I didn't really read all this, but..I've been told before that the size of your group affects your chances of a successful taunt(I have not noticed any sort of difference, so I somehow doubt this is true). I think this is a good idea if it's not already like this, and if it is like this, the difference needs to be more extreme. 1 person making fun of someone I can see working, but s/he doing it with 4 or 5 friends with them, and me by myself? 99% of people aren't going to rush at that group no matter what they say. The problem with this is a swashie can't really kill a well prepared opponent solo, because since they aren't bashed they can still cast spells(from what I've seen the drop to Int really isn't that big)/quaff heals/bash you.
And this makes no sense ICly, but then again this skill hardly makes sense, but perhaps when you taunt someone you need to be stuck in the fight, because you're too focused on taunting the person for that tick.
And I agree 100% with adding a frenzy-type effect(not exactly frenzy, because then it wouldn't stack, and yes, the effect should stack with everything) to taunted people, and not some gimp version of it that does nothing. If I'm mad enough to fight somebody till one of us dies without thinking about running, I should be mad enough to swing my weapon faster and harder.
Three out of four of my first characters were swashies, and the change to taunt occured during my third one's life. I thought this was just an easy fix to a class that is<other fighters, and I still do. A prepared swashie will usually lose to an equally prepared merc or barbarian, because taunt has no effect on them really. In 1vs1 fights bash beats taunt. And a prepared spellcaster of any sort can last the tick till taunt wears off. The only time taunt has a major effect is in group fights, to lower a specific persons int(ex. people holding sanc on multiple people and healing, which), or stop a specific person from fleeing.(ex. Golg/Melithindlee
)
One of the most common uses for taunt seems to be taunt xxx who is ethereal have yyy dispel them and then kill them because after leaving ethereal you're up front. And this is lame because it's usually 3 or 4 people killing 1.
To sum that last paragraph up(one of the last ones
), taunt 1vs1 is worthless compared to bash. Equal Mercs and Barbs will just kill the swash, any class with the wand skill can zap a wand and go ethereal, priests can release everything and heal the pet in front of them till the tick is over(or recite ethereal), the only problem is for shamans, but a shaman who is expecting to fight a swashie will kill said swashie because they'll only be concentrating on SA and it won't drop.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that a buffed taunt isn't what swashies needed and the skill makes no sense RP-wise, so I suggested changes to it for making some sort of sense RP-wise or to change it back so it makes sense and give them something else.
Taunt needs to go back to not affecting people who aren't in combat with you(wtf, I'm going to stand here and stare at you while you kill my horse/charm and then me?) and swashies need a combat boost. Like 1 specialize or something, SINCE SWASHIES ONLY GET TWO WEAPON TYPES I THINK THEY WOULD BE GOOD WITH THOSE TWO TYPES.
And I'm done, and I realize I probably contradicted myself, and I don't care, because I'm half-asleep.