Just to add my thoughts in with the conversation, would another potential balancing factor not be healthier to streamline the Kai Pain chart? I have had other ideas in mind in the past, but seeing as we also have genjutsu that can paralyze the physical body in an illusive state of catatonia. Rather than balance coming from the kai chart, which I now think is alright as it is, I believe that retooling the pain chart would be more beneficial. As currently a non-specialized genin practically has to kill themselves to release hold of a D-Rank genjutsu.
This is because intolerable pain is described as such: "
The final level of pain in this list, intolerable pain is a level of pain that is almost impossible to comprehend until it is experienced first hand. The level of wounds that cause this amount of pain are seriously debilitating and while they might be capable of shocking an individual out of a genjutsu, it could be argued that the genjutsu would be less dangerous. Wounds of this nature are generally life threatening or at the very least will seriously diminish the individual's combat capabilities. Wounds that would fall under this category would be deep stabs into the torso (organs being hit), serious burns over large portions of the body, multiple major bones broken or the act of drowning with water actively filling the lungs."
Generally speaking, I don't believe pain has much if anything to do with someone's specialization as the pain chart is based on essentially being shocked out of the technique. But upon inspection it seems, like the kai chart, which increases in ease as you warrant more skill towards the specialization, the pain chart is also made in a fashion that garners directly to any genjutsu user. That makes most genjutsu unbreakable by wounds for anyone with a low or no level of skill in the subject. Which I don't think should be the point of the pain chart in its entirety.
Pain = A Break, I believe should have less to do even with skill and more to do with how numbed or lack there of you are. As with Necro's character Kunikunosaki, pain kai is harder for her because her special ability which enables her to resist pain that would assuredly incapacitate a normal genin and possibly, by the kai charts wordings on pain, some chunin as well. This is due to her physical body, not her mental ability or even her specialization. I believe it can be held in regard that if being physically tolerant to pain can make it harder to break genjutsu then it is based upon the body and not the skill of the person that the pain chart should function.
Note, this is my own suggestion to possibly give route, but as I believe I have mentioned, I think stream-lining the pain kai chart would be the easiest fashion of balance. That would not fully break the site's base functionality, I give a very rough example of what I mean as the chart below:
Now obviously, this is a suggestion of my thoughts to the matter, but in tooling it like this I believe it leaves deadly genjutsu as deadly as they are meant to be without the worry of a D or C-Rank fully incapacitating an individual of any rank. Genjutsu is strong in multiple instances, on the site, and it is why there are the restrictions on its effects that there are. But in its freedoms, easily accounted triggers, close to no hand signs, I believe leaving such things as there are is fine. If anything they should be looked at with a minor touch more scrutiny depending on the effect it can cause. E.I. Looking into their glaring eyes paralyzes your body, or in the case of the genjutsu I use the most, False Confidence, falling into a defensive stance while the opponent can see you. Very easily met triggers in the situations you want them, with powerful effects to take the ride with them.
The only thing I would note for the above chart, not for the victim's release, but could potentially be that Soles have more powerful genjutsu to release from meaning that D-B-ranks would be knocked up on how hard they are to escape from. Leaving B-S ranks are intolerable levels of pain to escape in that fashion, and leaving lower ranks as easier to escape from. Or possibly, the pain levels could increase from 4 levels to 5. That could be another look for rebalancing matters.
This is all just rough conjecturing though, but I would like to hear more thoughts and opinions from
Q, and other members / mod staff. I do think discussing this here is a part of the reason this section of the board exists, and its certainly being discussed to some capacity if Q's words are factual on the matter, which I would trust they are.
