Azrael wrote:1) Infusion: It's an earlygame buff, which is exactly what Skalds needed. If you try to rely on it late game, you're making a mistake. I very much doubt that 2-4 extra damage that saps your mana is going to help you much when a tentacled monstrosity rips off your arms.
I don't feel that "need". Skalds can't steamroll through first ~5 floors of dungeon like berserkers or poison mages, but this is perfectly fine! They can face absolutely anything (except some crazy OOD) if they think a bit, even ogres at D:3. And, if you play Skald with a prebuff-fight style, without relying on attacking spells too much, you'll have plenty of mana to spent, so -1 mana per strike will not be a problem, I'm judging according to 15+ lvl Skalds I had. And, what is main point, this spell gives you 4 points of guarantied damage. This is hell of a lot for Crawl, where fights usually last for 5 misses, 6 "didn't manage to harm" and 2 actual hits. Btw, never ever had problems with big ugly things
Azrael wrote:2) Song of Slaying: The way it's currently implemented, I believe, means that it rarely gets beyond a +2 to +4 slaying bonus, in return for bringing down half the level on you. If it goes higher than that, you are fighting things that you should not be fighting. Leave and come back later. (I don't place much stock in this spell, because making a lot of noise is much worse than you think)
This spell requires a little different tactic than usual. You can profit greatly from noise part if you'll use stairs, corridors etc. And sometimes, you'll just have to deal with swarms of enemies, where this spell is priceless. Adapt your tactic for this spell, and hey - one more slotless Ring of Slaying.
Azrael wrote:3) Spectral Weapon: It's good, I'll admit. But an endgame summon? It has low HP, barely any defenses, doesn't hit nearly as hard as your actual weapon (it's not "double attack speed"), transfers half the damage it takes onto you, and doesn't work in corridors or tight spaces. I've also noticed that some monsters seem to place attack priority on the weapon rather than you, since it's easy to destroy and gives a convenient way to harm you. Many low level spells are still useful at high levels (Repel Missiles, Swiftness, Summon Butterflies, Apportation, etc.), but this doesn't mean they should be made "2-3" spell levels higher.
Only thing, that somewhat balances it - enemies, that priorities weapon instead of you. It is "fine", when it's used usual for summons way - to tank stuff. But what if you're the one who takes hits? Or you've got nice friends like abominations? Than it'll be one of most strong, if not the strongest, attacker. Yep it doesn't hit as hard as you, but it still hit really hard. Not comparable to any lvl 3 summon. Also, polearms should be useful in corridors. As for "useful in endgame low level spells" - most of them are:
a) Utility
b) Unique and doesn't have available alternatives.
I can recall only two actual battle spells, that _can_ be useful at high levels - Mephitic Cloud and Conjure flame. Still, mostly for their utility part.
And here you have three of them, in a bundle. Multiple brand spells can be really useful, if you'll manage to find really good non-branded weapon, but they at least don't stack.
Azrael wrote:4) Spirit Shield: This is not overpowered for pure casters. It's not even powered for pure casters. In fact, barring a very short list of very unlikely scenarios, it's one of the worst spells a pure caster can cast. Losing 40 mana in a single turn on your 140 HP caster because a few yaktaurs moved into view isn't a benefit; it's a disaster, and one that deprives you of nearly all of your offensive and defensive options. It can't even be canceled after you realize your mistake.
You've got it wrong. It can be great panic button. Even too great. You'll absolutely not use it often. And you'll never start new battle with this spell on - there is an amulet for this purposes. But being able to get 30+ HP from nowhere when your life is in mortal danger is awesome. But this is for pure casters. For Skalds it's just... meh.
I don't saying this spells is so overpowered, that they're break the game, no. They're too overpowered for their levels. Just think about it - what will really change, if they got two more levels? They'll just require actual Spellcasting and Charms training, pretty much according to their power. Mana cost is almost out of the question - they are all long-lasting buffs (I didn't suggest to make Infusion eat 3 MP per attack). They are not suited for being low level spells - at D:1 Infusion is arguable more useless that frost brand spells with 30% failure chance; they are too strong for low level spells; they have too much synergy for starting spell set - that isn't like Crawl at all; they are too unique for a low level spell - it's just weird, when other will get some little flamepuffs and bigger flamepuffs, Skalds'll have something unique with unusual mechanics and, actually, gamechanging.