User:Spawnlegacy/Swashbuckler

Swashbuckler

Introduction

The Swashbuckler is a jovial swordmaster who raises party morale with unyielding confidence and overwhelms enemies with quick jabs of a sword. He travels light to allow him greater maneuverability, parrying attacks with the edge of his blade alone.

This profession is not for the run of the mill amatuer. His complete lack of linked equipment, speedy playstyle and diverse and intentionally confusing skill range require the pilot to be on edge 100% of the time, drawing from their vast knowledge of the game's tactics and mechanics. He has little armour but a tendancy to frontline due to his sword orientated primary attribute and diverse, adrenal skill range. The profession effectively supports a range of secondaries and can easily be one itself, with adrenal energy management, an affinity for stances and skills to compliment just about any tactic.

The idea behind the Swashbuckler is that he wholeheartedly believes he is superior to his enemies and performs far better testing his mettle in the front line. The profession's disorganized skill types and dual effects, lacking in synergy, encourage creative, multi-professional builds and skilled play. Their primary attribute allows them to gain adrenaline faster with a sword but their powerful party support abilities mean they must keep ally locations within range, resulting in tactical targetting and enemies drawing agro so as to exploit their adrenal restrictions. They are a balanced mix of many professions, creating far more options with the novelty of playing as a pirate. Y'arr...

The fashion of the Swashbuckler is an open pallette. They are meant to use their weapon as their primary defense so their armour can be more like an outfit. The starting male Swashbuckler wears baggy leather and cloth armour in the true spirit of the high seas. They are meant to look muscular and confident but less than combat ready. The females start off wearing a corset blouse, high boots and a long, split skirt with a huge belt. They're meant to look badass and hot! I want another outfit with some 3/4 shorts and a chunky vest like Zell Dincht from Final Fantasy 8 and some hot pants number for the girls. I'm thinking there may be an elite mask and strappy, single colour leather armour designed on modern day fencer uniforms. The Swashbuckler has very few artictic restrictions.

Attributes

Fencing Arts

Every 2 points raises attack speed by 3% and armor by 1.5 and makes skills relating to fencing more powerful if wielding a sword but not an offhand.

Note:

• Sword Attacks are disabled if not wielding a sword
• Fencing Arts skills are disabled if wielding a focus, shield or two-handed weapon.
• Raising Fencing Arts with an axe equipped does not raise attack speed or defense but still allows you to use certain touch and attack skills in the Fencing Arts line.

Conviction

Raises the effectiveness of skills that affect the morale of party members and overcoming adversity.

Acrobatics

Raises the effectiveness of skills that relate to physical prowess.

Trickery

Raises the effectiveness of skills that confuse the enemy.

Overview

Swordsmanship swords are required for fencing arts skills but are naturally far less powerful without the obvious choice of a warrior secondary and swordsmanship points. Fencing Arts skills will not be +x but rather just x damage and more powerful than other melee skills, factoring in the natural damage. This nerfs the double sword attribute buff without discouraging the use of swordsmanship (Swordsmanship affecting natural damage and criticals alone.) There is an intended downside to this. A Swashbuckler/None does about 2 natural damage a hit and has 0% chance of critical. Using the sword should not be seen as the Swashbuckler's purpose. This profession employs adrenaline based shouts, stances, hexes, enchantments, skills, chants and attacks. They are combined to create a multitude of new and wonderful tactics, encouraging skilled play and creation and thorough testing of builds. Just as Soul Reaping is the Necromancer's energy management, Fencing Arts is the much needed charge for the Swashbuckler's battery.

16 Fencing Arts will raise natural attack speed by 24% and his armor from 60 to 72. Combined with other attack speed enhancers the attack speed may have to be capped at +50%. This would be enough to stop many experienced players from buying a Superior Fencing Arts rune and nerf it as the obvious choice. Fencing Arts lacks inherent damage, so some skills are spammable and designed for that purpose alone. The more complex attacks are much more expensive so the swashbuckler will have to work just as hard as a warrior to achieve the adrenaline requirement. This attribute also offers limited defensive skills and touch or attack skills that don't require a sword to use. Some examples:

• Lunge - Spammable damage.
• Hollowing Flurry and Lightning Drive - an example of a damage spam/condition skill limited by its requirement.
• Parry - Spammable defense.

Conviction converts adrenaline into strength, virtual health (like Life Sheath only adrenaline based and much less powerful) and, most effectively, energy. This means, his greater natural attack speed allows him to gain adrenaline faster and regularly convert it into energy, supporting the means for a spell casting secondary in the absence of a focus. The niche community, wishing to use meleecasters, would be inclined to use skills from this line. It offers a lot of protection, limitted anti hex skills and energy management, but hardly any damage or healing. Some examples:

• Confine Fury - powerful adrenaline to energy converter.
• "I'm Bringing Sexy Back!" - adrenaline based hex removal.
• Battle Cry - virtual health generator.

The virtual health mechanic is far more balanced than added armour skills. Many have an adrenaline requirement and end far quicker on enemies you want dead. As such, these skills can be shut down by many, single skills, irremovable by this profession and cannot be used effectively when on the defence. Battle Cry is an interesting battery for a paragon. Though underpowered in its description, if used regularly, it will consume a huge amount of damage. This tactic can be developed further with the use of Pompous Motivation and Ignorant Comfort. These skills may only be effective for one attack at a time but, when combined, form an offensive, adrenal, protector, rivalling a monk in effectiveness.

Acrobatics uses a combination of adrenaline and energy skills designed to chase down enemies or dodge attacks in a more manual way than a ranger might. This attribute features a lot of stances, designed to bring a bit of skilled play back into the game. The increased movement speed stances, thus far, aren't designed as a means of kiting and, since the Swashbuckler does not use a shield, the blocking skills are capped at a 50% chance. Unlike those of other professions, the Swashbuckler skill range actually makes it viable to bring 2-4 of these stances along. They are quite diverse in effect, encouraging the technique of stance cancelling in order to gain the benefits of situational activation. Some examples:

• Hasty Retrieval, Athlete's Constitution and Wild Evasion - diversification of stances encourage stance cancelling and situational play.
• Instictive Assault - Stance driven damage, inspired by Drunken Blow.
• "Speed of the Puma!" - overpowered IMS that cannot be used for kiting.

Trickery can be described as an adrenaline based necromancer or mesmer attribute. It provides most of the Swashbuckler's only, viable healing. These are in the form of drain skills. There are some skills with dual effects that lack synergy, a couple others that have seemingly invisible effects and many designed purely as a source of entertainment. They are intended to confuse and lure the enemy into doing something they'll regret. Skills from this line are designed to either encourage creativity in building synergy, make enemies panic or just provide you with some epic lulz. Some examples:

• Smuggle Life - The enchantment couterpart of Life Siphon.
• Harness Scurvy - Extremely entertaining use of the disease condition.
• "Your Epidermus is Showing!" - A spammable interruption that restricts its own use. Don't say I'm not creative.
• Treacherous Intent - the most fun, balanced and awesome cover hex. Best. skill. ever.

Being an acrobat, the Swashbuckler should have a lot of natural energy. Say, the same energy template as a dervish. This is to further reduce the impact of no focus or shield allowing the profession to have less armor but greater energy capabilities than a warrior. His costly energy skills and Mage-Hunter Insignia balance this issue further.

Most swashbuckler skills are underpowered but fast to play and quick to recharge. Most skills are stances, shouts or just instantly activated to prevent him from standing still too long, supporting his speedy play style. There are to be very few devastating attacks but rather an emphasis on team survival and 'speed means power,' with a combination of party support, a diverse range of stances, quick spammable attacks, and slowing, preventing or discouraging the enemy's skill use.

Skills

If any of the skills are confusing, go to their skill page. I may have left explanation notes. If any are over or under powered feel free to discuss them there or on the the discussion of this page.

Fencing Arts

Conviction

Acrobatics

Trickery

Cheers Nuke

Builds

I'll find them a new home when I make skill icons. Feel free to discuss and add your own.

Insignias

• Magehunter - +3 energy, -5 armor (vs. Physical)
• Resiliant - Conditions expire 5% faster.
• Steadfast - +5 armor for each recharging stance.

Other

• I believe daze is more powerful than burning and, as such, should have similar durations. It should definitely not be maintainable. Some of my skills reflect this by compromising for real balance with cheaper costs and shorter recharges.
• I think this game should be harder; the team build makes the majority of battles pre-determined but if the build's effectiveness relied more on the skill of the user, the game would be more fun. The Swashbuckler reflects this. Stances and Shouts are played in the background while most of the other skills have short recharges and durations. The mixture of diverse targetting, tactics and skill types also means the user must not only play with more intensity but with much more intelligence than ever before.
• Options are fun, so I've given the Swashbuckler a heap. Inexperienced players may feel constrained to a Warrior secondary but there is plenty more fun to be had.
• I like the idea of build creation and disagree with ArenaNet opting for simplification in GW2. This competition just goes to show that there are skills yet to be created and tactics and mechanics yet to be played.

Why this is a good idea

• A fast paced, more challenging fighting style that can adapt to either casting spells, protecting the party, interrupting or causing great melee damage - encourages creativity.
• This profession reduces redundancy, applying pre-existing game mechanics and items and using them in a creative and original way - Swords are more diverse than any other weapon yet they're linked to fewer skills. Its a damn shame!
• Encourages skilled, situational play and build design.
• Diversification of adrenaline skills and use encourages the use of the space bar.
• The synergy between energy and adrenaline will finally spawn a generation of meleecasters worth using.
• Doesn't have to be a pirate - but everyone loves pirates.
• Players may opt to use adrenaline shut down skills more.

Why it may not work out

• Makes the already overused Spiteful Spirit and similar spells more powerful

SOLUTION: anti hex skills.

• Restricting Fencing Arts to those using a sword but not an offhand is possible but creates otherwise unnecessary programming.
• The use of existing game mechanics makes the Swashbuckler largely redundant, with a lot of its duties being performed by other professions ie monk for protection, necromancer for drain, paragon for motivation, mesmer for illusion, warrior for sword use and adrenaline... On the other hand, mixing aspects into one creates far more options and creative fun.
• Pirates are already heavily overused in video games, MMO and otherwise.
• The primary attribute may constrain the secondary profession to Warrior for the majority of people.
• May create undue balance issues with the inherent, irremovable IAS.
• Sword spiker builds may not be balanced with Warrior's using Strength.

I don't believe the prior two. Without a buff, regular attacks deal 2 damage and the inherent IAS is not as much as the maintainable Soldier's Fury. An increase in sword damage is also a sharp decrease in survivability. Even if certain sword spike builds were overpowered, imminent death would be enough to stem its use.

Judging

• I like it, it could be a working profession with a few tweaks. I didn't really like the fact that they can't have off hands without losing their primary. Also, some aspects seem like they are copying the paragon. Score: 6 --Shadowphoenix 02:54, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
• I like the idea of adding fencing and acrobatics. I do agree that pirates are overused in MMO's in general, I also am not sure how it would be fit into the storyline, as there are limited areas where this would be viable in guild wars, with the exception of corsairs in NF. Score: 8 -- Wyn 18:59, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
• Looks like we're topping Paragon and Warrior again. :) Score: 8 - Y0_ich_halt 19:46, 12 October 2008 (UTC)
• I know you explain why some of these lack synergy but that's not always a good thing to force players into their secondaries. My dervish, warrior and paragon don't use their secondaries. There's nothing wrong with that. The art is really not up to par with the natural graphics that other CAP entries have done. (I'd go as far as to say some of them are downright stupid). All that aside some of the skills are passable and would go through some rebalance in the real world. Score: 6 - Vanguard 16:59, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Total

• 20