Guild Wars 2

Evade and Slash and stab your foe with both weapons. First Strike steals a boon.
Damage: (x2) 756 (same damage as before, you just strike the target at once.)
Range: 170.

This skill no longer moves you, but grants you short evasion, animation is changed to just attack the target first with the sword, and then quickly stab with the dagger.

I believe this ability would help thieves a lot, and fits the name “thief.” because your literally stealing your enemies fun boons that you don’t have.

I used this ability once in wvw and it missed on both hits. I lol’d.

when i saw the name “vampiric strike” i thought it would be a life stealing ability. as that is what life stealing abilitys are “vampiric”.

so why is a boon stripping ability called vampiric ?

Or just copy paste the rangers sword 3.

kash.9213:

Or just copy paste the rangers sword 3.

yea, I will definitely take that over the current buggy flanking strike.

Well, I use the term vampire as your taking away something and giving it to yourself.

Well Flanking strike is one of the best (if not) the best sword skill so i really do hope they never change it. If at this point you haven’t figured out a way to make it hit 90%. you really need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. even when it flings you in a random direction who cares. it gives you enough time to walk into range before your second strike starts.
A dodge, Boon remover, plus 1/4 More dmg then Cnd.

Highlie.7641:

Well Flanking strike is one of the best (if not) the best sword skill so i really do hope they never change it. If at this point you haven’t figured out a way to make it hit 90%. you really need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. even when it flings you in a random direction who cares. it gives you enough time to walk into range before your second strike starts.
A dodge, Boon remover, plus 1/4 More dmg then Cnd.

Yes, luckily you summed up all the problems with it in your post.

Its too hard to use for casuals and bad players like me, I obviously need to learn the secret that is “flanking strike.”

Highlie.7641:

Well Flanking strike is one of the best (if not) the best sword skill so i really do hope they never change it. If at this point you haven’t figured out a way to make it hit 90%. you really need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. even when it flings you in a random direction who cares. it gives you enough time to walk into range before your second strike starts.
A dodge, Boon remover, plus 1/4 More dmg then Cnd.

Luckily for us S/D users, this skill should (don’t quote me on this though) never get nerfed with all these people crying about how bad it is. Sure, the time between the two attack could be faster and sure the path could be better too, but over all it is one of my favorite skills.

Oh, your forgot unblockable on your list. Not sure if the 2nd strike can be blocked or not though.

But as for this ‘Vampiric Strike’ idea, I feel someone has read Twilight too many times….. It would need to be called something else. And evasion without moving? I don’t get it… It would not make sense in game to dodge without even moving. I would be completely fine with the stealing boon part though.

Binary Rain.4869:

Highlie.7641:

Well Flanking strike is one of the best (if not) the best sword skill so i really do hope they never change it. If at this point you haven’t figured out a way to make it hit 90%. you really need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. even when it flings you in a random direction who cares. it gives you enough time to walk into range before your second strike starts.
A dodge, Boon remover, plus 1/4 More dmg then Cnd.

Luckily for us S/D users, this skill should (don’t quote me on this though) never get nerfed with all these people crying about how bad it is. Sure, the time between the two attack could be faster and sure the path could be better too, but over all it is one of my favorite skills.

Oh, your forgot unblockable on your list. Not sure if the 2nd strike can be blocked or not though.

But as for this ‘Vampiric Strike’ idea, I feel someone has read Twilight too many times….. It would need to be called something else. And evasion without moving? I don’t get it… It would not make sense in game to dodge without even moving. I would be completely fine with the stealing boon part though.

I lose faith in people when they see vampire and think “Twilight” instead of something like “World of Darkness” or “Vampire the Masquerade.”

Your character would be striking quickly, he would look like hes blurred while hes swinging and stabbing with shadows around him.

Example would be like: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blurred_Frenzy

The Timing/animation comes in handy though. when your fighting d/d thiefs. takes a bit longer for the animation then h/s so you end up evading all there attacks and landing with Fs’s second strike. (This is also the case for Shortbow #3) Also when your immobilized you will just spin in place evading all incoming attacks.
for the most part it is annoying how long it takes though..

I think that FS should steal the boon, I mean we are thieves.

Also I wanted the tracking part to be fixed by making it a move quickly blurred and swing twice.

Daecollo.9578:

Your character would be striking quickly, he would look like hes blurred while hes swinging and stabbing with shadows around him.

Example would be like: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blurred_Frenzy

I suppose. But then the skill would become terrible since it would root you in place. It will feel like pistol whip then. With the dodging mechanic, though, anet always seems to put movement into it. Like whirlwind attack, roll for intiative, serpent’s strike and many more. All are moving skills when they dodge.

Edit: I still love the idea about stealing the boon though.

Binary Rain.4869:

Daecollo.9578:

Your character would be striking quickly, he would look like hes blurred while hes swinging and stabbing with shadows around him.

Example would be like: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Blurred_Frenzy

I suppose. But then the skill would become terrible since it would root you in place. It will feel like pistol whip then. With the dodging mechanic, though, anet always seems to put movement into it. Like whirlwind attack, roll for intiative, serpent’s strike and many more. All are moving skills when they dodge.

Edit: I still love the idea about stealing the boon though.

Heres my idea for the animation:
A thief performing Cloak and Dagger Animation.
A thief performing Stab Animation.
The Blurring Character Particle effect from Blurred Frenzy.
The thief is blurred, but he looks like hes both these attacks at once, it almost looks like they’re are two thieves, but its just a very quick move, both of them are blurred as well.

The Evasion comes because the thief is moving so fast in one spot it looks like hes thrusting your sword and shanking you at the same time, which is why it has evasion.

However, the weakness to this is it has only 2 hits, so it has a low hit volume, unlike pistol whip, this means less procs.

For those having trouble with flanking strike hitting still, I would recommend turning off melee attack assist. While it doesn’t make FS 100% reliable, it seems to hit more often than not now.

Highlie.7641:

Well Flanking strike is one of the best (if not) the best sword skill so i really do hope they never change it. If at this point you haven’t figured out a way to make it hit 90%. you really need to go back to the drawing board and figure it out. even when it flings you in a random direction who cares. it gives you enough time to walk into range before your second strike starts.
A dodge, Boon remover, plus 1/4 More dmg then Cnd.

You’re, I believe, the second person I’ve ever seen on these forums that considers FS good. The only thing that FS truly excels at is spammable boon removal, a role it’d be an order of magnitude better at filling if it didn’t have a bunch of other poorly-implemented stuff tacked on. The damage is mediocre, even with the skill to consistently offset the poor tracking on it, and the evasion takes up far too small of a portion of the total channel time.

A 4 initiative strike that does FS’ damage straight-up? Awesome. A 4 initiative strike that does a weaker strike and removes a boon straight-up? Awesome. A 4 initiative strike that reliably evades in place with less damage? Awesome. Poorly implementing all three into one ability is like mixing steak, popcorn, and gummy bears and then expecting it to be good.

Daecollo.9578:

Well, I use the term vampire as your taking away something and giving it to yourself.

Vampires are about sucking blood and sort of life force.

Thief strike?

Okay, seriously now, the only thing which should be changed about FS, and I write it again, is this kitty delay caused by animation. I can’t dodge powerful blows properly, when animations gets queued after auto-attack. Some attacks are hard enough to dodge with a simple roll, but FS is pure lottery, in which you lose over 90% of time.

No, I will never turn off sword auto attack, because it is core damage move of S/D.

swinsk.6410:

I used this ability once in wvw and it missed on both hits. I lol’d.

This is because Flanking Strike is one of the few abilities we have that actually takes skill to use. You have to aim it.

Dagins.5163:

Daecollo.9578:

Well, I use the term vampire as your taking away something and giving it to yourself.

Vampires are about sucking blood and sort of life force.

Thief strike?

Okay, seriously now, the only thing which should be changed about FS, and I write it again, is this kitty delay caused by animation. I can’t dodge powerful blows properly, when animations gets queued after auto-attack. Some attacks are hard enough to dodge with a simple roll, but FS is pure lottery, in which you lose over 90% of time.

No, I will never turn off sword auto attack, because it is core damage move of S/D.

No, Vampirism is:

vampirism (?væmpa??r??z?m)

— n
1. belief in the existence of vampires
2. the actions of vampires; bloodsucking
3. the act of preying upon or exploiting others

This is mostly about ‘3’, The act of preying upon or exploiting others, your stealing someones boon, meaning your taking there buffs for yourself, that is like your sword draining there essence.

I also hate the lottery, but I also believe it should steal boons.

Adaneshade.2409:

swinsk.6410:

I used this ability once in wvw and it missed on both hits. I lol’d.

This is because Flanking Strike is one of the few abilities we have that actually takes skill to use. You have to aim it.

Skill shots are fine if they take an investment in skill for a proportionately good reward. FS, by contrast, takes an investment in skill to not be absolutely terrible, and even then it isn’t very good.

Tulisin.6945:

Skill shots are fine if they take an investment in skill for a proportionately good reward. FS, by contrast, takes an investment in skill to not be absolutely terrible, and even then it isn’t very good.

FS lands about as often and reliably as anything else for me after learning to leave my camera facing alone or how to interfere with it right. It really only needs to lock out your own movement aside from dodging and lock on target until the second hit or animation is done like the ranger sword 3 and it will be just fine even for general player use.

Let’s be honest, almost anyone that plays a Thief can come up with a better ability for Flanking Strike. I would take a Vampiric Strike that steals health and has a damage modifier based on healing power (or just increases life drained).

Doesn’t matter the name honestly, just get rid of Flanking Strike.

ArtemisEntreri.4138:

Let’s be honest, almost anyone that plays a Thief can come up with a better ability for Flanking Strike. I would take a Vampiric Strike that steals health and has a damage modifier based on healing power (or just increases life drained).

Doesn’t matter the name honestly, just get rid of Flanking Strike.

Kind of want to steal a boon, if I want to steal life I have pistol whip and signet of malice.

kash.9213:

Tulisin.6945:

Skill shots are fine if they take an investment in skill for a proportionately good reward. FS, by contrast, takes an investment in skill to not be absolutely terrible, and even then it isn’t very good.

FS lands about as often and reliably as anything else for me after learning to leave my camera facing alone or how to interfere with it right. It really only needs to lock out your own movement aside from dodging and lock on target until the second hit or animation is done like the ranger sword 3 and it will be just fine even for general player use.

The problem is: Given perfected use of FS, it is still a bad skill. If it was about becoming proficient for the payoff of a good skill this would be another matter entirely. Its only unique use is for hitting through block and removing boons, both of which it would do better if it was a single strike.

It’d be like if they added an aftercast to C&D where you did a little jig and got 3 seconds of swiftness. Would the skill be more powerful? Technically. Would skilled players still be able to utilize it? Sure. But it would become a bad skill nonetheless.

An ability with good player skill scaling is usable by a newbie and becomes even more effective in the hands of a more skilled player. FS is unusable in its basic form, and doesn’t become much better as you master it. Anything that tears control of your character away from you for an extended period of time is going to ultimately work against skilled use since it reduces choice and makes you predictable.

Personally I would rather it remove 2 boons rather than steal 1, but regardless I think it’s a good idea and better than what we have now.

Honestly, I really don’t care what they do with the secondary effect, as long as they just make it an instant strike so we don’t have deal with the terrible pathing.

How is any unblockable skill a bad thing? The point is to give you an option when a guardian or warrior turtles up. Strip their boons and still do decent dmg to them, making blocks useless.

The ability would be great if it just had the same pathing as the ranger equivalent skill. It’s still not all that bad IMO.

Also, I vote to call our new skill “Thieving Strike”

I like the idea. Currently, Flanking Strike is stopping me from toying around with s/d.

I dislike the rooted evasion idea – it’s why I don’t like Pistol Whip. All I want is for the tracking of the skill to be 100% reliable, because repositioning around the opponent is one of the most crucial parts of my S/D fighting strategy, and Flanking Strike is perfect for it, especially when the boon strip is unblockable and the damage from both hits is fairly formidable (you can move to land the second one if you need to).

I am in favour of the boon being stolen rather than stripped, however.

Auesis.7301:

I dislike the rooted evasion idea – it’s why I don’t like Pistol Whip. All I want is for the tracking of the skill to be 100% reliable, because repositioning around the opponent is one of the most crucial parts of my S/D fighting strategy, and Flanking Strike is perfect for it, especially when the boon strip is unblockable and the damage from both hits is fairly formidable (you can move to land the second one if you need to).

I am in favour of the boon being stolen rather than stripped, however.

The thing people should understand about flanking strike is that the animation is too long.

FS drops your dps drastically, and you are better off autoattacking in 90% of the time.

The high animation time makes the correlated dodge also unreliable, since the dodge doesn’t last the whole animation, and you’re stuck into the second strike ( which takes longer than autoattacking), vulnerable to beating.

Altough S/D is quite uncommon nowadays after the nerf which crushed us S/D thieves, being experienced against them ( due to playing it in tPvP till the nerf) leads me to simply “wait” for the first, weak attack , let the evade animation go and i have a full second to smack them in the face while they’re attempting to land that unreliable second attack ( CCing and bursting them, which usually means death to an S/D thief unless he has shadow return available or shadowstep).

No DPS increase, unreliable positioning and a too long animation make this skill utterly crap, good only for the boon removal ( and having it steal a boon, like OP proposes, won’t change anything, since the set has been totally gimped in both damage and control department).

At least before we had C&D + TS for our damage, and could use FS to remove everlasting boons, protection and stability: now the whole combo damage is near 20% less effective in tPvP ( for a good 35 % crit damage loss with normal crit scaling) after the nerf, and the set doesn’t really have anything else to offer.

It’s sad becasue it was the most engaging and skillful set we have ( along with D/P), but currently, it has no practical use aside WvWvW, where the OH nerf is limited to Dancing dagger, and the daze on TS still lasts 3 seconds.

This set needs proper daze duration ( 2.5 secs, which should have been from the start, but rounding was bugged and it rounded to 3 secs with Sigil of paralyzation or mesmer runes), C&D nerf reverted ( and applied to mug, if they really want to nerf thief burst so bad) and FS being faster and give full evading time ( like death blossom).

PvP is not all about dps. Flanking strike has use in it’s current implementation as an unblockable boon strip. If it were made easier to land it would simply be too OP, much like other abilities we have already are.

For instance: you are fighting a bunker class, lets say a warrior. He pops regeneration then goes into shield block. Thanks to us having one of the ONLY direct damage unblockable weapon skills from any class. We can still strip that regeneration off.

This would be completely OP if it were a guaranteed, easy to land ability. Because it requires some aiming, it’s currently balanced.

Auesis.7301:

I dislike the rooted evasion idea – it’s why I don’t like Pistol Whip. All I want is for the tracking of the skill to be 100% reliable, because repositioning around the opponent is one of the most crucial parts of my S/D fighting strategy, and Flanking Strike is perfect for it, especially when the boon strip is unblockable and the damage from both hits is fairly formidable (you can move to land the second one if you need to).

I am in favour of the boon being stolen rather than stripped, however.

Um, When did I ever say root?

Anyways I’d rather be rooted then unable to control my toon and moved around randomly like I am now.

Flanking Strike does require skill, but I believe it should not move you at all, just grant you evasion and let you control where you want to go, like whirling axe and other abilities do it.

It doesn’t need anymore damage, its damage and control is enough.

I do believe it should steal the boon though, this would bring even more skill into equation, because you have to pick which boon you want to strip and steal.

And letting the player have full control with how the ability moves instead of just leaping or tracking the target would be a fun mechanic.

Adaneshade.2409:

PvP is not all about dps. Flanking strike has use in it’s current implementation as an unblockable boon strip. If it were made easier to land it would simply be too OP, much like other abilities we have already are.

For instance: you are fighting a bunker class, lets say a warrior. He pops regeneration then goes into shield block. Thanks to us having one of the ONLY direct damage unblockable weapon skills from any class. We can still strip that regeneration off.

This would be completely OP if it were a guaranteed, easy to land ability. Because it requires some aiming, it’s currently balanced.

Yeah, that’s the reason why you see so many S/D thieves in tPvP.

Yeah it was also the reason why thief community was divided in tPvP ad high levels ( for direct damage, at least) almost equally into S/D and D/D , pre OH dagger nerf.

Oh wait…

I’m new to S/D but starting to really like FS. You have time to manually aim the 2nd attack after you fire it off. It’s amazing to use on thieves who are coming in for a C&D.

Stiv.1820:

I’m new to S/D but starting to really like FS. You have time to manually aim the 2nd attack after you fire it off. It’s amazing to use on thieves who are coming in for a C&D.

Yeah, but useless against everyone else it seems like, its not like Thieves have any boons to strip.

Daecollo.9578:

Stiv.1820:

I’m new to S/D but starting to really like FS. You have time to manually aim the 2nd attack after you fire it off. It’s amazing to use on thieves who are coming in for a C&D.

Yeah, but useless against everyone else it seems like, its not like Thieves have any boons to strip.

C&D spamming shadow arts thieves usually have a few stacks of might to get rid of. It’s good for getting out of 100 blades/BF. Also to damage Engies who camp in their yardsale of awful while pooping grenades without taking much damage yourself.

Stiv.1820:

Daecollo.9578:

Stiv.1820:

I’m new to S/D but starting to really like FS. You have time to manually aim the 2nd attack after you fire it off. It’s amazing to use on thieves who are coming in for a C&D.

Yeah, but useless against everyone else it seems like, its not like Thieves have any boons to strip.

C&D spamming shadow arts thieves usually have a few stacks of might to get rid of. It’s good for getting out of 100 blades/BF. Also to damage Engies who camp in their yardsale of awful while pooping grenades without taking much damage yourself.

You got 2 stacks of might that probably had 1-2 seconds left anyways, good job.

If you got in BC/100b you will be knocked down, you can’t use FS when your knocked down.

Grenade Engineers are pretty BA…. lol

Daecollo.9578:

Stiv.1820:

Daecollo.9578:

Stiv.1820:

I’m new to S/D but starting to really like FS. You have time to manually aim the 2nd attack after you fire it off. It’s amazing to use on thieves who are coming in for a C&D.

Yeah, but useless against everyone else it seems like, its not like Thieves have any boons to strip.

C&D spamming shadow arts thieves usually have a few stacks of might to get rid of. It’s good for getting out of 100 blades/BF. Also to damage Engies who camp in their yardsale of awful while pooping grenades without taking much damage yourself.

You got 2 stacks of might that probably had 1-2 seconds left anyways, good job.

If you got in BC/100b you will be knocked down, you can’t use FS when your knocked down.

Grenade Engineers are pretty BA…. lol

I have 8-10 stacks most of the time. Sometimes warriors don’t bother with the KD and Mesmers randomly BF all the time without root. Situational but not useless. Also really easy to land on churning earth as is everything but ti’s not a bad opener to CE punishing. Good for rangers spamming and walking slowly backwards just waiting for you to get close to KB.

I know dodge works for all of this too but it saves endo and does decent damage.

Stiv.1820:

Daecollo.9578:

Stiv.1820:

Daecollo.9578:

Stiv.1820:

I’m new to S/D but starting to really like FS. You have time to manually aim the 2nd attack after you fire it off. It’s amazing to use on thieves who are coming in for a C&D.

Yeah, but useless against everyone else it seems like, its not like Thieves have any boons to strip.

C&D spamming shadow arts thieves usually have a few stacks of might to get rid of. It’s good for getting out of 100 blades/BF. Also to damage Engies who camp in their yardsale of awful while pooping grenades without taking much damage yourself.

You got 2 stacks of might that probably had 1-2 seconds left anyways, good job.

If you got in BC/100b you will be knocked down, you can’t use FS when your knocked down.

Grenade Engineers are pretty BA…. lol

I have 8-10 stacks most of the time. Sometimes warriors don’t bother with the KD and Mesmers randomly BF all the time without root. Situational but not useless. Also really easy to land on churning earth as is everything but ti’s not a bad opener to CE punishing. Good for rangers spamming and walking slowly backwards just waiting for you to get close to KB.

I know dodge works for all of this too but it saves endo and does decent damage.

Somethings wrong if you let the thief stealth 5 times to get that 10 stacks of might.
I’d rather have an ability I can use reliably all the time that lets me move, not the animation, because that means its on my skill and not on luck.

If anything is going to take a boon and add it to the thief, it should be added to Steal. It’s on a long enough CD that it would not become a bit OP.

Daemonne.5018:

If anything is going to take a boon and add it to the thief, it should be added to Steal. It’s on a long enough CD that it would not become a bit OP.

If it stole a boon, it wouldn’t be OP, steal can already be traited to do such, but it has too long of a CD.

Mrbig.8019:

Adaneshade.2409:

PvP is not all about dps. Flanking strike has use in it’s current implementation as an unblockable boon strip. If it were made easier to land it would simply be too OP, much like other abilities we have already are.

For instance: you are fighting a bunker class, lets say a warrior. He pops regeneration then goes into shield block. Thanks to us having one of the ONLY direct damage unblockable weapon skills from any class. We can still strip that regeneration off.

This would be completely OP if it were a guaranteed, easy to land ability. Because it requires some aiming, it’s currently balanced.

Yeah, that’s the reason why you see so many S/D thieves in tPvP.

Yeah it was also the reason why thief community was divided in tPvP ad high levels ( for direct damage, at least) almost equally into S/D and D/D , pre OH dagger nerf.

Oh wait…

Yeah, there actually are more S/D thieves in high level tPvP than D/D. D/D is easy mode, but really is weak comparably since it has such a low skill cap. If you have the skill, S/D blows D/D out of the water.

I wouldn’t really call a skill that relies on luck and tracking “skill.” more so that these thieves are luckier then most.

There is no “luck” involved in flanking strike, it can be aimed to hit 100% of the time. Most people are just too bad to do it.

Daecollo.9578:

Um, When did I ever say root?

Anyways I’d rather be rooted then unable to control my toon and moved around randomly like I am now.

Flanking Strike does require skill, but I believe it should not move you at all, just grant you evasion and let you control where you want to go, like whirling axe and other abilities do it.

It doesn’t need anymore damage, its damage and control is enough.

I do believe it should steal the boon though, this would bring even more skill into equation, because you have to pick which boon you want to strip and steal.

And letting the player have full control with how the ability moves instead of just leaping or tracking the target would be a fun mechanic.

My understanding of being rooted came from the description that the skill would no longer move you at all. I assumed that would mean that you literally can’t move while using the skill. Guess not. Makes sense to me.

Auesis.7301:

Daecollo.9578:

Um, When did I ever say root?

Anyways I’d rather be rooted then unable to control my toon and moved around randomly like I am now.

Flanking Strike does require skill, but I believe it should not move you at all, just grant you evasion and let you control where you want to go, like whirling axe and other abilities do it.

It doesn’t need anymore damage, its damage and control is enough.

I do believe it should steal the boon though, this would bring even more skill into equation, because you have to pick which boon you want to strip and steal.

And letting the player have full control with how the ability moves instead of just leaping or tracking the target would be a fun mechanic.

My understanding of being rooted came from the description that the skill would no longer move you at all. I assumed that would mean that you literally can’t move while using the skill. Guess not. Makes sense to me.

I said the animation would be shadowed between your character using “stab” and “cloak and dagger.” and look like the thief was slashing your target with a dagger and stabbing them with the sword all at once, both abilities can be used while moving.

Daecollo.9578:

Auesis.7301:

Daecollo.9578:

Um, When did I ever say root?

Anyways I’d rather be rooted then unable to control my toon and moved around randomly like I am now.

Flanking Strike does require skill, but I believe it should not move you at all, just grant you evasion and let you control where you want to go, like whirling axe and other abilities do it.

It doesn’t need anymore damage, its damage and control is enough.

I do believe it should steal the boon though, this would bring even more skill into equation, because you have to pick which boon you want to strip and steal.

And letting the player have full control with how the ability moves instead of just leaping or tracking the target would be a fun mechanic.

My understanding of being rooted came from the description that the skill would no longer move you at all. I assumed that would mean that you literally can’t move while using the skill. Guess not. Makes sense to me.

I said the animation would be shadowed between your character using “stab” and “cloak and dagger.” and look like the thief was slashing your target with a dagger and stabbing them with the sword all at once, both abilities can be used while moving.

Yeah, I see that now. Sounds fine to me.

Adaneshade.2409:

There is no “luck” involved in flanking strike, it can be aimed to hit 100% of the time. Most people are just too bad to do it.

Question for you. I’m new to S/D. I am able to manually aim as long as they are within X units of where they were when I started the skill. When you use the ability do you normally drop target first and use manual tracking for the entire ability (which seems to make you leap directly to the right of the direction you face) or keep the target and only manually aim after the first part of the animation?

Stiv.1820:

Adaneshade.2409:

There is no “luck” involved in flanking strike, it can be aimed to hit 100% of the time. Most people are just too bad to do it.

Question for you. I’m new to S/D. I am able to manually aim as long as they are within X units of where they were when I started the skill. When you use the ability do you normally drop target first and use manual tracking for the entire ability (which seems to make you leap directly to the right of the direction you face) or keep the target and only manually aim after the first part of the animation?

It has a 50% chance to hit moving targets, it usually only works well if your enemy is standing still, which usually isn’t the case.

Its a chance, and its luck as well.

Calling Luck skill is kind of wrong, seeing as how you are relying completely on how good or bad your enemy is and where he moves and how well it tracks him, its all luck.

Keep in mind that you spin to the right, and that you can move between the first and second strikes. After a while it just becomes muscle memory. You never want to face directly at your target.