Recently hit 120 on what is considered by many as the worst pure dps class in old school Maple, my Marksman, and i gotta say its not nearly as bad as i had heard nor thought it was gonna be. Snipe feels pretty great to use. The change to lower its huge cd at level 1 and being able to hit during weapon cancel are both very nice changes. Makes the ability feel powerful and satisfying to use like it should. Sharp Eyes is amazing as one would expect from such a strong class defining party ability. And of course one of the most defining pet abilities in the game, Frost Prey is fantastic utility in a stun/freeze and grants you a loyal companion. Thats where we come to Piercing arrow. The Marksmans 4th job alternative to a Bowmasters Hurricane. Instead of multiple small arrows being fired rapidly like Hurricane is, Piercing Arrow is Iron Arrow on steroids. A powerful mobing ability that gets stronger as it pierces mobs. Really forces you to get in the mix with mobs unlike Hurricane which lets you attack from max arrow range. Piercing Arrow a main 4th job ability, is hampered by two huge downfalls to the ability and hurts Marksman more than it should. The first I can handle, the 1 or so second charge up you must cast in order to shoot the bolt at max damage. Releasing prematurely severely hampers the abilities damage output. I personally dont find the charge time to be that big of a deal. I kind of like the flavor it gives the ability. The 2nd and most egregious downfall is the fact that being hit and getting knocked back as you cast the ability it completely cancels the ability in its entirety. Id like to see it if at all possible to change the ability to still fire the bolt if you're knocked back by any mobs damage. This would make an ability thats already has a charge time, feel more fluid when used. This change would have no real impact on single target it would merely make using the ability and thusly the feel of the Marksman Class feel more fluid.
I've brought this up before with staff and I think it wasn't something that could be changed at the moment due to client limitations. Since the issue is that it can't be charged while in the air, and when you get knocked back, you bounce in the air for a short time, ending the charge.
First, big congrats on 4th job and becoming a marksbeing, it is a big milestone, especially since it was such a trudge in gms. Congrats, congrats! Second I agree with you about all the skills, I love them. Snipe feels amazing to fire off when it's reloaded, or to hold on to when you need it. Dragon breath is an amazing controller, frostprey is a great passive blizzard caster, sharp eyes is indeed amazing, solo or helping others out. Blind is pretty cool but it's really bad at level one and you won't notice it until it's maxed (it needs a few possible buffs) The pierce subject has come up many, many, many times before (pretend each many is a hyperlink to them lol. I personally have brought it up in three of my own threads, and many times in others), either directly or is passively broached when talking about MM in general at some point. And I do personally agree with you, I do like the charge tech of it. It makes it tactile, deliberate, and when charging in a tight spot or window, gives you a rush of danger lol, and alternatively a sense of powering up when charging. I'm perfectly fine with the charging, I would just really love it to not cancel, and possibly be a hair shorter in charge time. Staff have all definitely read and spoke about it as well, what can and can't be done is never communicated though (afaik). The possibility of it being able to fire in air comes up a lot, no don't think it's totally necessary but it would be a huge QoL since it can be charged while moving and sometimes the jump release would be extremely welcome and helpful due to the running around and repositioning you have to do when using pierce. A "similar" server made all these changes to pierce; less charge, no cancel, air release, and release while walking, as well as all the skills with the charge tech (grenade, monster magnet, big bang, pierce), however they use a different client. I really hope the change is possible, and no it will do nothing for our 1v1 but it would still be nice to use it fluidly instead of being so janky (edit: as well as helping magnet, big bang, and grenade)
this has been suggested in seperate threads many times already, I WISH that at least we'll get an answer this time from staff if this can be done cause this is honestly the biggest let down i had with my MM.
hm... what about a stance like effect when charging this skill? This could also add another spice to this unpopular class
I personally vote no on that because it could be abused when telegraphing attacks, even briefly, like with corsairs ship. Letting blind work on bosses gives more avoid, which is just as good as stance, but not op and doesn't tip the scales against BMs who then wouldn't have stance. If you think pierce w/stance wouldn't be used this way because of dpm loss, factor in the loss from reclimbing
Just so there isn't any misunderstanding from people who haven't played a Marksman before, that's not necessarily the issue with Piercing Arrow. You can, in fact, charge the skill while in the air, which includes jumping, hanging on ropes/ladders, and being knocked back by an attack, granted you need to be on the ground in order to begin charging the skill. As far as I'm aware, the only thing that can straight up cancel the charge is being skill locked or seduced. The issue with PA is that you are unable to release the attack either while in midair or right in front of a mob (which is an issue for most archer skills anyways). Attempting to release the attack in air during the knockback is what cancels it, not just being knock backed in general. Perhaps that's what you meant with this post, idk, but just wanted to clarify that for the readers of this thread That being said, I am very much in favor of giving PA the ability to be released mid-air. It's quite a fun skill to use and I feel it makes gives MM a pretty unique playstyle while hunting mobs, and it pairs up really well with frostprey and Dragon Breath to help line up clean shots. That being said, getting hit by a ranged attack from an enemy right when you try releasing the attack does get quite annoying and causes the move to be less effective than it should. As for giving it other abilities, honestly I think it's mostly fine as it is, I don't really think it needs a powerstance effect while charging, nor should it have something like the ability to attack enemies from close up either. Just the ability to be fired mid-air is all it really needs imo (a faster charging time isn't a bad idea, but not 100% necessary either)
We may be underdogs, but we're fair. No cancel for sure (with all charge skills) faster charge I'd be ok with, just slightly, air release is a big hell yeah if it happens, also not necessary but if anyone is testing pierce as it currently is, or maining MM, you understand why air release is thrown around in consideration. Stance (or lack thereof) is not the problem, the entire loss of charge time AND your whole att from animation cancelling is the main problem. Anything that is bundled along with that is a huge perk, and not without it's merits (shorter charge and air release specifically) As for the minimum distance thing, I don't care too terribly much. I have thrown out DB not proc'ing xbow thwack, or at least having DB, or pierce proc'ing a higher rate mortal blow in such cases, which isn't outrageous since it's still a 1v1 att with only a chance to do something possibly helpful, however the min distance keeps the role of the class in tact in my opinion, otherwise you're (archers/sairs/NL) just a long range warrior with (naturally) shit hp
