I think you’re right in some parts , but not at all.
I’m the type of player that is obsesive searching metas, builds , utilities, focus (PvP, GvG or PvE). I don’t want to make mistakes, and notice it when my build is half completed ( aprox 400h + ), thats why i use lot of pages and i read the official forums. Also i must say that my obsession usually drives to me to a meta-boring-unskilled-build that makes me loose a lot of hours. That’s the reason why now i’m trying to build something not extrange (but not in the PvP meta) with some modifications.
I must say that the first time that i tried that ,after readed a lot of things in tosdatabase , i found it that my character was a really mistake (atleast for my playstyle ).
Attributes in game just appear if you are in the class of these attributes, we don’t have videos of the skills showed in the class advancement, we don’t even have an official page were we can find the right information of each path ( tosdatabase isn’t well actualized, isn’t completed and isn’t official).
So in my opinion is normal that some people are destroying build.
Also i must say something, our tree’s name, swordman, don’t match with what we have, It also have the color (red) of a damage class.
Ofc we aren’t glasscanon assasins and everyone who enters in this tree must know by this logic ( ok, shinobi don’t fit in here, but afterall it don’t have the damage of classes like archers or damage wizards and it still a melee class), but dps doesn’t mean to go full damage, it can mean offensive tank, constant damage, keeping aggro( in pve), be a fighter that will survive if their habilities are used right.
That’s why a lot of people don’t take this for tank, and are confussed by the meaning of the dps in an Offtank build and their builds will be useless in late game, in both, pve and pvp.
Finally swordman c2 or c3 , are taked because they looks like an assasin option ( comparing to the other options) and picking c3, for new players feels like avoiding rainbow builds because they will max the class. And ofc they can fall under the biggest mistake because restraint’s stun only can work well with a non-static dps skill like cyclone or cata’s rush, builds that aren’t assassin at all, cause they need to survive to apply cc for their team while they’re doing constant damage in addition to the burst provided by archers or some wizards.
After saying that, i think that its really obvious that the game, actually is confusing players, also the comunity saying things like peltasta is pve, and swordman full pvp. It depends of the build you are rolling and the reasons why you must pick some clases for the correct function of your selected roll in pvp or in pve. For some pvp builds, rush into the enemy without hp increased or evasion , will destroy a tactic like hooking 3 players for your team, while having restraint won’t help with someting like hexen dropper cause you first need to land it and maybe seism from barbarian 2 its better to engage a burst combo.
So, peltasta is usefull if you put it in the right build, no only for pve taunting bi**, in response to the author of this topic.