I haven't tested the spell shield of Niv's thoroughly yet, but
it seems to be about 10 points absorbed while sung, 20 with a
lute. At 49, healing from this song is 7 points/tick sung, 14
points/tick with a lute (+1 natural regen). I'm pretty sure
those numbers are accurate.

Here's the problem. When the spell damage exceeds the
shield's absorption (which is 99.99% of the time at this
level), you lose the effect. On average, this happens after
the first tick but before the second tick. So sung, the
shield absorbs 10 points, but you lose 7 points of
healing. Net effect is equivalent to the shield only
absorbing 3 points. With a lute, the shield absorbs 20
points, but you lose 14 points of healing. Net effect is
equivalent to the shield only absorbing 6 points.

Compare to straight Hymn. Hymn at 49 heals 9/tick sung,
18/tick with a lute (+1 natural regen). Sung, Hymn would heal
18 points over 2 ticks while Niv's would heal 7 points and
absorb 10 points (total 17). With a lute, Hymn would heal 36
points over 2 ticks while Niv's would heal 14 points and
absorb 20 (total 34).

In both cases, you are better off just playing Hymn and taking
full damage from the spell, instead of relying on Niv's spell
shield. Niv's is thus marginalized as a song only to be used
if you're already playing Hymn.

The spell shield on this song should be improved to make it a
*better* alternative to Hymn if you're fighting a caster.
Otherwise why even bother having the spell shield component.

--
John H. Kim
kim@...