INTRO
Heavily inspired by leftayparxoun – Link to his post:
As the title states, I tried to take a look at aSW with the goal of it working as an AoE MDPS for warband play.Your first thought may be: This is unnecessary. aSW is a ST spec. It doesn't need an AoE warband build that's what Skirmish is for.
And you'd be correct to think that. My counterpoint is: there's nothing wrong with having more options.
Builds I used:
RR70 Assault with Split Arrows
RoR.builders - Shadow Warrior
RR70 Skirmish AoE Build
RoR.builders - Shadow Warrior
Builds and gear are taken from here:
Google Doc: aSW Builds & Gear
Calculations
After following the methods from this post and borrowing the already-completed calculations for other classes, I simply input the values for Assault SW in 5 Sov / 4 Triumph with WS talis and began to calculate. It was pretty easy since the rotation is only 3 buttons.This assumes a 30-second fight with a single usage of Vengeance at the start, and Ferocious Assault having 100% uptime.
Rotation: Vengeance + Sweep on cooldown, then fill the rest with Spiral Fletched Arrow.
Also assuming infinite AP.
As for Skirmisher... I used the same methods, though those calculations may be a little off since I didn’t factor in a proper rotation, ability travel time, or having Whispering Winds. So take those numbers with a grain of salt. (If someone more experienced or better with math can come in with more accurate numbers, it would be appreciated.)
Rotation assumed to be: maintain DoTs, use Barrage/Lileath off CD, fill with Spiral Arrow, Vengeance on CD.
Assuming infinite AP.
Results
Not that Skirmish’s numbers are that high either, but at least Skirmish offers some decent warband utility.
aSW could potentially do more damage if you swap to Skirmisher stance to apply Broadhead Arrow, but at that point, you may as well just play Skirmisher.
Sweep alone isn’t worth it with its long 20s cooldown.
I didn’t test this with Absolute Preservation the numbers are drastic enough already. Any lower would cause me a heart attack.
Conclusions
Overall, I’d really like to see more specs become warband viable.With the recent buffs to DPS healer specs, it gives me hope. Though most of them still lack warband presence, the fact that an attempt was made gives me optimism that more specs will reach that line.
You might also bring up the parity with Squig Herder and Quick Shootin’s lack of AoE options compared to Skirmisher.
My response: I also think Quick Shootin’ should have at least one AoE option instead of forcing all Squig players into Melee Squig Herder or pure roam builds.
Do I think aSW should be doing Mara/MSH-tier damage? Of course not.
The path’s identity still lies in its ST abilities but the option should at least exist.
Solutions
There are a few easy fixes I think would do quite well:Solution 1
Remove the 20s cooldown from Sweeping Slash
Why is it even there? It feels like a cooldown for the sake of having one.
If removed, the damage increase wouldn’t be overbearing still the lowest of the melee specs, but actually usable.
Solution 2
Allow Broadhead Arrow to be used in Assault Stance
Not a fan of this one, but it would add much-needed AoE with the Split Arrows tactic.
(Though this would also buff ST Assault, which might not be the best idea.)
Solution 3
Make Shadowstep baseline, and replace it with another AoE or a tactic that transforms an ST ability into AoE
This is more drastic, but Assault is desperate.
Shadowstep isn’t powerful enough to justify being locked behind Assault stance, it’s clunky, slow, and situational. Making it baseline and replacing the slot with an AoE ability or an assault specific version of split arrow.
any one of these solutions could fix assaults dire RVR state though solution #1 is the easiest, simplest and best by far.
