So I've been playing around with Elemental the last couple of days.

I'm liking a lot of the changes.  City construction is a lot more interesting, and I'm liking the new spells.

However, I feel like eliminating the 'secondary' stats (move, combat speed, essence) is a step in the wrong direction.  I often put points into Combat Speed, so my heroes would eventually get more attacks/actions in combat, and having to decide on boosting Essence or Strength, for example, was a nice brain teaser.

Admittedly, I stopped putting character points into movement, as there wasn't enough bang for the buck there, but with some point tweaking that could have been made more attractive.

Also, it was nice having Intelligence factor in to the damage a spell caused.  This gave you another brain teaser.  Do I increase Essence or Intelligence this time...

As it stands now, I put a lot less thought into boosting stats.  Intelligence gets boosted only if I'm trying to meet the minimum for a spell (example: Fireball: 20 Int), otherwise Strength, then Dexterity seem to be the way to go.  Plus, with 3 points per level, those stats boost pretty quickly.

Also, before I had goals to work towards, e.g. I need to raise this stat to 4.0, so let's go kill things.  The only goal I have now is raising Intelligence to meet spellcasting requirements.  Everything else is just 'well, that'll give me more damage, etc.'.

Charisma is a Sovereign only stat for me at the moment.  If the 'party leader's/point of contact's Charisma is used for the hiring, that might change.  I haven't tried raising it in the 1.09n system to see what happens as of yet.

---

As for the Global Mana Pool, it's an interesting concept, but I don't think it should just accumulate unlimited points.  I also don't think casters should have effectively unlimited mana in Combat.  The Essence stat capped how much Mana a caster could wield, which was a nice limitation IMHO.

I think generating 'x' mana a Turn is a nice change, but would suggest a 'Maximum Mana' to go along with it.  Say, 50x to 100x the points generated each turn, with 'Essence' structures increasing this total.  This would go hand in hand with reducing the Mana requirements for higher level spells.  The 'retreat' spell costs a LOT of Mana (according to it's description), so if you ever plan on using it you tie up hundreds of Mana points, thus decreasing your desire to use spells.

As it stands now, I only use combat spells if I don't have bows handy, as things like fireballs just cost too much for what they do... and the title of the game is Elemental - War Of Magic (not War of Archers).  Pre-beta, the 2-5 Mana cost for many of the offensive spells was just enough to make me think about using spells, so I'd use them some of the time but not all or none of the time.  As it stands now, I hold off on spells for a long time .  And I've desummoned familiars, as they don't seem to be as useful these days, until I have several hundred points banked. This just doesn't feel 'magical' to me.

I will admit I like the fact that Elemental Shards now increase the Mana Pool:  This makes them more immediately useful.

I'll miss the "Well, it'll be about 10 or so turns before my Sovereign sees combat again, so I can afford to blow 10-12 essence points right now", per the old Mana system.  Plus, it was nice having the Teleport spell handy to get back home quickly after a long exploration trek in the early game.  This allowed you to upgrade your weapons and armor, heal a bit, and trade some items.  This also made 'holding' items for the Sovereign a little more practical.

Also, having multiple spellcasters in the party is less important now.  Before, having extra casters in your party meant more mana available in combat.  Now, it just means more spell attacks per turn, if you feel the need and have a shortage of Archers.

---

I really liked the 'feel' of the pre 1.09n character system.  A lot of that is now lost.  It feels more wargamey to me now, and I have a LOT less attachment to my heroes.

---

In short, I'm really liking some of the new spells, but I'm not liking the new Mana system much.  The old one was more interesting/challenging (at least in the early/mid game), and with tweaking could have been refined.  'Hybriding' the two systems might make me happier... but I'm not holding my breath.

If I were to suggest a hybridization of some sort, I'd say Channelers have their own pools of Essence, plus they can tap into the Global Mana to regenerate Essence points during combat or between turns. On their own, they'd regenerate 5% of their Essence every turn, and they might be able to acquire a cool amulet, staff, or something that increases their regeneration by one or more points every turn.

Also, if they want to 'overcast', i.e. cast a spell that requires more Mana than they have onhand, the difference in spell cost is doubled.  Example: if a Teleport costs 15 points, but you only have a 9 Essence stat, you'd have to draw 12 (15-9=6, 6x2=12) points out of the Global Mana Pool.  Overcasting might come at a price, i.e. damage to health, and it probably should take an extra action point or so to do.

Global Mana would be equal to, say, Total Population/20, plus say 25 for each shard controlled. Certain buildings - such as Tower Of Essence - would add to this total.

Global Mana would regenerate at, say, 5% per turn, plus bonus points from certain buildings.  Channeling Mana into your Caster's pool would take an extra action point(s) - you'd choose a 'draw upon Global Mana' action, and indicate how much mana you'd pull from the global pool, replenishing your mana up to your Essence stat/pool limit.

Note that Caster Essence pools would NOT increased by outside influences (Shards, buildings) - they'd have to raise their own Essence stat to increase the size of their own pool.  However, they'd benefit from being able to tap on the Global pool as needed, so the size of your Global pool would be important.  Carried items might be able to increase their pool, however (Crystal Staff, anyone?).

Also, I'd like to be able to dump points into combat speed and movement again.  And maybe separate dodge & block skills.  A separate 'intelligence requirement' and 'spell damage stat' would also make things interesting: Intelligence for spell level, Willpower for spell strength.

And the fractional points were not confusing to me, so feel free to put them back in!

[/rant off]

Other than that, I'm really liking where the game is going!  Finding Salted Pork on slain foes is a nice addition!  Great job, kudos to the Developers/Programmers/etc.!!!