This is really important, although the exact level can vary from saga to saga (For my taste, you've made might-strippers way less effective than a "normal" combat spell, while IMO they should be better).
But having a "soak" vs might-strippers greatly enhance the lifespan of beasties, as it makes those low-level multicast spells useless.
For exemple, in Phoenix, we use a (maybe too low) soak of Might/5.
Thus, while, in RAW, 4 multicasts lvl 5 DEO with Pen 21 (casting total + Pen of 26) would kill a Might 20 demon, they'd only strip him of 4*(5-4) = 4 might there. You'd need, for exemple, 4 multicast lvl 10 DEO (Casting total + Pen of 31).
You can tailor this from saga to saga, but this allow to keep RAW might yet make a great difference.
Agreed.
Another possibility might be to borrow from Hedge Magic and have, for exemple, Techniques as Difficult Arts, and Forms as "Normal" Arts (Although this makes puissant technique more valuable).
Ooooh yes.
IMO, there's always a tendency on these boards to often assume an applicable foci, a tendency we seldom see in published characters.
See also this, on a related note: