What I wish Broadsword looked like (stuck in Katana's shadow)

[Shin Magmus]

A foreword from the author...

 

     Hi there, I'm the Mr. Shin who likes it when bad and underperforming sets get buffed.  We've seen some incredible reworks of underperforming sets so far on HC: with the most recent one applicable to this topic being Battle Axe.  On top of bringing the numbers up in a generic way, this rework added some utility to the set via Axe Cyclone, and gave it an identity to differentiate it from other sets via the new Targeted AoE vector on some of the attacks.  I see these changes and I agree that sets need something unique to give them an identity and make them feel different from other sets.

 

     Now it's time for a bit of history... Did you know that at one point: Katana was literally just an identical clone of Broadsword?  It's true, and the live devs added entirely new animations to differentiate the sets.  They went with a faster/lighter theme for the set but accidentally made it have UNIVERSALLY BETTER DPA ON EVERY POWER EXCEPT THE T1, and simultaneously gave most of the Katana powers lower CDs than the Broadsword ones.  This resulted in near-universal advantages to playing Katana over Broadsword.  Examine this color-coded table (Brute dmg was used for reference):

 

     At this point Broadsword was bad, but still barely tolerable because Broadsword hit for uniquely huge numbers on Scrappers... but history has long since changed that.  Scrappers now have access to Stone Melee, Energy Melee, War Mace, Battle Axe, and Titan Weapons: quite the pick of sets with a super-hard-hitting attack to really Clobber an enemy.  At the same time, non-Scrappers have gained access to Broadsword through powerset proliferation.  Broadsword is currently mockinglingly referred to as "Badsword" by many players😔.  Read on below to see how I would fix Broadsword.

 

 

Fixed Broadsword

By: Shin_Rekkoha (Shin Magmus)

 

New Mechanics: Laceration & Sever

     The logic behind this design change is really very simple: give Broadsword another BIG NUMBER to chonk with, enabling players to enjoy seeing a massive spike of damage in one hit.  Unlike something purely random, it is possible to manipulate the chance of this bonus damage or even guarantee it, if the user so-chooses.  It fulfills a twin purpose by adding incentive to use the Broadsword T2 attack and other faster-but-weaker attacks.  Parry also benefits from these changes.

 

"Laceration": Every damaging Broadsword attack (even Parry) applies 1 stack of Laceration to the target hit, instantly.  AoE Broadsword attacks apply 1 stack to every target hit.  Assassin's Slash for Stalkers uniquely applies 2 stacks of Laceration.  This debuff is automatic, instant, and deals no damage on its own.  Think of this as a largely invisible mechanic that operates on the same rules as "Assassin's Focus".  Laceration caps at 4 stacks, and attacks that can proc Sever will instead proc a Laceration stack if they fail their Sever roll.

 

"Sever": Disembowel and Head Splitter now have a %chance to inflict a large spike of bonus damage.  Whenever these attacks Sever, the bonus damage appears accompanied by floating text above the enemy.  This effect consumes all Lacerations on the target and resets the stack to 0.  This damage is affected by enhancements and damage buffs, and functions like a damage proc, increasing the damage dealt by 66%.  On Scrappers and Stalkers, Sever damage will also Critical Hit if the attack rolled a Critical Hit, for a potential total multiplier of x3.32 over the original base damage: Now That's a Lotta Damage!

 

Sever Chance scales linearly:

0 Lacerations: 0% chance of Sever

1 Lacerations: 25% chance of Sever

2 Lacerations: 50% chance of Sever

3 Lacerations: 75% chance of Sever

4 Lacerations: 100% chance of Sever

 

T1 - Hack

No stat changes.

*applies Laceration x1*

 

T2 - Slash

Animation time reduced from 1.584s -> 1.32s, resulting in DPA increase of 20%.

*applies Laceration x1*

 

T3 - Slice

Animation time reduced from 2.244s -> 1.98s, resulting in a DPA increase of 13%.

*applies Laceration x1*

 

T4 - Build Up

Standard Power.

*No Changes*

 

T5 - Parry

No stat changes: This power is numerically identical to Katana's Divine Avalanche, and would be unfair to change without adjusting both powers.

*applies Laceration x1*

 

T6 - Confront

Standard Power.

*No Changes*

 

T7 - Whirling Sword

Initial damage increased by 25%, Bleed DoT unchanged, resulting in a net damage & DPA increase of 19%.

*applies Laceration x1*

 

T8 - Disembowel

Damage and DPA increased by 8%.

*Attempts to inflict Sever for bonus damage.  If Sever fails, applies Laceration x1*

 

T9 - Head splitter

Animation time reduced from 2.508s -> 2.244s, resulting in a DPA increase of 12%.

*Attempts to inflict Sever for bonus damage.  If Sever fails, applies Laceration x1*

 

STALKER ONLY - T4 - Assassin's Slash

No stat changes.

*applies Laceration x2*

 

 

Feel free to let me know what you think of these changes.  I know everyone wants the bonus damage to be called "FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!" but the devs have rights to that term for other uses.

 

[Videra]

An amazing synopsis of Broadsword's current state and what it could be by the monarch of Logical Game Design.

Do this! Actually!

[ThatGuyCDude]

I like the idea that Sever is a second, controllable critical hit.  I was wary about the stacks being on the targets, because there's a lot of damage potential that vanishes if it isn't triggered on a felled opponent.  However, in this instance that's actually a great balancing factor: the extra damage potential is countered by drop-outs in the ability to utilize that damage potential.

 

I hope the devs take a good long look at this idea and give it their consideration.

[Shin Magmus]

I also thought that the massive damage potential would be better if it was mostly only relevant on high HP Targets: the type of enemy where being a "weak" set becomes most apparent.  By contrast, Broadsword probably won't have the ability to attack anything below Boss rank enough times to get to a forced 100% Sever chance, but I felt that was fine.  Yeah it will "lose" the stacks, but with DPA adjustments throughout the set it isn't reliant on them.  This also makes it feel different from Tidal Power / Combo Points.