Shattered Kingdoms

I know this has been re-hashed a number of times, but I'd still like to hear the concensus... The skill, imo, is broken. Any person without a teleport scroll or deafen essentially has to run from any group with a swash in it, if he doesn't want to die. Getting taunted is a stats-based resist (in other words, it almost always lands and you can't really prepare for it) that reaches into any row. It is fully defensible by deafen, which is a *maledict* and not nearly as available as say being 2nd row (the "counter" to getting insta-bashed).

The only "cure" is getting into first row and being hit by two people, which is basically a one-way ticket to bash central... the main method of killing people in this game.

I would propose at the very least that taunt become a willpower resist. Given that people land in PK now because of what's happened to "fly," tripping is a much more viable skill for swashes, which I understand is part of the reason for the skill's change. Traditionally taunt was just something created because swashes are great tanks, and it was a strategic method of focusing firepower onto the tank. Now, it's basically an all-class BoG nimbus skill with almost no method of resists that destroys a character's int on top of the already devastating skill.

In buffing swashes I think there was a lot of overcompensation involved. This can be seen in the finesse skill, which is just a gigantic hodepodge attempt to address almost every flaw swashes had in a single skill that gets mastered almost as soon as it's learned. IMO nothing else was needed than this, but I know this MUD rarely takes any steps backwards.

Adding a willpower resist would make PK and the class at least a little more interesting and fair.

If there already IS a will save involved... I guess I'll just be surprised. But I still think the skill could use some re-thinking.

Essentially, every class that is not the swash, has a method of "keeping people in the room" that relies on bash from themselves or bash from a pet, charmed or otherwise. The entire game has practically revolved around this dynamic. But suddenly this class (and paladins, to a much more limited extent) has the ability to destroy people regardless of their preparedness by making them fight their battle until they are in front row, where they are then maimed by the game's main stunner move.

It's beyond me why this class was given power to this extent. I mean, people complain about the BoG nimbus but their defense is that BoG only targets a select few enemies and paladins are a specialist class. Swashbucklers and taunt contain none of these elements, and furthermore the skill is completely costless and has no "casting time" or anything.

Enishi are you saying that an all-class BoG nimbus skill that hugely lowers int, and has no reliable resist is overpowered? Frankly I think you must be crazy. How you could think that an all-class BoG nimbus with no resist is broken is beyond me.

Somewhat of a tangent, but if finesse is still being mastered too rapidly, I can raise the learn chance again. It's already twice as hard as any other skill in the game, but there are many more chances to trigger it. I never got any feedback after raising it last time, but apparently it wasn't enough.

I've been leveling a swash. I learned finesse at jman, I believe the only trainer I found got it to "average." At veteran, the skill is mastered, although it happened well before that, to my recollection.

Compare this to dual wield, which started at "good" and despite being an amateur skill has only gotten to "very good."

Enhanced damage is also learned at jman and is at superb after starting at "good."

Honestly, I'm not really concerned with increasing the perfection times of skills that function almost every single time you attack. Obviously they will all be mastered before you're a GM, it's just surprising that finesse improves so incredibly fast compared to similar abilities.

I would be MUCH more interested in your rationale about taunt, if you could please explain that to me, since this is what the thread is about.

Lol. I recently tried a swash for a little while. It took about an hour and a half for finesse to go from fair to mastered.

But, like Enishi said, Dual Wield is almost has hard to master as Parry without E-Parry.

I really just have to snicker, but I wish you the best of luck, Enishi.

I personally like taunt the way it is. But, if we were to change it, I think there should be a difference between grouped swash and non-grouped swash. I realize its already chanced depending on group size, but a two-man group is still a nasty swash.

I mean look at what's already been added: Increase to hit/damage on Tauntee, taunt chance of success reduced depending on number (though I'm going to ask that someone look at a few of these NPC's with taunt)...okay I can't think of anything else. But then, perhaps its a little too mean toward those in the back row.

Is taunt's int damage removable by wearing int mods?

Yes.

People have to stack int mods to counter a singular skill by a singular class, then. Also, taunt still lands often despite group modifiers.

The increased +to hit and damage is only a minor consolation, really, and of zero consolation to non-warrior classes. It's also just further proof of taunt being transformed from a tanking skill to an all-class BoG nimbus skill, which is absurd.

I understand that swashies get very few skills. The answer is not a superbuff to their current ones, but that seems to be the route taken. Just because they are lacking in command abilities does not mean it isn't compensated for by the strength of their automatic abilities. Maybe they can't bash people, but they are excellent at what they do in melee. Honestly, compare what a barb can do in a combat to swash. It isn't that much different. Bash, berserk, rescue(?) pretty much covers the gamut. They can use more weapon types (ooo) but they can't use ranged weapons/skirmish. The only thing they have more of is utility skills like track, awareness, butcher, etc. Maybe a swash could use more of those.

Once again, the dynamic of the game is basically upset by an ability like this, since every other class relies on melee-centric abilities (bash, trip, spirit horde) from themselves or NPCs to stun.

You might argue that, if taunt is OP, why doesn't everybody play a swash? First of all, buffing taunt has not changed the fundamental problem of the swash: they are a [REDACTED] boring class with mostly automatic skills. As I said, buffing their few skills does not make them any more interesting as a class. If you want to make swashes more interesting, give them more skills and possibilities. Originally, swashes were simply inferior to the other warrior classes without finesse. Finesse was a simplistic basket buff that made them much nastier and on par, but they are still a boring class.

Taunt was nothing more than a shallow change to increase their "interest" by giving them an insanely effective skill in PK. But it has screwed with the way this game is played a little too much, imo, and needs to be changed. And swashes could use something to spice them up.

Swashes were originally trashy because of the things they didn't have from finesse. So they made yet another automatic skill for swashes that addressed all of this. There is more that should be done to make them more unique and interesting, but taunt also just needs a re-vamp.

I got a swashie with high int to Champ1 recently. Mastered parry/finesse/dodge and almost eparry too, while leveling, at mentor or before. Didn't master DUAL WIELD, until like right around Champion? That's like the swashie's -basic- skill. I was amazed, that I was like master, and would still fail my dual wield check, and only hit with one weapon.

On the topic of taunt, I find it ridiculous that about 8 out 10 taunts from a GM swashie will land on my 23 wis character. And even if you DO fail a taunt? Oh, you can try again the next round. And the next round, and the next round.