Growth rates DW,CD,LA

Started 21 Jul 2019
by Drakconos
in Ask the Team
Hi,

is it intended that DW and LA have the same growth rates on Merc/Inf and Zerk/SB, while NS and Ranger get reduced growth rates in CD compared to Blademaster?
Sun 21 Jul 2019 3:33 PM by florin
Night lance
Sun 21 Jul 2019 9:20 PM by Cadebrennus
Growth rates in CD suck so badly that most smart players go high Blades/Pierce and sub-30 CD. Sure there's more utility in CD (side stun and rear snare) but let's be honest, the DPS flat out sucks in CD which is why it's relegated to be a utility spec. This hurts offhand swing chance in Hib dual wielding classes.
Sun 21 Jul 2019 10:58 PM by Moid
Hib is special.
Mon 22 Jul 2019 6:20 AM by jelzinga_EU
Is it only Supernova or are more styles having a reduced growth-rate ?
Mon 22 Jul 2019 7:26 AM by inoeth
that really only touches rangers and rangers are strong enough imo
Mon 22 Jul 2019 8:22 AM by Turano
inoeth wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 7:26 AM
that really only touches rangers and rangers are strong enough imo
shield tanks are strong enough as well and yet lately with a "bugfix" evade got nerfed and block got buffed. Your point?
Mon 22 Jul 2019 8:47 AM by inoeth
Turano wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 8:22 AM
inoeth wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 7:26 AM
that really only touches rangers and rangers are strong enough imo
shield tanks are strong enough as well and yet lately with a "bugfix" evade got nerfed and block got buffed. Your point?

working as intended
Mon 22 Jul 2019 10:13 AM by Turano
inoeth wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 8:47 AM
working as intended
I guess that's exactly the point of this thread. If it is intended that NS/rangers get the reduced grothrates of CD styles while Infils/SB's get Merc/Berzerker grothrates for DW/LA.
If a dev comes in here and claims that it is intended then so be it.
But what does your "that really only touches rangers and rangers are strong enough imo" exactly contribute to the question?
Mon 22 Jul 2019 10:52 AM by jelzinga_EU
Turano wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 10:13 AM
But what does your "that really only touches rangers and rangers are strong enough imo" exactly contribute to the question?

It is probably a justification why the Side-chain is adjusted on NS/Ranger, e.g. they're strong enough so they don't need the higher GR's.

And truth be told - if you see the utility on CD it would be pretty unfair to give them the increased GR. If you add the GR back to NS/Ranger then SB want utility in LA too (side-stun, back-snare)

I don't think many NS will consider CD over CS, even with the boosted GR's - so the change would realistically be only a buff to Ranger, and I'm quite sure they do not need buffs in their melee.
Mon 22 Jul 2019 11:47 AM by inoeth
jelzinga_EU wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 10:52 AM
Turano wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 10:13 AM
But what does your "that really only touches rangers and rangers are strong enough imo" exactly contribute to the question?

It is probably a justification why the Side-chain is adjusted on NS/Ranger, e.g. they're strong enough so they don't need the higher GR's.

And truth be told - if you see the utility on CD it would be pretty unfair to give them the increased GR. If you add the GR back to NS/Ranger then SB want utility in LA too (side-stun, back-snare)

I don't think many NS will consider CD over CS, even with the boosted GR's - so the change would realistically be only a buff to Ranger, and I'm quite sure they do not need buffs in their melee.

this!

also im pretty sure that there are differences on live aswell.
on live SB does not have the dd proc on aurora borealis, although im not sure if they have here
Mon 22 Jul 2019 12:25 PM by jelzinga_EU
inoeth wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 11:47 AM
also im pretty sure that there are differences on live aswell.
on live SB does not have the dd proc on aurora borealis, although im not sure if they have here

They do here. But in the current state Left-Axe styles ... I don't feel it as a big deal (tho I might be considered biased playing a SB and all that...)
Mon 22 Jul 2019 7:04 PM by Estat
Is there any real evidence that growth rates are different between CD styles for BM and CD styles for NS/Ranger? I dont play hib so i cant check myself ingame.

From what i remember DW/CD/LA styles always had the same growth rate for assassins and light tanks on live, light tanks just got some additional utility at some point while assassins didnt get their styles changed. Most notable change in that category is the high value bleed on dual shadows and the DW after evade style.

I was under the impression that SB/NS/Inf all got the same styles as light tanks here on phoenix (custom change). I can confirm that infiltrators got the high value bleed in DW.
Mon 22 Jul 2019 8:30 PM by Leandrys
Estat wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 7:04 PM
Is there any real evidence that growth rates are different between CD styles for BM and CD styles for NS/Ranger? I dont play hib so i cant check myself ingame.


The side chain is nerfed, a lot :

https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Ranger&level=50&realmRank=30&view=skills

Compare it with BM's one :

https://playphoenix.online/charplan/?class=Blademaster&level=50&realmRank=30&view=skills

The anytimer is the same, theorically at least, the side chain kinda is destroyed tho.
Mon 22 Jul 2019 8:59 PM by Campjr
yes
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:16 PM by Cadebrennus
The main issue with CD is that the GRs are so crappy that yes, Hibs generally rely on the base styles for actual DPS and CD for the utility. This doesn't seem like a problem until you realize that most Hib players are speccing low CD and high base weapon, leaving their offhand % trailing LA and DW significantly. This leaves Hib dual wielders still behind the power curve in terms of damage. Regarding the utility issue, big deal. The stun isn't an insta-win (maybe in the right hands though) but what has been proven in the Scout threads is that stuns are insignificant. I don't necessarily believe that but the posters in the Scout threads believe it. Basically, the same people that complain that Slam (9 sec anytime) ISN'T overpowered due to Purge are also complaining that a POSITIONAL stun is overpowered.

Seriously, at this point either shut the hell up in general while admitting you only want one class to be on top, or Just accept that there is a form of balance that exists without the "identical classes" approach to balance that exist on nominally PvP games like WoW and ESO that, let's face it, suck for the discerning PvP MMO gamer.
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:49 PM by Moid
All the bullshit about balance. The game was never and will never be balanced. Every time a class is nerfed or buffed it’s an admission that the game was imbalanced prior to the change. The game has been changed faster than anyone can keep up with due to all the imbalances.

No, CD/DW/LA is NOT balanced and never will be.

The dumbest aspect of the balance equation is, the dopey developers here look at the number of people playing a class to determine which classes get buffed or nerfed. That only appears to apply when the class isn’t a Hib class though.
Wed 31 Jul 2019 10:30 PM by Numatic
Balance in daoc has pretty much always been decided by player trends. Nobody playing a class? Buff them. Too many people playing 1 class? Nerf them.

The problem is you could take just about any class in the game and have a large portion of the population play that class and people will call for a nerf because they always seem to be killed by said class. Theres too many of them so they must be OP. I think everyone should roll a fire wiz and go out to RvR. If enough people.get nuked instantly to death by 16 fire wizzies you would see an influx of complaints about them, even though right now they are considered niche and rather weak overall.

This was clearly evident with assasins here and the repoison nerf. So many assasin players in OF (esp infil) the forum was rife with complaints. Even after the nerf it continued. But now? How many non caster classes fear assasins as some sort of instant death? Maybe a few non casters if that. They were considered OP just because of how many were out there and all the stealth zerging going on.
Thu 1 Aug 2019 5:14 AM by Isavyr
Moid wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:49 PM
The dumbest aspect of the balance equation is, the dopey developers here look at the number of people playing a class to determine which classes get buffed or nerfed. That only appears to apply when the class isn’t a Hib class though.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
Thu 1 Aug 2019 6:31 AM by Kemoauc
Cadebrennus wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:16 PM
The main issue with CD is that the GRs are so crappy that yes, Hibs generally rely on the base styles for actual DPS and CD for the utility. This doesn't seem like a problem until you realize that most Hib players are speccing low CD and high base weapon, leaving their offhand % trailing LA and DW significantly. This leaves Hib dual wielders still behind the power curve in terms of damage. Regarding the utility issue, big deal. The stun isn't an insta-win (maybe in the right hands though) but what has been proven in the Scout threads is that stuns are insignificant. I don't necessarily believe that but the posters in the Scout threads believe it. Basically, the same people that complain that Slam (9 sec anytime) ISN'T overpowered due to Purge are also complaining that a POSITIONAL stun is overpowered.

Seriously, at this point either shut the hell up in general while admitting you only want one class to be on top, or Just accept that there is a form of balance that exists without the "identical classes" approach to balance that exist on nominally PvP games like WoW and ESO that, let's face it, suck for the discerning PvP MMO gamer.

A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well.

The differences between slam and the CD sidestun are:
1. You get it in the line that also gives you damage
2. A 4 or 5 sec style is more valuable in 1vs1 situations because you can almost always use it multiple times per fight. Which makes the opponents purge worse.

I'm not complaining about CD but pointing out why it is good.

I don't have an opinion on the GR discussion
Thu 1 Aug 2019 8:04 AM by Cadebrennus
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 1 Aug 2019 6:31 AM
Cadebrennus wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:16 PM
The main issue with CD is that the GRs are so crappy that yes, Hibs generally rely on the base styles for actual DPS and CD for the utility. This doesn't seem like a problem until you realize that most Hib players are speccing low CD and high base weapon, leaving their offhand % trailing LA and DW significantly. This leaves Hib dual wielders still behind the power curve in terms of damage. Regarding the utility issue, big deal. The stun isn't an insta-win (maybe in the right hands though) but what has been proven in the Scout threads is that stuns are insignificant. I don't necessarily believe that but the posters in the Scout threads believe it. Basically, the same people that complain that Slam (9 sec anytime) ISN'T overpowered due to Purge are also complaining that a POSITIONAL stun is overpowered.

Seriously, at this point either shut the hell up in general while admitting you only want one class to be on top, or Just accept that there is a form of balance that exists without the "identical classes" approach to balance that exist on nominally PvP games like WoW and ESO that, let's face it, suck for the discerning PvP MMO gamer.

A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well.

The differences between slam and the CD sidestun are:
1. You get it in the line that also gives you damage
2. A 4 or 5 sec style is more valuable in 1vs1 situations because you can almost always use it multiple times per fight. Which makes the opponents purge worse.

I'm not complaining about CD but pointing out why it is good.

I don't have an opinion on the GR discussion

Sure CD is good, but it's not great. Honestly my favourite thing about the CD line is that there's a rear snare in the line.

Speaking as someone who played one of the first Slam Mercs on live and continued for a long time before going to a Hib dual wielder, there simply is no substitute for an anytime style vs a positional style. The anytime wins hands down every time.

I think you missed my point though in noting that because CD is only specced for utility and not damage the actual damage output that Hib dual wielders end up with is much lower than their Mid and Alb counterparts.
Thu 1 Aug 2019 8:44 AM by Kemoauc
Cadebrennus wrote:
Thu 1 Aug 2019 8:04 AM
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 1 Aug 2019 6:31 AM
Cadebrennus wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:16 PM
The main issue with CD is that the GRs are so crappy that yes, Hibs generally rely on the base styles for actual DPS and CD for the utility. This doesn't seem like a problem until you realize that most Hib players are speccing low CD and high base weapon, leaving their offhand % trailing LA and DW significantly. This leaves Hib dual wielders still behind the power curve in terms of damage. Regarding the utility issue, big deal. The stun isn't an insta-win (maybe in the right hands though) but what has been proven in the Scout threads is that stuns are insignificant. I don't necessarily believe that but the posters in the Scout threads believe it. Basically, the same people that complain that Slam (9 sec anytime) ISN'T overpowered due to Purge are also complaining that a POSITIONAL stun is overpowered.

Seriously, at this point either shut the hell up in general while admitting you only want one class to be on top, or Just accept that there is a form of balance that exists without the "identical classes" approach to balance that exist on nominally PvP games like WoW and ESO that, let's face it, suck for the discerning PvP MMO gamer.

A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well.

The differences between slam and the CD sidestun are:
1. You get it in the line that also gives you damage
2. A 4 or 5 sec style is more valuable in 1vs1 situations because you can almost always use it multiple times per fight. Which makes the opponents purge worse.

I'm not complaining about CD but pointing out why it is good.

I don't have an opinion on the GR discussion

Sure CD is good, but it's not great. Honestly my favourite thing about the CD line is that there's a rear snare in the line.

Speaking as someone who played one of the first Slam Mercs on live and continued for a long time before going to a Hib dual wielder, there simply is no substitute for an anytime style vs a positional style. The anytime wins hands down every time.

I think you missed my point though in noting that because CD is only specced for utility and not damage the actual damage output that Hib dual wielders end up with is much lower than their Mid and Alb counterparts.

I was only replying to your point that scouts state that stuns being insignificant and at the same time whine about CD sidestu. Just looking at those two classes I can understand based on what I wrote above that spending many pts to get slam feels bad when others get a good alternative for free in their weapon line that even though shorter duration can sometimes be used multiple times which equalises the total stun duration in 1vs1.

Of course slam is great if it is not purged but it is a huge investment for certain classes. On light and full tanks it's a nobrainer because the only alternative to slam is a second dmg line which in most cases is worse than having slam. The value of slam is also much higher in groups because the frequency of fights is higher but that doesn't really apply to scouts.

This is not really on topic therefore I'll stop here.
Thu 1 Aug 2019 6:04 PM by Moid
Isavyr wrote:
Thu 1 Aug 2019 5:14 AM
Moid wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:49 PM
The dumbest aspect of the balance equation is, the dopey developers here look at the number of people playing a class to determine which classes get buffed or nerfed. That only appears to apply when the class isn’t a Hib class though.

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.
Sorry I don’t make claims without evidence. But you go ahead and keep on dismissing claims about evidence, I know you will.

https://forum.playphoenix.online/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=9869&hilit=Friar&start=20

gruenesschaf wrote:
Mon 24 Jun 2019 4:58 AM
Moid wrote:
Mon 24 Jun 2019 3:11 AM
What happened in my case is you guys pissed me off with enough changes that I decided I was tired of you and your server. It all began with the change to the RvR task system granting credit regardless of which realm you’re in (end result - Emain becomes RvR central again). Then the Friar buffs pissed me off because you buffed a goddamn class due to the people playing the realm refusing to play the class and that’s just as stupid as it gets.
...
Not trying to say you're wrong as it's a personal opinion / perception, however each change there has a perfectly reasonable and even positive intention behind it:
Task change was to promote not only zerg play but instead give people who want to do small man / 8v8 the reasonable option to go somewhere else without feeling they miss out on the task rps
Buffing an underplayed class that, considering the alternatives / available group spots, at least appeared to be underperforming, if that's not a reason to buff a class then what is?
...

That’s not evidence, it’s a fact. The Friar was buffed because it was an underplayed class as stated by a developer. No Hib class has received the same consideration yet Hib has the least population and thus has more underplayed classes.
Thu 1 Aug 2019 8:17 PM by Isavyr
Moid wrote:
Mon 24 Jun 2019 3:11 AM
What happened in my case is you guys pissed me off with enough changes that I decided I was tired of you and your server. It all began with the change to the RvR task system granting credit regardless of which realm you’re in (end result - Emain becomes RvR central again).

So conversely were you pleased when they restored the keep bonus to be specific?

gruenesschaf wrote:
Mon 24 Jun 2019 4:58 AM
Buffing an underplayed class that, considering the alternatives / available group spots, at least appeared to be underperforming, if that's not a reason to buff a class then what is?

Only Gruenes can clarify but my reading of it is that it's both a) underplayed and b) underperforming. A combination of both justifies buffing--what else could? If he hadn't added that last part, you could argue "being inherently underpowered is a better metric" but he appears to mention that.

Thanks for posting evidence to your views!
Thu 8 Aug 2019 6:09 PM by Freedomcall
Apparantly this is intended, becuz this issue was on bug tracker few months ago, and devs didn't react to that post.
(At least there was no comment on it when I checked then)
This means they were aware of this issue already, but leaving as it is.
But i'm not criticizing, and I think this dmg nerf for Supernova chain is good for balancing stealthers.

So plz stop whining Shadowblades.
Thu 8 Aug 2019 6:13 PM by Freedomcall
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 1 Aug 2019 6:31 AM
Cadebrennus wrote:
Mon 22 Jul 2019 9:16 PM
The main issue with CD is that the GRs are so crappy that yes, Hibs generally rely on the base styles for actual DPS and CD for the utility. This doesn't seem like a problem until you realize that most Hib players are speccing low CD and high base weapon, leaving their offhand % trailing LA and DW significantly. This leaves Hib dual wielders still behind the power curve in terms of damage. Regarding the utility issue, big deal. The stun isn't an insta-win (maybe in the right hands though) but what has been proven in the Scout threads is that stuns are insignificant. I don't necessarily believe that but the posters in the Scout threads believe it. Basically, the same people that complain that Slam (9 sec anytime) ISN'T overpowered due to Purge are also complaining that a POSITIONAL stun is overpowered.

Seriously, at this point either shut the hell up in general while admitting you only want one class to be on top, or Just accept that there is a form of balance that exists without the "identical classes" approach to balance that exist on nominally PvP games like WoW and ESO that, let's face it, suck for the discerning PvP MMO gamer.

A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well.

The differences between slam and the CD sidestun are:
1. You get it in the line that also gives you damage
2. A 4 or 5 sec style is more valuable in 1vs1 situations because you can almost always use it multiple times per fight. Which makes the opponents purge worse.

I'm not complaining about CD but pointing out why it is good.

I don't have an opinion on the GR discussion

So, do you use sidestyle as anytimer?
honest question
Thu 8 Aug 2019 7:03 PM by Kemoauc
I don't because my positional styles don't really offer anything special (snares only). It would be slightly more damage due to higher growthrates but I would likely fail some of the sidestyles and would probably lose that dmg that I gain again. Swapping s/s <-> 2hand between styles make sidestrafing slightly harder too because you want to queue an anytimer with your sidestyle in case you miss the strafe timing or get snared etc. which means that I would have to swap earlier i.e. before the attack recovery is over to make use of the stylequeue which, in turn, would mean I have to spend more time without block. At the moment I can chose to wait with my attack until my opponents attack came through and get a chance to block it.

I actually tried to go dual 2hand damage type spec without shield for a few days (slash + crush 2handed only) and I could land my sidestun fairly reliably. It was a nice damage boost against everything slash is weak against but in the end I changed back because the stun is too long (everyone has purge) and in a chain which makes it too complicated in 1vsx. I also lost quite some defense and utility for it: numb is just a great style for example. In the case of pala I have so many points that I don't really sacrifice anything for slam though which is not the case for all classes.
Fri 9 Aug 2019 5:22 PM by Freedomcall
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 8 Aug 2019 7:03 PM
I don't because my positional styles don't really offer anything special (snares only). It would be slightly more damage due to higher growthrates but I would likely fail some of the sidestyles and would probably lose that dmg that I gain again. Swapping s/s <-> 2hand between styles make sidestrafing slightly harder too because you want to queue an anytimer with your sidestyle in case you miss the strafe timing or get snared etc. which means that I would have to swap earlier i.e. before the attack recovery is over to make use of the stylequeue which, in turn, would mean I have to spend more time without block. At the moment I can chose to wait with my attack until my opponents attack came through and get a chance to block it.

I actually tried to go dual 2hand damage type spec without shield for a few days (slash + crush 2handed only) and I could land my sidestun fairly reliably. It was a nice damage boost against everything slash is weak against but in the end I changed back because the stun is too long (everyone has purge) and in a chain which makes it too complicated in 1vsx. I also lost quite some defense and utility for it: numb is just a great style for example. In the case of pala I have so many points that I don't really sacrifice anything for slam though which is not the case for all classes.

OK. I asked you because I was so surprised when i saw your "A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well" theory.
And that sounds like sidestyles are far from anytimer.
Sat 10 Aug 2019 3:06 AM by Kemoauc
Freedomcall wrote:
Fri 9 Aug 2019 5:22 PM
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 8 Aug 2019 7:03 PM
I don't because my positional styles don't really offer anything special (snares only). It would be slightly more damage due to higher growthrates but I would likely fail some of the sidestyles and would probably lose that dmg that I gain again. Swapping s/s <-> 2hand between styles make sidestrafing slightly harder too because you want to queue an anytimer with your sidestyle in case you miss the strafe timing or get snared etc. which means that I would have to swap earlier i.e. before the attack recovery is over to make use of the stylequeue which, in turn, would mean I have to spend more time without block. At the moment I can chose to wait with my attack until my opponents attack came through and get a chance to block it.

I actually tried to go dual 2hand damage type spec without shield for a few days (slash + crush 2handed only) and I could land my sidestun fairly reliably. It was a nice damage boost against everything slash is weak against but in the end I changed back because the stun is too long (everyone has purge) and in a chain which makes it too complicated in 1vsx. I also lost quite some defense and utility for it: numb is just a great style for example. In the case of pala I have so many points that I don't really sacrifice anything for slam though which is not the case for all classes.

OK. I asked you because I was so surprised when i saw your "A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well" theory.
And that sounds like sidestyles are far from anytimer.

I gave you a list of reasons why I don't value using my sidestyles not that they are particularly hard to land. Most of these reasons don't apply to other classes with good positional styles such as rangers/hunters, valewalkers, any kiting class with a side/back snare. In most cases they don't have the option to swap weapons and can properly queue the styles, the positional stun/snare ist the first in a chain, they wouldn't have enough skillpoints to get an anytimer stun without sacrificing most of their damage, they don't trade in defense (block) etc. There is almost no downside to them to try to side strafe because alternatively they would just spam their anytimer/reactional styles.

Any competent player will side or backstyle you and it is very very hard to avoid - especially side positionals which basically just require a tiny bit of movement right before the hit. Just watch Feanira's hunter video for example and see how she lands the backstun in every fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKlqXl0vEA

Especially for classes that only have a limited amount of skill points to increase their melee dmg output, the existence of a direct positional stun is very very valuable. They get to put all their points in the main weapon line and do more damage generally but still get to stun their opponents fairly consistently - maybe it is not exactly an anytimer in all cases but it is close if the player is used to land them.

These classes are also way less bothered by people purging the stun because they did not give up any fighting power to get the stun in the first place which is why I can understand that in the other thread scouts are complaining about cd stun while having slam themselves - which is what I was replying to.
Sat 10 Aug 2019 8:44 AM by Cadebrennus
Kemoauc wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 3:06 AM
Freedomcall wrote:
Fri 9 Aug 2019 5:22 PM
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 8 Aug 2019 7:03 PM
I don't because my positional styles don't really offer anything special (snares only). It would be slightly more damage due to higher growthrates but I would likely fail some of the sidestyles and would probably lose that dmg that I gain again. Swapping s/s <-> 2hand between styles make sidestrafing slightly harder too because you want to queue an anytimer with your sidestyle in case you miss the strafe timing or get snared etc. which means that I would have to swap earlier i.e. before the attack recovery is over to make use of the stylequeue which, in turn, would mean I have to spend more time without block. At the moment I can chose to wait with my attack until my opponents attack came through and get a chance to block it.

I actually tried to go dual 2hand damage type spec without shield for a few days (slash + crush 2handed only) and I could land my sidestun fairly reliably. It was a nice damage boost against everything slash is weak against but in the end I changed back because the stun is too long (everyone has purge) and in a chain which makes it too complicated in 1vsx. I also lost quite some defense and utility for it: numb is just a great style for example. In the case of pala I have so many points that I don't really sacrifice anything for slam though which is not the case for all classes.

OK. I asked you because I was so surprised when i saw your "A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well" theory.
And that sounds like sidestyles are far from anytimer.

I gave you a list of reasons why I don't value using my sidestyles not that they are particularly hard to land. Most of these reasons don't apply to other classes with good positional styles such as rangers/hunters, valewalkers, any kiting class with a side/back snare. In most cases they don't have the option to swap weapons and can properly queue the styles, the positional stun/snare ist the first in a chain, they wouldn't have enough skillpoints to get an anytimer stun without sacrificing most of their damage, they don't trade in defense (block) etc. There is almost no downside to them to try to side strafe because alternatively they would just spam their anytimer/reactional styles.

Any competent player will side or backstyle you and it is very very hard to avoid - especially side positionals which basically just require a tiny bit of movement right before the hit. Just watch Feanira's hunter video for example and see how she lands the backstun in every fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKlqXl0vEA

Especially for classes that only have a limited amount of skill points to increase their melee dmg output, the existence of a direct positional stun is very very valuable. They get to put all their points in the main weapon line and do more damage generally but still get to stun their opponents fairly consistently - maybe it is not exactly an anytimer in all cases but it is close if the player is used to land them.

These classes are also way less bothered by people purging the stun because they did not give up any fighting power to get the stun in the first place which is why I can understand that in the other thread scouts are complaining about cd stun while having slam themselves - which is what I was replying to.

They do give up "fighting power" by using CD styles as utility only and by using the base weapon style lines for damage. Comparing someone who specs 50 DW (for dps AND utility) Vs someone who only specs 18 CD for utility means the CD user is swinging their offhand 21% less. This translates to 21% less unstyled damage and 21% less offhand proc chances. If you want to compare 50 DW Vs the average specced 27 (roughly) CD that's 17% less, so still pretty significant. Add on top of that the lower Weaponskill of trying to land a style with either 18+15 CD or 27+15 CD and you can see where a Hib dual wielder will be weaker than their Alb or Mid counterparts. The Hunter whose video you referenced? I can guarantee that she has more than 27 Spear.

You can't cherry-pick certain bits of info and leave others out. You have to look at the whole situation.
Sat 10 Aug 2019 9:19 AM by Freedomcall
Kemoauc wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 3:06 AM
Freedomcall wrote:
Fri 9 Aug 2019 5:22 PM
Kemoauc wrote:
Thu 8 Aug 2019 7:03 PM
I don't because my positional styles don't really offer anything special (snares only). It would be slightly more damage due to higher growthrates but I would likely fail some of the sidestyles and would probably lose that dmg that I gain again. Swapping s/s <-> 2hand between styles make sidestrafing slightly harder too because you want to queue an anytimer with your sidestyle in case you miss the strafe timing or get snared etc. which means that I would have to swap earlier i.e. before the attack recovery is over to make use of the stylequeue which, in turn, would mean I have to spend more time without block. At the moment I can chose to wait with my attack until my opponents attack came through and get a chance to block it.

I actually tried to go dual 2hand damage type spec without shield for a few days (slash + crush 2handed only) and I could land my sidestun fairly reliably. It was a nice damage boost against everything slash is weak against but in the end I changed back because the stun is too long (everyone has purge) and in a chain which makes it too complicated in 1vsx. I also lost quite some defense and utility for it: numb is just a great style for example. In the case of pala I have so many points that I don't really sacrifice anything for slam though which is not the case for all classes.

OK. I asked you because I was so surprised when i saw your "A sidestun is basically an anytimer as well" theory.
And that sounds like sidestyles are far from anytimer.

I gave you a list of reasons why I don't value using my sidestyles not that they are particularly hard to land. Most of these reasons don't apply to other classes with good positional styles such as rangers/hunters, valewalkers, any kiting class with a side/back snare. In most cases they don't have the option to swap weapons and can properly queue the styles, the positional stun/snare ist the first in a chain, they wouldn't have enough skillpoints to get an anytimer stun without sacrificing most of their damage, they don't trade in defense (block) etc. There is almost no downside to them to try to side strafe because alternatively they would just spam their anytimer/reactional styles.

Any competent player will side or backstyle you and it is very very hard to avoid - especially side positionals which basically just require a tiny bit of movement right before the hit. Just watch Feanira's hunter video for example and see how she lands the backstun in every fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRKlqXl0vEA

Especially for classes that only have a limited amount of skill points to increase their melee dmg output, the existence of a direct positional stun is very very valuable. They get to put all their points in the main weapon line and do more damage generally but still get to stun their opponents fairly consistently - maybe it is not exactly an anytimer in all cases but it is close if the player is used to land them.

These classes are also way less bothered by people purging the stun because they did not give up any fighting power to get the stun in the first place which is why I can understand that in the other thread scouts are complaining about cd stun while having slam themselves - which is what I was replying to.

0.88 growthrate for pally 2h is not a "Slightly more dmg" compared to 0.59 anytimer Rile.
0.88 is the just same as after parry chain. Don't you queue your parry chain for that 'slightly more dmg'?
0.29 difference itself is a good reason to spam if you think sidestyle is "anytimer".

You say ranger/hunters/VW have nothing to sacrifice when landing positionals, but that is not true.
anytimer has to guarantee 100% landing, and this is why we make a queue of reactive-anytimer or positional-anytimer queue.
If sidestyles=anytimer, you should be able to make a queue of reactive-sidestyle, but can you do that?
Trying to land a sidestyle basically means he has sacrificed queueing reactive styles, and you lose dmg when you evade/parry while trying to land sidestyle.

Actually, the illusion of side/rearstyle being equal to anytimer only occurs against enemy that sticks all the time in duel.
I'm very sure you will have a hard time landing positionals to players that don't stick and use mouse pan.
Yes, you can still land positionals against them too, but if you can't land "anytime you want", that is not an anytimer anymore.
Sat 10 Aug 2019 10:06 AM by Kemoauc
Cadebrennus wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 8:44 AM
They do give up "fighting power" by using CD styles as utility only and by using the base weapon style lines for damage. Comparing someone who specs 50 DW (for dps AND utility) Vs someone who only specs 18 CD for utility means the CD user is swinging their offhand 21% less. This translates to 21% less unstyled damage and 21% less offhand proc chances. If you want to compare 50 DW Vs the average specced 27 (roughly) CD that's 17% less, so still pretty significant. Add on top of that the lower Weaponskill of trying to land a style with either 18+15 CD or 27+15 CD and you can see where a Hib dual wielder will be weaker than their Alb or Mid counterparts. The Hunter whose video you referenced? I can guarantee that she has more than 27 Spear.

You can't cherry-pick certain bits of info and leave others out. You have to look at the whole situation.

Freedomcall wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 9:19 AM
0.88 growthrate for pally 2h is not a "Slightly more dmg" compared to 0.59 anytimer Rile.
0.88 is the just same as after parry chain. Don't you queue your parry chain for that 'slightly more dmg'?
0.29 difference itself is a good reason to spam if you think sidestyle is "anytimer".

You say ranger/hunters/VW have nothing to sacrifice when landing positionals, but this is wrong.
anytimer has to guarantee 100% landing, and this is why we make a queue of reactive/anytimer or positional/anytimer queue.
If sidestyles=anytimer, you should be able to make a queue of reactive/sidestyle, but can you do that?
Trying to land a sidestyle basically means he has sacrificed queueing reactive styles, and you lose dmg when you evade/parry while trying to land sidestyle.

Actually, the illusion of side/rearstyle being equal to anytimer only occurs against enemy that sticks all the time in duel.
I'm very sure you will have a hard time landing positionals to players that don't stick and use mouse pan.
Yes, you can still land positionals against them too, but if you can't land "anytime you want", that is not an anytimer anymore.

Even though it doesn't matter what I do on my pally because I don't have a direct sidestun: It is not worth it for me due to the list of things I said in my previous post, it would be approx 10% more dmg plus better to hit/no defense malus over the anytimer which is something but not worth it.

But ok, I concede a sidestyle is not an anytimer

Cadebrennus, I read your reply a few times but don't really understand what you want to say.

But again for everyone, I'm not arguing about the growth rates difference between CD,DW,LA. I don't care at all what the growth rates are in the CD line and whether they should be changed or not. I was replying to a specific point someone raised and thought the be hypocritical which was that scouts cry about the fact that CD has a stun while they have slam and that purge is is too strong even though it affects both stuns.

I only provided an argument why that could be a valid opinion:
    the sidestun can be used reliably in fights and doesn't cost offensive power (compared to slam)
    the sidestun duration is sometimes preferable in 1vs1 because it devalues purge (again compared to slam)
Sat 10 Aug 2019 3:53 PM by Cadebrennus
Kemoauc wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 10:06 AM
Cadebrennus wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 8:44 AM
They do give up "fighting power" by using CD styles as utility only and by using the base weapon style lines for damage. Comparing someone who specs 50 DW (for dps AND utility) Vs someone who only specs 18 CD for utility means the CD user is swinging their offhand 21% less. This translates to 21% less unstyled damage and 21% less offhand proc chances. If you want to compare 50 DW Vs the average specced 27 (roughly) CD that's 17% less, so still pretty significant. Add on top of that the lower Weaponskill of trying to land a style with either 18+15 CD or 27+15 CD and you can see where a Hib dual wielder will be weaker than their Alb or Mid counterparts. The Hunter whose video you referenced? I can guarantee that she has more than 27 Spear.

You can't cherry-pick certain bits of info and leave others out. You have to look at the whole situation.

Freedomcall wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 9:19 AM
0.88 growthrate for pally 2h is not a "Slightly more dmg" compared to 0.59 anytimer Rile.
0.88 is the just same as after parry chain. Don't you queue your parry chain for that 'slightly more dmg'?
0.29 difference itself is a good reason to spam if you think sidestyle is "anytimer".

You say ranger/hunters/VW have nothing to sacrifice when landing positionals, but this is wrong.
anytimer has to guarantee 100% landing, and this is why we make a queue of reactive/anytimer or positional/anytimer queue.
If sidestyles=anytimer, you should be able to make a queue of reactive/sidestyle, but can you do that?
Trying to land a sidestyle basically means he has sacrificed queueing reactive styles, and you lose dmg when you evade/parry while trying to land sidestyle.

Actually, the illusion of side/rearstyle being equal to anytimer only occurs against enemy that sticks all the time in duel.
I'm very sure you will have a hard time landing positionals to players that don't stick and use mouse pan.
Yes, you can still land positionals against them too, but if you can't land "anytime you want", that is not an anytimer anymore.

Even though it doesn't matter what I do on my pally because I don't have a direct sidestun: It is not worth it for me due to the list of things I said in my previous post, it would be approx 10% more dmg plus better to hit/no defense malus over the anytimer which is something but not worth it.

But ok, I concede a sidestyle is not an anytimer

Cadebrennus, I read your reply a few times but don't really understand what you want to say.

But again for everyone, I'm not arguing about the growth rates difference between CD,DW,LA. I don't care at all what the growth rates are in the CD line and whether they should be changed or not. I was replying to a specific point someone raised and thought the be hypocritical which was that scouts cry about the fact that CD has a stun while they have slam and that purge is is too strong even though it affects both stuns.

I only provided an argument why that could be a valid opinion:
    the sidestun can be used reliably in fights and doesn't cost offensive power (compared to slam)
    the sidestun duration is sometimes preferable in 1vs1 because it devalues purge (again compared to slam)

Basically I'm refuting what you said about Celtic Dual users not giving anything up by speccing Celtic Dual higher than 18-27, because Rangers/NS/BMs typically use Blades/Pierce/Blunt for damage. This is a direct result of the growth rates sucking in CD. What ends up happening, however, with such a low CD spec is that they end up with a much lower offhand swing chance and lower defense penetration when trying to use the side style, compared with someone who has specced 42 Shield.
Sun 11 Aug 2019 2:54 PM by jelzinga_EU
Cadebrennus wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 3:53 PM
Basically I'm refuting what you said about Celtic Dual users not giving anything up by speccing Celtic Dual higher than 18-27, because Rangers/NS/BMs typically use Blades/Pierce/Blunt for damage. This is a direct result of the growth rates sucking in CD. What ends up happening, however, with such a low CD spec is that they end up with a much lower offhand swing chance and lower defense penetration when trying to use the side style, compared with someone who has specced 42 Shield.

Yeah that is one way to turn it - but it is quite far fetched. NS do not use CD for damage, that is true. That is because they spec CS (better damage) and NS do not have the spec-points to get weapon, CS and CD up, only INF's can do that. If you're saying BM do not use CD for damage I just laugh at you, most (good) BM's go 52 Comp Weapon, 42 Shield, 50 CD and right-after slam they go to-town with the side-chain from CD, you know the one with 1.25 GR (for them).

As for rangers: On Phoenix they don't go high CD, simply because they do not have the points for it. Pathfinding is worth it, so they can't reach 52 Comp-Weapon and high enough PF + CD to make it worth it.

And that is fine, especially when considering the utility that low'ish CD gives them (=NS + Ranger). You make it sounds like they suffer compared to their counterparts while in reality none of the three suffer at all. NS is better off with CS than with CD, BM is doing perfectly fine with CD and smart rangers figured out long ago that on Phoenix there is no viable spec for high CD, simply because they lack the points for it, not because CD is somehow underwhelming.
Sun 11 Aug 2019 6:06 PM by Cadebrennus
jelzinga_EU wrote:
Sun 11 Aug 2019 2:54 PM
Cadebrennus wrote:
Sat 10 Aug 2019 3:53 PM
Basically I'm refuting what you said about Celtic Dual users not giving anything up by speccing Celtic Dual higher than 18-27, because Rangers/NS/BMs typically use Blades/Pierce/Blunt for damage. This is a direct result of the growth rates sucking in CD. What ends up happening, however, with such a low CD spec is that they end up with a much lower offhand swing chance and lower defense penetration when trying to use the side style, compared with someone who has specced 42 Shield.

Yeah that is one way to turn it - but it is quite far fetched. NS do not use CD for damage, that is true. That is because they spec CS (better damage) and NS do not have the spec-points to get weapon, CS and CD up, only INF's can do that. If you're saying BM do not use CD for damage I just laugh at you, most (good) BM's go 52 Comp Weapon, 42 Shield, 50 CD and right-after slam they go to-town with the side-chain from CD, you know the one with 1.25 GR (for them).

As for rangers: On Phoenix they don't go high CD, simply because they do not have the points for it. Pathfinding is worth it, so they can't reach 52 Comp-Weapon and high enough PF + CD to make it worth it.

And that is fine, especially when considering the utility that low'ish CD gives them (=NS + Ranger). You make it sounds like they suffer compared to their counterparts while in reality none of the three suffer at all. NS is better off with CS than with CD, BM is doing perfectly fine with CD and smart rangers figured out long ago that on Phoenix there is no viable spec for high CD, simply because they lack the points for it, not because CD is somehow underwhelming.

CD only has one good style chain for damage that's exclusive to BMs. That's it. Only one, and only for one class. Everything else is garbage in the line damage-wise.
Sun 11 Aug 2019 6:29 PM by jelzinga_EU
Cadebrennus wrote:
Sun 11 Aug 2019 6:06 PM
CD only has one good style chain for damage that's exclusive to BMs. That's it. Only one, and only for one class. Everything else is garbage in the line damage-wise.

I know reading isn't your forté - but the entire point is that it doesn't matter:

* BM still get the uber side-chain (better than mercs get) and (much) better utility than DW/LA.
* Nightshade has CS which is better damage regardless.
* Ranger does not have the spec-points for high CD build on Phoenix, because PF is superior to begin with.

Think about it, even if CD had the full damage side-chain for NS/Ranger how would you spec them differently ?
Sun 11 Aug 2019 10:20 PM by Cadebrennus
jelzinga_EU wrote:
Sun 11 Aug 2019 6:29 PM
Cadebrennus wrote:
Sun 11 Aug 2019 6:06 PM
CD only has one good style chain for damage that's exclusive to BMs. That's it. Only one, and only for one class. Everything else is garbage in the line damage-wise.

I know reading isn't your forté - but the entire point is that it doesn't matter:

* BM still get the uber side-chain (better than mercs get) and (much) better utility than DW/LA.
* Nightshade has CS which is better damage regardless.
* Ranger does not have the spec-points for high CD build on Phoenix, because PF is superior to begin with.

Think about it, even if CD had the full damage side-chain for NS/Ranger how would you spec them differently ?

Obviously reading isn't YOUR forte lol. When I referred to the ONE chain that is good obviously I'm referring to the CD side chain. I played a Blades Melee Ranger for years on live, and then after that a Pierce BM. I tried playing with 44+ to 50 CD, and it just wasn't as good as Blades. Same with the BM. It was just easier to have your floor damage and ceiling damage in a single spec line and only use CD for the positional stun and snare.

PF isn't "superior", but it is viable on Phoenix if you're a soloer and forgo points in other stuff like MoPain etc.

I'm being nice to you right now, and staying informative with my post, but keep in mind that if you immediately react to a post like a dick then you will be treated like a dick moving forward.
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