Board Thread:The Heroes of Olympus/@comment-29729973-20170602033139/@comment-31636400-20170918231953

VishwaUser wrote: Can we say this:

1) Nico depends more on his powers than on his fighting skills, and his reliance on powers is increasing, even as his skill is growing.

2) Piper is learning to rely less and less on her powers and more and more on her fighting skills.

Hence, Piper might surpass Nico eventually. But right now, Nico still has much more experience (two more years, Underworld, Tartarus, Titan War, etc.), and hence, more skill.

[Tartarus reminds me: how was Piper able to fight Mimas better than a Tartarus veteran (Annabeth)?] No Nico is actually learning to become more independent of his powers. He still uses them very often but doesn't become very dependent of them. Piper is definitely becoming more independent of her powers and now tends to rely more on her swordfighting skills. I actually think that Nico's feats are more impressive than Piper's but you have to consider that Piper's feats are extremely considering she had barely any training. Over time, I think Piper will join the top leagues but Nico will also too. It basically depends who joins it first. For now, I'll be neutral on this.