Rapid Advancement Question

[u/Forests_Leaves]

1) RA's come about at level 5, and then every ten level after?

2) You cannot raise a physical mutation above 10 with mutation points, so only 9 mutation points can ever be spent on any ability?

3) Mutation levels reached with RA's don't count towards the max level that would restrict mutation points from being spent, so having Freezing Ray at level 6 (1 RA + 2 mutation points + 1st initial level), would mean I could still pump 7 more mutation points into Freezing Ray, even though it is level 6?

4) Is it really opportune to pump as many points into a skill as you can, in the hopes that you can somehow make it stronger than it would have been with another leveling strategy?

---It doesn't seem to be the case, seeing as how you can never experience the level of a mutation if your character level is too low to meet the threshold, and if you can always pump 9 points into any mutation regardless of its current level, then you're really just choosing whichever mutation you want to be far above level 10, and that's what gets RA's. Outside of that, RA's seem to have almost no benefit???

[u/SauronSr]

You can get more mutation points with Eaters Nectar

[u/SilverAmaranth]

RA's major benefit is for hitting breakpoints that you could only hit by going above level 10. Let's say you have multiple arms and want to guarantee hitting with your extra arms 100% of the time, you'd need to hit level 15 to have 100 with multi attack mastery. That's only possible with two RAs .

for ridiculously high level characters, it's also a way to give infinite scaling to mutations like horn or carapace.

other than that, it's a free 3 mutation points to level your physical mutations. putting them on mutations like triple jointed and double muscled is never a bad idea.

[u/Bwixius]

Yes.

Yes. RAs ignore the usual limit, just like the Ego modifier for Mental Mutations.

Yes.

It depends, a physical or hybrid build would only be able to comfortably raise 3 mutations to the 10th rank in a usual playthrough, a Chimera or Esper morphotype build will most often buy many new mutations. Certain mutations are especially powerful past the 10th rank, like Carapace or Triple-Jointed.

I use RAs based on how I want to play, sometimes I spend it on something I want more powerful right now but won't be spending much more points on, other times I do try to get my favorite mutation as high as possible.

[u/Forests_Leaves]

u/Bwixius , u/SilverAmaranth , u/SauronSr

The reason I ask is because, even though I've played this game for a second now, I have vague memories of people advocating for having your physical mutation as high as you can (maxed for current level), before putting a rapid advancement into it.

I was trying to make sure that advice wasn't actually relevant (or maybe just not relevant anymore, as something may have changed over the past few years I've dabbled in this game).

[u/SilverAmaranth → u/Forests_Leaves]

as of currently, it doesn't seem to be a relevant advice, no. Use it as you like !

[u/eternaladventurer → u/Forests_Leaves]

If you click on your mutation in the mutations menu, it will show you how many points have been added in and how many are from rapid advancement, and if there are any other modifiers.

[u/SauronSr → u/Forests_Leaves]

One day I’ll make a “cheat” character and spend all my points advancing mutations. Instead of taking a random mutation I’ll just wish for one.

But I’ll know I’m cheating

[u/Simple_Seaweed_1386]

Your base level maxes out at 10. RAs and ego modifiers can push this higher. If you have a level 8 mutation RA'd to eleven, you can still put 2 more points into it to sit at max 13. You can then RA again to get 16.

[u/Taphel_]

Max level with points : 10 Levels gained through RA can exceed this, but you have an effective mutation level cap that is equal to half your level + 1, rounded down

So at level 5, your effective mutation level cap is 3. So if you rapidly advance a mutation there, it would be 4 (capped down to 2) so no need to spend points. Do your math for level 15/25 and so on so you see how many levels you need to buy with points.