If some low-tier spells are too strong, then, of course, they would need to be modified --  the current spells are not designed with passive MP regen in mind, after all.  MP damage would still have a role in denying units mid-to-high-tier spells like Flare, Bahamut, and Raise.  Under no condition would crippling spells be "free."  Sustained use of high-tier spells or sustained MP damage would definitely continue to require MP maintenance.

[FFMaster]

For those saying that it will counter Witch Hunt, just stop. The MP regen happens at end of turn, which will still leave the mage at 0 MP assuming that scenario, and will just get burned away again.

And yes, the AI is horrible at recovering MP...

[RavenOfRazgriz]

Alternatively:  I propose removing MP.  It only exists to fuck Mages over in Arena's current design and nothing more.  It doesn't actually "balance" much of anything and is the source of one of the AI's greater flaws.  It adds almost nothing to current Arena and takes away plenty.

...Unless you intend to make Mages far more competent Attack users and/or make more skills across the board utilize MP, why have it?  We already have other things that can balance skills such as JP Costs, CT Costs, Gear Builds that modify skill effectiveness, etc.  There's no hurting for a means of balancing these magic skills, so why not tell it to go fuck itself?  Because it's "magic" and it "needs" to cost MP because that's what we're used to?

Unless you want to rework the entire MP System in one manner or another, it's only serving to fuck things over and force anyone using MP-reliant Jobs to be forced into using what are basically Mana-Bots in some form or another for something that's honestly rarely worth it.  The hit to Move-MP UP fucks up one of the only real ways to remedy this issue (MP Regeneration that doesn't cost you a second unit) on top of all this, really just making the problem worse.

So, what do?

[Gaignun]

That could work.  Personally, I'd still like to see MP be used for something.  Perhaps it could be used for a unique set of "special" moves like full-party haste, an instant-cast summon, or stat-increasing abilities (like Quickening -- or any other ability that is too useful and used too often.)  Give every skill set at least one special move.  Summon magic could have instant-cast Bahamut, Steal Quickening, Time Magic full-party haste/slow, Draw Out Season 5 Kiku, Black Magic 100% Death, White Magic MBarrier, and so on. (Brainstorming ideas could be fun.)  Assign every skill an MP cost in accordance with its utility.  Set every job's max MP to a flat 100 or some such.  Have every unit start the battle with 0 MP (if that's possible) and let MP increase on its own at a slow rate.  These special skills would then be as the revenge meter is in Street Fighter 4, or as TP in Tactics Ogre: they would give parties the chance to turn battles around.  MP-healing and MP-damaging abilities would need to be severely limited in this scenario.  This is just a wild suggestion, of course.  

[The Damned]

(I am aware that Mist's restoration would take place at the end of the turn like Regen; just like I'm aware that AI is generally stupid about its more active options for MP restoration. Abortive debate over Witch Hunt aside, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.)

I'd be up for trying out a "patch" devoid of MP costs, though that seems pretty drastic and a lot of magic already needs to be overhauled even with MP costs. So I doubt such an idea would make it into 131 and, even if it did, that it would be feasible for all spells.

(Oh, that's what I was going to ask? Given that FDC probably won't be finished before summer ends, when exactly should be aiming for this tournament thing [if it even happens at this point]?)

Still, it would keep mages from self-destructing, though in most instances, I feel that's the team designers' own fault given it's something that's been around since vanilla for better or for worse.

So you say that mages shouldn't rely on MP-intensive skill sets because they're MP-intensive skill sets? *sigh*

I said no such thing and I don't see how you got that at all. I merely said that Squidgy's arguments about Witch Hunt being overpowered, which it isn't, are false. Given that one of them was about Witch Hunt automatically shutting down a mage's effectiveness in a single action, I then pointed out not all of a mage's most dangerous spells cost that much MP.

Seriously, it's like people just didn't watch videos of Viliganti's team or a few other teams that can do like 200+ with a mere Tier 1 spell. I mean, sure, Flare is pretty herp derp to the point where it's actually worth the JP and MP now, but Tier 1 spells didn't suddenly become less dangerous if they were properly built around.

I never said that mages don't have problems that perhaps are unfair in design--obviously they do since we wouldn't be talking about upping Faith or making Faith more consistent if they didn't. I was merely saying that the problem is so readily evident that it's your own fault for not addressing it with the current system since it's been around forever.

Is that fair? Probably not. Is it what is and something that's actually controllable unlike Quickening or X Save or Battle Song & Wiznaibus Mimicked quadruple times? Absolutely.

I don't have a problem with looking for solutions to it--I just don't feel like giving everyone Auto-MP Regen is it (presently) and I sure as hell know that crying about Witch Hunt, of all things, being overpowered isn't a solution to the actual problem either. Focusing on Witch Hunt is just all the other focus on Song and Dance when, for the most part, those skills aren't the actual problem.

[FFMaster]

FOOD FOR THOUGHTS ON FAITH CONSTANT:

FFM: !calc (0.7+0.35)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 1.1025
FFM: !calc (0.4+0.35)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 0.5625
FFM: !calc (0.4)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 0.16
FFM: !calc (0.7)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 0.49
FFM: hmmm....
FFM: !calc (0.7)*(0.4)
FFMaster: Answer: 0.28
FFM: !calc (0.7+0.35)*(0.4+0.35)
FFMaster: Answer: 0.7875
FFM: giving faith a constant looks pretty bad on paper, but my head probably isn't in the right state, since i'm trying to study marketing at the same time
FFM: to me, all it's doing is making the damage range bigger

[RavenOfRazgriz]

I'd be up for trying out a "patch" devoid of MP costs, though that seems pretty drastic and a lot of magic already needs to be overhauled even with MP costs.

...You do realize by "overhauled", the problem is "they suck, and MP costs are making them even worse", right?

I feel that's the team designers' own fault given it's something that's been around since vanilla for better or for worse.

-> Well, this mechanic kind of sucks and is inhibiting our growth.

-> Let's keep it as-is because it was there to start with and removing it is new and scary and different.

Really?

Focusing on Witch Hunt is just all the other focus on Song and Dance when, for the most part, those skills aren't the actual problem.

This is again true... but in this case, Mime debuffs really won't change it in the Witch Hunt case.  The issue is just how much MP one has vs how much HP, and again, the fact that units reliant on MP rarely have a non-MP alternative unless you drop Draw Out on them and begin wasting more and more JP to build around two weaknesses (MP costs and no good Attack command) that they have for no discernable reasons outside of "Vanilla said so."  If (and only if) Witch Hunt is a problem, which I'm not going to outright say it is, it is due to the shoddy way the MP system is currently implemented.

FOOD FOR THOUGHTS ON FAITH CONSTANT:

FFM: !calc (0.7+0.35)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 1.1025
FFM: !calc (0.4+0.35)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 0.5625
FFM: !calc (0.4)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 0.16
FFM: !calc (0.7)^2
FFMaster: Answer: 0.49
FFM: hmmm....
FFM: !calc (0.7)*(0.4)
FFMaster: Answer: 0.28
FFM: !calc (0.7+0.35)*(0.4+0.35)
FFMaster: Answer: 0.7875
FFM: giving faith a constant looks pretty bad on paper, but my head probably isn't in the right state, since i'm trying to study marketing at the same time
FFM: to me, all it's doing is making the damage range bigger

That is what it's doing.

The difference is that it's a larger range on a lower value.  

Using old Faith, you have, say, 20*50, or 1000, and your range is .16 to .49 of it, or 160 to 490.  To get 490 damage with a +35 constant, you want to use 20*22, or 440.  Multiply by .56 and 1.10, your range becomes 246 to 484.  Compare to above, your net range actually decreased by almost 100 points.  This is why 40 Faith is currently so much more effective at lowering Magic than 40 Fury at lowering Physical.

Basically, while your range ITSELF has grown, your base value has become so much smaller in comparison that the difference is a far higher minimum value when you adjust Y to shoot for the old 70 v 70 value under the new system.  This makes Mages get raped far less by low Faith, obviously.

[Gaignun]

Aye.  Think of the extreme case, in which the constant is much larger than the difference between maximum and minimum faith.  If the constant is C and the difference is dx, the difference in scaling between the 70-70 and 70-40 cases is

C^2 - C*(C-dx)^2 = 0

since C >> dx.

[FFMaster]

[Squidgy]

Makes me think Lancer will be #1 for physical, but that's okay due to limited weapon selection and skillset.
And Mediator would trounce casters at their job... zomg with that health, speed, MA... poor casters, but a little less MP than a bard.

[Dol]

(All of this is just a guess based on the new chart.  Testing will obviously need to be done)

- Squires got toned down a little, but I think they might still need more.  Highest HP, 2nd highest PA, 4 move.  I think dropping their PA by 1 and move back to 3 would be right.

- Monk's PA still worries me a bit, but with no more innate Martial Arts, it might be ok.  I'm still worried about Wave Fist and Repeating Fist being a bit too powerful, but we shall see.

- Mediator might have gotten a bit overbuffed.  I dont think the 4 move is necessary with the other changes and the boost to Talk Skill in general.

-  Geomancer is on par with Squire for using their skillset.  Yay.

-  Ninjas still suck as a base class

-  Both Mimes are viable now.  I think the boost to HP might be unneccesary, but its not overpowered now or anything.

[RavenOfRazgriz]

@Dol: Losing Martial Arts for Monk was akin to losing 6 PA.  Considering that, and considering the weaker Fist formula... 13 PA shouldn't be a big deal.

The one thing that does strike me as odd is that average relevant male PA is 9 (only Monk and Mime have more than 10), yet average relevant female MA is chillin' around 11-12ish, with several 13s.  I dunno, just seems odd to me that they plateau at different areas, and that the high-end base MA is such a commodity for female casters when high-end base PA is a premium for male fighters.  Not going to call it a problem yet, per-se, but more an observation.

[The Damned]

(I don't have comments on the Faith or stats thing right now.)

Ugh. I'm so tired. However, as I said I would, I'll try to get a list up of a theoretical equipment changes that Raven and others will likely tear to shreds in like...six or seven hours or so provided I don't get distracted (or drop dead from a heart attack/stroke at this point).

...You do realize by "overhauled", the problem is "they suck, and MP costs are making them even worse", right?

Mostly, yes. Just not in all cases or, at least, there are some cases where I think MP is the only thing restricting certain abilities unless you give them ridiculous CTs, which either makes them worthless or moot since that would be gotten around via Short Charge.

-> Well, this mechanic kind of sucks and is inhibiting our growth.

-> Let's keep it as-is because it was there to start with and removing it is new and scary and different.

Really?

Not really. It's more that "this mechanic would be a drastic overhaul on top of trying to overhaul everything else. Let's make it its own patch after we've sussed out a way to make magic at least marginally more usable in the meanwhile."

I'd rather take things in steps and try out the "no MP" idea, if it gets used at all, mostly by itself so that it's easier to identify the inevitable problems with it than rush to add it for 131 and have it be a clusterfuck between all the stat, equipment and ability changes that are going to occur as well.

If I was "scared", then I would have never said that I found it a potentially interesting idea.

]This is again true... but in this case, Mime debuffs really won't change it in the Witch Hunt case.  The issue is just how much MP one has vs how much HP, and again, the fact that units reliant on MP rarely have a non-MP alternative unless you drop Draw Out on them and begin wasting more and more JP to build around two weaknesses (MP costs and no good Attack command) that they have for no discernable reasons outside of "Vanilla said so."  If (and only if) Witch Hunt is a problem, which I'm not going to outright say it is, it is due to the shoddy way the MP system is currently implemented.

True. I just don't see it as necessary to single out because if the MP system needs to be overhauled/removed entirely, as said above, then it should probably be it's own patch and because I don't see Witch Hunt as a problem, much less overpowered. To me, Witch Hunt (and other MP damage) is at most a "winmore" in that it's  mostly useless, but the few times that it works, all it really did was enable what was likely an already probable victory that could have been achieved without it.