I think at this stage of the game many people are realizing how gimped swordsman are in general, especially the non pelt one, the so called Melee Dps. Personally I don’t think is due to poor game design, but a lack of pvp related content. Swordsmans and barbs and other melee deeps often carry an arsenal of ccs in the form of restrains, seism and other skills and in structured pvp they’re likely to outshine any pelt swordies by a mile.
Personally i think this is balanced. If you want pve and tank, take pelt. If you want pvp, take other circles. You might say, “but archers and wizards can do both pve and pvp reliably. Why are we segregated?” This is most likely due to the fact that swordies have inherently high hp, and sprint. If a swordsman can pvp (ccs, burst) as well as tank pve (taunt…etc), other classes will feel redundant. And while sprint gets cancelled after 1 attack you can always use it when the enemy is stunned, or use it to dodge spells.
That said, i think there are things that can be done to make a non-pelt swordsman more attractive:
1 buff Pain Barrier.
People think Restrain is the only reason why swordsman c2 is even picked, but I honestly believe pain barrier is the most powerful spell in a swordie’s toolkit. Currently it stops you from getting knocked back or downed, which is decent enough to warrant lvling it.
Give swordsman the attribute to toggle between immune to kd/b (full duration) or immune to soft cc (half or 1/3 the duration) could seriously bolster the appeal of swordsman c2. Cc immune on pelt with half or 1/3 duration means the pain barrier can only be used to dodge a few key stuns, but swordsman c2 and c3, combined with restrain, will make swordsman very formidable. Keep in mind that this new pain barrier only apply to soft cc. If you get hit by a skill shot cc you’re still gonna get stunned.
2 Buff Swashbuckling, but give Highlander taunt
Firstly, why buff SB when pelt is already the de facto pve swordsman in the game? Well If you simply give highlander a taunt then pelt would be fairly underwhelming, given the highlander can guard with 2h sword and has more dps skills than pelt which make it easier to level. Second, why highlander and not swordsman c2? I suggested this change under the assumption that pain barrier is already buffed. Immunity against soft ccs, i feel, is a good enough incentive to go into swordsman c2 or c3 purely for pvp purpose, giving them a taunt would just be too good. As to the SB buff, reduced cd or increased numbers of mobs would be good.
Personally i think an attribute that toggles the shock aspect of crown to taunt will give the class viability in pve late game. The range can be as good as the old sb, if not slightly better since you’re taking 2 extra circles for this skill.
3 If these changes aren’t implements, then at least give all class, not just swordsman, some immunity againsts CCs.
CC is the bane of melee class. The entire tree is basically useless because they had to get in melee range to deal damage and range cc kills them hard.
Currently it is possible for you to get chain Cc-ed without being able to do anything, and while there’s plague doctor to help you out, it is a rank 7 class, and work on single target. I think a Resolve system like Swtor where once you’re cced over a certain amount of time, you are immuned to cc for a few seconds, would be some quality of life balance not just for swordsman but all other classes as well. After all, no one likes getting bursted down, or chain stunned by mobs to death (happened to me once. insane RNG were involved)
What do you guys think? Fair? Too OP?