So, which option is it?

I like the duality of option 2. It has his living side take on Death and the undead side take on nature. The only part that makes me hesitate on it is that the notes on the undying side don't make it sound like nature is about pure good creation but corrupted putrid creation. Still rot and poison creation would seem to fit his Dao and new tool spirit.

Charles Hinton

FYI warmaster is a term that means someone in charge of all the affairs of war, this could simply be someone controlling all the strategy, logistics and necessary liasing with other elements of the government (like the king/emperor), or it could also include being the actual General leading an army into battle. Being an older term, even if it does mean here being a general directing an army, it would likely also include high level logistics and liasing with other elements of the government, functions that in larger more modern governments have been separated. Also, 'master' being a suffix to 'war' implies the title is only significant as it pertains to him being the leader of a group. The -master suffix, like shipmaster, deckmaster, stablemaster, implies someone who is the head of all the people/equipment pertaining to it, or has the domain of authority pertaining to it. This means when human or equipment issues crop up, he has the final say. It is generally used with something that requires a group of people to work together in a specific place or with specific equipment to continue to function properly/well. In other words, he is the master of the people and other elements making it happen, whatever *it* is. After all, a war in the classical/literal sense as implied by the term is a large scale or long term conflict involving many moving parts and lives. All that is to say that a warmaster is more of a leader/organizer of war than a champion of combat or an elite combatant.

Thaabit Rivertree

Ter'Erian Hayner called zac a warmaster, the tower vision was pretty damned focused on war and conflict. Which would seem to point to 5. I don't know what to think anymore. I hope the next chapter isn't a pov.

Frardowin

From what I can see, based on the advice he has been given: 1. Zac needs to have the classes each with complementary dao. 2. Zac needs them to be aligned with his path as he solidifies it. 3. The classes need to utilize the same attributes for their skills. 4. Zac should only pick arcane if he is absolutely sure that his understanding of his dao won't change. 5. Zac shouldn't chase attributes, but dao. 6. Zac would need choose an option that suits his more solitary nature as opposed to one that would be better for someone who moves in a group. I am starting to think 3 will maybe beat out 5

Frardowin

Btw, Hecate is the goddess of boundaries, also the goddess of the underworld and as the goddess of witchcraft... As the goddess of boundaries... "Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. She appears to have been particularly associated with being 'between' and hence is frequently characterized as a "liminal" goddess. "Hecate mediated between regimes—Olympian and Titan—but also between mortal and divine spheres."

Juli Freixi

Indeeddee. Anything that even hint at having berserker elements should be out

Jack Trowell

His plan was to upgrade Hatchetman and diverge from Bulwark into something more solo oriented. Now that arcane is not so desirable I'm thinking Edge + Fetters or trying squeeze something completely else from system.

She's also the goddess of necromancy, so that might have something to do with the name.

#4 its 2 upgrades no divergence. His human form is literally called champion of verdure (lush green aka earth). and the undead will let him summon an army of undead I assume based on the skills name.

That was exactly what I was thinking.

I really like option 2. I think it could give a lot of interesting stories, trying to deal with a arcane class. though secret option is also quite tempting

I think #4, because it's the only double upgrade (no divergence) and Zac doesn't have time to learn a whole new paradigm of how to fight.

Daniel D.

Warmaster in option 5 sounds more like he'll become a 'general of an army' type, similar to his current undead class being geared towards leading an army. I don't think Zac wants to put leadership above individual power, since individual power is what is needed to defeat strong enemies and continue his growth. That's why I think option 3 is best, both classes have words referring to cutting and seem offensive based, and both seem like they could use his axe, benefit from similar daos, etc.

Thaabit Rivertree

hecate is a witch and i dont want him to use magic/illusions

hi angus

I'm not sure Hekate is an actual person. Though if they were they'd have to be one hell of a powerhouse to have classes named after them.

gotag

I hope for a not secret option, having 2 or 3 solid to great but no single optimal option seems more genuine. I'm actually kinda sick of Litrp, or Wuxia were one of the options is obviously better then all the rest. So please no eight nine arcane arts, no Azerith Sentinel, Chaos Lord or Acme for him or the equivalent of that for him. (Hekate might be a good Master or Teacher) if she notices that somebody got such a class.

Han Pol

though i chose secret because of that technomancer incursion merit thing,(let alone authors cliff hanger lol guilty pleasure thing) option 3 combines 4 words to describe axe stuff: edge divide sever cut which combines his axe dao over the 2 classes and divergence( 5th word) of undying bulwark is him realizing it doesn't quite fit his dao. Butcher( sixth word kinda) has life aspects of taking dead things and repurposing them for life and the whole fetters and bind for the chain related stuff and you begin balancing things like others have noted. Besides he is "only" upgrading for the 1st time and dare i use the old trope " a frog in a well" . He just needs to level and it doesn't need to be perfect..... (progression fantasy lol)

With the warnings regarding early arcane classes, the fact that it's one arcane class - not two - and the negative endurance bonuses (probably something a creation based arcane class can compensate for) Option 2 is out imo. Otherwise a load of great stuff. #5 sounds best for an offensive and balanced class combination I think.

Andy Baumgartner

For the cycle of life and death the best option is 5... And option 3 has a part of the description that triggers some alarms..."unrelenting storm of violence" (possible problems with the splinter)

Juli Freixi

Option 2 on his Undead side sounds like a Summoning/Caster class and has Wisdom as main stat

Blaublue

By the way there was this one woman who was a shaman who looked into Zacs future and there was mainly death and life so option 2 is more unlikely.

Firinen

5's divergence is from a shifted dao I think, the primary attribute is still strength. Whether or not the skills he has will work with the dao shift is another story, since death is different from life. I do agree that 5 is less likely than 3

Frardowin

Options 1 and 5 are out as they are divergences of Hatchetman. Option 4 is out because it is an upgrade of his bulwark quest and he doesnt lead undead armies. Option 2 is unbalanced and does not fit his daos that much and option 3 is not arcane. My guess is that Zac gets a hidden bonus if he picks option three and one of the two classes is upgraded to arcane because of the merit. Or if he picked Option two because of reasons i cannot think of the merit negates the negative endurance in the arcane class.

Firinen

Option 3 is kinda hard to evaluate as at least I dont get any vision from the names of what their focus in Dao is. Unless Zac has a better vision, its a gamble. Option 5 seems most in line with the discussion from ages ago that the most important part of the classes is to align their Dao, but it will depend on if Zac think the focus on war leads him down the path of a general that he thinks is suboptimal (even if it aligns with his insights from the steele).

Magnus Benzein

To clarify, it isn't just names or numbers driving my thoughts, these 2 classes would be the best combination of the 10 listed for a Str focused build with a balance of capabilities.

Talen Drake

An asura is just a battle loving demon. It’s like not picking a berserker class just because there’s a famous berserker out there.

Zac would get at least 1200 wisdom from leveling any class in e grade. 2400 if each race has there own nodes. 750 wis is nice but not a deal breaker i think. Especially since 2 dao grant wisdom.

Frardowin

Did we ever learn if there was a bonus added to promising specialist title now that Zac was able to get over 1k strength? Curious how the may have impacted the class options.

Sean Kauffman

Ogras - “You know you can scroll the window down, right?” Zac - “Really? Oh look! A 6th option was hidden at the bottom.”

Stylemys

I think option 2 is there specifically for Zac to reject. Considering how Catheya specifically warned him that someone’s Dao and path are more important than their stats, it would be odd for him to focus solely on hunting stats. Considering how high his Luck is, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he got her warning <1 day before he went to evolve.

Stylemys

I like #4, but Wall of Bones sounds like it’s probably another General/ Commander class. He’s already have trouble making the best use of Undying Bulwark because of this. Up until the Undead floor in the tower his Draugr skills were lagging way behind because he couldn’t use the class as intended.

Stylemys

My theory is that the next Duplicity Core upgrade will let him shift his race/class in select parts of his body only. That would let him freely mix the offensive and defensive skills.

Stylemys

I don’t like choice 5 strictly because of the name Asura, it’s a little on the nose for me with the Eveningtide Asura comparisons

Davis

I don't think Zac will pick option 5. He knows he has an issue with mental attacks, and wisdom helps deal with those. Option 5 is the only one that won't increase wisdom when he levels.

Gnothi Seauton

3 if he follows his path. 5 if he follows the tower foreshadowing

Frardowin

Creation through destruction seems like an undead theme with new life through death.

I would like to start to see his classes mirror each other. Having a tank class and a dps class is causing balance issues where he doesn’t feel as effective in his other roles.

As long as the secret option isn´t a Deux EX Machina I think it is fine, though I voted 5, I actually liked those classes and I think it has a nice balance between the attributes.

Leaored

Go for the superficial choice! Vessel of Destruction and Risen Asura are the best names!

Chopper

You can't put an option saying secret option and not expect people will pick it.

Omiso

After thinking for a bit 5 is by far the best choice. Keeps the balance of the Dao which is the most important thing. Man it's going to be a long wait till Tuesday evening. It would be cooler if he got some unorthodox class... or unlocked it later while in the Mystical realm everyone is rushing to. He needs a way to open nodes being a mortal and all...

I really like option 5 but also I'm curious about secret option 😅

Juli Freixi

With the conversation about arcane classes kinda locking people in a path, I am thinking he is gonna forgo the arcane option. Also, this first ability of being an avatar seems like it would take away his advocacy, and I think he has enough of that from the splinters.

PuppyCrusher

2 seems best for stats balance, and abilities, avatar of wrath seems like a direct massive upgrade for hatchet mans rage, and it's arcane so most power with a lowest growth (meaning he won't cap out there as fas and be seen as weaker for level than he actually is).

Ashrothe

I'm betting option 5. The arcane class sounds too... Berzerker-y, which I feel like he'd want to avoid even if he hadn't been warned about arcane classes in general. Options 3 and 5 five, both seem to be pushing his two classes in the same direction, but Option 3 seems like both classes would have the same strengths/weaknesses. Option 5 seems like each class could support the other, so that's where I'm putting my bet.

Ichikira

the justification is active system intervention

George

Secret class is not an option, because you would need serious justification of stuff like that. Disregarding secret option, I'm on option 5, because that path goes towards merging Zac's life and deaths paths. Which is important because currently he cant bring full power of his daos, because of opposing elements. Also option 5 attribute boost seems in line with his current at boost.

Šarūnas

i. vote secret. either way, thanks for the option to vote!

MAS

All of these choices feel like they're trying to push Zac in a direction I've never really seen him care about. Secret option?

ActionKermit

Gunna have to go with Option 5, but they are all pretty underwhelming. Feels like he gets one good and one bad class in each option for the most part.

Joshua Little

I like creation through destruction for his human side. That has been a key theme and I would like to see it continue. Also the negative endurance will have him have to address his stats a bit more since their effect is somewhat trivialize.

Pretty sure everyone only gets 5 choices, regardless of how many combinations they can form.

David C

If each class pairing is a single fragment per class, there are 6 possible combinations, number six seems to be missing.

seth dauer

I'm going with option 2, Vessel of Destruction / Nature's Lament. I don't really like it, but i guess it offers the highest short term boost and the most stats in the long run (+7/14/21 stats per level for the class and +1/2/3 stats for nodes per level). That is a whopping 1.200 stat points more than the second best option in terms of stats till level 150. Zac is desperate, so that's my guess. Also, the system seems to be pushing him into extremes. Extreme it is. Also, Options 1 and 5 are divergences from hatchetman which would be a real problem if Zac can't keep using Verun. Option 4 is an Upgrade of Undead Bulwark, so that is out. So the only real alternative seems to be option 3, which offers one stat point less than the "second best" alternative, so he would lose 1.275 stat points till level 150. edit: wrong numbers

StickyP

i would enjoy that one

Thenais

Vessel of Destruction + Fetters of Desolation looks sweet too, but lacks balance.

Talen Drake

I’m going secret option- I feel the system is going to prop him up during the tribulation..

Theta Time

People seem to love the option 5, but I wouldn't like it because it's a divergence from hatchetman, while option 3 is an upgrade from hatchetman and both are a divergence from undying bulkmark which is good and stats are a bit more balanced on option. 3 but shouldn't matter much

SpitEoll

Vessel of Destruction + Risen Asura for the win.

Talen Drake

My bet is he doesn't evolve yet because he wants more Arcane options

Arnon Parenti

WALL OF BONES!!!

Dapartypossum

I could see Zac getting a secret option. Someone else mentioned a merit reward from dealing with the Technocrat incursion. I don't remember the details on that, but it would be interesting. Option 2 align's human with destruction which leaves undead with creation. I think there is some out of the box storylines that could happen there. He could potentially close the undead incursion and leave half the world covered in miasma to reign over a new path of co-existence between mortal and undead, raising his own path. Add in his ties and his sister's technocratic bent and you have something compelling.

Talen Drake

Man, no love for #4, but mix/match would be sick

Bobby B.

Only one seems to follow life/death cycle. Waiting for a fourth day might be the best but does he have time to wait?

caleb b

Because of the merit

Matthew

not really a fan of the five options, so ever secret option or delay evolution imho. he already did go against a cleric faction using his undead form, so i'm pretty sure he is part masochist. Ousting the undeads while in F grade shouldn't scare him too much.

Thenais

his path isn't established enough for that side

George

Bodhi is still early stage

David C

Why no arcane option for his undead side?

Argetsword

5 bucks secret option is pick any two

Matthew

If I absolutely have to pick, I’d pick option 5. If not, then he should probably evolve Bodhi first. It would probably also benefit him to get a 4th fragment as having only 3 seems to unbalance things a bit. I definitely don’t think he should get some hidden system boon/secret option.

David C

5 is the beeeest.

Signspace

Why didn't he have two arcanes btw?

Detrox

3 or bust

Nilbog

Aww fuck they all sound cool lol

Knight Axel

Secret option is mean.

Signspace