couple questions...

[Jita]

I'm a little confused as to what some of the skills do. Roughhouse raises fist skill at cost of deflection... I never really see much of a DPS difference in using it, does it help you hit higher level creatures maybe? Bouncer raises your Bruiser skill..., and doesn't impact deflection unlike Brawler's stance, I was hoping this would be an ok trade-off, but... I haven't noticed that this matters at all.  It doesn't seem to change the damage on any of the skills as if you were higher... the armor stats don't change either.  There's definitely no direct change to mit/avo other than the defense boost.  So, what's the bruiser skill boost do? recently they changed the skill window... maybe it's good, I don't know, but it lists slashing and piercing under the combat skills.  I wasn't aware of any means by which we could actually raise those.  I tried some Katars for a bit to see if it changed, but I got a crushing skill-up instead.  On the other hand, my shadowknight's skill tab is correct, it lists no superfluous skills.  Just a big oversight on one class? <div></div>

[Jezekie]

<div></div>The "Bruiser" skill is currently labeled incorrectly, it should read Physicality. Basically what it does is let you use your Combat Arts that are based on "Bruiser"/Physicality at a more efficient level then without a higher skill. Say you're lvl 30 with 150 Physicality, your newly acquired imaginary example combat art is yellow con to you but maxes out at 160 "Bruiser"/Physicality skill, if you then use a buff that increases "Bruiser"/Physicality to 160 it should let you gain the benefit having the skill "maxed out" in terms of damage/effect, do keep in mind that skills no longer increase after they turn white, so often you won't really see much of a benefit with +Physicality/"Bruiser" buffs due to that, but also because not every skill in the book is based off Physicality/"Bruiser". Regarding Roughhouse and the Fist skill, you gain a slight increase in To-Hit and Damage with increases in your Fist skill. As for Crushing/Piercing/Slashing, a while back they were changed for Brawlers to default to the "Crushing" skill when checking for To-Hit. That's why you won't see Slashing and Piercing skill updates, but Crushing instead. You can still do Piercing damage and Slashing damage with appropiate weapons though.<p>Message Edited by Jezekiell on <span class=date_text>07-04-2005</span> <span class=time_text>07:34 PM</span>

[Moski]

very nice correct explanation in Germany we would say "Jezekiell der Erklärbär"  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Opa]

<P>1) +Physicality: Jeze's explanation is the only one I've ever heard, and so most likely correct. To be editorial, however, +Physicality never seemed to do very much, and soon will do nothing. </P> <P>2) Brawl: When it comes to DPS versus an even con mob, +Fists will not do you very much good. The damage bonus is minimal. What this skill is really good for is being able to hit red con mobs with your auto-attack. This can be helpful against mobs like drakotas and Darathar, who can con orange and red at 50.</P> <P> </P>

[CosmicAcidGu]

from my observation, the +Fist bonus doesn't really increase my accuracy (to-hit-ratio), but increases the min/max damage of my weapon. It seems to me that the +crushing bonus from Rousing Cry / Velan's is helping me more. But I may be wrong, as this is just observation and not parsing. Finnster <div></div>

[Jezekie]

<span><blockquote><hr>CosmicAcidGuru wrote:from my observation, the +Fist bonus doesn't really increase my accuracy (to-hit-ratio), but increases the min/max damage of my weapon. It seems to me that the +crushing bonus from Rousing Cry / Velan's is helping me more. But I may be wrong, as this is just observation and not parsing. Finnster <div></div><hr></blockquote>I could very well be wrong about the To-Hit of the Fist skill, but you're right that Crushing plays a larger role in comparison so it may overshadow the Fist skill at times. You also have to look at your default To-Hit which is quite high as it is, and the NPCs levels usually aren't that high in comparison to our self (To require alot higher skill level) so it becomes harder to notice a difference with buffs unless you look through tons of parses.</span><div></div>

[Vorham]

<DIV>As a real world example, say at lvl 40 you're in a group in CT... you come across a lvl 49^^ mob.  With Bouncer or no self buffs you'll hardly be able to hit the mob... cast Brawl on yourself, if you're using Fist based weapons, and suddenly almost every one of your attacks will land.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Basically it makes you attack as if you were a few levels higher. Instead of 40, you attack like a lvl 44 player.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Your attacks will also hit for a bit more damage, just like you were a few levels higher, provided your weapons and combat arts are yellow/orange.  If weaps and combat arts are blue/green/grey... they are already maxed out, and the Brawl style buffs won't increase anything.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>