Question Martial Skills in Xianxia.

So, I'm currently thinking about writing a Xianxia fic and i'm having trouble with the martial skills. Well i'm having issues with a couple things but let's focus on one thing at a time..

I don't know exactly how to show the difference in levels between low, mid, high, top, and peak ranked martial skills. I could do the obvious thing and just say that oh since this skill is higher ranked its obviously better and stronger in every way. But i really don't wanna do things that way. I want there to be a reason why these skills are higher tiered and better than the lower tiered martial skills besides just being a bigger rank.

Can you guys help me out thinking of differences between the ranks or something that'll help me differentiate the tiers?

 

Say, a low tier fires a dragon with their fist and it's blurry and incorporeal. Mid is corporal. High is so real that the sight makes you wish you wore a brown robe

 

Like they poke a mountain with a finger and blast it out?

 

Uhm.. not quite i believe. What i mean is i need something that can help me clearly and blantantly identify the differences between the tiers of martial skills. Like what's the difference between a peak ranked martial skill and a low rank martial skill besides the names?

 

the fate verse had a nifty concpet for the noble phantasms that you can borrow. it was based on what it can win against
ex anti unit , anti army, anti-castle, anti world, as well as unit class(self) army class(make army) and others

 

The few I read didn't show any clear rankings as shown in Western style magic systems.

 

you can say that they are ranked low to peak, but in reality they are different classes of skills. however, since every skill is like that, they don't use classifications, but just divide it into low to peak

low being just a small multiplier to the force of the blow and may a bit of light
middle adding an attribute to the blow while keeping the multiplier from low
high affecting the space in front of the blow or sth while keeping the previous attributes or changing them slightly
etc

 

just use technology.like how Vegeta identify Goku's power

 

Apart from the spell having a corporeal or incorporeal look, the ammount of energy used ia bigger as well have im case of aoe attacks having increased range and more power. In small attacks more speed and more strength

 

Read more Xianxia Novel, broaden your horizon.

 

Imo to differetiate skills, how about like energy input to use said skill and output generated

Eg. Low tier skills use less energy, but the actual output determined by the attack strength and speed is lower than input. Meaning output input ratio to be less than or in rare cases equal to 1. Higher tier skills require finer control and higher input, but the ratio will definitely be higher than 1.

In short, skills have multiplier effect to the attack strength and speed.

 

Can you give me some recommendations where they have different ranked martial skills with different effects or show how the martial techniques are different?

 

So what you're saying is higher ranked martial skills take more Qi or energy to use and will produce a higher damage or boost as a result of that higher rank? And lower ranked skills use less energy but are more consistent and will let the fighter fight longer?

 

Differences might include:

1. The amount of variations: If a skill is too rigid, you can only use it in specific situations. Many skills can be of a higher rank because they are more versatile.

1.1 Sometimes however, less is more: If a skill has 729 transformations to deal with one specific situation each, it is less useful then a skill that only needs 18 transformations to cover the same situations. Especially because said situations might ( or rather will) change during battle.

2. Imbued strength: Simply put, higher ranked skills can channel more of your qi (and/or the surrounding qi) and/or use it more effectively.
If you want to lift more weight either use more power or a (better) lever.

3. Better technique: While lower ranked skills are punches and kicks, higher ranked skills might include ways to block the opponents qi or create other special effects.

4. Visual effects: While lower ranked skill users look like MMA champions, higher ranked skills use CGI to have dragons, tigers, etc. appear and act according to the skill used.

5. Higher requirements: Depending on the setting, higher ranked skills might require a higher cultivation or purer qi or even more expensive pills, etc., making them unusable for lower ranked martial artists... unless they improve of course

6. Higher strain on the body: While sport keeps the body fit, it also leads to injuries, etc. Higher ranked skills might take this into account and reduce the amount of strain placed on the users body, allowing the user to perform at their peak for a longer amount of time, instead of having to retire at age 40-ish, because their body can't keep up.

7. The ability to reach greater height: simply put, lower ranked skills are animal trails while peak ranked skills are highways (without other cars). The amount of distance you can put behind you in the same amount of time varies greatly, allowing users of higher ranked skills to advance faster. Since their lifetime is limited, lower ranked techniques might use too much of it, to allow their users to advance before their time is up.

8. Value: Given all the above points, people will compete to gain higher ranked techniques, while lower ranked ones are largely ignored by rich young masters and their clans/sects, etc.

9. Bragging rights: "I cultivate [generic high ranked technique], you and your [even more generic low ranked technique] should just give up now and spare yourself the humiliation.", "Who said I only cultivate [even more generic low ranked technique] ? I also have the [super awesome peak ranked technique], which will help me wipe that smug look of your face."
OR
"How could he defeat me with that [even more generic low ranked technique]? That's impossible!!" "Ha, it does not matter how high ranked the technique is, as long as you understand it" ...

I admit, the last two points were mainly included to have 9 points overall (since it's Xianxia), but they show one of the two reasons authors categorize techniques:
1. Because different martial arts styles in history often clashed to determine which is stronger
2. Because it's an easy way to show progress and/or the difficulty of challenges, as well as how lucky/OP the MC is for obtaining/overcoming them.

 

what if you separate them into diffrent tiers of martial skills? For example, you can make the low level as "Nurturing technique" which is pretty good as attacking skill, but it's main function is actually temper or nurture the body . Then the mid level is the energy cultivation technique, giving you the marvelous ability of interacting supernatural energies. The high level can be considered "Killing technique" which uses the foundation from nurturing technique and energy cultivation technique as the base to activate, without the said foundation, bitacklash may hurt or even kill the user. As for peak level, you can make it the combination of two or three of them at the same time?

This is a refrence to Paradise of Demonic Gods, you could read it for further inspiration. It get a bit fucky after the mc reach Divine Level tho

 

You can read Sage Monarch this novel give very detail about Each Realm of Cultivation even the Small realm every advancement. also uou can try er ergen novel and first half of desolate era IET or The Three Realm Arc and many more.

 

i think topic about this need deep discussion. many criteria can be used for this, there are no clear line about it. i would say higher martial art have more complexity hence more power or effect. usually lower martial art have simpler concept or requirement

 

Yes, but that also sounded like I am differentiating between energy conservative skills vs high output skills.

 

I will add comprehension
if we wanna put irl comparison
put master realm aside whixh can.... nvm
~ lower da criteria a skill may put on low tier example~ simple punch, kick grab, kamehame ect~ this tier usefulness is quite simple~
~ middle mean combination of some low tier which set into moves, what is moves? a set of continuous movement with clear goal/target usually aiming to kill I mean disabling something~ this tier put another difficulty cuz series of movement to increase effectiveness~
~ high tier mean hmm put into practice which require low and mid tier complete understanding to execute~ this tier will lead to hmm efficient execution be it power, timing, control ect~

now just change such thing with magic I mean xuanhuan/xianxia story skill~ foala~ done~

fumu what a bad explanation but bear with it cuz this cute cat is lazybum