2011-07-02, 06:25 PM
JoeTang Wrote:The problem with designing their attacking skill is Hurricane is the precedence for speed. Mercedes is designed to be the fastest archer. They have higher attack speed, higher max speed, higher total speed, better mobility, and movement skills. If they got a skill slower than Hurricane, it makes no design sense. I feel a skill faster than Hurricane would hurt balance too much as well. I've thought about it a few times as well, and I can't really think of any type of replacement. The idea of Hurricane is its efficiency. Unlike Ultimate Strafe, it never wastes arrows. That's what makes it so good, despite being a single target skill. You can use it on multiple monsters and efficiently attack, unlike Ultimate Strafe.
If they made a skill faster than Hurricane, it would have to have significantly lower damage, and Advanced Final Attack would need to be removed. In the end people would claim it's still Hurricane, except faster so it's overpowered. If they made a skill slower like Ultimate Strafe, people would say it's just Ultimate Strafe. If they made a buffed version of Strike Dualshot, people would say they're just copying skills from earlier jobs. Design wise, I like Ring of Ishtar is the best of any choices I've listed so far.
I do disagree with this part, though. I've been thinking about possible replacements for Ring of Ishtar so as to get rid of the whole 'Hurricane ripoff' stigma, and it made me think of the Mechanic's seige skill, where you launch repeated attacks so long as you keep tapping the basic attack button. Maybe they could have given Mercedes a similar skill, difference being that she can use it while walking and in mid-air (but possibly limiting it to like 6 attacks per second, 12 attacks if she is to use both bowguns, althoug the latter may mean that AFA should probably be taken out). If it needs further balancing in terms of how it functions, the arrows probably shouldn't curve since she can move while using it anyways.
I think such a skill would fit in with her playing style much better (and be far easier to balance) than Ishtar, now that Ishtar pins you to the spot upon use.