Editing Mnemon Explains Solar Combat (section)

===Combos===

While I'll go into combos a bit deeper later, I thought I should mention them here because you poor Solars are so terribly disadvantaged when it comes to them, not being able to use your Reflexive charms freely and all.

What? Yes, my reflexive charms are jokes compared to yours. Go on, keep taunting the woman with the superweapon stash.

Anyway, the key advantage of putting defence charms in combo is that most such charms are Reflexive - meaning not only can you put them in combo with charms from any ability, but you can choose whether or not to use the charms freely after activating your combo. This not only allows you to layer more defences, it means you're not "locked in" when you choose to use a charm. For instance, if you use Heavenly Guardian Defence as part of a combo against a powerful attack early in the turn, yet choose not to use it on a weaker attack later in the turn and are hit, you can still use Iron Kettle Body and Essence Gathering Temper to bolster your soak and recoup some of your essence costs. You can even put two Reflexive defences of the same type - for instance Dipping Swallow Defence and Heavenly Guardian Defence - into combo, and use whichever is appropriate for a given attack.

Look out for synergistic combos such as Iron Kettle Body + Essence Gathering Temper - since Essence Gathering Temper is based off pre-soak damage, it doesn't matter if you then soak the damage down to nothing. Hence, if you've got Stamina 3, Essence Gathering Temper + Iron Kettle Body (a total cost of 3 motes) is usually free (note that Iron Kettle Body + Essence Gathering Temper, or the far superior Iron Skin Concentration + Essence Gathering Temper usually allows a large Essence *profit* when using the updated charms from the Player's Guide).