One thing I cared about most while building this game: no two skill categories should feel the same. Each has its own logic, so building a party is about how you want to fight, not just picking the biggest numbers. A few examples:

Destruction: pure, raw damage, nothing else. Its trick: the more wounded the target, the harder it hits. A finisher school, brutal for closing out a fight.

Coercion: every attack also lands a debuff or secondary effect. Less raw damage than Destruction, but it bends the battle in your favor over time.

Spear Tech: damage scales off both Strength and Agility. A fast, evasive build suddenly becomes an offensive one.

Dagger Tech: cheap and fast, with lower base damage, but a real chance to strike twice or three times. High tempo, high variance.

Monk Arts: the heaviest hits in the game, paid for with a longer charge time. Commit early, or pay for it.

And Summoning is the only category with true area damage, your answer when the enemy brings a crowd.

There are 15 categories in total, and each character only uses two of them, so your party composition decides which of these playstyles you actually have access to.

More to come. If this kind of system design is your thing, wishlist it to follow along.