Inaccurate and unclear wording on abilities

[AmishJustice]

1. Firstly, what do we even call these abilities we play each turn. They are described as "skills", "equipment", and "powers" depending where you look, but ultimately there seems to be no distinction between these words, except for their poor synergy with the word "Cast" (which is pretty exclusive to "spells" something this game NEVER calls its abilities. This makes it difficult for new players to know what their options are. Why not just go with a unified term, or make each subcategory like "equipment" actually mean something and be tied back into gameplay.

2. If a power says that it effects a "random ally", who does that mean?
For example, Grandpa's ability to shield a "random ally" the first few times he gains shields each turn SHOULD NOT, in my opinion, raise his own shields. He is not a "random ally" of himself. If abilities like this are acting as intended, please change the wording to make this clearer. No one is their own ally, unless they have multiple personalities.
Similarly, but distinct, if an Enemy stands alone against you, and you have an ability which targets a random enemy, should it effect the sole enemy? It doesn't. Again, I don't mind, but I would have loved to have had an indication one way or the other.

3. Hidden Enemy Counterattacks
It pains me, that at the beginning of EVERY SINGLE COMBAT, I am required to put my cursor over the tiny circles that live beneath the enemies health bar. Forgetting to do that means I'm likely to run afoul of a game ending counterattack which will make the strategy I've employed against the last few battles lead to my utter destruction. I'm not against enemy counterattacks, or triggered effects when their shield is broken, but I am all for clarity in design and intent. It seems like displaying the enemies attacks and counterattacks should be made more obvious, for the benefit of the player (especially the new player).

4. Powers that only trigger a certain number of times per battle should be more distinctive in appearance. I spent most of my first run with Inferna thinking that her innate power boosted rage each turn (because I had another ability which also added random rage) leading to the unfortunate realization (once I got rid of the other Rage ability).

5. Is there a rationale for why some abilities have really different borders than others?
I thought it was passive and active abilities, but I feel like I've seen exceptions to that rule which made me question that. What gives?

6. How can I see my gathered relics while in battle. I mean, something highlighting when my "Stuns enemy after 50 hits" relic is likely to trigger would go a long way to preventing me running out of paper & pencils trying to keep a tally of the number of attacks so far in combat.

7. Order of operations is oftentimes bizarre. For example in the prior example where Gramps has the ability that allows him to also shield an ally the first few times he gains shields in a round, Gramp's always gains Shields at the beginning of the round, so this seems great. But, if Gramps has any Armor, the extra shields they provide count as a separate application, rather than just an increase to his innate ability. This wastes one of those limited "shield ally" charges by granting an ally 2 or 3 shields, simply because the order of operations hasn't bothered to read the wording on the "Armor" relic.

8. Additionally, I wish the display of the triggered abilities (which appear in the top left at the opening of battle) stuck around until cleared by the player, and even offered mouse-over clarification of their effects on combat. It's easy to lose track of these elements, since they are not immediately evident, especially if you stop a run part-way and have to load your game a few days later. This should definitely toggleable for experienced (or uncaring) players.

9. And Finally, How come, no matter how many new characters I unlock, the bridge only shows three of them, one of which is (by all accounts) just a forgettable NPC that's in the intro? Why aren't my new characters taking up a position on the bridge? That splash screen just BEGS for it to be filled with the characters we've met. Heck, if you clicked on them, word bubbles could even appear over their heads, giving them more chances to charm us. Also, why do we need to launch a new game to level up any of my heroes after a run? This should happen back in that splash screen at base, guys!

I am enjoying this game. Don't get me wrong. But there are just a lot of decisions here which feel poorly expressed, almost like it's an issue with ESL or translation. I really hope that all these powers get a clarification and verification pass to help streamline new player's access to the game.