The DS is a mess because player power in general is a mess. If we went back to the days where 1 crusher was a significant thing to handle itād be a different story.
Honestly think the only thing that truly breaks the Dueling Sword is the addition of Agile. Having Agile AND Uncanny Strike is just to much, one or the other and I think the sword goes from āliterally game breakingā to āexcellent but not earth shatteringā.
Dropping some of itās multipliers a bit might help in that realm too (I know I run around with an Agile/Riposte Dueling Sword with 60 Penetration to āfeel alive againā, and that drops a crusher in 4-5 hits and that feels respectable but not game breaking. Itās when I jump onto my Havoc build and my 80 Penetration full stack uncanny strike Dueling Sword is 1-2 shotting them where it itās suddenly a problem, as now I have infinite dodges, infinitely high mobility, AND everything in the game is now dealt with by this one poky stick.)
Like, the Heavy Eviserator before this basically does everything that the Dueling Sword does/does it even better with better wave clear, but it has draw backs. You have to get off a full rev to one shot a crusher, you are generally slower than other options. But Dueling Sword has no draw back, itās just god tier, and either itās insane access to infinite mobility, or itās infinite rending, need to take a hit.
And to be clear, itās pretty much entirely the IV thatās the problem, itās one of the reasons Psykers āin the knowā knew it was busted, but it didnāt become a problem until unlocked and loaded. Build variation wasnāt wide spread, and if you didnāt see a IV with the perfect rolls youād never know how busted it was. But, now we do, and it needs some ācustom tuningā.
As a Combat knife with x3+ the range, Agile, and an insanely fast and easy to replicate (animation wise) poking heavy, just trips over everything.
Remove āAgileā and āThrustā (why is this on a finesse weapon anyway?) and change āUncanny strikeā to add rending only on fully charged heavy. Also none of that x amount of stacks during x amount of time BS, just a fixed % on hit.
The reason the DS is so strong is that every single aspect of it is strong. Thereās not a single real downside to picking it. Top tier damage, mobility, a crazy good blessing selection and a unique weapon special thatās argueably one of the strongest in the game.
The entire package put together is whatās problematic about it.
Iād personally only slightly adjust a few things to keep it a strong choice but that may not be enough to make a real difference.
The damage needs to come down ever so slightly. I understand that the DSā is supposed to be a single target weapon and needs good single target damage to fulfill that role but itās just a bit too far ahead of the curve currently. I wouldnāt touch the horde clear performance as itās not fantastic but good enough and that can be an aspect that too easily nerfs a weapon too hard, too quickly.
The movement speed being the same as a knife is crazy as well. Making the movement speed slightly slower would make a massive difference. Bolt pistol movement speed would probably feel right.
The weapon special is the icing on the cake for me.
Not only does the DS have the DPS to just delete everything, just in case the situation gets a little too hot, you have an instant gauranteed stagger ready at all times. That being said, Iād probably not change anything about that. I wouldnāt want to touch the unique aspects of the weapon before trying other things first but it may be the kind of utility thatās unnerfable without effectively removing it.
remove ds completely, done! issue solved so everyone can stop talking about this and instead talk about the amount of bs this game has, enemies phasing into each other, silent enemies, connection issues (that has nothing to do with the internet connection of the player) idk actually work into fixing the game to be less bs, cya.
kinda curious why there are more votes for the mk5 (the only one who doesnt have a heavy stab) needing balance improvements compared to the mk2, which has access to the best horde clear out of the 3 and still has the thrust stab that makes the mk4 so broken
the mk5 is arguably the most balanced out of all the marks, only making its way into overtuned territory due to the existence of uncanny strike (which even then still puts it behind the other mks for the tasks you are taking uncanny for anyway) because of its significantly lower armor damage (and base damage overall) on the heavies since theyre only overheads
I would reduce some of the heavy poke damage, since there is no need for this weapon to compete with big and much slower twohanders for singletarget damage. And, of course, a dueling sword needs a parry special.
I donāt trust Fatshark to touch anything, anymore & if they do it turns into sht just look at any past re-balance. Besides, the conversation surrounding this is like beating a dead horse, boring. Yeah, thereās going to be some OP stuff in any game obviously, but Hot Take: OP weapons does not help raise the skill ceiling. The hardcores will make their own fun of it & try other routes. Reguardless, I still enjoy playing the game here & there Duelling Sword or not. Really think people are being babies about it. Itās literally a PVE game, lol.
definitely gotta hit the finesse modifier, Iād like to see dodges reduced a touch too (probs keep the distance but drop the total number of dodges)
if the heavy and general mobility can be brought in line it could see a little more cleave on lights in exchange. Sabres are meant to be versatile, not a pocket single-target nuke
the blessings could also use a touch upā¦itās kinda nuts that thrust is available on it but if itās gonna stay it needs tweaking down
NGL I want to know what each melee weapon is supposed to be balanced around. Because part of the problem here is that jack-of-all-trades canāt handle things.
The dueling sword seems to be built around weakpoint hits allowing it to be a pocket anti-armor weapon, while retaining high mobility and dodging.
Given how ruinously effective it is at such, I would honestly propose making it less agile and worse at dodging (especially with the āformalā stances to justify it not being too great on a ārealā battlefield lorewise). High mobility weapons have a lot of impact and it might be better to let it retain poke-power if it comes with the caveat that you have to rely on something else when dealing with hordes.
1- Decide on what itās role is. A high mobility, high defense, single target weapon that works well on everything but heavily armored elites.
2- As such, nerf carapace damage to 0. Or near it. Drop unyielding and flak damage by 25%.
3- Get rid of agile and tone down uncanny strike
