Swordsman's Blunt Force Tier V Weapon Proficiency is terrible.

[ShroudedInLight]

I've been playing a lot since the last couple updates, unlocking various character's tier five perks has been a lot of fun. My initial complaint was that I wish I had more memory potions so I could take more of them; and I wish that was still my only complaint. However, I've noticed that a number of them just kinda...suck.

I understand that different stats are valued differently; so many of the proficient stances get a pass. Most dedications are similarly fine, if typically unexciting. However, some of these just suck.

Take for instance: Swordsman. Blunt Force doubles their base damage and reduces their base crit chance to zero. This theoretically increases their damage as their base crit bonus is only 65%. However, by the time you are level 60 as Swordsman there is no way you haven't invested in Crit Chance and Crit Power level ups. They're just too good on the Swordsman. Grabbing Piercing Wind 3 alone gets their Crit Bonus up to 105% BASE that is before any crit bonus % upgrades...which is more than double damage assuming you can get consistent crits. All of this is ignoring blessings and items too, so your numbers are going to be even higher. This makes Blunt Force a downgrade; and even more so if you took any of the Dexterity Stance upgrades that give crit chance %.

There are more of these situations too. Beast Huntress has a 10% base crit chance, a line of weapon proficiency upgrades that boost her crit chance, and then a tier 5 weapon proficiency upgrade that reduces her crit chance by 10% base. Here at least her hound can crit, but completely removing her spear's ability to crit just feels...idk, bad?

And these are just the mechanical ones that suck. Some of the Weapon Proficiency Vs are super fun like getting to shoot many more flames or arrows or throwing ghosts in 360 degrees. Others are like...choose between more damage or more status infliction (Cleric), choose between Mace or Shield and ruin the other one (Shieldmaiden). Not only are they pointless to memory potion, since taking both means you've taken neither, but they're also boring which is a crime in a game this hectic and fun.

Even if Blunt Force had better numbers....would it ever be fun? I don't think so. Wide Swing is so much more interesting; covering nearly the whole screen with your sword is a cool power fantasy. Its opposite needs something much better to keep up. Especially when Proficient Stance Vs on characters exist as just raw stat trade offs.

As such: please consider looking at the following level Vs and make them more fun/interesting/better.

Swordsman: Blunt Force (Weapon V) Complete Rework
Cleric: Both Propagation and Punishment (Weapon V) Complete Rework
Shield Maiden: Shield (Weapon V), but I'd love Mace (Weapon V) to not make shield suck.
Beast Huntress: Multithrow (Weapon V) Maybe lower crit bonus instead?

[Ulyaoth]

While I agree on Blunt Force for Swordsman, Beast Huntress isnt that bad, since you can get +15% Base Crit Chance with Mark of the Arrow and the Crit Blessing.

And to underline the Debuff on Swordsman, the Base Crit Bonus is 200%.
The stat display in camp is not matching the actual stat.

i did multiple attempts by now with Blunt Force and I personally would never use it again in its current state.

[HeraldOfOpera]

Shieldmaiden mark with fencer's gloves to completely sidestep your crit rate and just crit automatically is fun. Just saying. With their high crit bonus and lowish crit chance already, these two characters might consider doing that anyway!