by q 3 on Fri Dec 23, 2011 5:56 am
Swap the costs: have the +MP boon destroy one health potion, and the +HP boon destroy one mana potion. Gnomes still really like the +MP boon, but now other races can take advantage of it without a keg of mana. (Also: it's even more chaotic that way.) Probably would need to reduce it back down to +2 MP, though; the +HP can stay the same, or perhaps change it to +2 or +3 bonus HP.
A big part of the reason why it's been so hard to balance +MP boons, in my opinion, is that Gnomes are far too powerful. Bump their conversion cost up to 90 or maybe even back to 100, and they're somewhat less likely to break the game. (That, or there aren't enough alternative ways of getting % based MP restoration; other than buying mana potions or a keg of mana, there's GG's Protection which is expensive if all you want is MP and was recently nerfed, and Mystera's restoration boon which is useless mid-fight. % HP restoration has a few more options, including Blood Swell, bloodpools, and the overheal effect [from lifesteal or Pactmaker]. Until Elves have a viable substitute for mana potions, or a reliable means of obtaining extra potions, Gnomes will nearly always be superior outside of a few peculiar strategies and/or classes.)