Swordmaster

[Vinsdor]

The class looks interesting, but damage scales from str, while it has only b in growth for it. Is it meant for a very late transition?

[LilyanaKabal]

Swordmaster's not a raw DPS class. It's a Map Control class. A lot of movement abilities, high dodge, that sort of thing.

[Wolf]

Originally posted by LilyanaKabal:

Swordmaster's not a raw DPS class. It's a Map Control class. A lot of movement abilities, high dodge, that sort of thing.

Kinda sounds like what most games would call a "Battlemaster" or "Warlord" or "Champion" or even "Paragon". Swordmaster is definitely a bit of a reach, lol.

[LilyanaKabal]

It's a Master of the Sword. Swordmaster fits.

[['w']]

"bladedancer"

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Originally posted by Vinsdor:

The class looks interesting, but damage scales from str, while it has only b in growth for it. Is it meant for a very late transition?

I also noticed that the letter ratings are a bit deceptive. A = 90% growth, B = 75%, C = 50%, D = 20%

So the boost gets smaller the higher you go. And A to B is only 15% difference. Still helps, but if your character already has boosts from arm wrestling, special training, traits, talents, etc. it might not make that big a difference.

[Lord Sputnik]

A certain late game gold item you get remedies the lack of damage.
Techniques of the flowing river, +5 dex and uses dex instead of strength as PAB

[BennyT8]

Originally posted by Iguana-on-a-stick:

Originally posted by Vinsdor:

The class looks interesting, but damage scales from str, while it has only b in growth for it. Is it meant for a very late transition?

I also noticed that the letter ratings are a bit deceptive. A = 90% growth, B = 75%, C = 50%, D = 20%

So the boost gets smaller the higher you go. And A to B is only 15% difference. Still helps, but if your character already has boosts from arm wrestling, special training, traits, talents, etc. it might not make that big a difference.

But S is 110% so the jump from A to S is bigger than B to A.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Originally posted by BennyT8:

Originally posted by Iguana-on-a-stick:

I also noticed that the letter ratings are a bit deceptive. A = 90% growth, B = 75%, C = 50%, D = 20%

So the boost gets smaller the higher you go. And A to B is only 15% difference. Still helps, but if your character already has boosts from arm wrestling, special training, traits, talents, etc. it might not make that big a difference.

But S is 110% so the jump from A to S is bigger than B to A.

Yes, that is an important distinction. S stats are much better than A.

So the difference between A and B isn't that significant, but the difference between B and S is pretty huge.

(Random rant: Letter grades are weird to start with, but why S? At least with "A/B/C/D" I intuitively understand that A is better than B. )

But S growth only happens on the tier 3 classes, and you can only have 1 of those. So it becomes a bit of a no-brainer: yes, your dragon knight will be harder hitting than anybody else. But you cannot have a second dragon knight. So you just use the one you have and try to find good roles for your other characters.

[BennyT8]

Originally posted by Iguana-on-a-stick:

Originally posted by BennyT8:

(Random rant: Letter grades are weird to start with, but why S? At least with "A/B/C/D" I intuitively understand that A is better than B. )

The first time I ran across the whole S rank thing was playing the original Devil May Cry. My immediate thought was "That's dumb!". Then I saw it in another game (different maker, different genre), and I laughed to myself and said "Why would anyone copy that one stupid element from DMC?" It wasn't until the third time I saw it I realised that it was a thing, and it wasn't going away.

I read that it's based on the Japanese educational system, but it still annoys me if I put things in a spreadsheet and sort them at some point.

[Lord Sputnik]

Still makes more sense than what my grade school did until I hit high-school. They used H, S, and N. H was for Highly Capable, S was for Satisfactory, N was for like Not Sufficient, but it was actually impossible to fail and be held back. (No child left behind after all)

[LilyanaKabal]

S makes sense for me, when you need a letter grade higher than A. EX (for Exceptional) is also good.

[BennyT8]

Originally posted by Lord Sputnik:

Still makes more sense than what my grade school did until I hit high-school. They used H, S, and N. H was for Highly Capable, S was for Satisfactory, N was for like Not Sufficient, but it was actually impossible to fail and be held back. (No child left behind after all)

First year of secondary school we had B(asic), M(erit) or S(pecial) in Science. And then to make it really confusing, you could get a dreaded 0. No idea why he mixed letters and numbers, but a 0 meant that you had to redo the homework.

[Vaylor]

With the right build and items swordmaster is by far the strongest class in the game. High dodge so they never get hit, act first, and 1 shot everything in their aoe range up to top tier bosses. The skill for more damage based on initiative is what gives them the large boost. Run them with the alchemist title for potion use, and not only can they boost their damage, but their initiative too with separate potions. Either cast haste on them, or use the chrono item that gives initiative/dodge and a free haste charge.