Teras Kasi Archive

I would also like to see different stances. Crane, drunken monkey, snake etc. Maybe they could be set much like languages. /setstyle crane etc

I would also like to see us get animated defensive moves, blocking, dodging, spinning, the defs dont have to change, just new animations would be fun to watch as two tka's go at it. Also different animations on knockdown would be great. Afaik knockdown 2 looks just like knockdown 1, maybe kd2 could be a footsweep (which could hit multiple targets) instead of the old "bonk on the head" animation we have.

We should be able to "kip" up when knocked down. We should have more of a martial artist feel and less of a boxer feel please.

This is a great list, you are doing an awsome job, keep it up mate we appreciate it.

I am new to TK and dont know of all the bugs everyone is speaking about, but Heavy, you seem to be doing a great job, so keep up the good work and if TK becomes more fun than I am currently having with it, ROCK ON.

Well, i just hope were all being heard, and i do mean all of us.

With Teras Kasi hopefully, but doubtfully we'll have some Ki or chi attacks without draining our polls as some of us used to have.

Sage1,

I want you to know that I read every single one of these posts. However, not everything posted hereends up in the list. I posted a bit about the reasons why in my last compilation of the SoP thread, but mainly it boils down to the fact that I sometimes have to make a bit of a judgment call on whether or not an issue is really representative of the community's desires. Another reason that things might not get included is if they are not specific enough.

Your idea on increasing the base damage to 700 is a pretty radical change, and I'm not quite sure what you mean by "specific intervals", so until we get board-buy in and a more specific request, I'd feel uneasy about telling the Devs that that's what we want.

Please don't take this as criticism. When it comes to our formal communications to the devs, I don't feel that it'sreally my place to make judgements on whether or not a particular idea has merrit. I'm just here to make sure the Devs's know what this community wants. However, to that end I have set criteria for when I feel comfortable representing to the development team that a given request is indicative of the overall desires of this community.

If you have an idea that would really change the profession, I'd recommend that you create a separate thread on the topic and see how the community responds.

General Reminder

As Today is Friday, I will be doing our weekly SoP update today. So everyone please make sure any bugs/feedback/etc. you have is on this thread.

The continuing saga of the Monster SoP.

First, some exciting news. For the last couple days, Thunderheart has been basically jumping out of his skin telling the correspondents about some huge meeting the devs had to go over all the correspondent issues. Apparently, he's putting together a detailed response that will cover a huge number of concerns, suggestions, and feedback that we've supplied. I imagine that a response to may of our recent requests, including the FoW debacle, will be included there.

Overall, I'm cautiously optomistic. I remember the response to our very first correspondent report. It was touted by the devs as a huge deal, and it left a lot of us flat. However, it's a brave new world. TH is really trying to change things, and his enthusiasm is pretty contageous.

I don't know how much of that info I'll be able to share with you, but I'm glad to see some kind of evidence that they really are taking us seriously, and are paying attention to our recommendations. Whatever happens, I'll let you know all I can as soon as I know it.

One addition I've made to this thread is an overall top 5 spanning all4 categories.I've included only the summary of each point to save space. This is a prioritization tool for the devs to insure they know in an absolute sense what our biggest issues are. I've taken a guess here. I'd like to get your feedback on whether the top 5 includes the right points.

As usual, I have not included the out of range issue here, as I know the devs are aware of that issue, and are working on it. In fact, I've red reports here that many TKA special attacks have had their range increased to 10m, VKs or not. Let me know if/how this helps, and expect more here.

Ok. On to the SoP update.

Summary of Changes

Balance

1. Clarified the "Stick" suggestion for the Kiting issue to specify that Stick would keep you within 1-3 meters of the target if possible.


2. Added that Warcry Does not work consistently enough.

Gameplay

1. No new items

Bugs

1. Removed the bug report that using specials reduces your PB buff - GJ Devs.
   
2. Added that early reports indicate that PowerBoost may not be working consistently now.
   
3. Added that PowerBoost seems to be over-ridden by Spice buffs, specifically Muon Gold.
   
4. Added that Knockdown seems to have a shorter durration than before. Since this was not listed in the patch notes, we are reporting it as a bug until we hear otherwise.
   
5. Added that Defensive Acuity does not seem to be working, even with CoB.

Wishlist

1. Added the request for more martial arts-like clothes, headbands, belts, etc.

Special Note - Double KD bug: As this bug is more than just TKA, we felt that it should receive special attention. If you knock a target down, and then that target receives another knockdown attempt, the target will immediately stand, even if dizzy. Opposing faction players are now using this tactic to help MOBs up that are attacking enemy combatants. Pleaseaddress this as soon as reasonably possible as it is a rather wide-spread issue.
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Overview: State of the Teras Kasi Profession

If I were to sum up the state of TKAs in one word, I'd choose "progress". I think we've seen great progress in the last month or so in terms of getting this class to the point where it's effective for the way the devs intend it to be, and the way we want it to be. For example:

• We're received a number of damage upgrades. The total damage bonus for TKAs is up to 250.
  
• The Devs are actively focusing on making us better tanks. The "Center of Being" tank skill is a huge stride. It's a clear sign that the devs are working towards the resolution of the tanking issue.
  
• The Devs are aware of the out of range issue, and although I can't give specifics, I can tell you that they are offering a solution that I believe will meet the needs of this board.
  
• They're focusing on improving the Med branch. The changes to PB were just what the skill needed, and if we get our way, FoW will be a great skill as well. The med branch was extremely weak before, and it's great to see them giving it attention.

Of course, progress in no way indicates perfection. There are a number of unresolved issues including ineffective specials such as the combo attacks, the pesky out of range issue (although they are working on this), as others ranging from PB occasionally incapping you to the more complex issue of balancing melee professions against ranged professions with pets. Clearly this isn't all the issues, but these points serve to illustrate that while there has certainly been progress, there is clearly more work to be done before the class is truly functioning at 100%.

Even if they do address all of our balance and bug issues, there are other things we'd like such as TKA-only emotes, Katas, VK-alternatives, and a slew of other "fun factor" improvements that take the profession from functional to fantastic. We want the TKA profession to be fully functional, but that's just the beginning; we also want it to be fun, and cool, and immersive, and rewarding.

Like I said, I believe we're moving in the right direction, but there's still work to be done.

TKA Overall Top 5 Issues

1. Balance - Ineffective specials: Combo1, Combo2, Body Hit, Leg Hit, UH3, SA2, FoW
   
2. Bug - Defense/CoB: Not working at all ATM
   
3. Bug - Power Boost: Lots of bugs here
   
4. Balance - Limited weapon/damage type selection: Currently restricted to Kinetic damage
   
5. Balance -Kiting: Would like some way of catching a kiter. Doesn't have to be easy, just possible.

Balance Issues

1. Ineffective specials:
   
   
   
   1. Combo 1 and 2 are still useless skills. There is no reason that anyone would want to spread their damage over multiple pools. One suggestion is to have these skills apply multiple debuffs to the target in a single attack. Blind/Stun for example. The combo attacks should have a better chance of "sticking" the special than you get with the unarmed brawler skills.
      
   2. Body Hit and Leg hit don't do enough damage to be worth using at the level they are received. They need to have their damage multiplier increased. Another recommendation would be to add a brawler debuff or posture change attack effect to the pool-targeting skills to make them more desireable.
      
   3. Unarmed Hit 3 uses too much HAM for the damage it does. The general consensus is that UH2 is a better skill overall due to the efficiency. Suggest reducing the HAM cost for UH3 or having the skill grant you a +1 bonus to your attack's AP rating.
      
   4. There are reports of our (TKA) knockdowns not working often enough compared to ranged KDs. Melee knockdowns of all types should be more effective in general than ranged KDs.
      
   5. We feel that the SpinAttack skills are not really useful against mobs you fight at TKM level. SpinAttack2 should be useful for fighting multiple end-game mobs. Suggest looking at the damage and HAM costs for balance.
      
   6. FoW as it is on TC is not a satisfactory change. Assuming that FoW is going to stay more or less in it's current form, we have a number of requests for alterations working within the the skill's present format. Our concerns and suggested remedies are presented here in order if importance:
      
      
      
      1. 1 hour timer is too long
         
         
         
         • Concern: This will kill the skill. Many people would prefer to have the skill remain as it is rather than have a 1 hour timer on the skill. This is not to say that people do not want the skill improved. I’m just trying to illustrate how strongly people oppose the 1 hour timer.
           
         • Remedy: Adjust the timer to 15 minutes. A 15 minute timer will get you out of a bad situation once, but you couldn't use it more than once in a regular battle. A compromise here would be to run the timer so a TKA with master med would have a 30 minute timer, while a TKM would have a 15 min timer. This is a deal-killer. Keep the 1 hour timer and the reaction will be highly negative.
         
         
      2. Battle Fatigue is too harsh
         
         
         
         • Concern: The 300 wounds we can deal with, but the way it’s currently set up, you have a 40% chance of incurring BF when using the skill. People feel that it’s an unnecessary and unreasonable penalty. We’d incur more battle fatigue for avoiding death than for actually being killed.
           
         • Remedy: Remove BF as a penalty. Why should you get battle fatigue for avoiding death? This is also an extremely important point. BF=Downtime, and there seems to be no real need to have this in there anyway. At the very least, the BF needs to be drastically reduced. 10-15 BF would be an acceptable annoyance. 100 BF is prohibitive.
         
         
      3. 5 minute HAM penalty is too long
         
         
         
         • Concern: A 600 point HAM penalty for 5 minutes is actually worse than 300 wounds. With master meditation, we have a reasonably expedient way to deal with wounds. In contrast a 600 point penalty for 5 minutes seems overly harsh to most players.
           
         • Remedy: Reduce the HAM penalty timer from 5 minutes to 1 minute. You could leave this unchanged and not face open revolt, but it does seem overly harsh.
         
         
      4. No potential for an exceptional result.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      • Concern: There's no fun upside potential. All those penalties, and no possibility of a superior result.
        
      • Remedy: Add the possibility of a superior success. We'd like there to be a 3%-4% chance that using the skill will heal you up fully, rather than equalizing your stats. This would not heal wounds, just HAM damage, and would be for TKMs only. This is not as important as points 1 and 2, but would not greatly alter the power of the skill, and would make the TKAs happy.
   
   
2. Limited weapon selection: The primary problem here is that kinetic damage is our only option. We need to be able to deal with a greater variety of creatures/resists. Suggestions include a cold damage weapon, heat damage weapon, stun gauntlets, etc. Another problem created by the lack of weapon choices is that unarmed brawlers working towards TKN have a really rough time. They should get some options like brass knuckles, combat gloves, etc. Another suggestion here would be that TKAs could self-buff to do different damage types. Allowing this only while truly unarmed (no VKs) might also satisfy the gameplay request for a reasonable alternative to VKs.
   
3. Many of us still feel helpless trying to use melee skills in PvP because of Kiting. We recognize that ranged attacks have an inherent advantage, but we would like some way of catching up to a kiter. Suggestion include a "stick" command, which would keep us within 1-3 meters of a target if possible, or a mini-burstrun ability. We don't want it to be easy to catch a kiter, just possible. You could balance the skill with HAM costs/timers/footspeed. Of course, this skill, whatever it may be, should be given to all brawlers.
   
4. Lack of truly high-end VKs: A related problem is the lack of optional, high-end components for VKs. Rancor teath replace as opposed to augment a critical part of the VK. Rancor teeth seem to be the VK version of Kryat tissues, so either rancor teeth need to be seriously buffed in terms of the bonuses they give, or they need to be made an optional component in the VK schematic, instead of a replacement part. Is there any way to get an "uber" VK, similar to the 700 dmg 0.3 speed FWG5 everyone is talking about?
   
5. HAM Regen while Meditating: We would like some modest boost to HAM regen while in meditation. A popular suggestion would be to add our meditation score to our regen stats while meditating. The boost would be modest, but would help the med line be more appealing.
   
6. Allow us to meditate while in combat, and regardless of any states applied to us. Often times we need to retreat to heal poison or disease, but can't because we can't peace out, even if the mob is targeting another player at the time.


7. Warcry seems to be too inconsistent, especially on higher level mobs. Even Warcry2, which has a longer duration, does not seem to stick often enough (perhaps 20% or so). As brawlers become more powerful, this skill should be ramped to deal with tougher creatures.

Gameplay Issues

1. We'd like to have the VK combat animations fixed. Right now you hold a VK in one hand, but all your attacks receive the VK bonus. Turning it into a "pair" of VKs and not having kicks be a part of VK attack animations would help some of the immersion problems created by VKs
   
2. Many of us still don't like using VKs at all. We'd like some way to feel that we didn't need to use them to compete damage wise. Something along the lines of bare fists doing stun damage, or some other lateral advantage for being truly unarmed would help.
   
3. We'd like the game to make greater use of the varied combat animations we presently have. Right now we seem to only use a few of our animations unless we're doing a special.
   
4. We'd like the option to toggle off the "red ribbons" for specials
   
5. We'd like the option to toggle off the auto defend AI
   
6. We'd like TKA-specific animations and emotes, like Katas and a martial-arts sound for warcry.
   
7. We'd like the combat system to be more immersive. This is a big request, but a dev mentioned somthing about the possibility of a combo system, where stringing multiple moves together in a particular would become important. We'd like to know the status of that.
   
8. We'd like TKA-Specific quests. Some kind of epic mind/body adventure where you quest for some forgotten lore of the ancient Teras Kasi deep in the hidden mountains. The reward could be something like a schematic for a legendary component that you could place in a VK (instead of the rancor teeth perhaps).
   
9. Please allow us to initiate meditation while running. The "you cannot meditate while running" message is very annoying.

Bugs

1. Defensive Acuity does not seem to be working. CoB does not seem to be working for TKAs right now.
   
2. If you KD an opponent, and then hit him with another KD, he will immediately get right up, even if dizzy.
   
3. Power Boost
   
   
   
   1. Post-City patch, PB seems to be inconsistent in terms of working. Possibly the timer is not resetting properly once it wears off. People are getting the "you are not able to focus your mental energy any further" message even while unbuffed.
      
   2. PowerBoost can cause an incap when you use it or when it wears off. We recommend that a message be displayed when you try to use PB and don't have enough mind telling you that you don't have enough pool points to do that. We also recommend that the PB downer take you to a minimum of 1 pool point, rather than incapping you.
      
   3. You can super-buff yourself by using PB and getting killed/cloning and then using PB again over and over again.
      
   4. If PowerBoost wears off while you are incapped, you get stat bugs with a lowering of your stats that you can't fix unless you log off for a while.
      
   5. If you apply buffs after you have Powerboosted when the Powerboost wears off, your Health and Action return to their pre-buffed values. They do regen back up to their maximum it's only the current value that drops.
   
   
4. Unarmed Combo 2 is registering 1 point of damage done to the target.
   
5. No accuracy bonus for being at Optimum range. At 1M we should have a bonus to hit, but it seems like we're still getting negative modifiers.
   
6. It seems that the scout "creature to hit bonuses" apply only to ranged attackers. Want to make sure they apply to melee as well.
   
7. Berserk Does not show up in the combat queue.
   
8. We have reports of people being stuck in the meditate state upon logging in if they logout while meditating
   
9. Dizzy only works on creatures with 2 legs. Need to know if this is as intended.
   
10. Dizzy, stun, intimidate, blind, etc. prevent meditation. Need to know if this is as intended.
    
11. HAM bars do not display properly when using power boost. If you take damage, your HAM bar won't go down until you dip below your pre-boost levels. Wearing armor may exacerbate this problem.
    
12. Attempting a posture change to your current posture (e.g. trying to stand while standing) will cause you to fall over if dizzy.
    
13. If you initiate combat with a debuff or status effect, your combat queue may forget the command and you initiate combat without executing the command. Noticed most with Inimidate, Warcry, and Taunt. If you initiate combat with any of these skills, the skill is not executed but you begin combat.
    
14. Knockdown seems to have a shorter durration than before the city patch. Since this was not listed in the patch notes, we are reporting it as a bug until we hear otherwise.
    
15. PowerBoost seems to be over-ridden by Spice buffs, specifically Muon Gold. If you do MG and then PB, your boost may diminish.
    
16. UC1 and UC2 both have a 2.5 damage multiplier. Is this intended? Is there some other thing that UC2 does better than UC1 which justifies the two skills doing the same damage?

Wishlist

1. Many of us would like a Dojo, either as a player owned building or as a class-specific theme park type of thing (combat the rival Dojo).
   
2. It'd be cool if we could choose each individual "per hit" attack animation wile attacking.
   
3. When /if the Dev's implement the combo move combat system, we'd like there to be cool, unique animations for each combo.
   
4. We'd like some new animations for some skills. Perhaps a flying kick for lunge 2, and throws or flips for the knockdown moves.


5. We'd like TKA clothes like a martial arts Gi, different color martial-arts belts, headbands, etc.

i agree with mister_heavy on evey point. it would be nice to see a new type of wepon with different damage, also some better VKs.
hey how about lowering our HAM costs, that is what really kills me cant use my VKs to do speicals.

to mister_heavy: thank you! i think you are by far the best correspondent, you always know what your talking about your a good voice for the TKA. you truly understand the class. i feel lucky to have you here.

"Limited weapon selection: The primary problem here is that kinetic damage is our only option. We need to be able to deal with a greater variety of creatures/resists. Suggestions include a cold damage weapon, heat damage weapon, stun gauntlets, etc. Another problem created by the lack of weapon choices is that unarmed brawlers working towards TKN have a really rough time. They should get some options like brass knuckles, combat gloves, etc. Another suggestion here would be that TKAs could self-buff to do different damage types. Allowing this only while truly unarmed (no VKs) might also satisfy the gameplay request for a reasonable alternative to VKs. "

Not sure how I should go about making this suggestion(whether here or another thread) but here goes.

I fall under the category and using vks really isnt unarmed, I'm not against using them as I currently do while lvling. It just isn't the first thing I would have thought about getting. If I were to ask how I could lvl up in unarmed 1-4 faster the first responce on this board would be to go get a weapon. You can see the horrible logic there.

But the idea. Instead of making new weapons for different dmg types, how about new stats just like berserk is right now. Something like /fistoffire would make you do fire dmg for lets say 60 seconds at master, could be something for cold also. I have a hard time justifiying all the dmg types as no profession that I know of has that luxery. Cold would be especially useful. Posion maybe. I would be against energy, and blast and still with more of the natural elements.

If the devs insist on new weapons for this instead of some new skills, what about just making the vk have another component for the weaponsmiths. It would be optional and just change the dmg type. I would also say it should change the color of the vks also. Although green vks are just wrong.

I think Stun damage is in line with what TKA are about.... There definitely needs to be a way to do a different form of damage. As others have stated, fire, cold, elec, etc is pushing it a bit.

In addition, not a lot of things are Stun resistant. Having this as a skill at Master level would be great.

I'm very content with the current list. Mister_Heavy has done a superb job so far. However, I do wish to repeat my views on the Vibroknuckler issue:

Being able to strike barehanded with different types of elemental qualities is wrong for this game, that's not something that works inStar Wars. That borders on D&D.

If there are going to be different types of Vibroknuckler that strike with different qualities, then fine. But there has to be a penalty of some sort so as not to overshadow the essence of this profession which is and always should be, unarmed.

It baffles me how the Vibroknucklerwas introduced into an unarmed profession in the first place, naturally, this element attracts players who wish to excel anyway they canand we now have a tainted profession...

But I degress...

I still favour that Vibroknucklers shouldbe bludgeoning tools: If they're going to have elemental (Stun/Heat/Cold etc.)qualities and be stronger than being unarmed then the trade-off should be the loss of technique; either the lack of defensive measures ("Center Of Being" and "Defense Acuity".) or, the loss of all techniques while they'reequiped.

I reason that if these devices are going to be so varied then inkeeping with thetechnological themeof Star Wars, they should be rather "chunky" (Imagine, wielding a portable electrical generator or a cache of poison cartridges etc.), despite being compact enough to fit around your hands. Just like a boxing glove would not allow you to strike with your palms or make complex striking shapes with your fingers that you'd find in exotic martial arts, the same should be applied to Vibroknucklers.

This seems like the only way to make a clear divide between using a Vibroknuckler and being unarmed. "Teras Kasi", "Steel Hands". Thestyle's very name is founded on the notion that oneshands would be made as hard as steel, so that therewere was no need for a weapon.I can't say that enough.

Also, makingthe Vibroknuckler certified at "Novice Teras Kasi Artist" is insult to injury, it's not needed. Such a tool should be left to the unarmed brawler who'd need such a weapon and dosen't have the wealth of techniques a Teras Kasiexponent possesses.

Mister_Heavy, is there a way get a response from the Devs over the Vibroknuckler? In fact, is it possible to get some sort of poll to see just how many people are for and against them.

Thank you.

I'd take to long on what i mean in intervals of 700dmg. So ill do this for right now.

We should have natural Body-Armor of 250 resistance per row of TK skills we like 1/1/1/1, and so on and so on so when u get to ur TKM level ur Natural-Body Armor will be up to 2k.

We should be as powerfull as any Dantari, ans those FS's in the cave, and be a powerfull as any Ewok, not saying we should be able to take on a whole group, but at least be able to take them 1 on 1 without being incapped, being killed.

1 More very important thing is we should be able to Meditae anything off when we get to 4/4/4/4, this of course icludes specificaly Disease and Cancer, Enen though those very potent weapons should GREATLY NERFED. Thank you

And Thank u Mister_Heavy for helping us.

force sensitive NPC's are FORCE SENSITIVE.

there is no reason to expect that we should somehow get the defensive/offensive bonusses they get.

I suspect that the dantari are force sensitive: medium armor in a loincloth has to come from something... whether it's a species-wide 'iron-skin' or bone structure or force sensitivity doesn't matter. you have unarmed toughness, melee defense, and the ability to wear armor.

once CoB and defense acuity work, you'll have those as well.

Teras Kasi's r just as Force Sensitive as a Dantari is. Y ou should be Educated before responding.

Dont believe me then check out the Jedi-Sourcebook from Wizards of the Coast.