One of the few ‘problematic’ weapons left apparently untouched in the Ogryn Rework. Let’s discuss it here.
What is the purpose of the Power Maul?
During my time with the weapon, I came to the conclusion that it offered unparalleled stagger at the cost of damage. The weapon has since been altered to bring those two closer together, offering better damage. This would make its apparent niche that of a very “safe” support-hybrid weapon, able to keep enemies locked down for extended periods of time through frequent use of the special. Its efficacy has been noted by other users (The weapon has a few fans), but it remains broadly unpopular.
Why isn’t the weapon used more?
1.) Anything that offers anything at the cost of Damage is going to suffer in a strong DPS-focused meta.
2.) Constantly activating the special leads to fatigue and boredom, unless you’re a power sword vet.
3.) Regardless of its stagger potential, the weapon doesn’t feel powerful. While this might be a VFX issue, the common complaint shared even among advocates of the weapon is the “Rooting” effect on special activation making it unpleasant to use.
Solutions:
1.) As suggested prior by other users (I see you, Vodhawak), decreasing the delay on special activation, or otherwise easing/removing the “rooting” effect, would improve the feel of the weapon.
Pros: A relatively easy fix to implement. Keeps the weapon close to its current implementation.
Cons: Doesn’t fully address the issue of constantly using the special. Might not be enough to get people to retry the weapon.
2.) Add “Overheat” mechanic similar to Zealots Relic Blade.
Pros: Would reduce special-activation fatigue and improve weapon feel by allowing for more powered strikes between activations.
Cons: Doesn’t address the activated swings themselves, just how often they trigger. I’ve a sneaking suspicion Ogryn mains would prefer fewer, stronger hits over many weaker ones.
Would also differentiate it more from the Crusher, Zealot’s Power Maul equivalent. Not sure if that’s a pro or a con.
3.) Have weapon overheat after one hit, buff weapon accordingly. Effectively adding a cooldown between special activations.
Pros: This would remove SA fatigue entirely. Reducing how often a SA can occur opens up a lot of space for buffing the attack itself. Adding more power to the attack would in turn improve its feel. This kind of utility and power would also ‘advertise’ the weapon better, even if the overall balance remained the same.
Cons: Dependent heavily on appropriate buffs being included. Would remove a lot of the “Safety” of the weapon, which might be a pro for some people.
Blessings:
Regardless of solution chosen, the weapon is also in need of a Blessing Pass (As most weapons are). Arguably one of its more interesting blessings, Power Surge, doesn’t appear to function as described, if at all. [Citation needed?]
Other Unpopular/unused blessings:
Confident Strike: Ogryn already has crazy Toughness on Hit talents, this is kinda putting a hat on a hat. Even if we want to keep this for the chappies who really need it, why not toughness on special activation or energized hit? Why have a generic blessing when it could be bespoke?
Opportunist: Comparatively weak to the likes of other blessings that can exceed 100% rending. Excluding such comparisons, its still weak to other available blessings that are more broadly useful, and easier to get value from.
Perfect Strike: Ogryn has like, one crit talent and notoriously low crit chance. If people want to ignore hit mass, they’ll go Brutal Momentum. The extra Crit Damage doesn’t make up for this at all.
Thunderstrike: While there’s benefit, this kinda feels a bit insulting considering the premise of the weapon is in its stagger potential. Why not incorporate this into the base weapon somehow and come up with something more interesting?
Supercharge: This is arguably one of the better “Support” blessings but its low stacks combined with the games currently insane anti-armor meta makes it bad. This one might get better just through adjusting the SA timings and stomping the meta.
BM and SC are fine.
Questions to ponder:
Should the role of the Power Maul be changed? Is such a Niche viable in high-level play?
Have we diagnosed the problems correctly?
Are there any better solutions?
What kind of buffs should the blessings get? Should we try and suggest more Bespoke Paul Blessings?