I'd like to discuss the Swiftblade nerfs in this patch and argue for their removal. The player base has already written off Swiftblade in the meta, with even the geared Swiftblade users on West mostly switching to 2H. These nerfs further punish a non-meta class hurting the few that still decide to play it, while simultaneously furthering the already established meta via the 2h buffs.
XL caters these patches to their KR player base first and foremost. These changes came at a different time, on a totally different server, with different playstyle, meta, and thought processes. Buffing the already meta melee class and nerfing the non-meta is a step too far, considering this server's meta. The class does not need any more nerfs than the ones already given in 7.0.
Look on the top GS or 1h weapon lists, and you'll barely see anyone playing Swiftblade, outside of some niche healer specs on Kraken days. Furthermore, this class is more expensive than 2H to gear as a 2H player needs to spend the gold/resources once for their weapon and a Swiftblade user needs to do it twice.
I do see 3 potential counter-arguments being brought up, so I will get ahead of them here:
1. The Cursebrand combo cheese
2. "No, this is the most burst damage class in the game. Your crazy kid"
3. "You just want changes to the class you play. BiAsEd"
1a. The Cursebrand combo cheese doesn't change the fact that Swiftblade is not in the meta.
Besides, will this really be any different than 2H melee this patch? BEL -> WW -> Sunder and most fall over already. Everyone is getting a bigger stick now, and it'll be AoE damage, so it'll be a group falling over not one person caught in a cheese combo. The 7/7 lib set also gets fixed finally, so you wil have full pen Aoe attacks too.
As annoying/emotional as it is to be caught in the cheese:
1. You are out of position and just got sent back to the nui for it.
2. And/or you're a high-value target, and your teammates did not peel for you effectively.
Neither of which is the Cursebrand players fault.
2a. On paper, this class has the most burst damage, but it is already balanced. Swiftblade has a lot of low damage but quick attacks that add up to big burst damage. The Auramancy immune proc is the bane of a Swiftblade player's existence, and most meta PvP classes run Auramancy. Swiftblade users are more likely to proc the immune passive than any other class. In comparison, 2H melee will have the same if not more burst this upcoming patch because their attacks are AoE, less in number but harder per hit, and 2H benefits more than Swiftblade users from the 7/7 Lib armor fix.
3a. I put my gold where my mouth is and invested in an Erenor LS before gearing my Swiftblade, so I am ready to rock out and laugh with the other 2H melee when the patch drops. I don't need the Cursebrand combo cheese, and I am less likely to have to deal with the Aura immune proc since I get fewer but harder-hitting attacks. I already hold triple slash and watch people fall over. Now it will be even easier. My stick got bigger, my armor set got fixed, and people's defenses remained unchanged.
I am 50/50 meming/serious when I say that the only con to 2H this upcoming patch is that it will be even more boring as I am even more incentivized to hold quake triple slash down.
I would go so far as to say, in a hypothetical scenario where Swiftblade gets the 7.0 (which I am not expressly advocating for in this post) & 7.5 nerfs reverted would not change the classes lack of viability in the meta. If it had potential, then more gamers would be Swiftblade. We recently saw some players trying it, only for them to swap to 2H.
It is for these reasons above that the proposed argument is fair and would find little disagreement. But of course I am curious as to other people's thoughts/facts/opinions on this thread
XL caters these patches to their KR player base first and foremost. These changes came at a different time, on a totally different server, with different playstyle, meta, and thought processes. Buffing the already meta melee class and nerfing the non-meta is a step too far, considering this server's meta. The class does not need any more nerfs than the ones already given in 7.0.
Look on the top GS or 1h weapon lists, and you'll barely see anyone playing Swiftblade, outside of some niche healer specs on Kraken days. Furthermore, this class is more expensive than 2H to gear as a 2H player needs to spend the gold/resources once for their weapon and a Swiftblade user needs to do it twice.
I do see 3 potential counter-arguments being brought up, so I will get ahead of them here:
1. The Cursebrand combo cheese
2. "No, this is the most burst damage class in the game. Your crazy kid"
3. "You just want changes to the class you play. BiAsEd"
1a. The Cursebrand combo cheese doesn't change the fact that Swiftblade is not in the meta.
Besides, will this really be any different than 2H melee this patch? BEL -> WW -> Sunder and most fall over already. Everyone is getting a bigger stick now, and it'll be AoE damage, so it'll be a group falling over not one person caught in a cheese combo. The 7/7 lib set also gets fixed finally, so you wil have full pen Aoe attacks too.
As annoying/emotional as it is to be caught in the cheese:
1. You are out of position and just got sent back to the nui for it.
2. And/or you're a high-value target, and your teammates did not peel for you effectively.
Neither of which is the Cursebrand players fault.
2a. On paper, this class has the most burst damage, but it is already balanced. Swiftblade has a lot of low damage but quick attacks that add up to big burst damage. The Auramancy immune proc is the bane of a Swiftblade player's existence, and most meta PvP classes run Auramancy. Swiftblade users are more likely to proc the immune passive than any other class. In comparison, 2H melee will have the same if not more burst this upcoming patch because their attacks are AoE, less in number but harder per hit, and 2H benefits more than Swiftblade users from the 7/7 Lib armor fix.
3a. I put my gold where my mouth is and invested in an Erenor LS before gearing my Swiftblade, so I am ready to rock out and laugh with the other 2H melee when the patch drops. I don't need the Cursebrand combo cheese, and I am less likely to have to deal with the Aura immune proc since I get fewer but harder-hitting attacks. I already hold triple slash and watch people fall over. Now it will be even easier. My stick got bigger, my armor set got fixed, and people's defenses remained unchanged.
I am 50/50 meming/serious when I say that the only con to 2H this upcoming patch is that it will be even more boring as I am even more incentivized to hold quake triple slash down.
I would go so far as to say, in a hypothetical scenario where Swiftblade gets the 7.0 (which I am not expressly advocating for in this post) & 7.5 nerfs reverted would not change the classes lack of viability in the meta. If it had potential, then more gamers would be Swiftblade. We recently saw some players trying it, only for them to swap to 2H.
It is for these reasons above that the proposed argument is fair and would find little disagreement. But of course I am curious as to other people's thoughts/facts/opinions on this thread
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