Blademasters and Exotic Weapons

Acupuncture can have some very nasty side effects though' date=' so it can be a gamble.[/quote']

Sure it lowers hit/dam if you fail but every blm is gonna use it anyway and as the % slowly rises it will work most of the time. It is still quite a reliable source of about 3 times the hp that it costs in mana. A BLM without acupuncture would still be just as powerful in every way, it would just make them a bit less defensive and force them to choose more often between sleep or meditation.

That's not entirely correct. However' date=' even blademasters have their secrets, and I'm not about to go revealing them, especially when I'm not playing one right now.[/quote']

What statement of mine is incorrect? Aside from experiencing it from many blademasters, and with my own, I've also looked at the critical strike code for solar plexus, which I don't believe (notice I'm not stating fact here) has been changed.

I never really thought of it until I read it, but maybe Blademasters should have acupuncture removed from their skill set. Not only are they strong as hell in even lower skilled players, but they can heal very fast even if you nearly kill them. Granted, I've never even really seen someone get a Blademaster down enough in HP to allow them to acupuncture themselves, besides from tanking mobs. Once mastered it rarely ever fails and a Blademaster still has a LOT of damage output to most races and God forbid you're the Blademasters chosen mastery in race, then you're absolutely screwed. That and making their mals have to be saved against would be great too, otherwise they're a high output melee and mals class which is even worse than Vampires because at least Vampires are few in numbers, Blademasters are like the amount of water in the world (just one step below Evil Clerics).

I dont agree with saved against strikes. Yes a BLM can output pure melee damage and use strikes to mal you like a shaman. However due to anatomy not every blm will be able to mal every person the way they want. Unlike a shaman a blm needs 2 rounds to critical strike not one, and if it could be saved against any well equipped melee or c/c will roll over the blm. Not to mention the BLM mals do not last nearly as long as that of a shaman. BLMs can also miss a critical strike, it does happen fairly often (I believe ac helps in this respect as well as the compared hitrolls.)

Making a BLMs strikes saveable would seriously hamper the class, I just think they need to be toned in other ways, like removal or change of acupuncture. Perhaps make the stances cost 25% more mana to cast and slightly increase their upkeep. There is no doubt a BLM is the most adaptable class and among the strongest, but they are very long to train and not super easy to use. In order to find balance it will take tweaking of all the little things they do, not so much cutting out skills or making drastic changes to their critical strikes.

The real threat is a prepared BLM so by tweaking some of the things I suggested it would make it a little harder for them to be prepared 24/7.

Maybe instead of acupuncture the blm could have a way of resting that regens both mana and hp but they would lose vigil and counter when in that position. That way they can sleep and still have counters, they can meditate and have vigil or they could take a chance and do a "focused slumber" or something (almost like a ranger camp) but be vulnerable if found in this position.

What statement of mine is incorrect? Aside from experiencing it from many blademasters' date=' and with my own, I've also looked at the critical strike code for solar plexus, which I don't believe (notice I'm not stating fact here) has been changed.[/quote']

I didn't say you're wrong.

I just said you're not entirely correct. There are ways to make the skills more reliable, and there are also ways to protect against them.

=====> Blademasters are like monks in the respect they can take on any class in the game with the proper preparation. A monk needs 2 hours empowerment, that isn't a long time, but it is if you are caught in the wrong stance. I say make blademasters empower for either single or dual weapon use. It splits the stances down the middle, 3 for two handed and 3 for dual. Causes the blademasters to refocus if intercepted by someone else and they need to use a different stance. Kinda like the monk who is chasing the mage in crane stance and gets bash locked by the ogre warrior.

=====> Acu. is the wrong still in my oppinion. They should have healing like the monks. Healing has its other benefits but it costs what, 200 mana and has a nice lag to it? Only can be used once every 24 hours. Everyone yells haffer/slith are best blm, ever wonder how bad a drow/elf blm could use attrition tactics? Not to mention getting elf inate anats?

=====> Critical strikes are fine. The time on them is very miniscule, it takes them two rounds to use it, and its only a problem if they hit them. So if you are going to stand there for four rounds against a blm that is preped to fight you, yes, you should die. You going to stay in battle with a shaman who lands four rounds of mals? No, you don't even stay in battle if they land two rounds of mals. And you can save against crit strike it's just not with saves, but other factors.

=====> And going back into this thread, it started as a problem with exotic weapons. But it isn't any exotic weapon, but ONE single weapon in the game. As LA said, the little bonus on that weapon is just too much. It gives a bonus that only 2 qrace/classes and a selected warrior lore gives for free, to any good/neutral. I just don't see a HUGE problem with the class, but I've seen a problem with that weapon forever. At least now, as far as I understand it, you can't use doublesheathed weapon effects. Remember the arctron/air lance fiasco?

Blademasters are so much far better than monks it's not even funny. I laugh whenever I read anything saying that they are even close to comparable.

I have to agree with Zrothum. The only thing they're comparable to with monks really is they have anatomy. Other than that they're the complete opposite of monks. Blademasters can kill practically everyone while a Monk can only kill a few and it's usually an uphill battle. Even with a tune up for Monks they're still pointless. All Blademasters ever do is go elf/drow mastery because a majority of mages are elf/drow, so right there it screws everyone who plays those races. Then they can learn their own race up to 110? Plus they have the opportunity to learn two more races to 110 which makes four sets of races screwed. Elf = 2 races, Giant = 4 races, demihuman = 2 races, dwarf = 2 races, flying = 2 races, unique = 5 races, beast = 3 races. So say you're a slith blademaster, you automatically can blind 3 races right there. Choose Giant, there's another four races. Go elf and there's 2 again, but since you have to choose the mastery on it to bump it to 130, you go elf again, but you already can harm 9 races worse than any other race.

Maybe add in to where when choosing those races you split them up more, IE: only Drow and not Elf or vice versa. Does it hurt the class? Yeah, but then again what class hurts it when BMGs are usually elf/drow? DK's might do it by energy drain, but can they live to see the end of the fight? The damage output by a Blademaster in decent armor is harsh at times, in decked out armor, they outdamage a Fire Warrior/Zerk.

It's just that monks offensive output is not that great when they are fully trained. Like you said, it's almost always an uphill battle. And with a 300exp pen (only blademaster and pally have higher) they are far from a viable choice when playing this game. They have pretty much zero worth in terms of power and no replay value.

Blademasters on the other hand. It's an uphill battle to beat one of them, almost all the way around. Good defense, incredible offense, shaman-esque abilities.....They are arguably one of the BEST classes in the game. Their perk/drawback ratio is way, way too low, in my opinion.

The changes Festy hinted at are pretty solid. Especially the monk empowerment.

Beast is actually four races, werebeast, feral, minotaur and slith.

Ok, monks have recieved a lot of boost in the last couple years. Just because YOU cannot play a monk does not mean they are not comparable. I can see a monk, and I have played a monk at 50, handle every class in the game. The difference is it is a lot harder for a monk to finish those classes than it is for a BLM. I compare the classes because they are simliar in design, in preparation to fight, and I believe when they were being made that comparision was made as well.

THIS IS NOT a MONK THREAD

ps - make one and I'll put my thoughts there

I don't see what the big whoopah about blademasters is anyway. I've never been killed by one (admitedly I don't spend alot of time at 50). Maybe I should make one and see what the big deal is.

Perhaps an easier solution is to limit BLMs attacks with 2h weapons like all other melee classes. I know when I first saw BLMs getting 5 attacks with polearms I was amazed. Polearms are one of the most defensive weapons in the game and BLMs get more offense of one of them than a warroir.

Perhaps limit BLM attacks with 2h weapons to three attacks per round - exactly what all other melee classes bar a warrior have. This would again split the stances - 2h and dual wield - and cause BLMs to have to choose between pure offense of having some melee defense.

L-A

Perhaps an easier solution is to limit BLMs attacks with 2h weapons like all other melee classes. I know when I first saw BLMs getting 5 attacks with polearms I was amazed. Polearms are one of the most defensive weapons in the game and BLMs get more offense of one of them than a warroir.

Perhaps limit BLM attacks with 2h weapons to three attacks per round - exactly what all other melee classes bar a warrior have. This would again split the stances - 2h and dual wield - and cause BLMs to have to choose between pure offense of having some melee defense.

L-A

Well bar warrior and quest classes. But yeah, I see your point.

Ok' date=' monks have recieved a lot of boost in the last couple years. Just because YOU cannot play a monk does not mean they are not comparable. I can see a monk, and I have played a monk at 50, handle every class in the game. The difference is it is a lot harder for a monk to finish those classes than it is for a BLM.[/quote']

As I said. It is an uphill fight for the monk on almost all fronts. I play a monk just fine. They can "handle" not getting just completely walked over by all classes, sure. But, the margin of difference between monk and blademaster is HUGE. And your statement about a monk having a harder time finishing a class is ludicrous. Monks can lag everyone. How many successfull monks are at 50? Compared to blademasters? I've seen monks totally lag-lock people. And I've had monks who miss/fail 5 out of 5 air thrashes, after the boosts.

And this is not a monk thread, you are correct. We are talking about the comparison between the two classes that are supposed to almost mirror each other.

Blademasters: The monks with weapons.....except that they completely outpower monks and have HUGE benefits over monks, with none of the drawbacks.

edit: I've seen double posts before.....

edit: Can't say I've ever seen a triple post.........

stupid laggy internet

See, I'm glad I raised the discussion - even if perhaps my initial suggestion may not be the best solution. This thread contains a lot of valuable information now.

I don't understand people complaining about how they pick their races race. Its all about being strategic, if you don't want their strikes to hit your anatomy then don't pick the class. Its rediculous to complain about stuff like that.

I don't understand people complaining about how they pick their races race. Its all about being strategic' date=' if you don't want their strikes to hit your anatomy then don't pick the class. Its rediculous to complain about stuff like that.[/quote']

Have you even been reading what people have been posting? Blademasters through race selection and mastery/experts and cover over half the races in the game if done right. If they are smart and choose for common races/classes I think you'll find that they probably can cover 90% of the characters at lvl 50. That's VERY high when you consider everything else the class has.

Is the powerspike for the class too high currently? Probably.

What can be done to correc this? Well, there are lots of suggestions in this thread.

L-A