intricate:

adjective: complicated, involved, complex, involute, knotty, tricky,

elaborate, tangly, mazy, tangled
trade-off:
A trade-off is a situation where you make a compromise between two things, or wh
ere you exchange all or part of one thing for another.
brittle :
Synonyms:
o adjective: fragile, frail, breakable, frangible, crisp, friable, ten
der, delicate, shivery, short, flimsy
An object or substance that is brittle is hard but easily broken. Adjecti
ve
If you describe a situation, relationship, or someone's mood as brittle,
you mean that it is unstable, and may easily change. Adjective
Synonym: fragile
These incidents suggest the peace in Northern Ireland is still
brittle.
This may help to undermine the brittle truce that currently exi
sts.
o
Someone who is brittle seems rather sharp and insensitive and says t
hings which are likely to hurt other people's feelings. Adjective
+
...Noel Coward's brittle comedy of bad manners.
o
A brittle sound is short, loud, and sharp. Adjective
+
Myrtle gave a brittle laugh.