Fencer Archive
Thread: The Future of Fencer: Your thoughts?
- Fencers should be the fastest, most stylish attackers in the game. Flashy moves, rapid foot movement, difficult to hit. Dreaming here, but high-level fencers should have the ability to dual-wield blade weapons. I would love to be able to fight with a larger weapon like a rapier in my main hand a lighter weapon such as a main gauche in the other. Fencers should be a blur of rapid, light strikes.
- Very rapid strikes with complicated footwork and body movement.
- More variety in blades. Rapiers, cutlasses, scimitars.
- Each line should have different certifications. Finesse, for instance, could allow the use of rapiers, while technique would allow for heavier weapons like cutlasses.
- Light tank - rapid attack with light damage and great defense.
- Fast strike unit, assassin. Flanking ability. We should be able to get to an individual target rapidly and take them out. The ranged classes have snipers, the melee classes would have us.
- Low health, high action, low to medium mind.
- A special short-duration burst run ability would be really handy for closing with opponents.
- Again, dual-wield weapons would be a unique abilities appropriate for fencers. For fairness, a comparable dual-wield skill would also be appropriate for pistoleers as well.
someone mentioned duel weild as a fencer ability, and after rolling it over in my heard, it really in alot of ways makes sense to me.
good idea about that one.
problem is that the DEVs dont really work in moderation. They operate int he extremes of professions. Not to really bring them down or anything, its just that when they buff up a class they do it excesively, and when they nerf they do it excesively, or they do it in such low perportion that it changes nothing.
prime example would be a comando. rags from richs in .03 seconds.
The ideas are all really good, but id like to see these things incorperated in moderation and gradual, instead of the monster truck through the front door aproch.
Man, I totally agree with everything you said ZionHalcyon. I really think the "Concentration" thing would be cool. Maybe if they keep the mind costs, this "Concentration" thing would heal mind damage, mind costsand also mind wounds and battle fatigue. Other than that....Good Post
ZionHalcyon wrote:
- What should be special or unique about Fencers that set them apart from the other 3 melee professions?
I agree with the idea of being crowd control and damage absorbers, and also agree that Fencers should be hardest to hit - lets face it, the 2handed and pike deal with heavy weapons, so they should be easier to hit, and the Brawler/Teras Kasi are more like Boxers - some dodging, but more of a slugfest than anything.
Yet a fencer should have elusiveness as his/her main skill, and also good damage reduction on hits as they advance through the tree, given even a hit isn't likely a "clean" hit, that is, a full on hit. The evasiveness of a fencer lends to the fact there would be more "glancing blows", that only do little damage due to the dexterity of the fencer.
Finally, while I agree that Fencers should do the least damage per blow, they should also be able to deal the most damage "over a set time period", whatever that period is set to be, out of ANY combat class. Think about it - pistols - the fastest standard weapons in the SW universe (standard, not sliced or specially crafted), are not automatic or semi-automatic - a quick fencer with a light sword may not deal as much damage per swing as a pistoleer per bolt of blaster, but should be able to get more swings in that certain period of pre-determined time, thus totalling greater damage. The idea here is to also give the fencer some soloer meaning as well, so that Fencer is not totally meaningless solo, nor ineffective damagewise, comparatively speaking, when in a group assisting. I would say a good period is that in 3-5 minutes is when the threshold of a master fencer's damage should surpass that of the next quickest combat class, whatever it may be. Obviously for a lower level fencer, that time period would be greater, thus increasing worth to master fencer.It also does not remove the fencer's strategic element, as all the previous ideas of fencer as a "set-up man/woman" would still be valid and effective.
- What should be the "basic flavor" of Fencer special attacks?
Graceful and lightning quick. As a fencer progresses, so should the speed of his/her blade. The weapon speed of a fencer should only serve as a beginning point for 1 handed brawlers - once in fencer, modifiers whould even be quicker. I dare say, by the time a fencer reaches master, they should be able to have a blade (maybe this ties in with certifications), which, after modifiers, is less than 1.0 speed (I think 0.5 is good) - the only one that quick in the game, and only at master, with the master certified weapon (more later on that), and again, only due to the modifiers.
- What kind or style of weapons would you like to see Fencers use?
Fencers need more useful long-bladed weapons, and need more AP weapons, although I agree we should get nothing better than Light AP - save the better AP weapons in melee for pikeman and 2 h swords (who should get up to heavy and medium, respectively). At master a new type of weapon should be made available (craftable by armor smiths, but only usable by master fencers), that in a sense is like anti-armor: the ability to add up to maybe 2 or 3 types of effectiveness to it, and it should be a kind of AP1 blade, maybe a vibro-sword, or something. Thus, you can have this "master weapon" made to affect kinetic and say, one of your choosing, be it inflicy energy, stun, heat, cold, electricity, or blast damage. This would help out with the issue of stun layered armor as well, as a master fencer could have several of these weapons at their disposal to find vunerabilities.
Further, for a master weapon, I think a page from RIS should be taken, and a quest for the sword schematic be done rather than just giving a schematic to WS which most would consider useless. The basic idea is this - allowing the fencer to undertake the quest empowers the fencer to get the master's blade - they are not dependant on an WS to "get off their lazy butt" to get the schematic for them. This should not involve as rare of components as RIS to make, as this is meant to be a rare item, but a master's item.
The general idea of the quest is that the Master fencer travels to point X on planet X, to meet a master weaponsmith and fencer NPC. This wizened old one who wields the master's blade gives out tasks for the master fencer to complete, in a theme park style. At the end, the last task is to defeat this ones prized pupil in a fencing contest one on one. Once you win, you get the schematic, which a fencer can give to WS to craft the blade, and I think a badge also - perhaps a special master fencer title as well-.. Also, to make sure a fencer who completes this quest can always have this blade made, the master gives out one schematic until it is gone from the master fencer's inventory, and then Master fencer can always return to visit and get another one, thus making sure none are left SOL in case the first WS who got the schematic leaves the game.
Sorry for the length of that, but I think it would lend a story aspect to fencer that would be downright awesome, and not just hand you a master weapon cert, but make you earn it, with a story too. It would be awesome fencer content.
- Do you have ideas for how future certifications should be spread out?
As a fencer moves from basic 1 handedto fencer to master, here are my thoughts - this assumes that the category known as Finesse currently is renamed Techniques as has been requested by the fencing community, and vice versa:
Gaffi is moved to pole arms where it belongs.
Survival knife - AP0- Novice Brawler
Sword- AP0 - One Handed 1
Curved Sword- AP0 - One Handed 2
Rykk Sword- AP0 - One Handed 3
Rantok Sword- AP0 - One Handed 4 - Make this craftable, with appropriate stats
Vibro Blade- AP1 - Novice Fencer
Cutlass- AP0 - Also Novice Fencer - Higher Damage, slower speed than vibro blade
Stun Baton - AP0 - Stances and Grips 2
VibroRapier- AP1 - Footwork 2 - NEW - Epee-Style weapon, with added vibro for AP damage - very quick weapon
Vibro Cutlass- AP1 - Finesse 2 - NEW - Vibro version of Cutlass
Force Prod- AP0 - Techniques 2 - NEW - Think of Prods like cattle prods, dealing out electric damage like the LLC.
Force Baton- AP1 - Stances and Grips 4 - NEW - Longer Stun Baton, with better reach and damage, sacrifices speed
BloodRazorRapier- AP1 - Footwork 4 - NEW - Epee-Style weapon, made famous by the BloodRazor pirates. An improved Vibro Rapier.
Binayre Cutlass- AP1 - Finesse 4 - NEW - Improved Vibro version of Cutlass - made famous by the Binayre Pirates of Talus.
Force Wand- AP1 - Techniques 4 - NEW - Like the Baton, this is longer, better reach and damage, and less speed
Master's Blade- AP1 - Master Fencer - NEW - The Master Sword as I mentioned previously - deals kinetic, and one other (or maybe 2) damage type chosen by the WS upon creation, which can then be experimented on.
I think that is a full breakdown of weapons, plus the addition of 8 new ones given to Fencers as they progress.
Note: - in the heart of the Fencer trees, aside from Stances and grips where stun is made a priority, and Techniques, where electric damage is made a priority, the main difference between all the AP 1 weapons should be damage and speed, and the type of damage it inflicts
- What kind of group role should a Fencer typically serve?
Fencers should serve as the "quick strike" members of the group, or the "hit and fade" of the group. Kind of like the first waye of fighter planes strafing the targets to soften them up.
- What kind of battlefield (mass PvP) role should a Fencer hold?
Same as above.
- What kind of HAM cost dispersal should a Fencer's weapon typically have?
Because quickness is the ally of fencers, they should have the least HAM cost of anyone. This is a fair trade off given that fencers do the least per-blow damage of the weapon classes, although they do catch up and surpass in damage over time due to their quickness.
- What kind of utilities would you like to see Fencer's have?
Not sure what you mean by that, but if you mean like TKA has meditation, I would like to see something similar for fencer. Not as good as TKA's, but effective. Perhaps a "Concentration" skill in Techniques (currently finesse - it'sthe one branch that requires Combat XP), where the fencer holds his/her sword in salute, and can focus, thus curing them ofDOTeffects, mind stat damage and all stats associated with it, and Battle fatigue slowly, but not health or action. Since its not as good as TKA's, make the healing process quicker. This way, it gets Fencers ready to head back into battle quicker, since they are the "first strike" in a group, in my eyes, given that mind cannot usually be healed in a camp, but wounds can.
That is my vision for fencer - let me know what you think.
!To the point? SPEED
I don't mean we need more speed multipliers, they're already overkill with our 1.0 cap. What good is a low-damage, high-speed melee profession at master when they cap with everyone else? I get out-damaged by a TON and out-sped by a TON by TKAs, and the others match or beat my speed at master!
LOWER THE CAP! (please... 
) And the modifiers.
I could be wrong here, but don't pistoleers have an 0.5 cap? Why are we at 1.0? This is crippling to our DPS as well as our position/image as fencers.
I also realize that few professions, including fencers (with our status effects), actually use their normal /attack, so lowering our /attack speed cap isn't enough. We need lower speed modifiers on our specials. Obviously, Hit3 can't be too fast, but our DPS should at least approach that of other classes.
I like our role of a tank (not the damage-taking kind, but the evading kind); I'm a defensive player. But that's why I'm not asking for a big-damage move, or KDs (hey, everyone wants 'em), but what use is a +90 to speed (bringing my curved sword to 0.3) when I cap at 1.0??? Is it just to taunt us? It sure feels like a prank...
Okay, one more (for now)
Our role in a group is obviously tank. I hear a lot of agreement on this. We should be able to dodge like madmen, and we should probably get some "soaking" abilities as well (taking less damage, although this could be tricky to balance).
On a battlefield, it's a little tougher. Our tanking abilities should allow us to cross "no-man's-land" running fast and dodging blasters (need to fix the dodge freeze), to close the distance and get to the front line, giving us the chance to do some spinning status attacks. We shouldn't be the ones to take the front line down, but we should be able to get there and hold them off while our high-damage ranged counterparts pick them off, or distract them while our high-damage melee counterparts close the distance and take them off our hands.
Daigoro202: for the love of God, the ENTER key, the ENTER key!!
It's the big one just to the right of the '/" key!
Sorry, I didn't get a chance to read all the posts in this thread, in case I repeat stuff...
Here are some things I'd like to see:
some form of mind heal like meditation
dual swords
artistic taunts (like on JKA)
some form of non sword defence ie. kick - to knock an opponent back
an artisticfinishing / deathblow move
maybe a knife throw move..?