Here are some of the problems not addressed by the skill balance:
-Weak trait selections, warrior still pigeon-holed into the same apex traits (Cleansing Ire, Fast Hands, Dogged March, etc.
-Some weapons just suck, certain changes pushed these weapons completely out of use (such as rifle, axe took a major hit)
-Melee warrior weak and easily shutdown or dominated by ranged/teleporters
-Many utility skills suck (stomp, bolas, frenzy)
-Shoutbow is boring as hell to play and is now the forced meta build
PROPOSED CHANGES:
New baselines:
-Rifle range increased to 1500. Projectile speed increased by 50%. Warriors using rifle gain steady aim when standing still and deal more damage (5%) and attack faster (15%) with rifle attacks.
-Volley now stacks might per hit if Steady Aim is active. Damage reduced if fired while moving.
-Brutal shot now returns adrenaline in addition to granting vulnerability. Adrenaline gain based on range (more granted the further out the enemy is)
-Killshot can now be used while moving but loses significant amounts of damage if fired off without steady aim.
-Axes now block projectiles fired at the warrior’s front (sides and back don’t count). The block rate is 50% when using one axe, 100% when using two. Axe whirls now destroy projectiles.
-Fast hands is now baseline.
-Frenzy no longer causes damage penalties.
DEFENSE:
-Thick Skin removed. Replaced with Frontline Veteran which reduces damage done to the warrior by ground based AoE by 15% as long as the warrior is not attacking.
-Sundering Mace adds a new functionality to the current trait that recharges weapon swap when hitting with a mace stun.
-Armored Attack: Changed to critical hits on foes performed while under retaliation causes retaliation damage to trigger on them.
TACTICS:
-Empower Allies changed to War Hero. Banners now pulse with boons every 10 seconds granting might for the banner of strength, protection for defense, and condition clearing for tactics. The elite warbanner pulses stability. Fury for discipline.
STRENGTH:
-Restorative Strength removed. Replaced by Gladiator’s Resolve. Every 60 seconds the warrior reduces the damage of an attack that would deal more than 10% of its maximum health, that damage is reduced by half and the warrior gains 3 might when this triggers.
-Great Fortitude changed to I Will Avenge You. When brought to zero health the warrior gains 3 seconds of temporary invulnerability and stays up for this duration before going into downstate. Counts as a shout when triggered. The warrior cannot be healed during this “last hurrah.”
DISCIPLINE:
-Inspiring Banners changed to Roaring Battlecry. Every 90 seconds, the next banner knocks down all enemies in the target area.
-Fast Hands moved to baseline and replaced by Parrying Strike, which deals physical damage to the target if they are within 300m when swapping weapons.
-Crackshot. New functionality added to current trait that makes it so rifle shots deal 3% more damage for each enemy they strike on the way to the intended target. This rewards rifle warriors for lining up multiple targets and makes them strong against minion classes.
ARMS:
-Dual Wielding. New functionality added to current trait that makes it so enemies attacking you from the front within 15% less damage if they are within melee range of you (300m).
PURPOSE:
My mentality behind this traits was to bring back the melee warrior. To reward warriors for being in the fray and give them the tools they need to survive head-on encounters in melee while still allowing for them to have weaknesses if they make errors.
I added interesting functions to the axe to allow it to be a projectile absorption weapon that can be used to shield allies by standing in front of them when not attacking. It also allows for axe warriors to traverse battlefields covered in projectiles to reach their target, but also causes their defenses to end if they take the offensive or get flanked.
Rifle was changed to allow it to complete with ranger longbow but still give it interesting mechanics the separate it from the ranger weapon and reward the warrior for hitting multiple targets and finding positions where they can cc the enemy and stand still while shooting. This makes the weapon very strong when you can control your positioning well.
Banners were changed to allow for pulsing support and allows them to be used offensively as an area CC.
Mace was given a weapon swap recharge to reward players that mace stun by always allowing them to swap to a supplementary weapon set to burst if they setup their combos right.
Many defensive traits were added that allow warriors to wade through the fight and survive longer but have their protections end when they become overly aggressive or overextend where they can be attacked from the back or get tunnel vision on a target while they are being pressured.
(edited by lordhelmos.7623)