Well, unfortunately, they were. Here are the major features you have to address between 5th and 6th and what they mean. If your world is thematically driven, you have to figure out what to do about Power Defense and attacks that work vs. Power Defense. Drains became 1 1/2 times as powerful because they all became ranged. Now, any idiot can tell you that 60 does not equal 90. But between 5th and 6th, that's exactly what happened. What it means: This means that unless power defense becomes more common, characteristic drains are one and a half times as effective as they used to be, because these powers now gain range for free against progressively cheaper characteristics. The two big winners were END and REC. Whereas these characteristics used to be problematic to drain, now they're truly hideous, especially END. Most characters don't have more than 50 to 60 END, nor is there a reason for them to ever buy more. Whereas before, you were being drained of about 28 END for 60 points, now you're being drained of a whopping 52. Most characters will be burning stun after just a couple actions. However, Power Defense is difficult to justify and can't be put on every sheet so easily. Stun became half as expensive, while defenses stayed the same. Players began building characters that had lower defenses (around 20) and buckets of stun, because it was more cost-efficient to do so, and you stayed on your feet while your opponent dropped like a stone. The only way to correct this, as near as I can figure, is hard maximums for who can buy how much STUN. In a fantasy game this is less of a problem, but the math remains the same. What it means: It means that attacks vs. Power defense are going to become a lot more common, in order to circumvent the ridiculously high stun totals characters can generate. Growth: Growth in 6th edition works great, except for creatures whose only main ability is the ability to change size. This is a problem because the ability's most basic use should be the ability to change your size. In-between numbers generate absurd amounts of effort and calculation for very little end result. This is frustrating. Regarding Drains, is it really imbalanced though? Drain v STUN is 10 points to do 1d6 STUN only, OCV v DCV, resisted by power defense. Mental Attack is 10 points to do 1d6 STUN only, OMCV v DMCV, resisted by mental defense. Blast (AVAD: Power Defense or Mental Defense) is 10 points to do 1d6 STUN only, OCV v DCV, resisted by the chosen defense. The only real difference between the Blast and the Drain is how they are recovered. Blast will combine with other typical attacks for REC recovery per Turn (and subject to taking Recoveries), while Drain will be recovered 10 STUN/turn independently from REC. The drain still seems weaker, at least at this level. Draining END instead is a little more unclear. As you said, you can quickly get someone burning STUN for END. So at that point your 60 AP power has them taking 3d6 every time they use a 60 AP power. So after two of their phases they've taken the equivalent of one of those above 60 AP powers. Every Turn, they get back 25 END, which is enough to use 4 such powers, so you probably have to reapply regularly. It -could- get out ahead (though far less likely to stun them), but on the other hand there's a lot of ways to get around it. If they have a no-END attack, for example, possibly built on Charges. If Drain is more powerful, maybe it's simply that it used to be too weak? On the other hand, Suppress is now a -1/2 instead of half base cost. Otherwise, Suppressing STUN could be kind of out of hand.
Trust me. It wasn't too weak. I write for the system and playtest everything. Drain was too powerful before. Action denial is the most powerful thing in any game, and the simplest of drains produce tons of action denial.
All it takes is a STR drain followed by an entangle, and a character is pretty much doomed.
Characters will burn Stun like water after being affected by END drains. Remember that most combats only take one combat turn. By the time that the third END drain hits, they're burning stun. And remember, that assumes a 6d6 END drain attacking a character with 60 END. Most starting characters have between 40 and 60. You're looking at the high end, not the average or the low end.
You can't compare Drains to other forms of attack that lower STUN, because you can lower ANYTHING with it for the same cost. Recovery Drain is also particularly heinous, even though it's a defense. Remember that if I drain your INT, I eat your Perception Roll. If I drain your EGO, I remove your ability to resist your psychological complications.
Your problem is that you're looking at things as mechanics driven and not concept driven. This punishes characters for building a tight, well designed concept and rewards polyglot point crunching. Sure, I can have a bunch of attacks that fire off on Charges to resist END drains, but how much sense does it make on my sheet?
Trust me, I've extensively playtested this stuff or I wouldn't be griping about it. Drain is too powerful in every way. Remember that they gave range to a whole bunch of powers that never had it, so now every character who used to have a drain just got a bunch of free points to use. In a concept driven game, you don't just throw Power Defense on your sheet. The GM determines whether or not you can justify Power Defense in your concept.
Consider also the context of the OP. The Figured Characteristics aren't drained in the same way as they are in 6th. Drain didn't become a problem until this edition of the game. Now it is one.
