Swashbuckling is a C1 skill afaik :https://tos.neet.tv/skills/10103
I think that the provocation effect is one of the effects the skills has while the real effect is based on the number that’s debuffed. Let’s hope for the best, otherwise the Kabbalist finally passed away after long comatose vegetative state.
Imo designing Classes&skills that only work well in PVP and then get nerfed in PVP,too, is a pretty nasty thing to do if everything about this game is PVE and only PVE is relevant.
Every Class at Rank 8/9 (i.e. Rank 6-8 Classes) should be able to deal ± equal damage regardless of their role, to make Classes and builds viable.
Having no or bad Class attributes, bad skill numbers/effects/properties/attributes and bad synergy within its own Class&Class tree is a sickness that TOS failed to address until now and seemingly still fails to address. The freedom of choice is only a freedom of choice as long as you don’t suffer from too many handicaps/downsides/detriments/whatever you want to call them.
If the game makes you suffer greatly just by chosing a certain Class because of no apparent reason besides the developers team decisions, it’s just not a good way to handle a game.
And this is not about laughing it off as a joke, but serious business as the upcoming monsters will become harder to kill, and Classes without any damage capabilities (or bad ones) will see the short end of the stick without a question.
And, to be honest, I don’t want to go for another Circle of Kabbalist(i.e. Master Circle if they implement it even for higher-ranked underperforming Classes) just to get to the same level that Plague Doctor had with just 1 or 2 Circles.
Currently, there is no way that Kabbalist will be able to perform as good as the current Rank 8 Classes, unless they seriously boost the Merkabah damage with an attribute (I made a good suggestion based on hystorical facts), reduce the CD time of Double Chance and/or increase its AoE and make it trigger only by the Kabbalists attacks, improve Revengend Sevenfold for PVE-use (e.g. make the skill last only 7 seconds but absorb all damage for the duration and reflect it sevenfold back; that way Ein Sof would finally have a purpose if you have to tank damage for maximum reflection) and boost other skills like Reduce Level (e.g. the target loses parts of its HP permanently by reducing its level, even after the level is back to normal again) and Clone (making it work on monsters in Crystal Mine Mission like Swell Body wouldn’t hurt that much; also the CD time needs a big reduction, 30 seconds should be more than enough).
Basically everything needs an overhaul, not just Gematria&Notarikon that won’t see any worth if the skills that base on their debuff have very long CD times (over 30 seconds) and less AoE capabilities than Gematria&Notarikon.
But well, another ~ 1 week of waiting will unravel the truth, let’s hope it’s much less shocking than what we are talking about and no Class goes to the trash bin afterwards till it’s recycled [aka as rebalancing].