Raygins Rants: Energy Sensory

[Garret]

Holy crap, here we are again. Two rants in a month, clearly means something is wrong with me. Well, gonna go ahead and say it ahead of time that this one might end up generating some salt. This is a rant I've had in my head for quite awhile now, and only now has it reached the boiling / explosive point of being turned into one of these threads. I'm here to rant about how broken and unfair the Energy Sensory stat is. How this stat is not only not fun to play against, how it even allows you to do things that are listed in the banned powers section. But lets get to that latter.

First let's go ahead and remind ourselves what it is that ES lets you do.

SPOILER: Click to show

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Energy sensory, by far the most powerful of the sensory stats, is the stat which allows you to detect Reiatsu. Even if it's at a whopping 0, you can detect the difference in power between yourself and others, and can discern the enemy's Reiatsu type (Arrancar, Shinigami, etc..) if they focus it on you in an attempt to intimidate. Otherwise, 50 in energy sensory is the average energy sensory. With this, it isn't difficult to sense that Reiatsu is in an area, and detect basically how strong people are, as well as whether or not Reiatsu is flaring and therefore if something is charging. At 100 energy sensory, however, one can do even more. One can at this point detect individual signatures within half a mile to three quarters of a mile, and pick out their race. If one is familiar enough with the individual, one could even discern whose Reiatsu it is. With 150 energy sensory, one can sense exact strength, race, and even basic individual tendencies (aggressive, shy, etc).

However, once getting into the higher numbers, energy sensory becomes even more formidable. With 200 energy sensory, one is capable of detecting even masked Reiatsu. On average, anyone can mask Reiatsu, and doing so makes it very difficult to detect them even with energy sensory if below 200. While it is impossible to mask Reiatsu while released or charging Reiatsu in any way (such as for Kido or similar), masking Reiatsu can become a very tricky thing to face, especially since anyone can do i t. However, with 200 energy sensory, it is impossible to mask Reiatsu from you without having a stealth skill. Regardless, energy sensory can go into more depths.

At 400, you will learn that energy sensory can not only detect Reiatsu, but read into the soul. With at least 400 energy sensory, one is capable of reading basic nuances of the soul, such as basic characteristics and emotions. It usually varies per individual using energy sensory. Some people can use this to detect the emotions of others. Some can use this to get split second thoughts. Some can read into the nature of others, while some can see glimpses of another's history. It varies from person to person what can be seen. At 500, one can see not only glimpses of history, but understand basic details and the motivations of another soul. If one has 100 light aura and 500 energy sensory as well, one can understand, therefore, what best to do or say to get someone on their side. Meanwhile, having 100 dark aura and 500 energy sensory would allow someone to understand how best to mentally traumatize or attack someone.

Even higher, 600 energy sensory. At 600 energy sensory, one can, if viable, begin to communicate with other spirits inhabiting the soul of others. With 600 energy sensory, one could seek basic communication with another's Zanpakuto spirit, assuming that the one with 600 energy sensory is the same Class or higher in comparison to the person whose soul they are delving into. Finally, at minimum 800 energy sensory, it is possible to deeply read into the person's soul to the point of knowing what their release does. At 1000 energy sensory, if one has 100 in either light or dark aura, they could, through whatever means, communicate intimately enough with a Zanpakuto spirit that they could convince it (assuming the sensor has Class superiority) to refuse its services to its master, and actually betray the master by refusing these services, thus negating release. Scary thought. This does not ever work against Class 0, and it is possible, through 5 posts of internal dialogue, to overcome this.

You can't deny, though, that energy sensory is terrifying.

You're right. I can't deny that ES is terrifying. Terrifyingly broken. Alright let's go ahead and start at the bottom. Energy Sensory, in canon, was shown to do little more than let somebody know how strong another person was. Unless someone can find an example of a sensor predicting techniques with this stat, then gauging power levels was all sensing did. We saw that pretty much anyone, cept Zaraki, was able to sense energy. So what, we take creative liberties with some things that's what happens when you're a fanfiction roleplaying site. But with ES we didn't just take creative liberty...we went fucking overboard. We basically rammed steroids up this things asshole and made it into a monster...a huge buff monster.

So what's the problem? The problem is that ES has no fucking counter! Alright look, nearly every single stat has a counter in some way. Strengths counter is both Reiatsu Strength and Spiritual Pressure / Cutback. Likewise, RS is weak to Strength. Speed has the tremendous Stamina drain. Senses gets overload. Instinct? Instincts fine. Instincts just reaction speed. Healing Expertise? Well...either your dumb or an Arrancar to be dumping into that. But ES? ES has no fucking counter when it needs one. I can make a character, right now, with 200 ES...walk into a PvP and then know every single time another person is going to try and use a technique that costs reiatsu.

Get what I'm saying? Let me ask you, the reader, do you think its fun to fight someone who can predict every single move you make? Do you think its fun to fight mind readers? Do you think its fun to fight someone who can say "I can sense the slight change in your reiatsu therefore I know a technique is coming?" Because that's what it's like fighting ES dumpers. Doesn't matter your fucking build. Strength, RS, Speed, ES literally just lets you god mode...yes, god mode the entire thing. We have types here that let you get away with this without being squishy Strategist or Empathy types.

The only sort of counter that ES has is Suppressing Reiatsu, which becomes null when someone uses reiatsu. Releasing removes this completely, unless you're one of two characters who have suppressed reiatsu releases. Stealth? Stealth is a skill counter that has been denied explanation of its ranks vs ES levels, being told that it should be a common sense sort of thing. Basically a ticking time bomb. The only other counters to ES are techniques explicitly designed to resist the broken aspects of this stat. As far as I know only two of these exist on site, owned by myself and Douma...and eventually these are gonna become part of the meta unless something is done about this stat.

So what's the problem? What is the big issue, you're asking. Besides this stat being the absolute opposite of fun to play against, it lets you fucking read minds. How is it fair that by getting a 400 in this stat, someone is able fucking read your mind? Getting split second thoughts? How is it fair that this stat let you shut down certain releases? How is any of that fair? How are any of the later levels of ES any fun, or fair, to fight against? How is fighting someone who can predict your actions through by reiatsu sensing, through mind reading, and then being able to shut down your release fair and fun to fight against? Look at the banned powers section for fucks sake!

• Release shutdown - As of 7/19/15, techniques whose goal or potential involves negating the use of releases and were made after 6/1/14 are illegal, though your case can be presented before the admin and argued. Changes may be made. Additionally, techniques made before the illegal deadline will still be scrutinized heavily and potentially altered, to ensure fairness of play.

• Mind reading - Techniques whose intention was direct mind reading are illegal, though this case can be argued before the admin.

• Unblockables - Any technique whose effect is being absolutely unblockable is illegal now, and any existing will be modified to have a blocking method.

These are banned powers. These are powers that won't be accepted under any circumstances. Yet you can fucking obtain these through ENERGY SENSORY. How is that fair!? Tell me, because I don't fucking see it. You'd like to argue that putting SP into ES to achieve these levels would weaken that character in other regards? I raise you Arrancar, Saigo Fullbringers, Beast Clan, Quincy SP values. If you can get more than 1800sp, then you're gonna be fine.

It's a fucking crutch stat. It's a stat that lets someone waltz in and control the tide of a pvp without having the skill necessary to back it up. It lets you become unhittable through combination of its predicting capabilities and Step spam. It lets you read minds. And it lets you shut down certain releases. How. Is any of this. Fun? Where is the fun in playing against this? How is any of this fair? This isn't to say that if you have ES, then you're not a good player. This isn't to say if you use ES then you're a scrub. This isn't a rant against people who use ES, because I use broken shit too sometimes. It's a rant against the stat itself, and my personal opinions on it. Just as there is a good number of people who don't abuse this stats bullshit, there are some that do.

But ES isn't a balanced stat. It's the best stat on site. It's imbalanced. It's unfair. It has no reasonable counters. Not every character is gonna have stealth. I'm certain the mods don't want ES counter techs to become the meta. You don't want every character to start having Suppressed Reiatsu releases like Zeich and Zack. It's not fair. It's not fun to play against. People thought Speed was broken, so that nerfed to balance it. Do the same for ES. Mods...please, fix this stat. That's all I gotta say.

[Zeich Yajuu]

Alright, two-part response to this. The first part is a warning, the second part will be an actual response to your rant.

First part, warning. Turn down the aggressiveness of your rants. I don't care if it's satire or actual anger, turn it down. You're going from a discussion to a beat-down, and none of us approve it. This is the only warning you will get on this note, because if future "rants" devolve into similar attitudes like this, then there will be no more episodes of Raygin's rants, period. Up until now, most of them have been constructive and respectful despite their ranting nature, and have helped improve things. This does not, and it will not be tolerated. We clear?

Second part, response. I'm going to address each of your points in order.


Point the first, "Energy Sensory has no counter." I'm going to go ahead and be straight up: Bullshit. It has a number of counters, the main one being any sort of spike of spiritual energy. Much like Senses are overwhelmed by overload, a point you even mentioned, so does ES. The only way to "filter" it is through techniques and by trying to tank it with Strength of Will or Pain Tolerance, and even those will get you so far, much like with senses. So guess what? You're running around with 1000 ES? Someone drops their second-level Release like Bankai, secondary Fullbring, Segunda Etapa, etc? You're going to be so freaking overwhelmed by the spike of energy output that you're going to be floored. Just like if you go up to someone with 1000 Senses and scream in their ear (and I just mean vocally, no amplification), hitting someone with a spike of energy sensory overload is gonna knock out ES-users.

Stealth is also a hard-counter to Energy Sensory, albeit without a sharply defined point for it; since the "average" person can mask their Reiatsu from anyone with less than 200 ES, meaning that they can't be sensed at all, it can be assumed a person with Stealth, who has skill training in masking their presence including spiritual, can hide from those with higher ES. And I'd go so far as to say it can probably hard-counter even the ability to read memories and the like, because if you can't read their soul due to it being undetectable, you're not getting any more information from it. So yes, ES has multiple counters.


Point the second, "Energy Sensory makes it possible for others to godmod." Noooooooope. Let me explain a few things as to why this is wrong. We'll start off with your own example, that having ES means you can go "oh, I see a technique is coming, I counter before you even use it." It doesn't work like that, even with the highest of ES, unless you also have layered skills of Analysis, Battle Analysis, etc. At best, you know that a technique is charging. You might even know where it's charging, such as at the mouth, at a hand, throughout the body, etc. But there's nothing in the fact that Reiatsu is building that tells you what is coming. You could be surprised when it's a fast-paced beam, meaning you intend to side-step, and then that splits along the way. You can't know that's coming with ES, you are surprised. Additionally on that note, ES does nothing against physical fighters. Not every attack is Reiatsu-augmented; check out many of the Shinigami Hakuda for examples.

The only way I could see this "I know what you're doing so I'll counter it" is when the ES user has seen the technique multiple times, and has layered skills in Analysis, Battle Analysis (this one is a must in the heat of battle), and Memory. With enough justification and sinking a fuckton of skill points into various skills, sure, I imagine you could go into that niche "I know what's coming." But by doing so, having a high enough ES and a high enough skill spread to interpret what technique is coming, you lose out on other areas, which may in the end mean that you cannot actually deal with what's coming. Knowing is only half the battle, as the quote goes.


Point the third: "ES lets you read minds." Again, I say: "bullshit!" It doesn't let you read minds in the slightest. It lets you scan the soul and pick up the most basic nuances. Using the same exact thing you linked: at 400 you can read basic nuances. You can get a sense of basic characteristics and emotions. When I say basic, it might mean that you're generally a negative person, or that you're angry even if you're suppressing it visually, or that you're feeling positive because you've got something planned. It doesn't let them know anything more than the basics, and the rest is up to interpretation. If people are going too far with that, and actually saying "aha, you're happy so I know you're going to do X!" without multiple skills and experience to back it up (multiple encounters, Analysis, etc) then that is godmodding on their part, and something we don't tolerate.

Moving on. There's more that we can do at 400, of course. Sometimes get glimpses of someone's history, sometimes get a brief glance at a passing thought. But since this is catching only the basic nuances, this isn't mind-reading. Memories someone might see are the ones that are potent, the ones that are deeply etched into your soul. Like running your hands along a smooth surface to find cracks or faults, you more easily spot larger, deeper impacts even when doing a brief scan because they're more prominent and visible, while you have to slow down and actually dig deep to find anything subtle. The same goes with history and thoughts; things that are caught via a quick scan are going to be things so deeply etched into your soul that they're a major part of who you are. A loved one who made a major impact on your life, or an event that changed you forever. These things will stand out, because they're highly visible. More subtle facts, such as plans in battle, or a sensor discovering you've noticed their weakness so they can cover it up? Not happening. Those aren't basic at all.

Let's move up. At 500, you can start to understand basic motivations. Okay, this guy is fighting not because he likes these guys, but he respects what they stand up for. Okay, this guy is standing in my way not because he hates me, but because he thinks that it'd be interesting to see how he stands up to me, etc. Adding a 100 in an Aura, which gives you an in-depth understanding of the positive and negative sides of emotion, allows you to take that information and make use of it. If you have a 100 DA, for example, in the first example you'd know that to traumatize him by revealing that their motives aren't as clear and neat as that person likes them. You'd have to have multiple checks to justify such things. If you have 100 LA? Then you know what motivates them on a positive note, and what is best to get them on your side. That doesn't mean it's an auto-success, especially if you're still suspicious to them or have done something before sensing this that makes them dislike you.

Going up further, most of the tiers revolve around Zanpaktou, which I'll cover in the next post. The only exception is at 800, which lets you know what their Release does. Okay, so you know one set of their tricks. That doesn't mean you know a counter to it, that doesn't mean you know how to avoid it, that doesn't mean you can do anything about it. You just know what it does, nothing more.


Point the fourth: "ES lets you shut down certain Releases." First off, it only applies to Shinigami, and it's not nearly as good as you think. You have to have Class superiority to begin with, 600 ES just to communicate (and not even have an effect at that!), and a whopping 1000, which means a type that gives a 2.5x boost to ES (which is very few) just to get to the possibility of shutting down a Zanpaktou. Note that there is nothing that says this is automatic. It says they can communicate with the soul and can try to convince them. Note that it says they "could convince them." It's not a guarantee. And quite frankly, I believe that it's more of a plot thing rather than a PVP skill. Even if it was a guarantee, you require a type that gives you a 2.5x bonus in ES, Class Superiority, and a set LA or DA. That's a lot for a shutdown, and even that's not permanent.

That being said, it's not a negation as much as it's the user's manifestation of their soul refusing to cooperate with them. Their Zanpaktou spirit doesn't agree with them, and won't give them their power. It's not a Release negation in the sense of our banned powers list. It's like two people fighting on a team, and one refuses to cooperate, therefore that two-person team is at reduced power because only one person is fighting. It is much the same way here.


Point the fifth, "Certain races can put a ton into ES without crippling themselves." This one's a slightly more valid point, but you've made a few bad ones in there, as well. BC aren't a good answer, they're capped at 250 ES, so they'd have to stack a lot more. Saigo humans aren't either, because how many RPC Saigos have we had in five years? Two? Schultz and Kuroi? Yeah, that's not really a firm argument. The rest, you do have a valid point on, that Quincy and Arrancar can take advantage of this, particularly Quincy with Vollstandig, so it's something we may need to look into. This part will be discussed.

[Himitsu Kasumi'Oji]

I'm chiming in to ask about just one small aspect of this debate. So stealth has been said to counter ES, but it's hard to figure out how that works numerically. So if you've got a point in stealth, I assume that you can avoid being detected by 200 ES. So what about 250 or 300 ES? And how about 2 or 3 points in stealth?

I feel like the notion that ES is OP is only because of the ambiguity regarding ES in the rules. Z's response cleared a lot of the blurry areas up for me.