Post
by Sharkforce » Thu Nov 14, 2019 4:52 am
regarding duration, i'd say maneuver is intended to be just for that round on both effects, not only the attack test bonus.
anyways, maneuver has the more interesting talent knacks in my opinion (with the exception of fighting against magic-heavy opponents, in which case their comparative effectiveness against physical attacks becomes relatively unimportant). although that doesn't become relevant until you buy the companion book, which has all of those knacks in it.
it is also worth noting that there is an important consideration of who gets access to those talents. anticipate blow is available to archers, scouts, swordmasters, and warriors. maneuver is available to air sailors, swordmasters, and warriors. so in only two of those cases is it really a question of which is better; otherwise, you get what you're offered, and you'll just have to accept that (there is an exception for humans, of course, but then you can't spend karma and don't get knacks, so there's definitely some things to consider).
anyways, there are a few additional things to note:
firstly, you can stack them.
secondly, if you check the acrobatic defense talent, you'll notice it doesn't work with anticipate blow... acrobatic defense is a talent that air sailors get. as do swordmasters. and warriors. and generally acrobatic defense is better, provided you can use it (note that it gives physical defense, and not just for one target or against attacks, but against all targets for everything). so everyone that gets maneuver has options to stack it with. on a related note, acrobatic defense also offers some pretty nice talent knacks.
thirdly, of those disciplines that get maneuver, perception is usually not much of a priority, while dexterity tends to be a major area of focus. that isn't necessarily a huge deal, but having an extra few step levels isn't exactly bad. i will also note that in my opinion, there is no readily observable trend that creatures with powerful attacks have better physical defense than mystic defense by a significant margin. lower mystic *armour* is fairly common for most creatures (from a game design perspective, probably because mystic damage tends to be lower to begin with), but even that isn't guaranteed. not to mention that anyone trying to help you out by lowering a target's physical defense so you can more easily hit it will be helping with maneuver *and* acrobatic defense, but not for anticipate blow...