I am wondering why I ever made a swashy now. This is my main and I raid with her. And in the raid we have a brigand which is also our main assist. Now your talking about not having swashy debuffs stack with brigands and having brigands a must in raids. When I first started this class it was good than the assassin got all the love and than BL were created leaving us low and not very much wanted for dps. Than you decided to change the game to resolve and just so that swashies were wanted you gave some extra resolve on our buff and a nice fervor buff. Now you want to nerf the fervor and you say that the reset ability is awesome well it is not that awesome with 7 minutes of downtime. I am asking that you think about giving more damage on our single target abilities if we are going to lose our debuffs when there is a brigand in the raid or group and change the downtime on our reset buff or just discontinue the swashbuckler class because at this point that seems to be what your going to do. It really ticks me off because I pay to play this class and have worked hard with the time I have to play to get this toon up to where she can raid with my guild. I like EQ2 but we always seem to be the class that gets nerfed in something. I don't know anymore if it's worth spending my time playing a game that shows so much favoritism to other classes,
Posting this is a waste of time, Swashies have been ignored in favour of whatever class is flavour of the month or who whined the loudest for an age, Sorcerers just got a boost ( and rightly so but still no FB fix ) so there is a mechanic already in place to increase our lackluster DPS compared to Brigands but it wont happen, its really now just embarrassing how out of touch whoever is supposedly developing classes these days really is, I was told that Swashies are not T1 dps during the server open chat sessions which shows that they have no idea whats what, no one is asking to be T1 all we expect is some parity or give us a ridiculous pet like the Ranger class if its all too hard.
Redlight is 100% correct. The problem with Swash utility is that whatever the utility model is being employed (the assessment, numerical or otherwise that determines 'class value' between DPS and utility) is broken. For high end raiding purposes, utility must be 1) observable and measurable (by some means on ACT), 2) necessary or at least highly desirable. Swash utility meets none of those and so while it may be 'nice to have' it is nonetheless completely dispensable. Further, Brig, Sin, and Ranger all have more relevant UTILITY as well (largely hitpoint debuffs - since if you have a Brig the Swash hitpoint debuff doesn't stack). Therefore, the DPS deficit compared with T1 reduces Swashes to an undesirable class for any guild serious about raid progression. You can tear through advanced solos, but after that you will increasingly underperform vs. other raiding DPS classes. You may be able to do 'decent' DPS on groups of trash mobs, but when really needed on a difficult, single-target progression boss you will disappear. I was parsing well less than 50% against competing DPS whom I used to BEAT in parses (same players) in prior Xpacs. So I really had no choice but to abandon the class. Stop beating your head against the wall; I abandoned my (main) raiding Swash and de-attuned all applicable raid gear for a new main. Of course it entailed some effort but the choices were that or quit the game. Now I can contribute to a top-end guild and progression much more effectively. PS- we have not recruited a new Swash and now raid without one and not a single issue has arisen because of it except for the resolve buff which was mentioned once and made irrelevant with the resolve adjustments. Not a single officer in our guild has any intention of allowing a Swash in our raids for the duration of this Xpac.
I still love my Swashy. But I've never raided with him, & I'm not interested in starting, for all the reasons others mentioned. But I do remember a time when MT Groups wanted a Swashy for threat transfer, & I remember the fun I had with a Pally MT. But that was back when KoS was the place to raid. It was still fun in MoY, but somewhere after that it stopped being a thing, & Swashy hasn't been really worth much since. Because, as others say, the class just doesn't bring either the DPS or the utility. But I will never betray to Brigand. Instead, I just switched to Troubie. I still don't raid, because I'm probably not good enough no matter what I'm playing. But at least my class is still wanted, so there's that.
Swash looks like a lot of fun, and if I could betray my assassin to swash I'd give one a shot but without the gearing I wouldn't even try it. On another note, how well do swash perform on TLE? Was considering going the rogue route on the new TLE
Swashbucklers are a very fun and unique class to play. It saddens me how they were able to top parses back in the day and that they are turning in to weird dirges now instead. Stop giving swashbucklers utility and give them higher dps instead. Why does a beastlord, which is already a way over the top class kit, get a dumbfire ability that parses tons and a swash gets a groupwide CA reset every so many minutes? Yes, it can be good on burst fights but the utility it offers is really mediocre. The 10% groupwide ability doublecast half the time is acceptable however. The fact that swashbucklers gained 2 util epic abilities is just lame. Swashbucklers are the ruthless counterpart of brigands (who are more subtle), not utility. My suggestion is that the groupwide CA reset is changed in to a dumbfire ability which deals more damage per second than Savage Allies or some sort of self ability reset (like the myth hammer reset as passive buff, once every 30 seconds).
Swash was by far one of the most fun classes to play from a heroic standpoint to an end game raiding standpoint. The massive luls theyd trigger on other dps classes was great. Great example being TSO when Aeralik was assassin dev and a select few swash would always **** on him, (K-steel, axumi, drum, myself, rippt, etc.) They were just a fantastic class that truly excelled in swarm fights with wave upon wave of adds. The goodtimes in UD.... However, with the increase in massive stat inflation and the reduction in primed aoe fights or even swarm fights where ascension nukes arent totally eradicating adds; they are massively outdated. They are now a finesse class because the hat is win. i repeat the Hat is win!
I like the utility aspect of a swash tho its recast should be cut in half or atleast 33% reduction. I'd love to see them change the restrictions on weapons for a swash and give them a huge base auto multiplier. something that of say and inquisitor and allow them to dual wield 2handers. Then theyd be perfectly balanced with rest of prime dps classes while maintaining their functionality and purpose.
The problem is, whenever you ask for a boost, they boost the DPS. They lost the interest and nerv of retain functionality of each class. Betray to Brigand might help, which is in good number but only because it's the fastest casting class with burst dps, only functional with current form of temp buff like Ravaging, and this advantage is fading out, and relying on that is absolutely boring.
As another longtime swashy player, the history of the Swashy nerfs is that we were at one time a decent and possibly competitively better heroic tank than the regular tanks (because we could interrupt constantly too). We can do it all, aoe, full defenses, and now with more AA options, extra death saves. In a heroic group, you still can make your swashy into a tank. Not many do, and the ability to do so is now limited. Hence the un-nerf of Swashy dps around ToV time(?) or thereabout. It might be good to try testing the Swashy as an off tank to gather adds and have an enchanter mez them before the swashy is killed. That's a trick I don't see often anymore but it worked great at one point. I think it's limited now bc adds are now also epic. I'd say thats a bigger problem, because it obviates several tactics. Especially because of defense changes, you cannot do this with any mage. Honestly I don't think it's a great idea to buff only the single target stuff. if you're seeking that, then it's probably better to play a Sin, among the scout choices. That's not really the point of a Swashy, and not everything about a class is its current popularity in raids, which waxes and wanes and is very subjective depending on the guild. Any raid guild can pl you to max in a week or two with a Sin. I heard such negativity about scouts when I returned a while ago, and actually I think the dps of the Swashy is better than it ever was.
Why not speak about what you think then. Calling what I said nonsense isn't an argument, it's name calling devoid of content.... um, oh I guess that's the definition of troll? I've wondered many times why it is on these specific forums that people attack each other like this. I honestly think it's limited to a few game forums. This one especially. I've often thought it was players of another game trying to "hurt" this community. If I hadn't seen that kind of dumb comment a million times here, I might have had my feelings hurt. Too bad you picked a bad target today.
You are 100% correct I was rude and I apologise, not really like me to try and make anyone feel bad but there is a little traction to improve Swashys and your post rubbed me the wrong way but that's no exscuse. I have posted so many suggestions and observations about Swashys in the CURRENT Xpac and I only play one character because of the time investment needed to get a toon to a level that I find acceptable balancing family and work around which is a hobby, so I think I can make comments about the class and point out flaws in others assessments. The focus is about maintaining a spot in an active raid guild and being able to contribute everything else is trivial solo/ advanced solo/ heroics are easily done with any classes who have put in some work and if you have completed the epic 2.0, so looking at your suggestions Tanking in any current raid is not viable and unless a script requires it but I am not aware of any. Making a new character such as a Sin is not an option due to Tithe at the present time, anyone can get a L100 character for $20 but grinding 40 pints in Tithe with the XP changes would make anyone avoid that. If you take away Ascension damage then overall Swashy DPS is woefull especially in a drawn out encounter not sure anyone could say it's in a good place. If you haven't raided this Xpac especially t3 and t4 its only about DPS, hopefully I have answered some questions and once again I was wrong to post if you genuinely had those opinions, Gnoma
1. I do not see swashbucklers under the Fighter archetype. 2. Most stuns/interrupts no longer work in heroic and heroic + content. 3. Swashbucklers don't have the snaps and threat generation along with the dps to hold aggro. 4. Unless you raided on a swash this expansion or previous expansions, you probably don't know what this thread really is about. Solo, swashbucklers are amazing and most comfortable/easy to play. Sadly, in raid, they are nothing more than ascension nukes + groupwide util with legs. 5. A friend of mine tanked on his necromancer/conj all the time last expansion, I also know a troub that tanks zones successfully. A class doesn't has to be a tank class in order to tank, any class can tank (but nothing like actual tanks, you will notice that when you raid, hence point 1).
Hat is Win. Swashbucklers should get more AOEs, and their buffs should stack with all other classes. It's all about Finesse and Flair. How about more Swash-abilities that do damage, also buff the Swash and debuff the enemy? A Triple Threat. With this AoE-attack for example, not only do you do damage, but you also debuff the enemies in that area, as well as buffing yourself. All hands on Deck Lightningfast Stabs on all enemies in a small area. (Blue Attack) Critical Hit Chance: 100 % Enemy Damage: -50 % for x seconds. Swashbuckler becomes immune to snare for y seconds. --- Dead in the Water A High damaging single-target attack that can only be performed after All Hands on Deck. (Red Attack) Enemy Physical Mitigation: - 20 % for x seconds Swashbuckler becomes immune to fear for y seconds. --- To make it really really simple, just boost/buff Spinning Flurry / Flurry of Blades and Dashing Flourish and make them two High damaging blue attacks (AOE-attacks that do not require a target) with very flashy animations fitting a flourishing swashbuckler with flair (could even be a leaping attack where the swashbuckler spins, like a spinning slash). Spinning Flurry already decreases mitigation and Dashing Flourish already reduces Weapon Damage on the targets, so just buff the damage and add a buff component to both. Spinning Flurry could have: Pris de Fers damage is tripled and can daze if done within 5 seconds after Spinning Flurry. Dashing Flourish could have: Enfeebling Whirl gains a DoT-component doing bleed damage if performed within 5 seconds after Dashing Flourish. Enfeebling Whirls recast is also reduced each time doing Dashing Flourish. Up the damage on another Swash single-target attack beside Pris de Fer, add an Illusion form where every sound you make in battle is replaced by a "YARRR!" and then of course add a Summon Parrot-ability and the Swashbuckler is instantly more fun, entertaining, viable and attractive to players. Then add a vendor south of Moors of Ykesha in Butcher Bay that sells Swashbuckler-exclusive Mounts, (Huge parrots you can fly, maybe even a Flying Dutchman!), and some different Parrot combat illusions for your Summon Parrot-ability. The Summon Parrot-ability is more like a buff, the parrot gives morale (+health to the party!) and some combat stats like +multi, +flurry +crit etc, but it will also assist the Swashbuckler in battle, pecking at the enemy. This is a random and passive effect though, so no combat pet menu will be used. Think of the Parrot as a buff that adds some occasional damage to your target every now and then. The Parrots idle-animation would be sitting on your shoulder, when not flapping around and pecking eyes. Then we are good to go! AVAST YE LANDLUBBERS! SAIL HO! I'm sure there would be an influx of approx 12.78 % more Swashbuckler-players after these improvements. Hat is Win.
