Need a hard/soft limit (or another solution) to mindwipes due to massive assistant powerscaling

[Regalis11]

Discussed in #14858

^{Originally posted by Xeavas October 19, 2024}
Assistant can power scale hard by repeatedly completing the apprentice skill tree and using mindwipe to reset their skills while keeping bonus skills unlocked by graduating from said skill tree.

Potential solutions could be:

1. A hard cap + soft cap.

• e.g 1st reset free, 2nd -1 lvl -5% max vitality. Unable to reset the 3rd time

2. A soft cap, skill loss and/or permanent debuff(s) ramping up very fast making it increasingly punishing to reset skills.

• e.g. 1st reset free, 2nd -3 lvl, 3rd -6 lvl
• e.g. 1st reset free, 2nd -1 lvl & -10% max vitality, 3rd -3lvl & additional -10% max vitality

3. Mindwipe removes bonus skills too (with some exceptions like endocrine skills).

I am personally more in favor of point 1 & 2 as it gives assistants some power scaling while not letting them infinitely able to do so in practice (in my opinion current -1 lvl every reset after 1st is too low of a debuff to offset this), on the other hand I am fine if point 3 is the solution if its deemed that it makes assistants too powerful & the concerns about modded bonus skills are addressed.

Others I've talk to also mentioned using bonus skills in their mods so removing them via point 3 might be detrimental unless a solution to prevent it is implemented.

v1.6.17.0 when this post is made.