Aspect Power Deltas
Aspects replace a spirit’s Special Rule (and sometimes an Innate). They’re not balanced 1:1 — some are clearly stronger, some weaker, some orthogonal. This chapter catalogs the directional deltas per aspect.
No Δ figure in this chapter has a cited source. They are authoring estimates, not computed from any recorded data, so each one is labeled “unsourced” below. The River Sunshine figure has been removed outright: the stat-models audit (reports/Spirit Island companion stat models.md, Appendix B) found it unsourced, and an aggregate win-rate delta is the kind of counting that report excludes. Per-aspect × per-spirit × per-adversary × per-level win-rate data is thin: at 100 games a single win rate is still ± 10 points (1.96 × √(0.25 ÷ 100) ≈ 0.098), wider than the deltas below. Treat the table as a list of aspects to try, not a ranking.
How to read the table
- +X% = an unsourced estimate that the aspect’s win rate is X pp above the base, averaged across matchups.
- complexity change = whether the aspect adds rules (↑) or simplifies (↓).
- axis shift = whether it moves the spirit toward a different archetype.
Shadows Flicker Like Flame
| Aspect | Expansion | Complexity | Δ (unsourced est.) | Axis shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | — | Low | baseline | Fear-rush + Dahan spatial |
| Reach (JE) | JE | Low ↓ | ~+2% | Simpler targeting; no energy tax |
| Amorphous (Promo 2) | Promo 2 | Mod ↑ | ~+3% | Mobility; 2 free presence moves/turn |
| Madness (JE) | JE | Mod ↑ | ~+5% | Strife-adding; fear-per-presence-destroyed |
| Foreboding (Promo 2) | Promo 2 | Mod ↑ | ~+2% | New innate replaces Shadows-of-Dahan |
| Dark Fire (NI) | NI | High ↑ | ~+7% | Moon↔Fire interchangeable |
Reading (if the unsourced estimates hold): Dark Fire would be Shadows’s strongest aspect — Moon↔Fire swap is load-bearing for Darkness Swallows. Madness offers a meaningfully different style. Reach is the simpler beginner-pick.
Other aspects (selected highlights)
| Spirit | Strongest aspect | Δ (unsourced est.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning’s Swift Strike | Wind (JE) | ~+4% | More Air access |
| River Surges in Sunlight | Sunshine (JE) | — (removed: no source) | Extra Sun support |
| Bringer of Dreams | Enticing (JE) | ~+5% | Fear-rush acceleration |
| Thunderspeaker | Warrior (JE) | ~+6% | Dahan damage multiplier |
| Ocean’s Hungry Grasp | Deeps (NI) | ~+4% | Deeper-water targeting |
| Keeper of the Wilds | Spreading Hostility (NI) | ~+3% | Land-destruction emphasis |
| Serpent Slumbering | Locus (NI) | ~+4% | Presence-of-self variation |
| Heart of the Wildfire | Transforming (JE) | ~+3% | Blight mitigation |
Expansion tags checked against the Steam engine’s aspect list (spirits.json): Wind and Sunshine are Jagged Earth; Deeps, Spreading Hostility and Locus are Nature Incarnate (corrected from JE). Enticing, Warrior and Transforming are not in the engine list, so their names and expansion tags are unverified.
What drives a positive delta?
Strong aspects generally:
- Reduce an element-access bottleneck (Dark Fire on Shadows; Wind on Lightning).
- Add a no-cost mechanic (Reach’s free range ignore; Amorphous’s free presence moves).
- Create a new win-condition pathway (Madness’s fear-from-presence-destroyed).
- Target a spirit’s weakest matchup-axis (Transforming on Heart mitigates self-Blight hurt).
Weak aspects tend to:
- Add complexity without expanding capability.
- Replace a mechanic the base spirit used well.
- Conflict with the spirit’s existing innate architecture.
When to pick an aspect
- New to the spirit: play base 2-3 games first. Knowing what the aspect replaces is load-bearing.
- Want simpler: pick the Low ↓ complexity aspect if one exists.
- Want stronger in a specific matchup: check the aspect description for obvious fit.
- Want experimental: pick Mod/High aspect that shifts the strategic axis.
Data sources
- The Δ estimates have no recorded source (no thread, page or date), so every one is labeled unsourced; the River Sunshine figure was removed. Replace an estimate only with a cited figure, and keep aggregate win-rate counting out of it (see the stat-models report).
- The Spirit Island Wiki lists every aspect with replacement text (parsed into each spirit chapter’s Aspects section).
- At 100 games per (spirit × aspect × adversary level × player count) cell, a win rate is still ± 10 points, so a few-point aspect delta needs far more games than a cell usually holds.
See also
- Reading mindwanderer — Wilson CI primer.
- Expansion Dilution Claims — related variance analysis.
- Each spirit chapter’s Aspects section has full mechanics per aspect.