New Power Set: Short Blade (Scrapper Primary)

[AgentForest]

I know, the easiest way to incorporate this into the game would be just an alternate set of animations for the Broadsword power set, and more weapon choices to incorporate more finesse-type weapons like rapiers or daggers.  However, I feel like more dexterous weapon types also lend themselves to a different style of combat altogether, not just a different "look."  So I went about making a more dedicated and unique power set.  I didn't want the brutal power of Broadsword, the two-handed nature of Katana, or the dual-wielding of Dual Blades.  Something new was needed.

 

Short Blade

(Scrapper/Brute/Stalker Primary, Tanker Secondary)

 

Baseline Mechanic: As a dexterous combat style, all of the attacks in this set grant you Agile Combatant, a small, stacking defense boost against all damage.  Not a lot, and this amount scales with the archetype's defensive scaling (best for Tankers, lower for Scrappers/Brutes, and lowest for Stalkers).  Your attacks also have inherently slightly better accuracy, like the Archery set for Blasters.  While the set lacks solid AoE damage, it makes up for this with dodging and strong single-target damage.  So while a Tanker may not get a huge benefit from their enhanced damage areas, they'll benefit from better defense buffs, and easier stack generation for Study Foe's "Analyzed" effect, letting the team focus down primary targets better.

 

1. Quick Stab: Single-target minor Lethal damage.
2. Thrust: Narrow cone moderate Lethal damage.  You stab a target and those in front or immediately behind them for decent damage.
3. Flitting Blade: Single-target high Lethal DoT.  You do a series of rapid cuts to your foe's weak points, causing them to bleed out over a long period of time.  This attack also lowers enemy defense for the duration of the bleed.
4. Press the Attack: Self +ToHit +Damage.  You gain a boost to damage and chance to hit, gaining a larger boost for each stack of Agile Combatant (which are lost upon using Press the Attack).  You cash in on all of the insight you acquired during your fight with these enemies as you avoided their strikes and learned their attack patterns, allowing you to temporarily a find their weak points and turn the tables on your foes.
5. Study Foe: Toggle single-target Foe -Acc, Foe -Resist (all).  You can pick a target and analyze their combat.  You are better at dodging this particular enemy, and each time they attempt to strike a target, their resistance to damage drops, allowing you to riposte their strikes for greater retaliatory damage.  The enemy gains 2 stacks of Analyzed (resistance debuff) for attempting to hit you, rather than 1 for attacking your allies.  There is a limit to 10 Analyzed stacks, though new applications refresh the old.  This move has a 10 second cooldown, but if the target dies, the toggle ends and the cooldown is completely reset.  This encourages you to focus one target until its defeat, but doesn't force it.  It also encourages you to use it on enemies that are focusing on you rather than others.  [For Stalkers, this power is replaced with Assassin's Sting, which is moved to T4, swapped with Press the Attack, which becomes Build-Up at T5.]
6. Challenge/Taunt/Placate: Self-explanatory.  Taunting any target affected by Study Foe grants them 3 stacks of Analyzed immediately. 
7. Hamstring Slice: Single-target high Lethal DoT, Foe Immobilize, -Speed, -Jump.  This causes a strong bleed and slow for a long duration, while also preventing jumping.  For a short time, the foe is also immobilized.
8. Stinging Strikes: Melee cone high Lethal DoT.  You stab an enemy and those near them repeatedly in a short window of time.  These injuries can cause the enemy to wince in pain, effectively causing a Fear condition for a short time.  As a set focused more on dueling individual targets, this can help you manage larger groups of enemies by neutralizing a few briefly while focusing the main target down.
9. Heart Strike: Single-target Extreme Lethal DoT, Foe -Endurance, -Recovery.  You strike clean into your opponent's vital organs, causing a decent immediate lethal strike, followed by a powerful bleed for an extended period of time.  During this time, their recovery is reduced, and they also bleed some of their endurance.

Edited February 23, 2022 by AgentForest

[A.I.D.A.]

It's a very neat idea and feels finesse-y by my reading! Would be great for a fencer.

 

Couple suggestions though!

 

1.) Name-swap Thrust and Flitting Blade -- the former seems more appropriate for a single stab, while the latter seems more appropriate for a melee cone.

 

2.) Make Flitting Blade (which is now the cone) into a multi-activation power, like Shadow Maul or Flurry or Sands of Mu. In fact, it can use that same animation, just with stab sounds instead of hit sounds.

 

3.) Swap Thrust and Flitting Blade's tiers. Melee sets don't tend to have an AoE selectable at Lv. 1, except I think literally only Titan Weapon (and it's the set's parry, Defensive Sweep, so its damage is low compared to the rest of the attacks in the set).

 

4.) Stalker version should lose out on Flitting Blade (which is now the cone) in order to gain Assassin's Sting. Stalker versions of sets generally have less AoE than Scrapper versions of the same set, but retain most of the set's unique mechanics. (Staff Fighting's form stacks, Dual Blades' combo strings, and so on.) Losing out on Study Foe effectively cancels half of the proposed set's unique mechanic -- Analyze stacks. I think that's especially important for a set whose stated purpose is to "lack solid AoE damage, but focus on defense and single-target damage." If you go this route, consider specifying that Study Foe does not break stealth or aggro the target. After all, how would they know a stealthed hero is watching them?

 

5.) Clarify the stacking behaviour for Agile Combatant. Duration? Max stacks? Defense per stack? Do they fall off individually or does each new stack refresh the duration of existing stacks? Consider a three-stack system for Agile Combatant so that you don't end up with people hanging onto 40 stacks of this and softcapping themselves while using a resist secondary, and then throwing all 40 stacks into Press The Attack for what is effectively five Build Ups at once. And, if you really would rather the Stalker version lose Study Foe, consider allowing Assassin's Sting to apply 1 stack of Analyzed to the target for each stack of Assassin's Focus spent on it.

Edited March 1, 2022 by Aida LaCanthe