There has been a lot of back-and-forth about Skill bloat in the rules, but has anyone taken the time to determine if some Talents are inherently better at doing a specific thing than other Talents that are of equal or lesser Tiers? Could some Talents be 86d or folded into other talents?

There seem to be some superfluous doppleganger Talents.

I know that Adamantium Faith invalidates other talents of lower rank that help protect against fear (i.e. Jaded), but there's a couple threads talking about that talent already.

Other than that, the talent that seems really odd to me so far is Contact Network. It lets you use your Fellowship in place of your Influence when making Requisition checks. To me, this just seems like a way for players to abuse the abilities that require you to "burn" Influence for an effect. A player with Contact Network could sacrifice their Influence to acquire expensive items or use the Cover Up talent repeatedly without affecting their ability to buy more items and services. While not strictly talent bloat as you defined it, this seems to violate the intent of those abilities.

Covered In Weasels,

I believe you made my point better than I.

Some Talents invalidate other Talents.

While I'm thinking about it...

Wouldn't this imply taking Lightning Attack invalidates Swift Attack?

I know I've said this before, but I think it needs repeating: Talents need rewrites, and if it's too difficult to keep straight which Talent does what, and which Talent's toes get stepped on while doing it, then there is definite Talent bloat.

EDITED so content of comment isn't lost in overt insult.

Covered In Weasels,

I believe you made my point better than I.

Some Talents invalidate other Talents.

While I'm thinking about it...

Wouldn't this imply taking Lightning Attack invalidates Swift Attack?

I know I've said this before, but I think it needs repeating: Talents need rewrites, and if it's too difficult when presenting a $60 rule book to keep straight which Talent does what, and which Talent's toes get stepped on while doing it, then there is definite Talent bloat.

LA doesn't invalidate SA because one isn't strictly better than another. Some weapons can't be used with LA, for example.

That's true.

Why, exactly, would someone then use a weapon that precludes the use of their Talent? Or, why spend XP on a Talent that's not being used full-time?

While I'm thinking about it...

Wouldn't this imply taking Lightning Attack invalidates Swift Attack?

Wait what?!

Isn't Swift Attack a pre-requisite for Lightning Attack any more?

that's just silly.

... away from my books, so can't check right now.

That's true.

Why, exactly, would someone then use a weapon that precludes the use of their Talent? Or, why spend XP on a Talent that's not being used full-time?

Concepting and building your character intelligently will prevent wasted XP like that. Most players that know the system well won't be spending the XP when they know they aren't going to use it.

Two weapon master makes ambidextrous pointless. You dont need Ambidextrous to take two weapon master (only two weapon wielder) and Two weapon master removes all penalties for dual wielding.

Handedness is such a pointless superfluous mechanic in RPGs anyway.

I dunno, I find it can be quite flavourful. Its not completely pointless given the system determines which arm is hit. Its becoming redundant is more a side effect of the critical charts changing, lots of the early ones in WHRP 1 stated 'the defender must make a T test or drop whatever he is holding', which could be a game changer in the middle of a fight if you drop your sword.

Talents should be consolidated as good as possible.

Same goes for psy powers by the way.