Joka10
Soulsand
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2012
Okay, so I'm a Ninja. I have only been 1 other class, and that is Ranger. Personally, I like Ninja a lot and even when I master it, I don't think I'll change classes. However, I do have a couple problems with it, and I know that many others do too...
Stamina
Cooldown
Garrote
Skills giving messages!!!
Other, less important, miscellaneous stuff
So, those are just some ideas I've had. Opinions that don't involve Poopbox are preferred to those that do, but take this as you will.
Stamina
So, first of all, there's the stamina. I've looked through threads that have nothing to do with Ninja whatsoever and I see complaints about the stamina. Up until I got the skill Smoke, I never really had a particular problem with stamina. I just hadn't been in a situation where it had been an issue. So, when I got Smoke, I started playing around with it. It was pretty cool. I was annoyed that it gave a message upon use (I still am, but I'll get to that later), but it was a really good escape/sneak attack move... or so I thought.
Well, I was experimenting to figure out what the most effective/showy way of getting out of action quickly would be, and I came up with using Backflip, and then in midair, Smoke. Backflip puts you several blocks away from them already, and when you're invisible, you can run away without them having any idea where you've gone... right? No. Backflip+Smoke leaves you with not even enough stamina to sprint. You have to wait a few seconds after using Smoke to really be able to run away, and seeing as the skill only lasts 10 seconds, just waiting on sprint wastes like 50% of the time you have to use it. I thought I'd come up with a really effective and somewhat-cool-looking escape, but I'd pretty much figured out a good way to waste Smoke and get myself killed. So, I couldn't use that combo.
It wasn't long until I discovered that it's pretty much impossible to do ANY sort of combo with Ninja and still be able to sprint. Any two skills used together really drop your stamina bar to the point where you can barely sprint or maybe not even sprint at all, let alone use another skill. So, with Ninja, which is supposed to be a fairly speedy and stealthy class, it is pretty much impossible to do an effective hit-and-run thing, which is really something that I thought Ninja would be able to do when I chose it. Getting into a situation, dealing a lot of damage, and getting out fast and discreetly... Despite One, Smoke, and Backflip, Ninja can't do that.
After applying Blackjack and Envenom, the choices a Ninja has in a fight are basically
A). Enter using Smoke to avoid being seen, use one skill, and then hope for the best in a melee, skilless (save for the first one) fight from which they cannot flee.
B). Enter using One to get into the situation quickly, and then the rest of the situation continues like in A.
C). Enter without using One or Smoke, deal two damaging skills, and then the rest of the situation continues like in A and B.
D). Enter like in C, use one skill, and then use Smoke to get away.
E). Enter like in C, use one skill, and then use One to get away.
In A and B, a Ninja might be able to attack before the enemy has time or even knows to react, but the damage dealt is minimal and the Ninja has very little chance of winning the fight or escaping without taking major, possibly fatal damage. In C, a Ninja does the most damage, but does not get in with any element of surprise or get out with any advantage. The damage dealt really isn't that much, either. In D and E, the Ninja gets into the situation without the advantage of surprise, deals a little bit of damage, and escapes efficiently. While the Ninja might survive that and be able to come back for another attack once their stamina regens, it is a really ineffective method of attack, especially if the victim has a healer or even just food. Backflip doesn't really fit in at all here. If it is used, it pretty much only allows the Ninja to use one skill and then suffer the rest of the battle like in A and B.
A Ninja has skills meant to make it stealthy, speedy, agile, and fairly damaging. Its stamina is so low, stamina usage so high, and stamina regen so long that it is mostly impossible for the Ninja to use any of those skills in a combination of more than 2 at a time. Instead of being limited to 5, ineffective options, why can't Ninja have something like "Apply Blackjack and Envenom, wait a little bit, enter using One to arrive with such speed that the enemy isn't quite ready for them, deal two damaging skills (a silencer and Eviscerate), fight for a few seconds while stamina regenerates, and if at risk of death, use Smoke to escape" The Ninja, while still having a fair chance to lose the fight, now actually has an advantage of surprise, that, even when used, allows it to fight with a fair chance to win or to get away.
So maybe that is a bit overpowered. However, the options that a Ninja has right now in a fight pretty much guarantee defeat in a fight with another rogue or a warrior, and don't give it chances as high as the other rogue specs at fighting a caster. I suggest that either A) Ninja's stamina is increased, B) Ninja's skills use less stamina, C) Ninja regenerates stamina faster (personally my favorite solution), or a mixture of any of those choices.
Well, I was experimenting to figure out what the most effective/showy way of getting out of action quickly would be, and I came up with using Backflip, and then in midair, Smoke. Backflip puts you several blocks away from them already, and when you're invisible, you can run away without them having any idea where you've gone... right? No. Backflip+Smoke leaves you with not even enough stamina to sprint. You have to wait a few seconds after using Smoke to really be able to run away, and seeing as the skill only lasts 10 seconds, just waiting on sprint wastes like 50% of the time you have to use it. I thought I'd come up with a really effective and somewhat-cool-looking escape, but I'd pretty much figured out a good way to waste Smoke and get myself killed. So, I couldn't use that combo.
It wasn't long until I discovered that it's pretty much impossible to do ANY sort of combo with Ninja and still be able to sprint. Any two skills used together really drop your stamina bar to the point where you can barely sprint or maybe not even sprint at all, let alone use another skill. So, with Ninja, which is supposed to be a fairly speedy and stealthy class, it is pretty much impossible to do an effective hit-and-run thing, which is really something that I thought Ninja would be able to do when I chose it. Getting into a situation, dealing a lot of damage, and getting out fast and discreetly... Despite One, Smoke, and Backflip, Ninja can't do that.
After applying Blackjack and Envenom, the choices a Ninja has in a fight are basically
A). Enter using Smoke to avoid being seen, use one skill, and then hope for the best in a melee, skilless (save for the first one) fight from which they cannot flee.
B). Enter using One to get into the situation quickly, and then the rest of the situation continues like in A.
C). Enter without using One or Smoke, deal two damaging skills, and then the rest of the situation continues like in A and B.
D). Enter like in C, use one skill, and then use Smoke to get away.
E). Enter like in C, use one skill, and then use One to get away.
In A and B, a Ninja might be able to attack before the enemy has time or even knows to react, but the damage dealt is minimal and the Ninja has very little chance of winning the fight or escaping without taking major, possibly fatal damage. In C, a Ninja does the most damage, but does not get in with any element of surprise or get out with any advantage. The damage dealt really isn't that much, either. In D and E, the Ninja gets into the situation without the advantage of surprise, deals a little bit of damage, and escapes efficiently. While the Ninja might survive that and be able to come back for another attack once their stamina regens, it is a really ineffective method of attack, especially if the victim has a healer or even just food. Backflip doesn't really fit in at all here. If it is used, it pretty much only allows the Ninja to use one skill and then suffer the rest of the battle like in A and B.
A Ninja has skills meant to make it stealthy, speedy, agile, and fairly damaging. Its stamina is so low, stamina usage so high, and stamina regen so long that it is mostly impossible for the Ninja to use any of those skills in a combination of more than 2 at a time. Instead of being limited to 5, ineffective options, why can't Ninja have something like "Apply Blackjack and Envenom, wait a little bit, enter using One to arrive with such speed that the enemy isn't quite ready for them, deal two damaging skills (a silencer and Eviscerate), fight for a few seconds while stamina regenerates, and if at risk of death, use Smoke to escape" The Ninja, while still having a fair chance to lose the fight, now actually has an advantage of surprise, that, even when used, allows it to fight with a fair chance to win or to get away.
So maybe that is a bit overpowered. However, the options that a Ninja has right now in a fight pretty much guarantee defeat in a fight with another rogue or a warrior, and don't give it chances as high as the other rogue specs at fighting a caster. I suggest that either A) Ninja's stamina is increased, B) Ninja's skills use less stamina, C) Ninja regenerates stamina faster (personally my favorite solution), or a mixture of any of those choices.
Cooldown
Note: I don't really have many reasons for why they should be shorter, though I don't see why they should be as long as they are. Most of this is just my opinion, without much support :/
So, some Ninja skills have a really long cooldown. Mainly, the one that takes a really long time is Smoke. Smoke has a 5 minute cooldown, and only lasts 10 seconds. It's only supposed to be used as an escape move or sneak attack move, but still, having to wait 5 minutes between every use is really a long time.
EscapeArtist has a 2 minute cooldown. Root has a 30 second cooldown, Deepfreeze has a 15 second cooldown, Icebolt 5 seconds, and IcyAura 10 seconds. EscapeArtist is supposed to help a Ninja escape movement-imparing skills used by casters. One Wizard could freeze a Ninja 2 or 3 more times before EscapeArtist regenerated, and a Geomancer could freeze a Ninja many more times than that. No, a Ninja shouldn't be able to escape every time it is frozen, but having to wait two minutes to use it again, especially in a fight with a Geomancer, could easily mean death for the Ninja. The same thing goes for Thief (though that's not what I'm focusing on).
One has a 200 second cooldown, and lasts 15 seconds. One is supposed to provide a Ninja with an advantageous boost of speed, but any other class, basically, could have a speed potion that outlasted not only the duration of One but its cooldown too. One shouldn't last for the duration tha a speed potion can, but it should be able to be used more frequently. I believe potion use has a 300 second cooldown. A standard potion of swiftness lasts 180 seconds, which is just 20 seconds under the cooldown of potion use. An especially long potion of swiftness lasts 480 seconds, 3 minutes longer than the potion use cooldown. A swiftness II potion lasts 90 seconds, almost a third of the potion use cooldown. One lasts about 1/13th of its cooldown. The only advantage to being able to use One is that it doesn't require any reagents such as speed given by a potion would. Even just a one minute cooldown would make One so much more efficient. The one that is here now is just too long in my opinion.
So, some Ninja skills have a really long cooldown. Mainly, the one that takes a really long time is Smoke. Smoke has a 5 minute cooldown, and only lasts 10 seconds. It's only supposed to be used as an escape move or sneak attack move, but still, having to wait 5 minutes between every use is really a long time.
EscapeArtist has a 2 minute cooldown. Root has a 30 second cooldown, Deepfreeze has a 15 second cooldown, Icebolt 5 seconds, and IcyAura 10 seconds. EscapeArtist is supposed to help a Ninja escape movement-imparing skills used by casters. One Wizard could freeze a Ninja 2 or 3 more times before EscapeArtist regenerated, and a Geomancer could freeze a Ninja many more times than that. No, a Ninja shouldn't be able to escape every time it is frozen, but having to wait two minutes to use it again, especially in a fight with a Geomancer, could easily mean death for the Ninja. The same thing goes for Thief (though that's not what I'm focusing on).
One has a 200 second cooldown, and lasts 15 seconds. One is supposed to provide a Ninja with an advantageous boost of speed, but any other class, basically, could have a speed potion that outlasted not only the duration of One but its cooldown too. One shouldn't last for the duration tha a speed potion can, but it should be able to be used more frequently. I believe potion use has a 300 second cooldown. A standard potion of swiftness lasts 180 seconds, which is just 20 seconds under the cooldown of potion use. An especially long potion of swiftness lasts 480 seconds, 3 minutes longer than the potion use cooldown. A swiftness II potion lasts 90 seconds, almost a third of the potion use cooldown. One lasts about 1/13th of its cooldown. The only advantage to being able to use One is that it doesn't require any reagents such as speed given by a potion would. Even just a one minute cooldown would make One so much more efficient. The one that is here now is just too long in my opinion.
Garrote
Garrote is a silencer, like Kick. It requires that you are either sneaking or invisible (actually, if you're invisible, it doesn't work. Bug?) to use, and requires that you have a string in hand. Kick can be used at any time with any item. Surely, because Garrote requires so much more than Kick to use, it would be much more advantageous... But no. Garrote silences only a second longer than Kick does, and only does three more damage. There is very little advantage to using Garrote as opposed to Kick.
A real garrote is a strangulation weapon used for quick and silent assassination. I honestly think it would be really cool if this was done (see spoiler below)
but I recognize that that could be rather difficult to code and to balance... A more realistic idea would be for Garrote to do damage similar to Backstab (it would have to be done from behind, and would deal a large amount of damage) with a longer cooldown than it has now. It might also silence the target for at least a couple seconds longer than Kick. Right now, there just seems to be no advantage to using Garrote.
A real garrote is a strangulation weapon used for quick and silent assassination. I honestly think it would be really cool if this was done (see spoiler below)
Garrote could be a skill in which the Ninja would need to approach a target while sneaking and holding a string from behind, and then right click them to use the skill. The target and the Ninja would be unable to move while the skill was being used. The target would be silenced, completely unable to move, and the Ninja would break the skill upon using another skill, moving, or taking damage. The skill would automatically turn off after like 5 seconds with a long cooldown (like 10 minutes). For the duration of the use, it would do gradual damage similar to drowning (except much more minor). Other damage could be done to the victim via another source while the skill was being used. The Ninja would use most of its stamina to use the skill. It would be very ineffective for a solo attack, because the Ninja wouldn't be able to do much damage, wouldn't be able to move, and would consume most of its stamina. However, it could effectively incapacitate an enemy while an ally of the Ninja beat the crap out of him.
Skills giving messages!!!
My personal main peeve with Ninja is that in most stories/movies/"historical" depictions/etc. they are super stealthy. Here, almost all of Ninja's skills give messages upon use. There should somehow be a way to stop this, via having them not go off during sneak, a passive skill Muffle that would block all skill/death messages with a certain percentage to fail, that percentage decreasing as the Ninja's level increased, a temporary skill Muffle that would last for like 5 minutes and block all messages, or simply removing Ninja skill messages all together. It really bothers me that it's impossible to do a truly stealthy attack while still actually using the skills made available.
Other, less important, miscellaneous stuff
Ninja doesn't really deal that much in the way of DPS, I think. I feel like Backstab would be a good addition, but it is a more thief-y skill.
In stories/movies/"historical" depictions/etc., Ninjas are pretty good at hand-to-hand combat as well as swords. They also have a lot of other weapons, like nunchucks and staff thingies. Perhaps minor buffs to fists, iron ingots (nunchucks?), and sticks (staffs) used as weapons would make them seem more Ninja-y here. They shouldn't be as good as disciple bare handed (like 3 with a fist), but maybe 5 with a stick and 6 with an iron ingot? I don't know. I feel like with the fists, they should just have a minor advantage so as not to be too OP, but still kind of a cool bonus.
And a random skill suggestion: Ingame, I talked with someone who said there should be a skill that lets Rangers throw arrows without a bow. I replied that arrowstorm allows this, but it got me thinking: What if Ninja could throw arrows without a bow, kind of like throwing knives or stars? Obviously, Ninja isn't really a range-based class. However, giving them a skill called Knifethrow (fairly small amount of stamina usage, 10 or 15 second cooldown, damage slightly less than an arrow launched in arrowstorm) that would let them fire one arrow without a bow at the same velocity as one fired out of a fully charged bow might be kind of cool. The major cooldown and low damage would make using a bow much more effective, but in an instance where a bow was not available but arrows were, it might just be a cool bonus.
Most of the suggestions in this section are just random thoughts that I don't think really need to be implemented.
In stories/movies/"historical" depictions/etc., Ninjas are pretty good at hand-to-hand combat as well as swords. They also have a lot of other weapons, like nunchucks and staff thingies. Perhaps minor buffs to fists, iron ingots (nunchucks?), and sticks (staffs) used as weapons would make them seem more Ninja-y here. They shouldn't be as good as disciple bare handed (like 3 with a fist), but maybe 5 with a stick and 6 with an iron ingot? I don't know. I feel like with the fists, they should just have a minor advantage so as not to be too OP, but still kind of a cool bonus.
And a random skill suggestion: Ingame, I talked with someone who said there should be a skill that lets Rangers throw arrows without a bow. I replied that arrowstorm allows this, but it got me thinking: What if Ninja could throw arrows without a bow, kind of like throwing knives or stars? Obviously, Ninja isn't really a range-based class. However, giving them a skill called Knifethrow (fairly small amount of stamina usage, 10 or 15 second cooldown, damage slightly less than an arrow launched in arrowstorm) that would let them fire one arrow without a bow at the same velocity as one fired out of a fully charged bow might be kind of cool. The major cooldown and low damage would make using a bow much more effective, but in an instance where a bow was not available but arrows were, it might just be a cool bonus.
Most of the suggestions in this section are just random thoughts that I don't think really need to be implemented.
So, those are just some ideas I've had. Opinions that don't involve Poopbox are preferred to those that do, but take this as you will.
