Swordsman Archive
Thread: Top Issues Brainstorm
I still feel that our main advantages are not really that significant.
Were supposed to be the Masters of melee damage output, which, in PvE is true, but when we get to PvP, damage mitigation seriously reduces our effectiveness.
The other issues are that our specials are hardly special. We've got sweeps and spins, which seem identical, and neither offer anything special, apart from attacking multiple targets.
This is what I would propose..
1) Allow Armour Penetration to have a more significant role in PvE and PvP. HSM powerhammers should be feared by those in composite as we should be able to smash through it like it was wet tissue paper! That way, the resist on compo is either ignored or significantly reduced, making our damage output more significant on PvP.
2) Remove the sweeps or at least re-make them so that they provide a unique ability. Maybe a good chance dizzy, or state change, but something that is more useful than flooding my screen with 'You were unable to change the stance' message.
kErosion wrote:
Personally I would like to keep lack of damage variety as the Swordsmans main weakness, in exchange for incredible damage output with the weapons we DO have.
Master Swordman Forever ~ Pve wh0r3 
my other sig is a Corovette. 
i personaly have no problems with defense in general. a toughness is at the right level the melee and range defense are fine as it is. i do have an issue with pistoleer having more melee defense than swordman and pikeman. it just rediculas to say any sort of range fighter is more familiar to melee attacks than a melee profession
we should be damage dealer not a tank i fully agree but somewhere along the line of nerfing and adding migration our damage in pvp has lost it's kick. thats the only problem i have with swordman andi been swordman ever since i played this game and lived through it's changes
StGabriel wrote:
Hi you all,
So, you might notice that we do not really have an up to date "Top 5". With combat balance looming over us, I felt that it wasn't going to be that productive to get a current top 5 (as everything could well be changing anyway).
However as time drags on and the balance gets pushed back I've begun to reconsider that choice. I can't help but think that it would be good just to get a current top 5 to head into the combat rebalance with. That way when asked, "is this a top issue?", I can say, "Yup, it's #3." I suspect that a lot of issues haven't changed although we'll see some new contenders sneaking onto the list (like bleeds).
So start things off I just want to brainstorm concerns. I'm going to write up some of the things I've noticed players are really concerned with and I ask for comments on these and additions. Once we have that I can create a big list of issues and we can vote as to which of those seem most important.
Sound good?
To help me do this please try to format your replies as succinctly as possible. List your suggestions for changes or additions to the list FIRST and then provide any discussion you want.
Here's my list so far:
- Bleeds are no longer effective enough.
- There is not enough variation in our specials. We need more specials that do more things. (Note: dev answer to the old Top 5 indicates that this will be helped in the combat rebalance)
- HAM costs are too high. (although we already know that the combat rebalance will revamp HAM usage)
- For "heavy" combatants we have far too much difficulty penetrating armor.
- Difficulties obtaining Scythe schematics.
- Lack of specific role/utility in combat.
- Damage mitigation penalizes Swordsmen greatly.
Well I'm new to the Swordsman boards but I've been playing on Ahazi for some time and I enjoy the profession. I'm playing on multiple servers and have had the opportunity to play carbineer/squad leader,smuggler/pistoleer, weaponsmith, medic/pistoleer, and fencer. Swordsman thus far has been the most enjoyable profession.
Issues:
1. PVP damage is way too low. Mitigation IMHO was a bad idea. This could have been done differently by increasing most professions defensive capabilities. (Still not a big fan of the 75% pvp damage reduction)
2. We're supposed to be Swordsman but our basic profession weapon is a hammer?
3. Variety would be nice. New weapon types need to be added to the game for everyone. This looted schematic nonsense needs to stop.
4. Defenses could use a bit of a tweak. Generally satisfied but I'll admit the pistoleer appears to have superior defensive mods for melee which just doesn't make any sense.
5. Knockback Capability. If pistols can do this why not a power hammer?
6. Way to many misses with a PH. Improve this weapons accuracy.
7. I see the Swordsman as more of a tank than a fencer which IMHO is a finesse profession.
8. Balance Pass some of the weapons. I need a reason to use a cleaver/vibroaxe/two-handed axe etc.(brawler issue)
9. Recert the two-handed line so we can ditch that silly heavy axe after novice. (brawler issue)
10. Enlighten me. Do we have a knockdown attack and if we don't why not?
11. Bleeds, they've been ineffective since the nerf IMHO.
12. Well more of a rant against TKA.....they do too much damage over too little time...This should be a profession that is difficult to hit and do alot less damage....They're specials appear to be overly effective...Any class that becomes the next ubertemplate needs to be looked at as a problem...TKA appears to be the latest component to the ubertemplate issue.
Fencers have their stun baton, pistoleers have their tangle/geo pistols, riflemen have their jawa ion gun, commandos have their gun (at least I think they can use the tangle), give carbineers a stun gun, TKA a stun kuckler, pikemen a stun stick, and give swordsmen a big, spikey mace-type hammer (/drool).