I kind of wander between the two. My alt is severely underpowered. She can't find physically or aetherically. She's a damn fast runner though, and she can easily slip away from situations.
My main character is more complicated. Based on her knowledge with magic and skill, she should be OP, however, due to a condition she was born with, it makes her aetherial management quite unreliable, in the sense that, if she's unstable, she cannot cast magic because either she loses control (and it backfires), or she simply doens't have the energy to, and would have to resort to using her life force to fight, SEVERELY putting her life at risk. There have been several instances where she was unable to cast magic due to her condition and got attacked when nobody was around to protect her, and many times, these led to her nearly getting killed. She is very physically weak as well, at least, against a common brute who would seek to fight her. If she is lucky enough to be aetherically stable, and IF she is in a place where she can safely cast magic, then yes, I usually make her as OP as my opponent allows me to make her (without going over to the "primal destroyer demi-god." side), and of course, even then, she can get hurt.
In other words, I think a character will always be balanced if their weaknesses are as big as their strengths.
My main character is more complicated. Based on her knowledge with magic and skill, she should be OP, however, due to a condition she was born with, it makes her aetherial management quite unreliable, in the sense that, if she's unstable, she cannot cast magic because either she loses control (and it backfires), or she simply doens't have the energy to, and would have to resort to using her life force to fight, SEVERELY putting her life at risk. There have been several instances where she was unable to cast magic due to her condition and got attacked when nobody was around to protect her, and many times, these led to her nearly getting killed. She is very physically weak as well, at least, against a common brute who would seek to fight her. If she is lucky enough to be aetherically stable, and IF she is in a place where she can safely cast magic, then yes, I usually make her as OP as my opponent allows me to make her (without going over to the "primal destroyer demi-god." side), and of course, even then, she can get hurt.
In other words, I think a character will always be balanced if their weaknesses are as big as their strengths.
