Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Combat Maneuver Choices
Preamble
After testing Phase 3 of the Player System Manager for five weeks, I figured that I'd experienced enough to settle on plans for which combat maneuvers I'd learn on each of my characters when the changes went live. Below is my thought process for each one in case others find it helpful!
Bard
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheapshots cheapshots 5/5 Rogue Guild Combat Focus focus 5/5 Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Dirtkick dirtkick 3/5 Eyepoke eyepoke 5/5 Rogue Guild Feint feint 4/5 Warrior Guild Footstomp footstomp 5/5 Rogue Guild Groin Kick gkick 4/5 Hamstring hamstring 3/5 Kneebash kneebash 5/5 Rogue Guild Nosetweak nosetweak 5/5 Rogue Guild Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Sweep sweep 4/5 Rogue Guild Swiftkick swiftkick 5/5 Rogue Guild Templeshot templeshot 5/5 Rogue Guild Throatchop throatchop 5/5 Rogue Guild True Strike truestrike 4/5 Vault Kick vaultkick 1/5 Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My bard uses a lance, has fully trained 2x spells, and wears either robes or torso chain mail depending on whether what she's hunting would leave her better suited with more DS or better CvA. She's working toward being able to use dual short swords.
Explanation
Bards are pretty scant on maneuver options, so many of her picks are there for lack of anything better to do. Many of the setup maneuvers are mostly or entirely for defensive purposes since bards have better magical setups or, at higher levels, can forego setting up and jump straight to offense.
- Cheapshots: Offensively I don't need any of these, though Swiftkick could be argued as better than Feint in some situations, but improved defense against nearly the entire suite of bandit maneuvers for thirty points is very compelling.
- Combat Focus: Almost a gimme since bards' one weakness is TD. I'd recommend this to every bard unless they hunt bandits 100% of the time.
- Combat Movement: Mandatory prerequisite to Side by Side, but nearly useless on its own.
- Dirtkick: Somewhat filler, but out of bards' available maneuver options, this seemed to be one of the most likely to be valuable at least in very niche situations, including future Ascension-based hunting grounds.
- Feint: Staple setup maneuver for many professions. Melee bards are no exception! I still prefer this over Swiftkick for inflicting RT.
- Groin Kick: Another somewhat filler maneuver. I think Dirtkick is easily the better of the two for offense, but training this one does help defend against bandits.
- Hamstring: Trained for defense against what's now a very dangerous maneuver. When she gets up to speed with dual short swords, it might be offensively useful too, but that'll probably depend on what happens in the bard review.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups.
- Sweep: Probably my favorite setup maneuver available to bards. Applying Vulnerable is among the best status effects you could hope for!
- True Strike: Another forward-thinking choice, like Dirtkick. I don't think it's especially useful in the current game as it competes with weapon techniques for stamina usage, but it could be strong for hitting overleveled enemies in Ascension grounds.
- Vault Kick: Fluff because I had two spare points.
Additional Considerations
I originally had one rank of Precision on her list since it can provide extra versatility for situations where one damage type is more useful than others and it's hard to find much more value for four points. That said, her being able to wield dual short swords (which can use any damage type) is still a few million experience away and lances don't especially care about damage type, so I'm leaving it be for now. If I want it back in the future, the points will probably come from some combination of Dirtkick, Groin Kick, and Vault Kick.
Spin Attack is another option, but I feel it's generally unnecessary for bards since the main selling point is its low RT and they're already getting that through Song of Tonis. Expressed another way, I think 1-second True Strike is better than 1-second Spin Attack.
Cleric
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Dirtkick dirtkick 2/5 Feint feint 5/5 Warrior Guild Groin Kick gkick 5/5 Side by Side sidebyside 5/5
Context
My cleric uses a falchion and katar alongside her spells. That said, I'd train almost exactly the same things on a cleric--or indeed any pure--regardless of their build, with minor tweaks made mostly to accommodate RP.
Explanation
Clerics' maneuver options are very few, but even then, some stand out as more helpful than others largely for defensive reasons.
- Combat Movement: Mandatory prerequisite to Side by Side, but nearly useless on its own.
- Dirtkick: One of the few maneuvers that works just as effectively in more defensive stances, but clerics have better things to do. I took it just for fun when helping lower level characters on their bounties.
- Feint: Staple setup maneuver that's extremely useful both offensively and defensively. If there's one maneuver to train on every cleric, this is it.
- Groin Kick: Amusingly enough, this and Feint are a cleric's best ways to inflict RT on the enemy. Being hilarious is a bonus! ...as is getting extra defense against bandits.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups. The AS gains here are more necessary for running a war cleric than any other build, including even war sorcerers since the latter have access to a larger number of non-native AS boosters.
Additional Considerations
If pures eventually have the ability to learn weapon techniques through Ascension, I'll either drop a rank of Dirtkick to take a rank of Precision or drop a rank of Groin Kick to take both ranks of Precision. The added versatility isn't to be overlooked.
I can see Cunning Defense as worthwhile for a cleric who has no Combat Maneuvers nor Dodging nor 2x Perception, but it becomes unnecessary overkill with diminishing returns after a while. By the end, the full five ranks are only giving around +2 defense against maneuver rolls.
Empath
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Cunning Defense cdefense 5/5 Dirtkick dirtkick 3/5 Feint feint 5/5 Warrior Guild Groin Kick gkick 1/5 Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Available Combat Maneuver Points: 2
Context
My empath uses a maul alongside her spells. That said, I'd train almost exactly the same things on an empath--or indeed any pure--regardless of their build, with minor tweaks made mostly to accommodate RP.
Explanation
Empaths' maneuver options are very few, but even then, some stand out as more helpful than others largely for defensive reasons.
- Combat Movement: Mandatory prerequisite to Side by Side, but nearly useless on its own.
- Cunning Defense: I don't think this is the optimal mechanical choice since the math works out that it's giving a whopping -2 or so to enemies' maneuver rolls, at least in the post-cap range. That said, since empaths have 3x Physical Fitness, I figured I'd go all in on accentuating one of their strengths by pushing maneuver defense to the utmost.
- Dirtkick: One of the few maneuvers that works just as effectively in more defensive stances, but empaths have better things to do. Still fun, though.
- Feint: Staple setup maneuver that's extremely useful both offensively and defensively. If there's one maneuver to train on every empath, this is it.
- Groin Kick: Another pick just for fun and because spare points were there. Like clerics, empaths can't inflict RT on enemies without this or Feint; unlike clerics, however, empaths would never have a need to do that since almost nothing is immune to Sympathy.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups.
Additional Considerations
There's a case for swapping the number of ranks for Dirtkick and Groin Kick. The latter does give better defense against bandits. That said, empaths' maneuver defense is already very strong and I can at least imagine a scenario where an empath would want to stall out an enemy with Dirtkick while healing down, in which case they'd need a maneuver that works in more defensive stances.
I considered Disarm Weapon, but don't think it's especially helpful since Spirit Servant can retrieve gear and empaths have solid maneuver defense. I was excited for Retreat when its design was revealed, but higher level enemies--the one thing I'd want to retreat from--can close the distance and attack through it anyway.
Monk
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burst of Swiftness burst 3/5 Combat Focus focus 3/5 Combat Mobility mobility 1/1 Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Coup de Grace coupdegrace 5/5 Evade Specialization evadespec 3/3 Ki Focus kifocus 3/3 Kick Specialization kickspec 5/5 Rolling Krynch Stance krynch 3/3 Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Surge of Strength surge 3/5
Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My monk is primarily a brawler with a conventional build, but is learning to use dual katars for the sake of having more AoE weapon techniques available.
Explanation
Monks have an excellent set of combat maneuvers available and can be extremely versatile with them. I usually prefer versatility over min-maxing, but in this case I think it's better to min-max--or, in other words, to go deep into an idea rather than go wide. This can work with any of the unarmed combat specializations, but I'll explain mine and then make the case for the others.
The short of it is that Spin Kick with max Kick Specialization is by far the strongest single-target reaction technique and can often pick off enemies one by one more quickly than anything else you could be doing.
- Burst of Swiftness: Strengthens the Major Bleed damage from Slashing Strikes. Also has other benefits like slightly increasing evasion rate or slightly reducing RT and slightly increasing UAF when using kick-heavy Fury or kick-heavy mstrikes, but I think those are very secondary to the Slashing Strikes benefit.
- Combat Focus: Virtually a gimme for a monk, whose main weakness is TD.
- Combat Mobility: Before PSM3, I considered this very solid for monks, but not a must-have since they're great at avoiding attacks even while prone. Now I consider it a must-have on a Spin Kick build since they need to be standing to use it.
- Combat Movement: Mandatory prerequisite to Side by Side, but nearly useless on its own.
- Coup de Grace: I'm not willing to forego Vertigo to have Martial Mastery, which means monk AS isn't great. Coup serves a dual purpose of raising AS and finishing off enemies that fell short of being killed, which should happen fairly often when attacking with katars or AoE. For the other squares, I think two or three ranks are fine, but because of monks' diminished AS, I want a full five ranks to keep this active as frequently as possible.
- Evade Specialization: Half of the linchpin of the Spin Kick build since you get an additional 10% chance to dodge and react.
- Ki Focus: With enough lore investment (for Mind Over Body), Physical Fitness, and potentially Stamina Regeneration from Ascension, you can use this near constantly.
- Kick Specialization': The other half of the linchpin of Spin Kick builds. What's even better than obliterating enemies in five seconds, which monks do with focused mstrikes, is obliterating them in two seconds, which monks do with five ranks of Kick Specialization.
- Rolling Krynch Stance: What used to be a staple is more niche if the monk has an alternative weapon style trained. Since mstrikes lock out weapon techniques, it's a matter of picking one or the other and I almost always side with weapon techniques. That said, unarmed combat is drastically more viable than AS-based attacks against heavily turtled enemies with Wall of Force up, so it has its place.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups. The AS is really helpful for monks who use weapons but don't have Martial Mastery, since they otherwise fall way short of other squares (and paladins).
- Surge of Strength: Additional AS for a weapon-wielding build for when Side by Side and Coup de Grace aren't enough. The stamina cost is less severe for monks than others due to Mind Over Body.
Additional Considerations
There's a strong case to be made for Slippery Mind to have better defense against warding attacks. I usually prefer stronger offense, but my monk and her project weapons are still too far off from me being able to judge whether Rolling Krynch with unarmed combat is or isn't stronger than double katars. If katars win out, then Slippery Mind it'll be.
There's also a case to be made for Duck and Weave for its synergy with Evade Specialization, but I think Rolling Krynch usually wins out there--though it depends on the area. It works best in places where the enemies are hard hitting yet squishy.
There's a question of why my monk has Combat Focus instead of training any of her disabling options--Headbutt, Sweep, Cheapshots--in an attempt to stop enemies from casting at all. I don't think it's reasonable to assume you can hit first 100% of the time, but even if you could, I'd say you can accomplish the goal of stopping them with weapon techniques alone.
A Martial Mastery monk who primarily battles with edged, blunt, or two-handed weapons is the use case for taking Parry Specialization over Evade Specialization, since their reaction techniques trigger from parries, but at that point you also need to take two ranks of Stance Perfection to prioritize parrying over evading. I don't like the point sink.
Paladin
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Focus focus 5/5 Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Combat Toughness toughness 1/3 Feint feint 5/5 Warrior Guild Precision precision 2/2 Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Spin Attack sattack 5/5 Warrior Guild Surge of Strength surge 5/5 Weapon Specialization wspec 5/5 Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My paladin uses two war hammers as her primary weapons and is now training to use two broadswords as backup to keep a rotation of weapon techniques going, along with having fully trained 2x spells. She also wears metal breastplate instead of full plate.
Explanation
One "problem" with paladins is that they can reach overwhelming enough AS and CS advantages over enemy DS and TD that they don't need setups. Despite having many combat maneuver options, a number of them are redundant in light of either weapon techniques, their spells, or both, so I gravitated toward passive abilities.
- Combat Focus: Pushing paladins' very solid combination of TD and CvA even higher.
- Combat Movement: Mandatory prerequisite to Side by Side. Very slightly less useless for a two weapon paladin than it is for every other profession, since their DS isn't exceptional, but I'd rather just keep up Wall of Force.
- Combat Toughness: The first rank is a very solid +15 health for its cost and can help against getting slowly poked to death.
- Feint: Staple setup maneuver for most professions... but eventually it's not necessary to paladins offensively, as Aura of the Arkati does its job better. Still extraordinarily valuable defensively to avoid RT lock, though.
- Precision: Very useful when using war hammers--or morning stars, for that matter. I prefer war hammers since I'd much rather trade 0.025 DF for -1 RT on assault techniques than the other way around. (That's true in general, but especially true on a paladin due to high AS, Arm of the Arkati, and more flares from Holy Weapon and/or Fervor encouraging more swings per minute.)
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups. Overkill AS.
- Spin Attack: Dinaden and others alerted me to the incredible value here. Basically, anything that adds another 3-seconds-or-less option to the paladin toolkit is extraordinarily welcome. I'll say more about this in notes.
- Surge of Strength: Even more overkill AS that also serves the purpose of buffing Concussive Blows.
- Weapon Specialization: Still more overkill AS.
Additional Considerations
I initially took True Strike over Spin Attack before others told me just how strong Spin Attack was. I still think True Strike is a very forward-thinking choice; I don't see it as especially useful in the current game as it competes with weapon techniques for stamina usage, but the world of hitting overleveled enemies in Ascension grounds or just while leveling is a different story. I might still find a way to fit it into her maneuvers if I end up liking Ascension ground.
I tinkered with the numbers to consider dropping some number of ranks between Combat Toughness and True Strike to take Groin Kick for defense against bandits, but just couldn't talk myself into it. Paladins have perfectly good maneuver defense, especially one like mine who's not in full plate, so I was only concerned with avoiding Feint since a wider variety of enemies use it.
Training Stance Perfection to move parrying ahead of evasion in the combat order of operations is something to consider for any build with blunt, edged, or two-handed weapons trained. That said, paladins have neither Parry Specialization nor the Combat Mastery feat, so their opportunities for Clobber, Riposte, or Reverse Strike will only be a third as common as warriors'.
Tainted Bond is relatively less valuable to a build with multiple weapon types trained, or indeed even two weapons of the same type since it's not benefiting the offhand.
Elaborating on Spin Attack
When paladins got Spin Attack, I overlooked it because I was used to overlooking it. Even now, I don't see it as especially valuable to warriors, rogues, monks, rangers, or bards. Warriors and rogues have better things to do with their stamina, monks and bards have better things to do with their RT, and on a ranger I'm more interested in power boosts--from effects like Camouflage, Tangleweed, or even Spirit Strike--than speed increases.
I don't see any of those reasons applying to paladins, though. Area of effect and assault weapon techniques are better uses of stamina, but have cooldowns. Divine Incarnation Smite is a better use of RT, but only has limited uses in a ten-minute window. Judgment is arguably a better use of RT, but only given a sufficient number of enemies--and, even then, still likely only in a context where the paladin's area of effect technique is on cooldown.
The bottom line is that a paladin can rotate between Spin Attack, Divine Incarnation Smite, Judgment, and assault techniques for pretty sustainable three-RT-or-less attacks throughout a hunt.
(Each does come with a caveat, though. Spin Attack needs to be backed by an infused spell in a bonded weapon to compensate for the lack of aiming. Smite needs to be backed by heavy training in Religion lore for power and/or Spiritual Mana Control for number of uses. Judgment needs to be backed by heavy Paladin Base ranks. Assault techniques need to be backed by Multi Opponent Combat and Combat Maneuvers.)
Ranger
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Focus focus 5/5 Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Dirtkick dirtkick 5/5 Disarm Weapon disarm 1/5 Warrior Guild Feint feint 5/5 Warrior Guild Groin Kick gkick 4/5 Hamstring hamstring 3/5 Shield Bash sbash 3/5 Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Sweep sweep 5/5 Rogue Guild Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My ranger uses a longbow and has fully trained 2x spells, but most things I'd say about his combat maneuver choices apply to any build.
Explanation
Rangers have such a poor selection of maneuver options, especially relative to their wide array of magical disablers, that nearly everything here was trained for defensive purposes.
- Combat Focus: Pushing rangers' very solid combination of TD and CvA even higher.
- Combat Movement: Mandatory prerequisite to Side by Side, but nearly useless on its own. Even more useless for archer rangers than most other professions and builds since they have exceptional DS.
- Dirtkick: The most relevant (and thematic) maneuver for an archer ranger since it deters enemies from evading or blocking their arrows.
- Disarm Weapon: Purely here for defensive purposes.
- Feint: Purely here for defensive purposes.
- Groin Kick: Purely here for defensive purposes.
- Hamstring: Purely here for defensive purposes. My ranger doesn't even train for edged weapons.
- Shield Bash: Purely here for defensive purposes. My ranger doesn't even train for shields.
- Side by Side: Purely here for defensive purposes--and not even the ranger's own, since more DS isn't that needed, but more so aid to group members. The AS boost doesn't even apply to ranged.
- Sweep: Almost purely here for defensive purposes. Tangleweed is generally better offensively, but adding Vulnerable is helpful.
Additional Considerations
Cunning Defense is probably good at lower levels, but extraneous at higher levels as rangers grow into exceptional maneuver defense. Dislodge exists and is meant for ranged, but I don't think rangers need it at all when they have spells. Retreat almost makes sense, but doesn't since it just breaks on your next offensive maneuver anyway. True Strike would be an option if it could aim, but it can't.
Rogue
Option 1: Open Combat With Dual Katars
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheapshots cheapshots 6/6 Rogue Guild Combat Focus focus 3/5 Combat Mobility mobility 1/1 Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Coup de Grace coupdegrace 4/5 Dirtkick dirtkick 1/5 Divert divert 6/6 Rogue Guild Evade Specialization evadespec 3/3 Eyepoke eyepoke 6/6 Rogue Guild Footstomp footstomp 6/6 Rogue Guild Groin Kick gkick 1/5 Hamstring hamstring 1/5 Kick Specialization kickspec 5/5 Kneebash kneebash 6/6 Rogue Guild Mug mug 2/5 Nosetweak nosetweak 6/6 Rogue Guild Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Stun Maneuvers stunman 1/5 Rogue Guild Subdue subdue 1/5 Rogue Guild Surge of Strength surge 4/5 Sweep sweep 6/6 Rogue Guild Swiftkick swiftkick 6/6 Rogue Guild Templeshot templeshot 6/6 Rogue Guild Throatchop throatchop 6/6 Rogue Guild Weapon Specialization wspec 4/5 Whirling Dervish dervish 3/3 Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My rogue wears robes and uses dual katars while having two hand crossbows as a backup option. She uses ranged exclusively for Volley and will probably train Ambush ranks in the future to use it as a primary attack form too. She doesn't use stealth and Subdue is only there because it comes through the guild.
Explanation
Open combat rogues have a wide array of combat maneuvers from the maneuver system, but also have so many options from the rogue guild alone that I found it impossible to justify training setup options and went mostly for direct boosts to offense and defense. Most of her choices are centered around light armor, evasiveness, and the flexibility of katars.
For the sake of this not being excessively lengthy, I won't talk about any of the rogue guild maneuvers except to say that Kneebash, Sweep, Swiftkick, and Throatchop are all very useful.
- Combat Focus: This is my only character whose Combat Focus I intend to have a rank other than 0 or 5. I still like some TD protection, but it's not as crucial for a build that uses edged weapons and Evade Specialization. Both can trigger Evasiveness, which works around enemy spells. On top of that, rogues have Throatchop and various ways to inflict Staggered.
- Combat Mobility: Crucial to survival for an open combat rogue.
- Coup de Grace: Weapon Specialization doesn't work on hybrid weapons like katars, so getting extra AS in some other fashion is valuable. Four ranks are usually enough to meet the conditions, as a rogue with edged and ranged trained gets a lot of damage over time going with Slashing Strikes and Volley pulling enemies into the right health range; the latter even adds stun for you most of the time.
- Dirtkick: Only one rank because it's the desperation option against enemies where all else fails. Working in defensive stance gives it a niche.
- Groin Kick: Here for defensive purposes.
- Hamstring: Works well with two weapons, but I didn't feel that having more than one rank was necessary when Cripple is right there.
- Evade Specialization: Always half the cornerstone of Spin Kick builds.
- Kick Specialization: Always the other half.
- Mug: I want extra treasure! That said, Mug is the type of maneuver that only cares whether your endroll is 101 or higher, so I didn't feel a need for more than two ranks. Even two might be a bit much, but four spare points wouldn't have done much anywhere else either.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups.
- Surge of Strength: AS booster to make up for the relatively low power of edged weapons.
- Weapon Specialization: Another AS booster.
- Whirling Dervish: I can't imagine going for anything other than this on a two weapon combat rogue.
Other Considerations
Slippery Mind would make enough sense on an Evade Specialization rogue in robes who has one weapon that I theorycrafted the whole thing out and will present that soon enough too, but on a two weapon rogue I just don't see foregoing Whirling Dervish for more offensive power. In any case, it's arguably a better use of points than the last two ranks of Combat Focus would have been--not that I trained those either, of course!
If I went down to one rank of Mug, the spare points would probably go to one rank each of Feint and True Strike. Feint is offensively redundant with a rogue's other tools, but always a consideration for defense against an RT-inducing maneuver if nothing else. True Strike has its niche against very evasive enemies.
I'll look into Spell Thieve if I find that I like going to spell sever hunting grounds on a rogue, but at that point the whole build would probably need to be reconsidered.
Warrior
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Category Subcategory -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Berserk berserk 6/6 Warrior Guild Combat Focus focus 3/5 Combat Mobility mobility 1/1 Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Coup de Grace coupdegrace 3/5 Disarm Weapon disarm 1/5 Warrior Guild Evade Specialization evadespec 3/3 Feint feint 6/6 Warrior Guild Kick Specialization kickspec 5/5 Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Spin Attack sattack 6/6 Warrior Guild Stance Perfection stance 2/2 Warrior Guild Surge of Strength surge 5/5 Tackle tackle 6/6 Warrior Guild Weapon Specialization wspec 5/5 Whirling Dervish dervish 3/3 Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My warrior primarily uses a lance as her bonded weapon, unarmed combat as a viable backup, and trains ranged weapons exclusively for Volley. (She lacks the Ambush ranks to use ranged in a conventional way and I have no plans of changing that.) She wears robes for even more evasion to trigger Radial Sweep and Spin Kick more often.
Explanation
Warriors have an extraordinary variety of combat maneuvers, which results in plenty of challenging, interesting decisions. I honestly believe that players' maneuver choices for warriors will be more about playing into their intended character concepts than just looking for the mechanical best option, which might or might not even be a thing that exists now. I'll explain that more as I review my choices of what I trained and what I didn't.
My character concept before the changes had been to wield a lance, the hardest-hitting weapon base in the game, and use Berserk to negate its normal RT disadvantages. However, those disadvantages can now also be negated by area of effect weapon techniques, rendering Berserk no longer necessary and pushing me toward a multi-weapon build. From that choice, the maneuvers emerged...
- Berserk: Now relegated to use in Duskruin Arena only.
- Combat Focus: A necessary step to bringing TD back in line for a warrior in robes. (I do plan to learn Elemental Barrier and Lesser Shroud for her, but at that point we're talking years down the line.) Five ranks are too much opportunity cost, so I decided to make up the rest and then some with +TD robes--which are much more readily available in playershops than people might think! You do have to give up the flare slot, though.
- Combat Mobility: Even in plate I'd argue this is a very strong contender for anyone's maneuver points, but in any armor below chain I'd go further and call it a must-have.
- Coup de Grace: AS booster. I think three ranks are fine on a lance wielder since the weapon hits so hard it's likely to put enemies within range.
- Disarm Weapon: Here because it comes free from the guild, but I doubt I'd train it otherwise.
- Evade Specialization: The key to my warrior's entire build since it fuels Radial Sweep and Spin Kick depending on what's in her hands.
- Feint: Free from the guild, but I'm undecided on whether I'd train it otherwise. I'm overall not a fan of war cries moving to stamina, but Gerrelle's Growl being among them is definitely one of the upsides. It costs less stamina than Feint, but doesn't inflict RT. Normally that's a notable downside when comparing the two, but in a lot of cases I might prefer the enemy to attack since that means more opportunities at Radial Sweep and Spin Kick.
- Kick Specialization: Some hunting grounds or individual enemies are more manageable with unarmed combat than a lance, and in those places Spin Kick shines.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups.
- Spin Attack: Free from the guild. Despite giving a brief boost to Dodging, I definitely wouldn't train it otherwise.
- Stance Perfection: Free from the guild, but I definitely wouldn't train it otherwise. That's me specifically, though, only because the order of evasion, blocking, and parrying is already exactly as I want it by default.
- Surge of Strength: Too classic an AS booster for me to forego, even though brawling and ranged don't need it. I do think that Surge is the kind of maneuver that demands either five ranks or none, as the recovery period is too long even at four ranks.
- Tackle: Free from the guild. I'd still consider training it otherwise, for defense against patchwork flesh monstrosities if nothing else, but it's not especially amazing offensively coming from an elf.
- Weapon Specialization: Give me all the AS.
- Whirling Dervish: I used to prefer Executioner's Stance of the two, but heavy use of assaults is much less killer on stamina than heavy use of mstrikes. A multi-weapon build also plays better with Dervish.
Additional Considerations
Practically everything.
True Strike, Trip, and Vault Kick were the last three cuts made. If I end up taking any of them, it'll probably happen because amazing custom maneuver messaging was released for one of them and I'll want it at the expense of some combination of a rank of Combat Focus, a rank of Coup de Grace, one or two ranks of Side by Side, and one or two ranks of Weapon Specialization.
Lances and unarmed combat (and even ranged, to a lesser extent) prefer Evade Specialization to get their reactions going, and along with that goes Kick Specialization.
I like Precision a lot for one-handed weapons, but that's not my warrior. Staggering Blow, Spell Cleave, and Tainted Bond are less useful to a warrior who has multiple weapons trained. Acrobat's Leap and Leap Attack are nice, but unnecessary for a warrior who also uses ranged.
Griffin's Voice was my preferred martial stance before the changes so I could consistently keep up Horland's Holler, but that's no longer necessary. Some other warriors feel the opposite and now want Griffin's Voice after overlooking it before. I think that comes down to a playstyle difference; I'd almost never use Carn's Cry, for example, since I want the enemy attacking me so I can evade and react. By the same logic, I am interested in Horland's Holler, but even with max Griffin's Voice, the stamina cost is a bit too much to justify using it more than once in a while.
Bearhug's Strength bonus is great for the group, but the individual warrior doesn't need it if she already has Surge, and in any case it's not how I picture my character battling. Bull Rush is one of the best maneuvers in the game, but lightly armored polearm warriors already have Radial Sweep and (eventually) Elemental Wave for area of effect knockdowns. Combat Toughness is likewise a great consideration for plate warriors who have legitimate worries about getting plinked to death, but less useful to robe warriors whose deaths are more likely to crits.
Headbutt would be useful, but isn't how I picture my character battling. Haymaker would be even more useful and is how I picture my character battling, but I still thought I had better options. (Again, those are True Strike, Trip, and Vault Kick.)