Ideas for Warrior Skill Changes

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to share some ideas I had to help with scaling, seldom used skills, and class flavor.
Please share your thoughts and I hope someone will do some math and help tune the numbers.

Also, wouldn't it make more sense to have Lancer as our cross class instead of Monk?
Keen Flurry (Def), Invigorate, Blood for Blood (Off) seem to fit much better with the class flavor.

*All recast times and resource costs remain the same.*

Defiance:
Increases maximum HP by 25% and healing received from spells by 15%, while lowering damage dealt by 25% and increasing enmity.
Using certain actions while under the effect of Defiance will grant Wrath.
Each unit of Wrath increases critical hit rate by 2% and *restores 1% of max health on critical strikes.
When five units are stacked, you will become Infuriated. All Wrath is lost when Defiance ends.
*Or absorbs 5% of critical damage dealt as healing

Inner Beast:
Delivers an attack with a potency of 300.
Ignores the damage penalty inflicted by Defiance.
Can only be executed when Infuriated.
All Wrath is lost when used.
Additional Effect: Restores 20% of max health.

Unchained:
Nullifies the damage penalty inflicted by Defiance and
Reduces damage received by 25%
Duration: 20s
Can only be executed when Infuriated.
All Wrath is lost when used.
Effect is canceled if Defiance ends.

Steel Cyclone:
Delivers an attack with a potency of 200 to all nearby enemies.
Ignores the damage penalty inflicted by Defiance.
Can only be executed when Infuriated.
All Wrath is lost when used.
Additional Effect: Damage over time. Increased enmity
Potency: 40. Duration 18s.

Foresight:
Increase defense by 20%
Increase the damage reduction granted by parries by 20%.
Duration: 20s

Fracture
Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.
Additional Effect: Damage over time.
Additional Effect: Decreases target's damage dealt by 3%
Potency: 20. Duration 30s

Blood Bath:
Each successful attack restores 3% of max health.
Duration: 30s

Berserk:
Increases attack power by 50%. Duration: 20s
Grants Wrath when used with Defiance. Duration: 30s

Storms Path:
Delivers an attack with a potency of 100.
Combo Action: Maim, Skull Sunder
Combo Potency: 250
Combo Bonus: Restores 10% of max health
Grants Wrath when used with Defiance. Duration: 30s

Holmgang:
Binds both caster and target. Duration: 6s
Additional Effect: Causes non player target to attack caster.

Yeah, I think scaling our lifesteal with our max hp is the next best thing from scaling directly from monster damage. I approve. Also, make Holm generate Wrath. xD

I will have to disagree with most of your ideas.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Also, wouldn't it make more sense to have Lancer as our cross class instead of Monk?
Keen Flurry (Def), Invigorate, Blood for Blood (Off) seem to fit much better with the class flavor.

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Keen Flurry is not better than Featherfoot, especially since Featherfoot also reduces damage against magical abilities while Keen Flurry does not. Invigorate isn't all that useful once you include uses of Inner Beast and Berserk -- I hardly had to slow down during a 15-minute battle with Cancer. Blood for Blood is directly opposed to tanking, and that should tell you all you need to know about its inclusion. Hell, for balance reasons, you'd have no choice but to prevent WAR from having access to that ability. WAR is not and will not ever be a DPS. If you want an MRD DPS, wait for the second job (Dark Knight, Viking, Berserker, or whatever they decide on). PGL is a better fit.

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Each unit of Wrath increases critical hit rate by 2% and *restores 1% of max health on critical strikes... *Or absorbs 5% of critical damage dealt as healing

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You have confused WAR's issues altogether. Refer to my thread on the topic. WAR's problem is that it doesn't scale to enemy damage. You're relying on more unscaled healing, which would make WAR even more able to solo content and no more worthwhile in endgame parties.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Inner Beast:
Additional Effect: Restores 20% of max health.

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This is still flat healing. It is scaled to VIT rather than STR, but it's still unscaled to enemy damage and fundamentally cannot address WAR's troubles. It also has no synergy with other WAR abilities (no Berserk or Inner Release for bonus healing) and is a nerf unless you've gone purest VIT and stacked up 8k HP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Unchained:
Reduces damage received by 25%

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So, turning Unchained into Rampart? Technically would work, outclassing Inner Beast as mitigation fairly early (a measly 300 DPS for equivalence). However, you're running a bit into PLD design territory here.

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Fracture
Additional Effect: Decreases target's damage dealt by 3%

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So, turning Fracture into Rage of Halone? Not to mention that Fracture is a cross-class ability, plus you're cutting into WAR's Wrath gen by using it, so you're making the ability more effective for PLD than WAR. This won't help at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Foresight:
Increase the damage reduction granted by parries by 20%.

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Still cross-class. Would give PLD another useful CD. Has no synergy with other WAR abilities (again). Quite the opposite, really, since your change to healing would make STR rubbish and therefore reduce the value of parrying.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Blood Bath:
Each successful attack restores 3% of max health.

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Absolutely not. Same problem as before (still flat heals, just tied to VIT instead of STR), except amplified as hell. You've made every DoT-heavy class want to abuse the hell out of it. Imagine an archer carrying Fracture + Venomous Bite + Windbite + Flaming Arrow, for example, plus all the Bloodletter and normal GCD spam. +12% HP per 3s from DoTs, 2% from passive regen, relative 3.6% from GCD, 3-4% from autoattacks, 0.3% from Blunt Arrow (time-weighted), and maybe 1.5% from Bloodletter spam with +~6% per 3s from Barrage while active. +28.5% HP per 3s? Go go Gadget ARC tank! Or better yet, put up Flaming Arrow and spam Quick Nock. 5 enemies, +40% HP per 3 seconds. Oh, and cross-class PLD dropping Circle of Scorn for the win -- a pile of 5 enemies would give you back 75% of your max HP on one ability alone, plus Curtana's fast attack speed (6.5 hits per 15s), cross-class Fracture, and off-GCD Spirits Within. In 15 seconds, PLD would get back 130.5% of max HP. What a mess.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Einheri

Storms Path:
Combo Bonus: Restores 10% of max health

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Still flat heals. But really, come on, man! An additional 100 HP/s healing? Not only will WAR still suck at endgame, it will make non-endgame content that much more pathetic.

I actually think scaling most of our abilities to HP % seems to fit the warriors kit more. High HP tank with self heals, and self heals rewarding high HP. We dont do that much more damage than paladins, so the whole 'warriors are high damage tanks' is kinda moot. The bloodbath thing could be tied to the trait, and the normal one would remain unchanged. Same with Foresight, and Fracture. I agree that we kinda need Keen Flurry since Parry is all we got, and would be a welcome addition. Some of the abilit changes I dont agree with, but most I like. Id change fracture though, something more like:

Fracture (trait)
Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. When used after Parrying an attack, half TP cost and delivers an attack with a Potency of 170 and additional enmity (Ala shield swipe)
Additional Effect: Damage over time.
Potency: 20. Duration 30s

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Therion

High HP tank with self heals, and self heals rewarding high HP.

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Same eHP as PLD, self-heals unaffected by HP.

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Originally Posted by Therion

The bloodbath thing could be tied to the trait, and the normal one would remain unchanged.

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Mechanically unlikely. You are suggesting that an effect be removed by a trait, and that ain't gonna happen.

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Originally Posted by Therion

Fracture (trait)

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I don't think it's feasible to force TP cost reduction on proc for anything, let alone for a 30s DoT. You haven't added any reason to use the ability. If you're so concerned about DPS that you're adding Fracture to your rotation, you aren't waiting for a random effect to show up and interrupt your combo.

Feather Foot, inner release, and Mantra aren't useless I know. I was thinking more in terms of how the marauder and lancer have more in common than the pugilist. If you train in the ways of a marauder, being able learn the ways of a lancer seems more in line than learning how to be fluid enough to dodge in heavy plate armor with a giant axe. May just be the roleplayer in me. Also you do not spend 100% of your time as a warrior tanking. Skills like Blood for Blood and invigorate would add some utility.

I am under the impression after Yoshi-P live letter that the +healing bonus of Wrath will be rolled into the passive bonus of Defiance in 2.1

Character caps are my nemesis. I actually have read your post before writing this, you did a great job and I look forward to a good discussion.

As for the heal portion, what if we changed it to being a heal spell equal to the % of max the skill provides? You attack and gain a heal = 5/10/20% of your max health, this heal could be crit'ed as if it were a cure. This would add in the synergy with +crit and +healing received.

Wrath was the first skill I looked at. I started with the % based on crit damage and later changed it to work like the rest of the self heals I proposed. My thoughts here were with Wrath up you would receive small heals through out a fight effectively being a block in line with our class self healing mechanic.

Secondly I feel the trade off of spending wrath is what makes our class so fun. With wrath up you get sustainability or you can spend it on Inner Beast for Burst Mitigation (reactive), Unchained burst mitigation (proactive), Steel Cyclone (+threat).