Development Cycle Archive
Thread: IC 1-16: Combat Roles; Teras Kasi Artist
What defines theTeras Kasi Artistrole in combat?
The Teras Kasi is the unarmed specialist, the hand to hand martial artist. His order was formed as a counter to the Jedi, so special bonuses should apply when engaging a Jedi. However, there are 2 types of martial artists, those that study hard styles and those that study soft styles. Hard styles involve developing devastating strikes and kicks, where soft styles emphasize defense, painful holds an joint locks (enuf to make you wet your pants) and redirecting the attackers energy such that they end in an unbalanced state and damage themselves by striking the ground or objects nearby.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
You have the basics in there, they have targeted strikes, but these should not cause state effects but instead cause wounding/bleeds. This would be representative of "hard style".
The balance tree specials should reflect the attackers damage back onto themselves, and result in a posture change.
The meditative tree is the chi, the amount of energy available for their techniques as well as self healing, this is well represented, except this focusing ability shouldn't perhaps buff the 3 main stats as much as make combat actions cost less and recover quicker.
The 4th tree should represent the soft style jujitsu's, these specials would cause the blinding, stunning, dizzying pain that one encounters when attacking a practitioner of aikido, jujitsu or shinwa taido where the result is your joints being locked up and you are no longer able to engage in an attack. This 4th tree, should cause an automatic 2-3 second cumulative "warcry" effect as each state is applied.
What offensive abilities?
Don't make me repeat myself 
What defensive abilities?
An unarmed martial artists greatest strengths against an armed opponent are his tuned attention to the attackers body/position and ability to instinctively know when they will strike, and their ability to disarm. This should be represented as an ability to dodge ranged attackers on approach and the ability to literally disarm their opponent, placing their weapon back into inventory.
What unique abilities?
See defensive abilities... makin me repeat myself again.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
The tanking aspect, ability to hamper enemies ability to attack, apply states, cause massive bleeds (which force retreat)
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Dependent on others for weapons. Some would have them independant of armor, but traditionally that is not the case. The samurai used armor. I think a special class of armor would be the proper response. I think the ability to heal wounds through meditation should be removed. Make us find a doctor for that or cap it at 80% of your HAM. Already dependant on other classes for buffs.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
I'd like to see the ability to use the opponent as a shield against other ranged attackers. Just like in the movies. ! I think a TK tanking for the ranged weps experts would present a challenge in their to hit, seeing as they are focusing on not hitting me. If I'm engaged with more than one opponent in actual hand to hand, I should suffer additional damage from a ranged attack, since I'm not going to be able to dodge.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
We should exist to counter the Jedi. Add'l defense/offense bonuses against Jedi. Perhaps set it up where we can work with the Bounty Hunters on Jedi missions.
I am fairly new to the game and am following the Teras Kasi discipline. I just made student, and was extremely pleased with my character's progression from decent damage dealer to all out nightmare. As I said I am new to the game and to posit that my opinion holds relevance might seem presumptious at this point, but I am a five year MMORPG veteran and have seen the same patterns with this type of class.
"What defines theTeras Kasi Artistrole in combat?"
Damage, and lots of it. The ability to mash an opponent's teeth in at will seems good on the surface, but it comes with it's drawbacks. For example, simply doing damage to wear an opponent down can become drab and boring. The Teras Kasi is the unarmed specialist and should therefore be defined as someone who is more adept at removing an opponent's ability to fight effectively. As I said damage is good, and it's fun watching that combat spam but there is a lot more to a fight than wearing an opponent down with pure damage - especially if you solo.
- Perhaps a line of special attacks that slow an opponent's ability to regenerate mind/action or interrupt healing.
- Make the line of attacks that alter an opponent's posture more effective (adding appropriate penalties for the lunge).
- Counterattacks based on the opponent's movement penalty. For example, if an opponent lunges the Teras Kasi should be able to use this to his/her advantage somehow. Perhaps an inate leg-trip or sidestep/head blow?
"What basic combat elements should they possess?"
I agree with the common consensus that fast and constant damage is important, as it can keep an opponent in check and keep their attention away from ranged fighters and healers. From what I have seen the Brawler/TK line is pretty much the meat shield, so if this is the design, then good and fast damage is crucial. For this, the Teras Kasi should have a nearly impermeable defense in some situations.
"What defensive abilities?"
As I stated the Teras Kasi is a walking, talking weapon. As such, the class should be defined more on its ability to mitigate/avoid damage than to dish it out. In the real world, most martial arts disciplines rely on defense than anything. To supplement this, they should retune mitigation/avoidance. I also suggest that the TK should be able to dual-wield with an appropriate penalty, but the offhand weapon should be more defensive in nature. For example, an offhand weapon can be used to dish out normal melee damage but should exist more for counter-attacking and special attacks.
"What unique abilities?"
- Perhaps a line of leg-trips for fleeing/kiting opponents?
- A lunge/tackle attack with appropriate penalties and risks of failure?
- An ability to grapple?
"How could/should they interact with other professions?"
That one is easy. If the TK is expected and ableto go face to face with the biggest, baddest and scariest monsters in the game, he/she should be able to do this with other players witha similar degree of success. In other words, if a Carbineer depends on a TK to take that Rancor on face to face, he should have an inate respect and fear for the guy who can do it and not be able to whack that same TK with a shot to the back or the head.
"What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?"
The TK should have more ability to engage an opponent and keep their anger/attention while the ranged and other melee burn them down. Pretty simple. But in especially long fights we need more ability to avoid/mitigate. Also we rely a lot on our specials, and they shouldn't cost so much from the offset.
"What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?"
As a concentrated, disciplined emmissary of battle the TK should be the class that keeps others in check. His is not a lust for blood, but a desire for physical and spiritual perfection. As such he should be on the forefront for Jedi desireability.
"Both a martial art and an Order. The Teräs Käsi were formed from the remnant
civilians of a long-ago battle which devastated their home world of Palawa, a war
which involved the awesome powers of the Jedi Council. The few survivors of
Palawa migrated to a nearby world called Bunduki, where they decided to master
mind over body so they may keep the Jedi use of power in check. The Teräs Käsi
are thought to be sensitive to changes in the Force, and Teräs Käsi Masters are
feared by the Jedi. But Teräs Käsi are not generally Force users as Jedi are: Teräs
Käsi draw internal, personal power, while Jedi draw from everything around them."
What defines theTeras Kasi Artistrole in combat?
This was put better by Qui-Mu then I could
"should be our tanking abilities and our state change abilities. We should be able to last almost forever against any opponent and we should be able to dizzy, KD, blind, intimidate, stun, etc."
High defense low offense abilities relying on special moves, counters and group members to do most of the damage.
Teras Kasi should not be an offensive power house (that should be Pikeman in the melee lines). The damage should below to medium range and, this is the hard part to implement, should have the abilities to turn the attackers weapon against them if in range.
I agree with previous post this the where the Teras Kasi should shine. Extremely hard to hit. Heavy on the defensive modifiers the TK should be the melee profession that hardest to hit.
Currently Teras Kasi have very beneficial abilities but most are only usable outside of combat, Meditate, powerboost, ect. One I would like to see added is to partially make up for the being limited to kinetic damage. There have been numerous post about adding weapons to Teras Kasi which I do not agree with. I think a TK should be able to study their target and be able to bypass their armor for the next few attacks. This would give them at least a chance against an opponent that has 90-100% kinetic resistance, which is quite common.
TK along with all melee classes should be the "tanks" being able to hold agro and soak up damage while letting the heavy hitters to do their work.
This is again where Qui-Mu had a great idea "I would like to see some meditation parapheniala. IE artisans could make incense or candles that we could use while meditating. Using these items would make our powerboost better or heal quicker or maybe even get rid of battle fatigue."
As with every combat class we would require entertainers to heal BF, crafters for food, clothing, housing, weapons and armor (for those who choose to use it). This would be boosted with any additional TK items as mentioned above.
The obvious role in the GCW as it stands now is playing the part of the "tank". Additional thoughts would be with additional content added the TK the abilities to slip passed defenses. As well as pointing out weak spots in armor defenses, etc., to the members of their group through a Squad Leader.
Melee classes: TK, pikeman, fencer, swordman. We have 4 classes, but....why do everyone (ok, not everyone, but the most) takes TK? ...simple, they are the best, and that make the other player who gets other malee classes frustrated.
TK is the fastest, well, that is nice, i think they shold be the fastest one (maybe fencer should be as fast as TK, but i think fist is faster than sword)
TK does the best damage, thats not fair, pikeman and swordsman should do the best damage...a fist doing more damage than a double handed axe? man, that is crazy, yeah, we all have seen jean-claude-van-dam and macho-norris films....but think only 1 second, a fist hiting a wall.... and a 10kg of hard metal hiting the same wall....i got a idea of what does more damage.
TK and the classic....dizzy+knockdown....yeah, very funny, it will be ok if TK does small amounts of damage, but when you are the best in damage stuff, and you are the fastest, and you make the opponent impossible to stand up... now i know why everyone wants to be TK master (and in many cases the classical combo TK master+ doc master)
TK and the instant recovery after getting incap, it looks cool, force of will and all that stuff...but not when they have all the advantages I mentioned before, they become the best in PvP, best speed, best damage, knock+dizzy....and if you incap him by any chance, they stand up one more time like in serie-B zombie films ha ha ha....
TK and the cool meditation...same as instant recovery, it is a nice skill, and it fits TKs....but it seems like if all other melee classes has nothing else than...errr....than....man, other classes should have some extra skills
What aboutintroducing better weapons for the other melee classes to equilibrate a few the damage numbres?
what about adding some extra special hits for pikeman and swordman, like, the "ouch"-hit one time each 20 seconds or whatever, like monk kicks in EQ, a special hit every X seconds
what about 2 swords at same time for fencers? of course with some penalties, like less accurracy, less speed, etc...
what do you think?
Melee classes: TK, pikeman, fencer, swordman. We have 4 classes, but....why do everyone (ok, not everyone, but the most) takes TK? ...simple, they are the best, and that make the other player who gets other malee classes frustrated.
TK is the fastest, well, that is nice, i think they shold be the fastest one (maybe fencer should be as fast as TK, but i think fist is faster than sword)
TK does the best damage, thats not fair, pikeman and swordsman should do the best damage...a fist doing more damage than a double handed axe? man, that is crazy, yeah, we all have seen jean-claude-van-dam and macho-norris films....but think only 1 second, a fist hiting a wall.... and a 10kg of hard metal hiting the same wall....i got a idea of what does more damage.
TK and the classic....dizzy+knockdown....yeah, very funny, it will be ok if TK does small amounts of damage, but when you are the best in damage stuff, and you are the fastest, and you make the opponent impossible to stand up... now i know why everyone wants to be TK master (and in many cases the classical combo TK master+ doc master)
and yes I agree
think about it
A unarmed person(unarmed no weapons) hitting harder then a guy swinging a huge sharp object(or a hammer according to this game) But still which would be more damaging? The Big freaken havey sharp object thank you
even fencers should do more damage then us(sure they don't carry a heavy sword but still a sword is a sword is a sword) But we should be the quickest and possibly have the best defenses. (martial arts is about defense not dealing out damage and whoppin ass)
so that is how I see tka in offence
First.. a bit about me. I am a Teras Kasi Master / Master Creature Handler Twilek on Starsider. Stumbled on the TKA profession by doing my first holo and ever feeling privileged about that. My experience in SWG is almost exclusively with the PvE aspects of combat. I have to say, it's been a lot of fun, and I personally think of TKA is the best profession one can have.
What defines theTeras Kasi Artistrole in combat?
Teras Kasi Artists are spiritual warriors, not body builders.
We focus ourselves and attain the ability tofight with great skill, great speed and utter preciscion. But not great strength. Our strength is born from turning the undisciplined muscles of our opponents against them. Our speed is our greatest asset, allowing us to see the attacks of our foes before they even begin to move, allowing us not only to negate their attacks, but to make them work for us. Precision of our attacks makes them deadly when at a weak spot.
But......TKA is also a spiritual warrior in the future. A future where means (e.g. buffs) exsist to enhance ourselves to become more then warriors that fight with great skill.If using these enhancements webecome more invulnerable, more focused and stronger.
TKA should be able to defend themselves against Jedi given the role in SWG.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Teras Kasi need no weapons, a powerful advantage.We train ourselves to become weapons.I see us as being agile, relying on evasion and targetting weaknesses to defeat opponents.
Teras Kasi need no or limited armor, not to hinder our agility. I see us as though, our mental abilties making us focus in a way to withstand pain.
What offensive abilities?
We need the ability to view and open weaknesses in foes.
The current condition attack system works well, but I would like to see higher end, less resistible Blind, Stuns, Dizzys, and Intimidates. Maybe more special attacks that do more damage then standardmoves. Being able to hit Mind or health damage only. The idea behind that is ifsomeone practising martial art hits real well (e.g. shove up the nose) he can actually kill his opponent in one move.
I would also like to see a system for observing how resistant a creature or person is against thesecertain attacks.
I would also like to see adecrease in damage in standard moves (Like unarmedhit). The use of vibroknucklers should be for brawlers not for TKA.
defensive abilities?
We need the ability to evade damage and counter the force of the blows we do take (block, dodge etc). Our defenses should be at their peak against human sized foes.
Ideally, I think that TKA defenses are fine at the moment.. against Kinetic type damage. I don't think it's intended that we soakall other damage (Acid, Electricity, etc.) just as well.
I think a Teras Kasi should rarely be hit, but when they are, they should feel it.
What unique abilities?
We should have the ability to draw further into ourselves, for healing, calming, and temporary offensive capability.
Meditation is absolutely the best skill in the game. I think it should have a greater combat utility, however. Possibly something like Berserk and State of Being.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
The role of all Brawlers is to pin down an opponent, to protect others from it's teeth and claws, and melee attacks, while they perform their combat functions.
A Teras Kasi specifically, should be exceptional with human size foes, less with bigger opponents.
We should also have the additional benefit of being self sufficient in terms of having our own healing capacity, freeing up the medic from the chore of tending our wounds.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Teras Kasi are extremely self sufficient. Needing no weapon, and no armor for their role(really! I fight most of the time with just clothes!), and having their own healing built in makes them solitary at times.
Their primarysocietaldrawshould be clothing, food, and entertainment.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
Teras Kasi, like all martial artists, should be ableto fight alone. Many many martial arts movies always speak about a lone ranger fighting groups of foes. If They are human sized!!!
With Rancors and krayts they should need ranged fighters or Melee that deal out more damage.
My recommendation is to make abeing underfire by a skilled marksmen AND being melee'ed by a TKA, lower it's defenses against condition attacks. It makes sense.. you are more apt to being dizzied if you are trying to dodge blaster fire, and keep the martial artist from kicking you in the jaw.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?