Shattered Kingdoms

Enishi is right about everything so far. I concur with it all.

I too agree. People can run around with a swash NPC [peers at certain trib guards...] and viola, instant nimbus on any and all baddies that cross your path. Just a simple o all taunt x until it fires and you're golden. Then again, I'm still somewhat disgusted with the fact that the game revolves around having NPC's to do all your work for you. /shrug.

All in all, taunt needs something done about it.

Didn't taunt get fixed to where it would only land on people that the swashie can actually hit?

Actually, I'm opposed to this - I think that there should be some way to get a gank on a tribunal warlock or priest, something which was extremely hard before the taunt change.

I was a staunch opponent of the original taunt change, but frankly, I find it to be fine now, with the group size check and most importantly, the effect being dispelled when other strikes you - I would be all for including spells, ranged attacks and all forms of melee attacks in the list of things which dispels the effect. That way, it will only be reliable (disregarding fails) for a solo swash, the way it should be.

There are still plenty of ways out of it, because it does not lag like bash/trip - most prominently, etherealform which is easily available in almost every group of devices. It is less of a concern to melee classes, because they are most often in the front row either way and receive the +hit/+dmg bonus.

It's easy enough to add a bit more lag to taunt. I just did so. Feel free to send me feedback about the change. Also, there is a known exploit which encourages swashbucklers to attack alone while supported by their friends in a separate group. That will be fixed on the next code update.

No, although this would be a welcome change. It would effectively give swashbucklers a method of holding people in the room roughly equal in balance to bash, which is all it really needs to be if you're trying to buff that particular facet of their powers. Make the "holding" effect only occur on front-row opponents while the rest of the effects (like -int) still hit back rowers.

And Konge, the game has existed without the jacked taunt for a long time. Staying in the back rows has always been the modus operandi for survival, and the vast majority of players still die, tribunal or not. Even still, we've created portal stones to more easily ambush people who frequently hide behind pets and WoR. We have things like sleep staves, Fist skills, I-win spells, backstab, ambush, summon, the list goes on. People are perfectly killable. Taunt is not just some creative solution to this age old tactic... it basically destroys the entire interplay and makes anybody dealing with a swash have to flee unless they have ethereal or teleport devices. Which, by the way, only the back row classes you are concerned with ever have. And most warriors do NOT hang out in front row. This is because they can be caught, bashed, and killed with practically no hope of escape. Taunt essentially eliminates this safeguard, forcing you to basically wait in line to get bashed. The only defense is to simply be in a different room, running your [REDACTED] off for your enemy's "rapier wit," a notion that seems completely absurd by itself anyhow.

Including all manner of attacks really does nothing. Essentially, all you have to do is kill their NPC/friend while they stand there unmoving, forcing them into front row. Once this happens they can be bashed by your friend or your pet, or their pet, etc., and they will in all likeliness die.

Taunt is less useful in big PK anyway, mostly because in big PK nobody is trying to run away until the end when everybody routs and starts quaffing WoR, getting bashed and dying and etc. Big group PK also happens less these days.

You should try brandishing/reciting/zapping, it works pretty well from what I hear.

Result:

Swashbucklers have been slightly wimped, but barely - the success rate/impact of the initial taunt is the question. The real threat of taunt is that it is an instant ability that has such a high chance of working, not that it has a short lag.

Swashbuckler tribunal NPCs have been slightly buffed by this change in comparison to Swashbucklers, because order lag generally is longer than taunt lag anyways, and the real concern is whether taunt remains instant and still as effective.

My recommendation: Remove taunts ability to keep people in the room and give swashbucklers a _few_ active skills that are useful (on the scale of utility of rallying cry, retreat, etc.)

Increased lag is a welcome thing, I guess, but it doesn't address the main problem at all. The problem isn't so much that it can be spammed but that it still pretty much lands every time in 90% of situations, and that (and I think this part is the most important) it reaches across all rows to totally screw whoever it hits, destroying the current dynamic of PK and making swashes into more viable assassins than rogues.

Swashes do not need taunt to be the way it is in order to be a viable and interesting class. Although it tends to be a balancing nightmare, more skills are required for this class. In the meantime, taunt could use a serious change for the sake of combat balance.

EDIT: okay, I guess I could've just said "ditto"

I have to disagree with everything posted here. I'm not going to go in depth or anything as to not ruin anybody's game that is currently being played through the swashbuckler class but there's no need to wimp or buff the class. As it stands, taunt is the bread and butter of the class, as it should be. Kind of like how spamming bash is the bread and butter of newbies.

I don't even know how to reply in all honesty since this thread was made in reply to one of your friends getting ganked through use of this skill (and being spam bashed), and it was fine up until now.