Never sacrifice clarity for zoom......I've learned this, I had a cheap spotting scope, and my leupold vx-iii at much lower power was much crisper, I could see bullet holes that I could not see with the spotter even at higher power etc...

clarity/quality glass is more important than zoom, ie more functional. I mean if it was like a close call, zoom may be beneficial, like a swarovski 2-7 vs. a leupold 4-12, sure that leupold could be better for your particular situation but magnification without quality you'll be back where you started.