Patch Notes 20/4/2018

[altharion1]

Following the changes to the swordmaster's CW are there any future plans to bring the SM into line with the kotbs and IB? Or are we likely to see further nerfs to the IB and kotbs to tone them down?

Are IB nerfs needed? Still does less dps than an SM and brings less utility than a knight. Not sure SM nerf was necessary, but why does nerfing SM mean we should nerf IB?

Yes IB can only get all this in one spec:
- +10% crit to Oath friend
- Knockdown
- AoE snare
- ST punt
- +25% parry/+initiative to oath friend
- Armour debuff
- Willpower. toughness, strength buffs to IB and oath friend
- Outgoing heal debuff
- 20% crit reduction on target
- Corp resist buff/AA speed increase
- Skin of Iron M2

Then when stepping into ORVR you can swap to any of the +660 armour, 30% run speed on disrupt, half duration on snares/15% less incoming crit damage tactics.

And tbh the IB damage isn't that far off an SM, the above utility/CC more than makes up for the minor drop in DPS. Also, having an IB in group makes double slayer viable.

[GodlessCrom]

Toughness and strength buffs are ST, and covered by Kotbs aura anyways.

Willpower buff is mighty as hell with disrupt changes, I will grant you.

Crit buff is mighty, but again its ST only and lasts only 10 seconds. Same with parry/ini buff. Both very powerful, but youre spending two GCDs every 10 seconds if you want to keep them 100% uptime. This cuts into your damage dealing, snaring, CCing, etc.

Armor debuff is good if you have no white lion, no argument there.

The build you mention requires rr70. Only 19 Ironbreakers on the server have rr70, and of those 19, how many play regularly? Or in organized groups?

I think IB is powerful, but not overtly so. He has a lot of tools, but they are all situational and require some forethought and skill. Not to mention they are almost all attack based, so you need proper gear and positioning to actually get them off.

I think the SM nerfs werent needed, but Id rather see them reverted or rebuffed than IB needlessly nerfed. They already nerfed Cavein long ago. Grudgeborn Fury is a useless skill. Etc. If they do change up the rr70 tri spec, I would like to see dead skills like Grudgeborn Fury or Avenging the Debt made useful as recompense.

[kolrhil]

Toughness and strength buffs are ST, and covered by Kotbs aura anyways.

Willpower buff is mighty as hell with disrupt changes, I will grant you.

Crit buff is mighty, but again its ST only and lasts only 10 seconds. Same with parry/ini buff. Both very powerful, but youre spending two GCDs every 10 seconds if you want to keep them 100% uptime. This cuts into your damage dealing, snaring, CCing, etc.

Armor debuff is good if you have no white lion, no argument there.

The build you mention requires rr70. Only 19 Ironbreakers on the server have rr70, and of those 19, how many play regularly? Or in organized groups?

I think IB is powerful, but not overtly so. He has a lot of tools, but they are all situational and require some forethought and skill. Not to mention they are almost all attack based, so you need proper gear and positioning to actually get them off.

I think the SM nerfs werent needed, but Id rather see them reverted or rebuffed than IB needlessly nerfed. They already nerfed Cavein long ago. Grudgeborn Fury is a useless skill. Etc. If they do change up the rr70 tri spec, I would like to see dead skills like Grudgeborn Fury or Avenging the Debt made useful as recompense.

I use to play with a IB since WAR does exist. I'm not syaing that IB need to be nerfed but it's quite obvious that this class is much usefull for the group than a SM and SM don't really make much more dmg .
i think some very few changes could make this class fun and more balanced.
Why take a SM rather than an IB or KOBS ?

[GodlessCrom]

Does anyone have any proof that SM doesn't do much more damage than IB? And when you all say "not much more damage," how are we quantifying that? Is it less than 10% difference? Less than 15%? I'm not saying SM doesnt need some more tweaks, but maybe some proof other than vague "well like trust me, they arent far apart" would be nice before discussing how to nerf a class that has played perpetual third string among Order side tanks since the release of T4.

[kolrhil]

Does anyone have any proof that SM doesn't do much more damage than IB? And when you all say "not much more damage," how are we quantifying that? Is it less than 10% difference? Less than 15%? I'm not saying SM doesnt need some more tweaks, but maybe some proof other than vague "well like trust me, they arent far apart" would be nice before discussing how to nerf a class that has played perpetual third string among Order side tanks since the release of T4.

Keep cool ,nobody is asking to nerf IB. I think IB is balanced. You're right to say that i d'ont have proof , how could i? It's just my own experience. It is indeed necessarily biased and i'm maybe wrong :p

[GodlessCrom]

I would call the knockdown move to 13 points a nerf. But I dont really play SM so not my problem.

Curious as to how you define "getting everything you want for minimum investment" as BG. Investing heavily into two trees and requiring rr70 is hardly "minimal investment." But again, I dont really play BG so not my problem.

My point was that simply because two classes got nerfed does not mean a third one should be. Especially when there is no proof other than "well what I like to play is worse now, so what other people like to play should also be worse."

[alusnova]

I logged in today and Pounce is not working at all for me, I'm within range and the character attempts to jump and I get the speed buff but that's it.


Also hearing declare anathema and the shadow warrior are not jumping either.

[Tankbeardz]

today's hotfix brings back the changes again together with backend fixes from me and Hargrim to try and solve various issues

The hotfix makes it so agile escape / declare anathema doesn't self-punt. This happened the other night, before changes were reverted, as well.

[kolrhil]

I think the SM nerfs werent needed, but Id rather see them reverted or rebuffed than IB needlessly nerfed. They already nerfed Cavein long ago. Grudgeborn Fury is a useless skill. Etc. If they do change up the rr70 tri spec, I would like to see dead skills like Grudgeborn Fury or Avenging the Debt made useful as recompense.

SM hasnt been nerfed, they got buffed and realigned, as it stands now they are in a better place than on live. As per BG realignment, you dont get everything you want for minimal investment.

Hi and thanks again for all you've done and all you're doing
I don't agree with the SM'S buff , how could they have been buffed when crashing wave has been swiched with crushing advance?
I mean crashing wave is much better than crushing advance , and can be played with 2H.
I have tested redirected force , it doesn't seem to do much damge , i mean not enough to spend 1 mastery point.

I'm maybe wrong , but i don't really see the point of Vaul tree ...like before. It's not tanky , doesn't hit really hard and don't have many tools. I don't really see why a group would take a SM rather than an IB or an KOBS
What do you think about it?

[Natherul]

I logged in today and Pounce is not working at all for me, I'm within range and the character attempts to jump and I get the speed buff but that's it.


Also hearing declare anathema and the shadow warrior are not jumping either.

Its not supposed to allow you to pounce or self punt while in air, I was however slightly overzealous and it has been adjusted with the next hotfix/patch. Right now if you get punted you will not be able to pounce again as it gets stuck.