As a veteran Dark Warrior main'er throughout all of DBO KR's lifespan, and of course also here in DBOG's OB, I will say, that it is beyond clear that something has to be done to and with the DW class, in order to mend the huge gap between that class and that of the Shadow Knight!
No matter what happens (or what might not), I'll still keep playing my DW and love it to boot, but all bias aside (from me and from you, the reader too), it is a no-brainer that the majority of people -- both old and new -- chooses the SK over the DW; from reasons not only from all the threads that praise the SK for its (falsely stated) all-around OP nature, but from the truth that is: SK's are indeed as close to the DW in terms of defensive properties, but with the raw damage of a truck hitting you in the face, which the DW simply do not have! No wonder that people try to protect the SK with false claims of it being balanced and whatnot.. And no wonder people chooses SK's over DW's. A real pity though..
I hate to sound like a brag-ster (which I'm really not at all), but to get my point across, and to print my sayings into the simple-jack minds of those with a ''go budo aura or go home'' mentality of this forum: I, myself, was the first in the world to ever win a budokai aura as a DW. It was a second place solo budokai win back in KR (which was only once a month), and from pure skill, tactic and strategy. With that said, I know the class very well, and see myself as a guy with good insight on this matter (and this is not meant as no other opinions matter!). I also played an SK for a very long time, and even back then -- as it still is -- the DW is just such a lackluster class compared to the superiority of the SK. This goes on pretty much all the areas of what a class are!
I am not all for, that the DW should just get a big dps increase, and then call it a day. No sir'y! There are many, many ways a class can be buffed, tweaked and / or adjusted, in order to make it a viable choice. I think that the DW's tanking role should be embraced!
For starters, our hit rate and success rate should get a rather drastic increase, as we are a class at the core, that misses almost more than we actually hit anything. Together with the low dps we have as a base, this is just not good at all. Especially also considering that we are a tank class!
Secondly, our base defense and LP could get a slight increase, as to further distinguish us from our SK brethren (which again, doesn't lack so much behind on this area as they should). More importantly in the defensive department though, would be that we should get a higher base resistance rate, and at the same time get a build-in, passive KD spam filter. Cause that shit is just annoying!
Moreover, as also mentioned by others on this matter, our taunts should just simply be a 100% apply guarantee, cover a wider area, and more enemies affected, as well as last longer.
This one is gonna be hated by most, but it is my opinion, that the SK's Violent Slice aoe stun ability should be removed from them, and then added to the DW's arsenal instead.
The Demon Wave, which has the potential to become great, should first and foremost be fixed, so that it utilizes the Claws' upgraded weapon attack stats, and then have an energy % value added to it's effect. Not as good as the SK's Bold Strike, but more akin to that skill.
DW's are an energy-based class, and we have a lot of (especially AoE) physically-based attacks, which are simply lacking behind the energy-based ones. One way to fix this, is to equalize our physical stats, or another is to simply buff those physical skills, as to then put more emphasis on a choice between going physically or energy-based. Cause as of right now, it isn't a choice.
There are a LOT more ways the DW could become better, without simply buffing their offensive capabilities, but the above is the gist of it. Well, how about something entirely new to our arsenal? How about instead of the useless passive EP Boost, we could get a passive LP% recovery, like 3/3 would be 15% or something? Think off the grid in the defensive line, here.
So, the questions arise: is it really that odd that people prefer and chooses to go SK over DW? Is it really that weird that SK's are considered the mandatory Tanking class for anything PvE? Is it really that strange that SK's often win PvP-related content, and DW's do not? - These were all rhetorical questions, because as things stand with the DW vs. SK (and always have), the answers to all the questions are a big, sounding NO!
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Daneos (if you haven't disabled the notification that comes which this poking method) fingers out, and mend the gap!