Teras Kasi Archive

1. Innate Armor works awesome, works great and saves lots of money....big thumbs up.

2.TIA usually stands up to most armor, although armor smiths are finding better ways to make armor so it seems like it TIA might eventually become a little gimp compared to other types of armor.

3.Damage output using a vibroknuckler is kinda sad....I hit for about 1/5th of what a rifleman hits for and he attacks faster. I think our attack speed should DEFINITELY be bumped up, its just unarmed, we aren't swinging something that weighs a few pounds.

4.I don't really ever need to use CoB except for in a duel, and it works alright.

5.Taunt is usually never needed (in my experiences) so the bonuses are just a little bit useless (for me atleast)

I still like TK, I've been a TK since I subscribed back in October 2003 (didn't register on forums til a bit later), but I do think the damage or damage speed could be bumped us to make us more than just someone who can take damage.

Ok in my testing TIA is without a doubt the best defenses in the game WHEN COUPLED WITH Imp COB. Use those two and you can take a beating like none other.

I was speced MBH Master Carb, then MBH Master Pistoleer, and even wearing 7k kinetic assault armor and firing up Imp Defensive Stance I was taking almost twice the damage as I do with TKM.

The main thing that TK is lacking in is probably the 2 most important aspects of a tank aside from damage mitigation. That would be damage output (which is understandably low for TKM) and most importantly taunt ability. So in the end I've only had one option if I want to take and keep agro. And that's to take Swordsman. The damage specials from Swordsman (I don't even use Advanced Combo) when coupled with Katarn Knuckler do alright. Nothing amazing, but it gets the job done.

The special attacks are only a part of the reason why TKM works well with Swordsman. The main reason is Area Taunt. It works phenomonally well. Even when grouped with heavy hitting rifleman I can get and keep agro with Area Taunt. I suspect that "Taunt Bonus" from the Precision Striking tree also applies to Area Taunt. Area Taunt also has a very quick recharge. I've had instances where I hit it a couple times and that mob isn't going anywhere, even while everyone else beats on a different mob. For example in the Myyydril Caves everything becomes very hectic. I'll run into a swarm or brain bugs and hit area taunt, do some damage, hit it again, do more damage, then when the one I'm fighting goes down I'll turn to the next and it's almost dead, yet I didn't do any of the damage and it's still beating on me instead of the squishy riflemen.

In the end though I feel that TK still needs some fine tuning. There simply isn't enough damage being done by a TKM, even with the high power specials from other melee professions. It's also lacking alot of depth. Frankly the only ability I use from TKM is COB. Half the time I don't have the chance to sit and refresh Power Boost. The tanking ability is awesome, but it just doesn't feel the same. TKM needs more substance to go with its style, and a little more style tossed in wouldn't hurt either.