WARNING - This thread isn’t made for new players or those that seek guidance on how to use said class, please look for proper threads regarding it such as class overviews and build guides. Design Breakdown is a design discussion thread only and has no purpose to help players on practical aspects of the game.
Starting an updated Design Breakdown Re:Build with the original melee physical class now being more tailored towards long duration combat, Swordsman. Back on release it was possible to have variants of the class taking the risky route for evasion and critical but Scout introduction took that away from it leaving only the reliable and enduring aspects.
Just as stated before the defining factor of the class is endurance and being able to take out long duration combat, in addition to that it can also engage against multiple enemies due this resilience as evasion becomes less effective. This is the main, and broad, identity the class goes for, be in the heat of the battle and take several enemies at once.
Swordsman is a generic broad term that is applied to any warrior that fights using swords, it doesn’t matter which type of sword, how it is wielded nor the principle behinds its techniques. It is hard to track down any potential source for class design and skill inspiration due that but judging by the outfit it appears to reference the renaissance or navigation period, tho that isn’t particularly reflected anywhere else.
Despite Swordsman work for what the class do it doesn’t really represent the class nor its tree as it has no special interaction with the weapon and later on branches out in a considerable number of spear users, Warrior can fit it better as the class can use spears from start and has half of its advancements to use that same weapon.
Bash (B) - Midground
A fairly generic move that relies solely in strength, it is odd for it to deal Slash damage it wouldn’t be able to cut someone unless with swords and even then it it may just hit as blunt. It’s interesting that Bash tries to sell a lot of power as the whole body moves to deliver the blow as the animation is fast enough to feel like be a heavy attack and slow enough to not feel weightless, it would be more appropriate for a base class skill to have less visual impact as the skill itself isn’t as strong than advancement ones as those can be significantly faster. The particles add a little more power than it really has specially when it doesn’t have any form of natural control component.
As Bash was this generic damage skill in the old system it did got some extra value with the lower competition, it is a larger hitbox compared with the only offensive skill in the class, Thrust, and can be taken as a control skill and this can set it to be useful later on depending on the build choice. This small variance is what allows it to be taken into the game being healthy and valuable in some degree, even when the majority of skill choice is about buffs.
One interesting addition Bash is open to is the introduction of a natural stun component, the knockback attribute already does it more efficiently but disruptions aren’t always wanted so having your control capability (even if short) to be based on luck but keep the enemies in place would be really welcome. Such change also allows it to be enhanced with skill level leaving the attribute to be obtained at level 1 and overwrite the stun chance completely, this kind of tradeoff can have players to consider it to be leveled, maxed or ignored based on their future plans.
Bear/Gung Ho (C) - Lead
From chinese Gung Ho can be translated as ‘work together’ (that may diverge from cooperation) but when adopted to english it morphed into “enthusiasm” probably due misuse, going more extreme on it can be used as giving its all despite the consequences. Bear on the other hand is used as meaning ‘endure’ which is exactly what the skill does.
Those two are different versions of a same skill and as usually an uptime self buff works only as an occasional SP drain the inability to have both active at same time is acceptable to have them as skills for this dynamic, however this could be also achieved with attributes with the new bind/restriction system.
One interesting point to consider with those skills is that despite being advantageous to take only one and maximize it players still can have both and switch them based on their current needs, it’s even possible to have them both being constantly used to manage HP and damage in variable content such as challenge mode. The only reason this may not happen at all is a combination of interest points in the class and a lack of floor on these skills, having the skill level to dictate the whole buff power means that spending fewer points on one of them will feel like a wasted distribution yet having both maxed cuts the remaining distribution to 5 points only.
Pain Barrier (C) - Complement
Pain is signal the body uses to communicate something wrong is happening, this can be a malfunction within the organism or that something is harming it. However it also makes animals retreat, flinch or be halted completely which can help on its recovery, that tho is an issue in battle as any hesitation can allow enemies to deliver a fatal blow.
It’s amazing that a skill that has only one use and which level improvement is only duration can be that round up. The magic behind Pain Barrier’s design is that it is a skill that can be useful for the whole game and doesn’t deal with power nor protection, it’s a mere convenience in most yet it helps every single class further in the tree. That said the new formula made it to be less efficient with fewer points which pushes players to maximize them regardless of their skill choice, of course the sole fact the skill denies one of the most annoying mechanics the game has is enough to give it value but players shouldn’t be pushed to master it mindlessly. Despite knockback being an issue concerning all classes the swordsman side is the one that suffers the most with it as lacks range and overall utility to stay in the backline, yet with the new changes in block it is possible to handle the knock back and knockdown effects without out it.
One thing utility few know is that being hit also stagger the movement for a brief moment, which can completely halt a player when fighting crowds, and that can be ignored by Pain Barrier. With a small readjust in the duration formula, keeping the maximum duration as it is, it could be one of the most interesting skills to plan around as the remaining points could be reallocated somewhere else.
Thrust (D) - Midground
Thrust is a basic move that can be performed with any pointy object as to pierce the target, the attack gains more lethality as it has all force applied in a single spot but that also reduces contact point and is harder to hit. Another advantage, when using swords, provided by it is the extended range as slash attacks hit with the side of the blade. One interesting thing to notice on the skill animation is how it stays in the middle of a powerful blow and a light attack as the other offensive skills go for the heavy impact, yet ironically it is slower than Bash. The only oddity in this skill is how it can be used with Maces and Rods as most of them don’t have a point and that is a requirement for a Thrust.
This is the heavy hitting skill the class has despite not being a strong skill, it could be taken as a considerable damage source but as the class tree has few class options that lack offensive power it feels pointless to take it when Bash can offer both damage and control. Raw damage may not be enough to have the skill rolling unless it gets condensed for less uses, if not then an additional component could do the job as the skill is rather dry to compete with the available choices in the class.
Swordsman always had an issue regarding skill distribution for having too many buffs to pick from, as the previous iteration had more variety and buffs had different value based on the character stats this one is way more carefree. There’s few benefits on taking offensive skills as buffs will be active for long time and advanced offensive skills can do it better, it isn’t a matter of being completely underwhelming but when weighing the value of extra resistance, more damage and not being thrown around for most of time. It’s concerning that the only reason offensive skills are presented as interesting choices is the fact Gung Ho and Bear can’t be used together, even then Thrust can be ignored as being a plain damage skill when its counterpart has not only larger hitbox and faster animation but also a knockdown attribute.
The poor theme exploration and dull gameplay can be justified as it is a classic archetype and base class but there should be a way to expand it in more basic combat techniques, if we assume a new player may see the value of buff skills from start and decides to take this route for the skill distribution it can be set with the dullest gameplay till the advancement tier transition and this is enough to portrait the whole tree as boring at the point the player should be the most engaged. It may sound crazy but it may be more appropriated to have both Gung Ho and Bear as Pain Barrier attributes, with a possible addition of a duration extension one and have only one available at time, than proper skills and give the class more options on the active side, perhaps give it a parry skill to introduce block, being a major stat for the tree, to new players and be available for all weapon setups.
Identity - B
Theme - D
Gameplay - D
Skill Distribution - D
Overall - D
If you haven’t checked yet Cleric, Scout and Wizard were updated as well and Archer was released along, next week will have both Priest (without Chaplain) and Doppelsoeldner updated followed by a new entry in Onmyoji.