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View Full Version : How does katana compare to other melee?



Rosel
Jul 30, 2013, 04:29 AM
In efficiency.

otaku998
Jul 30, 2013, 04:34 AM
I hope you are not making this thread , clearly knowing it will turn into like every other braver thread just to enjoy the heck out of it.

Since i am here, will just say putting off any comment/comparison until Katana get their 3 Rare PAs.

Rosel
Jul 30, 2013, 04:39 AM
I'm wondering how katana stands directly in comparison to weapons like sword/double saber/etc., I don't have any other agenda for making this thread.

Kondibon
Jul 30, 2013, 04:52 AM
How does katana compare to other melee?

It doesn't. I'm with Otaku on this one, it's too far behind in terms of skills and PAs to make a fair comparison.

Lumpen Thingy
Jul 30, 2013, 04:57 AM
it sucks every other melee is better for everything

FacelessRed
Jul 30, 2013, 05:05 AM
From what I've seen, there are some high end tricks you can pull off to make the damage rather ridiculous. But I dunno what they are, I've just seen a friend of mine lay waste to enemies as if they were being over ended. (and it isn't t he Katana finish skill) So far I find it a bit complicated and annoying. I use my braver as a bullet bower, but I randomly got the best Katana in game now so Now i feel guilted by the game into using it.

Rosel
Jul 30, 2013, 05:25 AM
That's interesting. I haven't used Braver much yet but I was under the impression that you could do great damage just cutting stuff down with Sakura-endo.

Is it really that bad compared to other melee?

Kondibon
Jul 30, 2013, 05:27 AM
Is it really that bad compared to other melee?

No, but if something is so much as slightly less effecient people go on about how horrible it is. Katana is perfectly useable, it's just not quite to the point where it's directly comparable to other weapons.

otaku998
Jul 30, 2013, 05:29 AM
If you only put 6 default PAs each melee weapon have onto the table, then it is better. May be minus Deadly Archer from DS is better for bossing, but that DA mind you.

Now pitting Katana default PAs agains the rare PA other weapon have, ofc it will be losing but not by a large margin.

If you are unsure about investing on Katana or not, just wait till the rare PAs coming out, easier to decide then.

Kilich
Jul 30, 2013, 05:30 AM
Its the most fun melee. Not sure about efficiency.

gigawuts
Jul 30, 2013, 07:24 AM
It's good fun but needs work on its PAs and weapon selection. Currently many players are restricted to 6*s, or 9*s that are comparably much weaker than 578 atk 9*s of other weapon classes. There is no affordable, powerful 10* katana. Even the best one available is comparably worse than even pyroxene 10*s you can get in other classes in terms of atk scaling.

The PAs are pretty clearly in need of real rebalancing. Katanas hit hard at low levels, but between the modifier gains as you level up PAs and the poor atk scaling on weapons they just don't hit hard. For example, combos that hit hard and are efficient against falz hands in normal and hard are suddenly pretty terrible in very hard, where unfortunately only sakura continues to do very well. Kanran is superb for AOE & support, but unless things are mega frantic or you hit twice what sakura will it's not theoretically ideal to use it.

But, that said? Braver isn't a melee class. It's a hybrid ranged/striking class - it's a generalist. It hits well at close range and at long range, it has nice single target damage and nice multitarget damage - not the best, but still nice. It has forgiving weapon stat requirements and since skilltree bonuses are so small you can mess up your tree without losing out too horribly. Using a weapon you didn't spec for can still be effective because of this, too. This is why even katana mains will benefit from a 10* bow and 1 point in rapid shooting.

The focus on katanas seems to be around Katana Combat, but that's on at best a 90 second cooldown with a 20 second duration. If there was an interactive way to shorten this, maybe every 10 strikes = 1 less second, we'd be on to a great ability, but for now it winds up being put on hold until you really expect to need it and even then things can go wrong in the last few seconds, making you wait out the cooldown for nothing.

otaku998
Jul 30, 2013, 07:31 AM
Gotta agree on the PA modifiers there, +50/100 into the Power might help, they don't need much. But then again i am never good at math.

gigawuts
Jul 30, 2013, 07:33 AM
I look at katana PAs like this:

The same people that thought HU's and FI's PAs were balanced at their release were tasked with making a new melee class, except this time they didn't have data on player usage or feedback to rebalance the PAs at 11+.

Things will likely get different (better) damage modifiers at 16+. Sigh.

otaku998
Jul 30, 2013, 07:46 AM
Which is, to be in Super Hard mode. If they don't buff katana PA soon, and give good rare PAs, i can see them struggle in Super hard mode later lol. Although i don't really have problem much in VH with my dmg. Dealing enough dmg with my 10*.

Hoping for a potential like "Increase KC duration to xx s"...

gigawuts
Jul 30, 2013, 07:57 AM
Yeah, the 10*s are performing at low end 10* levels. Which is going to be good, of course. The 9* 578 weapons are what are significantly worse than they should be, lacking about 150 atk compared to the stat growth of every single non-braver weapon class. But, then, when you consider element grinding too, things get more complex, and this is obviously not proof of anything or the sole cause, just a contributing factor.

otaku998
Jul 30, 2013, 08:07 AM
Overall the PAs no need to be powerful, just decent power is fine since katana is already quick/speedy. For powerful but slow, braver already has bow.

I really don't need the rare PAs to be Deadly Archer level or something.

gigawuts
Jul 30, 2013, 08:09 AM
Agreed, the last thing I want is an even worse case of "lol use sakura or ur terrible scrub" on this class.

jooozek
Jul 30, 2013, 08:10 AM
when you compare it to swords its like using two papers fans against a rubber chicken