Tier

Tier is a representation of the power, complexity, usefulness, versatility, and unusualness of a Spell.


 * The Tier of a spell is the lowest Tier that a mage must be in order to cast that spell. There are 9 tiers of spells, ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 9. More powerful spells are at higher Tiers.
 * A spell may be associated with one or more paths. For spells with a single path, a mage must have sufficient Attainment in that path in order to cast the spell. For spells with dual paths, a mage must have sufficient attainment (having at least the same Tier as the spell's Tier) in either of the paths, and must have at least the spell's Tier - 1 in both paths, in order to cast the spell.

A mage can, through Cultivation, improve their attainments in a path, that is, to reach higher Tiers. This is a difficult, time consuming process, relying on a combination of luck and experiences, and most mages generally do not make it to the higher Tiers in a path.

The higher the Tier a mage's attainment in a path, the more powerful their spells in that path can be, and the more versatile they will be in spells of that path.

"Tier 0" is no effect at all.

As a general rubric for the strength of magic at a given tier:


 * Tier 1 - Ignite / Finger Flame / Flaming Hand / Flaming Kick / Flame Strike / Fireball / Fire Bolt / Fire Shield / Fire Garment / Fire Weapon / Stream of Fire
 * Tier 2 - Explosive Fireball / Flame Missile / Fire Torrent / Immolate / Fire Armor / Fire Wave / Fire Pulse / Fire Blast / Incinerate
 * Tier 3 - Fire Beam / Fire Twister / Flameform / Flame Shell
 * Tier 4 - Fire Wall
 * Tier 5 - Pyroclasm / Meteor
 * Tier 6 - Rain of Fire
 * Tier 7 - Firestorm / Volcano
 * Tier 8 - Desertification
 * Tier 9 - Second Sun

Tier 9 is the highest achievable tier of magic. Tier 10 is theoretical only; it is the perfection of a concept, allowing for universal power and total specificity.

Higher Tiers allow for many things:


 * use of certain spells which require that higher Tier
 * increased Mana throughput which enables increased effect
 * increased spell scope
 * increased range of effect
 * increased duration
 * increased penetrative power / neutralization power
 * increased spell resilience / resistance to other spells
 * increased spell reliability / stability
 * increased spell flexibility / versatility
 * increased divination accuracy
 * more relevant effects (such as relevant results of divination)
 * divinations give more information

However, all these generally come at the cost of having a higher Mana cost.