Context of the Alliance's current situation.
The Alliance is a shadow of the might they once possessed a thousand years before. Great warriors, tacticians, and mages were long since lost and the Alliance has never been able to regain such things. Only with the recent aid of the Librarian has the Alliance begun to explore the lost branches of magic, their mages regaining the knowledge of their ancient ancestors. They've also begun to conquer more land, these settlements currently safe with the patrolling Tank, however, that will not remain forever. With the Shield Artifact, this would further ensure their safety. It could also be used in conjunction with the Tank with perhaps a few mages in possession of the Foci, allowing for an even harder to kill tank with a crew of enhanced mages to wreak havoc. The Shield can also be used in conjunction with the Sword, allowing for great offense and defense, although their capabilities would only be seventy percent of what they could be with the Foci as support.
They also plan—with the aid of the dwarves—to begin to invade deeper into orcish territory, they need a powerful offense in order to spearhead this operation and while the Tank could spearhead this operation, it would leave their territories without the Tank to defend them. With the Sword Artifact, they'd be able to start this offensive push while keeping their territories safe with Erwin, although they would then lack his strategic genius on the battlefield. They could also combine both in a doubly devastating offensive, hoping that the orcs would be too busy focused on them to retake the lost territory. Said sword can be enhanced by the Foci amulet to utilize Lightning to even higher heights, it's destructive capabilities at the very least to be doubled in the hands of even a moderately skilled mage or swordsman. While the mage would be better for the unique utilization of Lightning, this can also be put in the hands of a swordsman, who can combine the powers of electricity with his technique, making for a powerful glass cannon on the battlefield. Either way, the offensive capabilities of the Alliance would be at the very least doubled.
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While they've recently began to dabble in enhancement magic circles, these are currently terribly inefficient and can only sustain the lower tiers of spells. In order to accomplish higher tiers of magic, they'd need to either improve said circles—a process that would take decades if not centuries—or possess the Foci amulet. The Foci can be used in conjunction with the other two artifacts but can also enhance the capabilities of the mages. A team of the most powerful mages the Alliance has to offer can be gathered and working through the Foci, they can achieve great acts of Magic previously only known before the Great Calamity. If the great acts of Magic before the Great Calamity are classified by a quantity of X, then the current capabilities of the mages would be a mere tenth. It would increase a mage's strength tenfold. And Magic is not solely limited to offensive capabilities, the Foci can enhance the capabilities of healers who would now be able to heal the more deadly wounds with greater chances of success.
TLDR: Basically, the Alliance can only choose two of the three artifacts.
1. Powerful Offense
2. Powerful Defense
3. Powerful Support
Powerful Offense + Powerful Support = x2 Offense (this is a vague estimation)
Powerful Defense + Powerful Support = x2 Defense (also vague)
Powerful Offense + Powerful Defense = A good balance of the two (not as effective with Support)