Okay, I get that banishing isn't good for its primary purpose due to drain, but no-one seems to remember that it is also used for Attacks of Will (WIL+banishing, damage is [CHA]P, ignores hardened armor on spirits). This, in turn, let's you pretty much ignore Astral Combat and weapon foci for any charisma-based tradition. So why does no-one take Banishing despite it being far more cost effective (effectively half price because you can buy conjuration as a group, and you need neither weapon foci nor the close combat skills to use them) and damaging (7P base damage for an elf shaman? Yes please!)?
AoW rules for clarity: [spoiler]An attack of will may only be conducted with a physical
or astral melee attack—willpower simply doesn’t work with
ranged attacks. Sometimes you are better off trying to smack a
spirit with a gun than attempting to shoot it. While an attack
of will can damage a spirit in spite of its formidable resilience
to non-magical attack, only the truly courageous, driven, or
mad have enough force of personality to affect a spirit.
When in melee with a spirit, a character may elect to
make an attack of will rather than a normal melee strike. The
character rolls his Banishing + Willpower (or just Willpower)
as his dice pool, and his base Damage Value is (Charisma)P
regardless of whether he is attacking with a spanner, combat
axe, or his bare hands. Reach modifiers (attacker’s or spirit’s)
do not apply to this test. The attack of will bypasses the spirit’s
Immunity to Normal Weapons and is otherwise resolved as a
normal melee attack (see p. 146, SR4). This form of attack is
only effective against spirits.[/spoiler]
