My main is a rr66 SW at the time of this post.
I'd like first to provide a list of SW abilities and tactics, base and speccable, that I'll be referring to in the post so as to make it easier to follow and so you don't have to sift through the career builder to know what I'm talking about.
Speccable Skirmish abilities/tactics:
- 5pt: Shadow Sting, 50% incoming heal debuff & dot
9pt: Flanking Shot, instant rear attack that has increased crit % based on target's missing hp. 10s cd
11pt: Powerful Draw, tactic which increases all skirmish skills max range from 65ft to 98 ft
- Grim Slash, instant damaging ability, 35ap, no cd
Brutal Assault, instant rear attack, 5s cd, 40ap, if Vengeful (30s cd, 10s long base enchantment that increases damage by 25%), this ability can be used from any position
- 3pt: Sinister Assault, tactic that empowers Brutal Assault to bypass all of target's armor
5pt: Swift Strikes, channeled damaging ability that strikes twice each second for 3s. If the target is channeling an ability, the damage is increased. 13s cd
13pt: Exploit Weakness, melee range 3s knockdown, 20s cd
As it stands, Shadow Warrior is a very linear class. Yes, "stance dancing" separates the good from the great, but its viability is restricted by its access to Skirmish tree. Skirmish tree abilities are completely fine where they are, as its by far the most potent and effective tree the class has access to (primarily due to the heal debuff, 9pt finisher, and the range increaser tactic mentioned above). Scout tree has its drawbacks, but I would also argue that it's a completely viable spec that does not need tweaking in its current state, as it's a high risk/reward spec that is less mobile than it's ranged counterpart, Skirmish. Then we come to Assault: simply outshone in many ways by the other two trees. Assault, as it stands, is not viable as the main tree in a build. (One might argue that no tree will be a viable main in a build besides Skirmish simply because of the efficiency of Powerful Draw, but I digress).
2. Explain why it's an issue
If the goal of the staff is to bring all three trees for every class to the point of viability, I and many other SWs believe that Assault needs work. In reading through Aza's earlier framework about balance, I believe this to be the goal of the team, even while acknowledging that SW is a perfectly viable class in its current iteration. Drawing upon conversations with other SWs and referring to topics had in the past about Assault tree, I believe Assault tree could be updated in the following ways: slightly better AP management, an aoe detaunt, reliable utility added to damaging abilities within the tree, and a finisher.
3. Propose a viable solution to the problem
Building upon the issues brought up above, I'd like to propose a few changes to the Assault tree. Most of these will probably require client control. I'm not in love with any of these changes, so I would certainly entertain a discussion on adjusting them if they are felt to be too good or not good enough. Again, my main focus is not to tweak anything in regard to the already viable Scout & Skirmish trees.
Change #1
Decrease Grim Slash AP cost from 35 to 30.
- Reasoning: This specifically was brought up in a previous discussion about Assault tree by players much smarter than me.
I felt it only right to begin with a simple change that would provide for better AP management in the only spammable ability Assault has. This is significant because no other ability is an instant cast with no cd. It is the filler.
Remove Swift Strikes and replace it with a 20ft aoe detaunt that lasts 5s with a 15s cd; likewise, remove Distracting Rebounds tactic.
- Reasoning: No one uses Swift Strikes. It acts much like Rapid Fire in that it's OK in specific situations, but not good in most. Replacing it with an aoe detaunt (that is not tied to a tactic) gives melee SWs the ability to survive in melee train situations better (with the understanding that SW is a skirmisher, therefore they shouldn't be in the melee long, but it gives them the ability to finish single targets through melee after weakening them from range, which I believe is the point of having an Assault specced SW).
Replace the 13pt knockdown with a finisher that can only be used when the target is below 50% (mirrors Cull the Weak from WL) with a 10s cd
- Reasoning: SW already has a knockdown -- a fairly strong one at that. It also has a disarm on 20s. Assault also has a lot of other long cd abilities; it doesn't need another, and a finisher in Assault tree gives it rotation potential.
Move the Vengeful condition from Brutal Assault and link it to Sinister Assault; move the buff from Sinister Assault to Brutal Assault if Vengeful, meaning: 3pt Sinister Assault tactic would now allow Brutal Assault to be used from any position (not restricted to behind the target), and Brutal Assault would now only ignore armor while Vengeful.
- Reasoning: This can be considered a nerf and a buff -- Sinister Assault can be a strong tactic if used with Brutal Assault and Vengeful correctly; it would likely be too strong with these other changes, so taking the ignore armor condition away and linking it to the 30s cd, 10s timer on Vengeful allows the enemy to interupt the burst potential from SW by stripping the Vengeful enchant or CCing them when they pop it. Likewise, it can be considered a buff because it's freeing up a tactic slot from SW by tying the ignore armor buff to the base Brutal Assault ability (with Vengeful condition). It also increases the skillcap of the class slightly and plays into the rotation that SWs need to be successful in melee range.
- Additions after feedback:
Change #5
Replace Sweeping Slash (9pt aoe damaging ability) with a finisher.
Change #6
Increase the damage on Swift Strikes by removing the condition to increase damage if the target is building up (or changing the condition to "if the target is ailing").
