Since IMC’s response to our desire for Swordsman buffs (along with other balance changes, though IMC has only directly responded with regard to Swordsman) was basically “Oh, don’t worry, we’re making changes to the Korean version that you may never see,” I only have my own personal fantasies of what the Swordsman could be to console me. But, being the narcissist I am, I saw fit to share those personal fantasies with all of you. So, here are some fantasy patch notes, for your viewing pleasure.
So, when it comes to buffing Swordsmen, you can’t really just buff a few of the worst Swordsman classes, like Rodelero, and call it a day. You have to buff pretty much every class, because EVERY Swordsman build is weak endgame. If they have no builds that are competitive with other classes, then buffing one or two classes means they’ll have one or two builds and the rest will be ■■■■. Sortof like how in iToS most Cleric builds are really strong, but Monk and Sadhu builds are awful, except the situation is reversed. Buffing Monk and Sadhu is easy, fixing the entire Swordsman class isn’t so easy as changing two classes.
Swordsman
Now gains 1.3 attack and 1.6 crit attack per point of STR.
Now receives 1 bonus crit attack every 2 character levels.
While Dashing, gains 30% resistance to negative status effects.
Thrust: Now has a chance to inflict bleeding, dealing damage based on STR. Circle 2 attribute increases this chance.
Bash: Now deals strike-type damage. Bash: Specialty increases the damage dealt by Bash by 30% per attribute level (3 levels).
Gung Ho rework: Now increases critical rate and critical attack while reducing evasion and block rate to 0 for 10 seconds. Also increases maximum provocation by 10. Bonus critical attack gained is based on STR.
Concentrate rework: Enter a focused state, dealing bonus damage as long as nothing breaks that focus. Gain a stack of Concentration when you hit an enemy, while losing a stack every time you take damage. Multihit and AoE attacks will add/subtract only 1 stack. Each stack of Concentration increases block penetration and adds bonus damage on each hit. Bonus damage is based on DEX.
Pain Barrier: Increases resistance to negative status effects by 20% while active.
Pommel Beat: Cooldown reduced to 10 seconds, ignores 100% of defense on small and medium sized enemies.
Double Slash: Cooldown reduced to 13 seconds. Both hits now deal full damage, rather than the damage being split between them.
Thrust: Continuous Attack is now a Circle 3 attribute, giving Thrust a 5% chance to hit twice and a 2% chance to hit 3 times per attribute level (5 levels).
Peltasta
Guard: Reduces magic damage received based on your block rate. While Guarding, Evasion is reduced to 0 and 50% of Evasion value is added to block rate.
Umbo Blow: Now deals 100% of your block rate as additional damage against staggered enemies.
Rim Blow: Increased to 3 overheat. Now deals 100% of your shield’s defense as additional damage. Added attribute to remove knockback.
Guardian: No longer reduces attack, and can be used in tandem with Gung Ho. Increases the physical defense value of your shield by 15 + 3 per level.
Shield Lob: Enemies hit with Shield Lob now have Block Penetration reduced to 0 for 10 seconds. Base AoE Attack Ratio increased to 5. Shield Lob: Splash increases AoE attack ratio by 2 points per attribute level (3 levels).
High Guard: While active, reduces incoming magic damage by 5% per skill level.
Butterfly: Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds.
Umbo Thrust: Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds.
Highlander
Wagon Wheel: Now deals 2 hits of Slash-type damage when launching enemies, and 1 hit of Strike-type damage when enemies land. Base AoE attack ratio increased to 3.
Cartar Stroke: Now takes 1.5 seconds to fully charge at all levels, instead of .5 per level.
Cross Guard: Can now be used with Sword and Dagger or Two-Handed Spear.
Moulinet: Animation speed increased. Cooldown reduced to 25 seconds. Moulinet: Critical no longer increases the critical chance of Moulinet, instead reducing the critical resistance of enemies hit by 20% per attribute level (5 levels).
Skyliner: Cooldown reduced to 5 seconds. Animation speed increased.
Skull Swing: Now requires 2H Sword.
Vertical Slash: Now requires 2H Sword. Damage: ((Base + Physical Attack + Defense lost from Skull Swing) + (Skill level x 75 x # of debuffs on target)) x 1.5 against medium sized enemies, 2 against large sized enemies, 3 against boss enemies.
Hoplite
Stabbing: Animation speed increased.
Pierce: Now has 2 overheat. Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds.
Synchro Thrust: Now deals bonus damage against staggered enemies.
Long Stride: Enemies hit will now be stunned. Base AoE attack ratio increased to 6.
Spear Throw: Attack scaling increased to 150%. Animation speed increased.
Finestra: Physical Damage attribute now adds 25% of DEX to physical attack while Finestra is active instead of 10% INT.
Pierce: Bleeding attribute increased from 2% to 4% chance to inflict bleeding per level. (5 levels).
Barbarian
Embowel: Animation speed increased. Now slows and inflicts Bleeding on the target for 10 seconds. Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds.
Stomping Kick: Animation speed increased. Area of effect greatly increased. Base AoE attack ratio increased to 4. Cooldown reduced to 25 seconds. Damage increases based on jump height with a minimum scaling of 100%. Scaling increases linearly, I.E. if initiated from twice normal jump height, scaling increases to 200%.
Cleave: Now additionally makes enemies struck vulnerable to Slashing-type attacks.
Helm Chopper: Chance to stun increased.
Seism: Chance to stun increased.
Warcry: Cooldown reduced to 60 seconds.
Giant Swing: Deals damage on the initial hit and again with every rotation. 5 rotations + 1 per level. You can now select which direction enemy will be thrown by moving in that direction.
Pouncing: Animation speed increased (same duration; more hits occur, and occur more quickly). Area of effect increased.
Rodelero
Shield Charge: Increased block rate against missile attacks while active. Can now Dash at full speed while using Shield Charge, but Dashing drains stamina 3x faster.
Targe Smash: Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds. Animation speed increased. Area of effect increased. Chance to blind increased.
Montano: Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds. Overheat increased to 3.
Shield Push: Unbalanced status defense reduction increased from 15 + 15 per level to 20 + 20 per level. Enemies effected by Unbalanced have a chance to be knocked down when attacked.
Shield Shoving: Damage increased from 172 + 52 per level to 272 + 66 per level. Overheat increased to 3.
Shield Bash: Damage type changed to Strike. Overheat increased to 3.
Slithering: Increases resistance to negative status effects by 70% while active. Cooldown reduced to 25 seconds.
Shooting Star: Damage increased from 300 + 23 per level to 300 + 75 per level. Cooldown reduced to 25 seconds. Overheat increased to 3. Animation speed increased. Damage type changed to Strike.
High Kick: Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds. Attack scaling increased to 200%.
Cataphract
Multihit skills now actually deal multiple hits with 100% attack scaling rather than having damage split. Base damages reduced as a result.
Corsair
Jolly Roger: Combo effect now increases damage by 2% per combo level. Maximum combo level capped at 10. At maximum combo effect, increased chance of triggering Pillaging. New attribute: Treasure Hunt, adds a small chance to pillage cubes from dungeon and world bosses. Requires Circle 3 Corsair.
Unlock Chest: Now reduces the cost of rerolling a boss cube by 2% per skill level. New attribute: Skeleton Key, allows you to reroll boss cubes an additional time. Requires Circle 3 Corsair.
Iron Hook: New attribute: Expose Weakness, captured enemies now take 50% bonus damage from Missile attacks. Requires Circle 3 Corsair.
Dust Devil: Overheat increased to 3. Cooldown reduced to 15 seconds.
Double Weapon Assault: Now triggers automatically after every attack. No longer consumes stamina. New attribute: Gunslinger, allows Double Weapon Assault to be used with Pistol attacks. Requires Circle 3 Corsair.
Hexen Dropper: Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds.
Pistol Shot: Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds. Range increased to match secondary weapon attack range. Damage scaling increased to 150%. Now has 2 Overheat.
Doppel, Dragoon are probably fine. Fencer, Shinobi, might be fine with better earlier-rank classes, especially Highlander -> Fencer getting Crossguard without weapon swapping. Also, Squire does exactly what it’s meant to do already and can’t really be made ‘better’ as a crafting class - it really speaks volumes that most tank builds end up going Squire3 just because there’s nothing else worth taking.
