Braver Skill Tree

[gigawuts]

I'm also pooling into katana combat, and making use of it as often as possible.

I feel like snatch step is the first part of a more useful ability, but until the rest of it is added it's like using mechgun flips for their damage without any of the skills.

[NoiseHERO]

I like snatch step just because it's nice to see a little damage pop up just for moving around, But it does seem like a skill you could live without. But hey 1 SP for what looks like 1/4th of the damage your normal attacks do isn't bad to me.

I've even finished a lot of small monsters off with snatch step as my last "Attack" on them.

What I'm really wondering for their use though is whether or not it helps build up the gear. Though it might not matter if you're being as aggressive as you should be on a boss either way... @_@

[Zipzo]

Looking good. Only thing I might change (personally), would be to take a few points out of the mag boost skill and place them into reducing katana combat cooldown. Logic being that I'd go mostly into S-atk rather than Dex on a katana mag, so the boost wouldnt really be that useful, plus additional cooldown on the combat if you solo (as bosses might take longer), or have a "changeover" boss code.

Also, although I did get the Snatch step ability, the damage seems pretty low for it to be of any good use :/ Anyone have any better luck with it?

I think snatch step is pretty lame overall...

However, if every single time you dodge during a boss you dodge in to them, technically it's a DPS increase. Problem is that Katana JC is significantly more damage than a snatch so you're better off landing that in the case of an incoming hit but it's worth noting that this can be leagues more difficult in some situations to land than a simple step. This is sort of where Braver earns its skill cap.

Going with a full ability mag, you end up with (I think it was) ~85 S-ATT & R-ATT + the 175 Ability already on there. In my opinion this is a much more significantly effective conglomeration of stats given the Bravers playstyle, and regardless of lower S/R - ATT than their aforementioned pure mag versions a boost in dps because ability raises your damage floor as well, thus equating to higher damage than any other mag setup. It's almost like you have a lvl 345 Mag, and why would you pass that up?

On the subject of Katana Combat...

I'm always somewhat disinterested (no matter how good a skill is) in using valuable skill points in upgrading something that I can't use on demand all the time, or doesn't affect me at all times in the wake of skills that affect me all the time. I think that despite having a shorter CD, you see much more mileage from skills that benefit you 100% of the time you're in combat without question. My opinion would actually be much different if KC did more than shorten the CD, but that's all it does so...

[Limbo_lag]

Going with a full ability mag, you end up with (I think it was) ~85 S-ATT & R-ATT + the 175 Ability already on there. In my opinion this is a much more significantly effective conglomeration of stats given the Bravers playstyle, and regardless of lower S/R - ATT a boost in dps because ability raises your damage floor as well, thus equating to higher damage than any other mag setup. It's almost like you have a lvl 345 Mag, and why would you pass that up?

I think again it comes down to which is better, 85s-atk and 175 ability, or just 175s-atk by itself.

I plan do do something like 115/60, so the boost at level 5 would only give me 30, to an overall of 145/60. Is this better than 175 s-atk? Perhaps. The skill gets better with more ABI on your mag, but if youre only getting something like 60 ABI, the difference between level 1 (30% = 18 ) and level 5 (50% = 30) is only 12 S and R-atk. In such a case, I'd rather spend my 4 points for an extra 40 seconds in combat cooldown reduction, rather than take an additional 12 points in S/R atk.

It also depends on how high your ABI is in the first place - if its too high, we all know it sorta caps, so essentially you'd be left with just 145 s-atk (since, if you've "capped" your ABI, the 60 additional points isnt going to do all that much)

If you're going to main katana, there really isnt much need for R-atk, unless you plan to use bows on the side, in which case sure, the R-atk boost is good. Personally, I'm using my other character for bows, so yeah.

I'm always somewhat disinterested (no matter how good a skill is) in using valuable skill points in upgrading something that I can't use on demand all the time, or doesn't affect me at all times in the wake of skills that affect me all the time. I think that despite having a shorter CD, you see much more mileage from skills that benefit you 100% of the time you're in combat without question. My opinion would actually be much different if KC did more than shorten the CD, but that's all it does so...

Yeah, I can understand that - to each his own in that case. Though, I would have to question whether its needed to max out "Combat JA bonus" and "Combat Finish" in that case, since you'd only really be using it on bosses.

Also, the finishing move has a huge AoE. IMO would be a bit of a waste to solely just use it on bosses.

[gigawuts]

I feel like the Katana Combat skill should also be extending the time you have to use it above 20 seconds, or increasing the range you'll fly, or something.

But I really like the ability, and very frequently find myself looking to use it again with about 50-70 seconds on the clock. So I could already be using it again in many of those cases. I do feel 90 seconds is a bit too long, and would prefer the ability be balanced around using it ever 30-40 seconds though.

[Chdata]

If katana combat lasted longer with the same cooldown, I'd prefer that.

Let's say,

Lv.1 20 seconds with 180 sec cooldown

Lv.10 40 seconds with 90 sec cooldown. (Essentially the same as 20 seconds with 45 cooldown)

Then again maybe it'd be better your way so you're not overusing it at one time.

[Limbo_lag]

Increasing the duration would be awesome. It is kinda short at the moment. Perhaps +1 second per level or something.

[Zipzo]

I think again it comes down to which is better, 85s-atk and 175 ability, or just 175s-atk by itself.

I plan do do something like 115/60, so the boost at level 5 would only give me 30, to an overall of 145/60. Is this better than 175 s-atk? Perhaps. The skill gets better with more ABI on your mag, but if youre only getting something like 60 ABI, the difference between level 1 (30% = 18 ) and level 5 (50% = 30) is only 12 S and R-atk.

Again, also depends on how high your ABI is in the first place - if its too high, we all know it sorta caps, so essentially you'd be left with just 145 s-atk (since, if you've "capped" your ABI, the 60 additional points isnt going to do all that much)

If you're going to main katana, there really isnt much need for R-atk, unless you plan to use bows on the side, in which case sure, the R-atk boost is good.



Yeah, I can understand that - to each his own in that case. Though, I would have to question whether its needed to max out combat JA bonus and Finish in that case, since you'd only really be using it on bosses.

Well the skill doesn't increase the duration, so maxing those skills seems like a good use of points because no matter how many points you have in KC, it's going to last 20 seconds, and you're really only going to get one use out of it no matter how many points you have in the skill, so you might as well make those 20 seconds count, right?

I feel like the Katana Combat skill should also be extending the time you have to use it above 20 seconds, or increasing the range you'll fly, or something.

But I really like the ability, and very frequently find myself looking to use it again with about 50-70 seconds on the clock. So I could already be using it again in many of those cases. I do feel 90 seconds is a bit too long, and would prefer the ability be balanced around using it ever 30-40 seconds though.

Ultimately it comes to this. If the skill increased the duration, that would obviously be a clinching factor. The skill would need to be maxed no matter the logic.

[Mizumi323]

So after looking over the Braver skill tree for a while, this is the build that I'll be using: http://ryuhiroshi.funpic.de/pso2/ski...nmxISI2fGK0006

It's essentially a hybrid build, with a little extra put into Bows. I decided to forgo weak stance in favor of average stance since, while Weak Stance gives a 40% boost vs Average's 20%, Weak Stance gives a -10% (90%) modifier to non-weak spots. This makes Braver's DPS with Average Stance a little higher than with Weak Stance, I'd think. ;3

[gigawuts]

Well, average stance is best to always have enabled. Weak stance is best when you're hitting weak points - which is frequently with ranged due to the headshots and ability to be precise and such, but melee doesn't have those advantages as often.

So for striking you'd only enable it when you know weak points are ready to be hit. A few of those situations off the top of my head:
1. elder falz (lol)
2. any time virtually any boss is downed
3. a good number of darkers, due to their cores (hnnf killing waves of fish with katanas is way too satisfying)
4. a good number of bosses have weak points that melee can benefit from that are always reachable, although may not be super easy to focus on

I'm disappointed to hear the red circley katana PA's do not benefit from the stance charge skills, but also relieved because I'm not missing out by not grabbing them. That's valuable SP I'd benefit more from spending elsewhere.