[BaronAtomy]

So . . . this may be way late tot he game, but I notice nobody seemed to bring up the good advancement avenues for Adepts through Qi Foci and Weapon Foci. 

  For example, you pointed out the effective cost difference between a Sammy with WR 2, and an Adept with Improved Reflexes 3.  Keep in mind, with a Qi Focus 4 (Improved Reflexes), you only need to spend 2.5 Power Points to get IR 3.  Add to that the dicepool differences - Both could max out Blades with a specialization and high agility for a base pool of 14/15.  The Sammy could boost that with Muscle Replacement or Muscle Toner for the agility, but the Adept could do the same with a slight essence hit and money for the Toner or with Improved Physical Attribute; they can also augment their Skill with powerpoints, then add bonus die from a Weapon Focus.  For melee combat, seems like they're streets ahead.  Purchasing/bonding cost for Qi Foci are surprisingly decent, too.

[JimmyCrisis]

So . . . this may be way late tot he game, but I notice nobody seemed to bring up the good advancement avenues for Adepts through Qi Foci and Weapon Foci. 

  For example, you pointed out the effective cost difference between a Sammy with WR 2, and an Adept with Improved Reflexes 3.  Keep in mind, with a Qi Focus 4 (Improved Reflexes), you only need to spend 2.5 Power Points to get IR 3.  Add to that the dicepool differences - Both could max out Blades with a specialization and high agility for a base pool of 14/15.  The Sammy could boost that with Muscle Replacement or Muscle Toner for the agility, but the Adept could do the same with a slight essence hit and money for the Toner or with Improved Physical Attribute; they can also augment their Skill with powerpoints, then add bonus die from a Weapon Focus.  For melee combat, seems like they're streets ahead.  Purchasing/bonding cost for Qi Foci are surprisingly decent, too.

All things being equal, if you're looking to get near max attributes for a combat stat, it's easy enough with cyberarms.  The street sammy can purchase a metatype appropriate cyberarm to do all their combat work with their racial max AGI and STR, with a +3 modification to each.  The street sammy may also purchase a reflex recorder for a skill point boost.  Those added together can give pretty high dice pools... my elf Street Sam has 17 dice for using a monowhip, which would be 19 dice if exotic weapons could specialize (too bad they can't).  But you're right about the Sammy lacking in initiative enhancement.  It's hard to beat the Adept for that, but then again it's a lot easier for a Sam to get better armor and just soak the attacks.  Bone Lacing + Orthoskin + Cyberlimb armor stacks pretty fast.

[ProfessorCirno]

I see a lot of people use Qi Focus on Improved Reflexes and it seems like the biggest waste.  The big draw of Qi Foci is that you can change them.  You want to use Qi Foci for stuff like Light Body or Kinesics or other more "situational" powers.

[Reaver]

I see a lot of people use Qi Focus on Improved Reflexes and it seems like the biggest waste.  The big draw of Qi Foci is that you can change them.  You want to use Qi Foci for stuff like Light Body or Kinesics or other more "situational" powers.

That really depends on the build.... the biggest thing to remember is that Qi foci are situational and can be disrupted, so relying on them for an important stat (like improved initiative) can be a huge hinderance...

I agree that they work best with "lighter" abilities that you can buff... but using them with improved reflexes is viable. .. if you plan for the few times that they can be disrupted. ..

[BaronAtomy]

Very good points.  I generally support the idea that PP should be spent for things that you reliably need, and would suck to have shut off; Astral Perception, Improved Reflexes, Killing Hands, Combat Sense/Mystic Armor, etc.  Having some Qi Foci to add levels to those is good, as is having situational 'infiltration', 'ranged combat', etc. sets.

[FastJack]

Since I'm feeling a bit generous today, I'm going to just put a general warning to keep inflammatory language to a minimum in these discussions. This is meant for everyone, but I'm looking at three in particular (and you know who you are).