Coeur Al'Aran: The Professor Arc Forum

Card examples are silly here anyway, because this isn't a card game. Jaune can't "draw" a better card. If he faces Pyrrha, it doesn't matter which 5 card deck he uses. He loses each time. Against Blake, it's the same. Against Salem, it's the same.

Cinder faced this against Jaune.

She had 5 cards, but 4 of them were fire-based, while 1 of Jaune's cards was "Immunity to Fire".

If you even wanted to try and force this into a card game, you'd need to accommodate for levels. I.e. Jaune has 5 cards, but someone twice his level has 10. Or Salem, working on different rules entirely, might have 50. Or she just brings a gun to a card game.

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VS Weiss.

"Okay, I have a choice of ten cards here..."

"Do any of those ten cards let you get out of the ice prison I'm about to put you in?"

"Uh... no..."

"Sucks to be you."

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VS Blake
"Okay, I have a choice of-URK!"

"None prevented a stealth attack."

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VS Ruby

"I have ten cards."

"Do any give you the ability to hit someone moving at easily over 250 Agility?"

Jaune looks at his Dex. It's a little better, but wtf S-Class Agility... "Never mind..."

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Even VS Ren

"Ten cards, and YOU don't have any BS tricks."

"I don't," Ren agreed. "Of course, my Stat Paramaters are just flat out higher, being a Tier-1 Class."

"..."

"But hey. it'll be a proper melee. You have a chance, at least."

And THAT fight would be fair, but Ren would have the advantage of having his Stats better aligned with his skills. For instance, Jaune's new Skills are Swordmaster Skills - and as such only work for a Swordmaster, which we now know has a B-Stat Agi. Jaune's Dex is lower. As such, some of those abilities won't even be coming out as well as they SHOULD because Juane doesn't have retroactive Stat gain.

On the other hand, Ren's Skills are tailored to what he is. No confusion needed. They are tied into his Path and, as such, effectively "perfect" for who he is.

Jaune's Swordmaster Skills are cobbled together, thrown in and potentially both random and ill-suited for him.

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Also, Jaune does not have the greatest support abilities. He would be eclipsed easily by a mid-level healer. Jaune's abilities were simply things he used in clever ways to get an edge so he could fight on as close to an even level as he could manage. And which gave him the edge over a combatant who had a very specific skillset, i.e. Cinder. Sure, it may "look" like he has the best because this is first person from his PoV, and we've seen Jaune outsmart opponents. As such, we see his Skills working really damn well for him! But that doesn't mean they are the best ever, or every Blacksmith would be OP.

I would actually say that Jaune would be STRONGER if he'd always been a Swordmaster, because by now he might have an extra 80 points in Dex and Agi (rough guess here, no math - so may be less OR more). Even if you want to use the card example to say Jaune is OP, it should be pointed out that he is has paid for it with raw Stattage.

Jaune remains an underdog, for all that some seem determined to not believe this. He has surpassed some people, others at Beacon for instance, but by virtue of the enemies he faces, he remains an underdog, transformation or not. His transformation hasn't allowed him to slap down anyone other than Cinder, who he held even against BEFORE the transformation. If you were content that he was an underdog before, then not much has changed. There's not a single person he couldn't beat before that he CAN beat now.

Not one.

—Coeur Al'Aran, The Professor Arc Forum: Arc Royal Discussion: Comment #7,191
—Source: https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/189701/152955139/240/Forged-Destiny-Discussion
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