GU64 Fighter Changes Coming to Test

Xelgad (by way of Ashlanne) has posted some additional information about the upcoming Fighter changes that come with Game Update 64. But first, Piestro has some comments about rushing to judgment:

Obviously this is a change that we knew people would be passionate about. Of course until people see the actual changes any evaluation of their impact is premature. The best way to move forward is to write down your concerns, and then formulate a test plan based on those concerns. That will give you the best possible start to actually testing the changes, and seeing what their actual impacts are.

And now that overview of the Fighter changes in GU63 from the EQ2 Forums:

Greetings everyone, Xelgad here! I’d like to explain some of the changes to our fighter archetype that you will be seeing on the Test Server soon.

The biggest addition is that all fighters will be gaining a new combat stance called “Recklessness” that is a high risk, extremely offensive stance that greatly increases outgoing and incoming damage. For brawlers, Recklessness will replace Black Widow Stance and Bruising. Recklessness will increase the versatility of fighter classes by allowing them to contribute meaningful damage output when not tanking.

We’re also changing how the Strikethrough mechanic interacts with tank classes. First, Crouching Tiger and Bodyguard will no longer grant full time immunity to Strikethrough. As the Brawler classes have gained active and passive tools to reduce spike damage, full time Strikethrough Immunity is no longer necessary. Furthermore, our content designers will be able to use Strikethrough to challenge groups regardless of which tank class they’re using. For the second half of this change, Strikethrough Immunity has been added to all buffs that temporarily increase uncontested avoidance by 20% or more. This will make those temporary buffs more reliable and intuitive.

Lastly, we’re tweaking fighter heals. All fighter heals will be percentage based and can no longer be modified by potency, except by direct means, such as an Alternate Advancements and Focus Effects. In most situations, this results in an increase in effectiveness. This also ensures fighter heals scale properly, regardless of level, gear quality and other variables.

We’ve also made some class-specific changes, and we look forward to hearing your feedback once these adjustments reach the Test Server!

Michael “Xelgad” Ganz