Swashie for Life even with one Arm Hangin' by the shoulders! (SOE please read)

[Trollf]

<DIV>Hi fellow Swashies,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have been a swashbuckler since Oct 2004 and have loved it since then. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Even when we had like almost 9-10 skills broken (didnt do exactly what the description text said) and our Dps (including our defining AoEs) was rather non-existent when compared to other Dps classes. We were quite a horrible raiding class as well, restricted to mostly ferrying players over to the raid mobs instead.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We were supposed to be quite a utility class so as to make up for the lack of Dps but our group sneaks were never the best(changed now to be kinda equal with the other invising classes since no more speed buff in stealth) and we lacked an identity unless we made it up and dream of a wonderful bio to put into our profile.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I didnt care. We were Swashbucklers... the name said it all... we were Cool <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Like pirates!! Like Threepwood!! Like whatever floats your boat..</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For a year, we were propping up the rest of EQ2. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then came the combat rebalance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Inspired Daring was made from a trashbin spell into an amazing "burst" Dps spell that proved to be class-defining in my opinion.</DIV> <DIV>Our AoEs went from doing paltry damage to actually doing decent damage in the later hundreds. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Our DoF Ancient skills were not bad besides Lung Puncture.. which paled in comparison to Hurricane and the class-changing Hail Of Steel (HoS) which made us into not such a bad raiding class after all <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Finally we were getting some love after being shafted since the start of EQ2. Complained we did about the lack of balance of our thrown weapons blah blah blah... but deep down inside, we were still greatly improved I felt... If we could survive 1 year of the Original Nightmare Swashie (tm) Class, we could survive anything. We finally had an identity.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A few weeks later, Hurricane was nerfed by half and Hail Of Steel got its Hate generation increased. This was to compensate for the new DW damage rating and its new improved proc rate as well. Fair enough, we bit the bullet and took it. (even though it stunk of the lack of pre-DoF playtesting about how strong Hurricane was)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then LU 18 hit. The poison nerf i could understand. There were times i just auto-attacked and waited for the mob to die due to the increased procs and the poison ticking. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But WHY were our other melee skill "procs" counted as "applied" effects? Our ID, Bravado, Avoid and Offensive Proc line were all HALVED in ONE fell swoop. My fellow swashies will understand how I feel. It was devastating.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It is like literally chopping an arm off a swashbuckler. We were like nerfed FIVE times in that single Update. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>No class gets nerfed FIVE times in an Update. Not the Swashie class. We were not top of the Dps chart. Just nicely there in the top 1 1/2 tier.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We Swashies are a patient bunch. Maybe SOE made an honest mistake and will stop the additional damage it unknowingly incurred on us. Maybe they are working on it. Maybe we can get our arm back soon?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then came the news... the Expansion was coming out in Febuary. So much DoF stuff have not been resolved yet (Loot tables, borked items, Guild rewards)  and now they churn out a new Expansion. Amazing. Looks like we are going to be a footnote again.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I LOVE my swashbuckler. I REALLY do.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>That is why i take valuable time off my playing and rest schedule to type this article.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Please at least listen to what we have to say and not just turn a deaf ear to our comments or suggestions. We are still a  character class in your EQ2 game afterall.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>So much for loving our game SOE.  I am disappointed.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Littlebee Loup'Garou</DIV> <DIV>60 Swashie</DIV> <DIV>Bandit Lords Of Baubbleshire (Level 40 Guild -LDL)</DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Luk]

<P>Alot of classes took hits in LU #18 which may or maynot have been intentional on SOE's behalf, however I think from what I have seen, Swashies took the biggest hit of all, cutting our procs in half on skills which were once useful, ID, Bravado, Avoid and Offensive Stance (shared with Brigands) lines was a huge hit that has made us a broken class yet again, the ease with which a swashy pulls aggro in a raid now is sad. My ranger friend does 1000+ DPS (not complaining about that) but I still pull aggro off our raid tank before he does. Avoid Censure seems to have no effect where Avoid Blame did, are we meant to be using a level 45 skill because the level 59 one doesn't work?</P> <P>Give us a fair go SOE, there are alot of us out there that love our Swashies and wouldn't give them up for anything, but they seem to be getting fewer and fewer, give us something to work with and to look forward to. Yes we have some great debuffs, but you can't debuff when you are dead because you pulled aggro off the raid tank again, people that pull aggro in raids are often seen as a waste of healing power, dieing lots from doing minimal stuff on a raid makes the game loose its fun aspect.</P> <P>Please take a look at our skills and see if they need fixing, I'm happy for a GM to watch me in a raid, as I'm sure other Swashies would be as well.</P> <P>It would also be appreciated if one of the developement team could respond to this thread, other threads with issues have been posted recently with no dev response, kind of makes us feel that no one is listening.</P>

[DanaDark]

<div>With all these horrible nerfs you all complain about... I still out DPS most others around... brigands, bards (ofcoarse, and sometimes rangers and assassins as well...)</div><div> </div><div>And still you cry foul?</div><div> </div><div>Swashy still kicks all forms of major butt... Sure... I think our mez should last 5 minutes and be unressistable and our procs should be 100% chance and apply for both weapons as well as our backstabs should do a minimum of 90,000 damage and all other classes should have no offensive capabilities...</div><div> </div><div>But... I still rock the DPS even with these "nerfs" ... maybe you just don't know how to play swashy well enough to continue being a good DPS option?</div>

[Razzler1972]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>DanaDark wrote:<div> </div><div>But... I still rock the DPS even with these "nerfs" ... maybe you just don't know how to play swashy well enough to continue being a good DPS option?</div><hr></blockquote><p> </p><p>And maybe since you are lvl 44 according to eq2players, you have no raidexperience with that char and thus no clue of what you are talking about. Come back when you are closer to 60 and in a decent raidguild and you will understand what the OP is saying.</p>

[m0ya]

<div></div><div></div>I was out dpsing pretty much every class at lvl 40.... but 20 levels later, it's not the same thing at all. We got nerfed... yes... Meaby you will never realise it because you didn't live the nerfe. When a day you can proc on every hit or so and the day after it's cut by ½ ... It's not a very fun feeling. Later!<p>Message Edited by m0ya on <span class="date_text">01-17-2006</span><span class="time_text">09:25 AM</span></p>

[-Llama-]

<div></div><div>Against a named raid mob that doesnt have an AE (uncommon), I am always in the top 3 DPS. If it has an AE, usually within the top 6,(due to jousting, and HOS recast timer)</div><div> </div><div>My char is Cappa, on Crushbone, if you wanna check my gear out to compare.</div><div>(full t6 fabled armor, full str jewelry, Foremans shank/Strap of Flaying/Prismatic 1.0, soon to be 2.0 <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> )</div><p>Message Edited by -Llama- on <span class="date_text">01-17-2006</span><span class="time_text">10:26 AM</span></p>

[CrazedMut]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Trollfie wrote:<div> </div><div>Our DoF Ancient skills were not bad besides Lung Puncture.. which paled in comparison to Hurricane and the class-changing Hail Of Steel (HoS)</div><div><hr></div></blockquote>Are you nuts? Lung Puncture is an extremely important offensive debuff in raids, my fellow Raid leaders love my class for it. As well as the Dazzling steel line, we Swashies go quite a way toward making sure the mob doesn't hit the MT as hard.

[DanaDark]

<div></div><p>Razzler, I am flattered that you find the need to actually look my character up... kinda freaky in the estranged sort of stalker sort of way... but hey, thats you.</p><p>I have my experiences, and I go by the high level swashies I know. They have no complaints.</p>

[Trollf]

<div></div><div></div><p>Hi all fellow Swashies and non-Swashies alike,</p><p>Just to make it clear, I am not complaining about the lack of DpS we have now.</p><p>Of course if we compare ourselves to what we used to be in '04, we are better now.</p><p>But isnt anything better than what we were in '04? Tons of bugged skills, utility that was not even really much to be mentioned about, e.g. group invis which was arguably worse off than the Fury's or the Enchanter's despite ours being touted as one of our better utility skill.</p><p>I just wanted us to be heard.</p><p>To let SoE know that we are monitoring whatever changes they are doing to us. And as a  hardcore gamer ( >8 hrs a day) who solo quite a bit, does many instances, raids regularly ( about twice a week ) AND most of all pay attention to all my skills and stats and equipment, I am happy to feedback information that I feel is relevant to the community.</p><p>I was one of those that was puzzled by the "thrown-weapons" change done to us too. So many issues with the game and they took time out to FIX the Swashie's skills and its "role-playing" aspect? </p><p>The change of applied procs so that it affects ONLY the primary hand ? Then why can our throwing knives still proc poison?</p><p>Hmm...</p><p>Anyway, Hurray for the new Swashie Hats we are going to get...</p><p>Also, I can't wait to jump off the carpet or griffon mid-way through its journey so that i can get the jump on my enemies..</p><p>And most of all, I wish the best for all the Swashbucklers in the New Year!</p><div> </div><div> </div><div>Littlebee</div><div>60 Swashie</div><div>Bandit Lords Of Baubbleshire (Level 40 Guild -LDL)</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>P.S. : I do love the Lung Puncture (and i upgraded it to a M1 btw), but just saying that it paled in comparison to Hurricane (which I have to admit is a very visually appealing skill with all the procs) and HoS--which changed our role completely in raids.</div><p>Message Edited by Trollfie on <span class="date_text">01-18-2006</span><span class="time_text">05:05 AM</span></p>

[Duhulk]

<div></div><div> </div><p>Message Edited by Duhulk on <span class="date_text">01-18-2006</span><span class="time_text">01:06 PM</span></p>