Leafiara (prime)/Mechanical Musings/Combat Maneuver Choices
Preamble
This page mostly assesses combat maneuvers from the perspective of post-cap characters, but even while leveling, there are often insights to be found from reading others' thought processes. Below is mine process in case others find it helpful!
Bard
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheapshots cheapshots 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Combat Focus focus 3/5 Passive Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Dirtkick dirtkick 3/5 Setup Eyepoke eyepoke 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Feint feint 4/5 Setup Warrior Guild Footstomp footstomp 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Groin Kick gkick 3/5 Setup Hamstring hamstring 5/5 Setup Kneebash kneebash 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Nosetweak nosetweak 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Sweep sweep 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Swiftkick swiftkick 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Templeshot templeshot 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Throatchop throatchop 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild True Strike truestrike 4/5 Attack Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My bard uses a lance in most settings, but dual short swords in the Hinterwilds, and she might train for katars in the future. She has fully trained 2x spells and wears robes.
Explanation
Bards are pretty scant on maneuver options that aren't outclassed in some way by their magical options, so many of her picks are there for lack of anything better to do. That said, the ones that are good are exceptional.
- Cheapshots: Offensively a bard doesn'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' major 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. Pirates do occasionally use this, so ranks for defense are decent.
- Feint: Staple setup maneuver for many professions. Bards are no exception! Better than Swiftkick at inflicting RT.
- Groin Kick: Another somewhat filler maneuver. I think Dirtkick is easily the better of the two for offense, but training this one helps defend against bandits in addition to pirates.
- Hamstring: Arguably the best offensive combat maneuver for bards, this tears through just about anything. I found that four ranks are enough to hit consistently even against level 115 Hinterwilds foes, but going all the way makes Major Bleed that much better.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups.
- Sweep: The other arguable best offensive combat maneuver. Applying Vulnerable is among the best status effects you could hope for and Staggered probably is the single best status effect.
- True Strike: My thought here is that the EBP reduction can really help with hitting overleveled creatures in Ascension grounds or turtling creatures anywhere, but the Hinterwilds have pretty well proven that Hamstring and Sweep are the best melee-based openers in those situations. Assault techniques are almost always a better followup than True Strike, but it's a reasonable option when they're on cooldown.
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, lances and arguably even short swords and katars don't care that much about damage type, so I've left it off for now. If I want it back in the future, the points will probably come from Groin Kick.
Taking Spin Attack is an option, but I feel that True Strike outweighs it, never mind the other available maneuvers and weapon techniques. Vault Kick is the sort of maneuver I want to like thematically, but I tried and it never delivered for me.
Cleric
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Dirtkick dirtkick 2/5 Setup Feint feint 5/5 Setup Warrior Guild Groin Kick gkick 5/5 Setup Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive
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. Now if only it worked with UAC shoes...
- 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 probably 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
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Cunning Defense cdefense 5/5 Passive Dirtkick dirtkick 3/5 Setup Feint feint 5/5 Setup Warrior Guild Groin Kick gkick 1/5 Setup Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Trip trip 1/5 Setup
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.
- Trip: Two points remained and had to go somewhere.
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
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burst of Swiftness burst 5/5 Buff Combat Focus focus 2/5 Passive Combat Mobility mobility 1/1 Passive Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Coup de Grace coupdegrace 5/5 Attack Evade Specialization evadespec 3/3 Passive Ki Focus kifocus 3/3 Buff Kick Specialization kickspec 5/5 Passive Rolling Krynch Stanc krynch 3/3 Martial Stance Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My monk is primarily a brawler with a conventional build, but can also use dual katars for the sake of having more AoE weapon techniques available against creatures with particularly low DS.
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: My monk is an elf, so having Perfect Self and maxed Burst of Swiftness in conjunction with ten Ascension ranks each of Agility and Dexterity puts her just over the highest Agidex threshold and really makes assault techniques or even mstrikes shine. Burst of Swiftness also has various other benefits like adding additional weighting, increasing Major Bleed damage from Slashing Strikes, slightly increasing evasion rate, and slightly increasing UAF.
- 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 isn't too uncommon when attacking with katars or AoE. For the other squares, I think two or three ranks are fine, but because of monks' comparatively lower AS, I like 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. There aren't many better feelings in the game than being stuck in RT lock from Elemental Wave or similar effects, but then standing up with Combat Mobility and kicking everything to death before the RT ends.
- Rolling Krynch Stance: A staple of unarmed combat, especially if you don't mind fighting multiple creatures at once.
- 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).
Additional Considerations
I had Hamstring at one point. While I do believe it just might be the best combat maneuver in the game, I also believe it needs to go all in with five ranks to outshine alternatives like Twin Hammerfists to the degree it should. If I ever want it back, Coup de Grace is probably what will go, but Coup is pretty exceptional in its own right in the hands of a monk. They actually fill sort of similar roles, but in reverse: either lead off with Hamstring to get a ton of bleed damage going before letting UAC finish the job or lead off with UAC to get in the initial damage before letting Coup finish the job.
Ultimately, monks are the only profession where I lean toward Coup (given a choice between the two) because of UAC being so capable of inflicting disablers while simultaneously dealing hard hits. It also helps that Coup works on undead while Hamstring doesn't.
I also had Surge of Strength at one point since it can shore up AS, but I eventually decided that monks without Martial Mastery should only use weapons against creatures that naturally have low DS in the first place.
There's a case to be made for Slippery Mind to have better defense against warding attacks, but as more and more overleveled Ascension creatures get released, Rolling Krynch's flat chance to preserve higher tiers of unarmed combat only gets progressively more valuable. Of course, the same could be said for Slippery Mind, but not every creature uses magic.
There's a case to be made for Duck and Weave for its synergy with Evade Specialization, but it's very dependent 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 with Twin Hammerfists and don't need to spend valuable CM points on it.
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
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Focus focus 5/5 Passive Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Combat Toughness toughness 1/3 Passive Feint feint 5/5 Setup Warrior Guild Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Spin Attack sattack 4/5 Attack Warrior Guild Surge of Strength surge 5/5 Buff True Strike truestrike 4/5 Attack Weapon Specializatio wspec 5/5 Passive Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My paladin uses two war hammers as her primary weapons, has fully trained 2x spells, and 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 outside of really high end areas. 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 other professions and builds since their DS isn't exceptional.
- 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 2-seconds-or-less option to the paladin toolkit is 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.
- True Strike: Mostly a forward-thinking choice that looks to continue hitting overleveled creatures in Ascension grounds or even the later rounds of Duskruin Arena. Even looking at it in the context of normal creatures, though, rank 4 True Strike is on average +25 to your endrolls.
- Weapon Specialization: Still more overkill AS.
Additional Considerations
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.
So the real question is Spin Attack against True Strike. Obviously my answer is that both have their place, which is why my paladin has 4 ranks of each. Spin Attack should generally be the better option since it's a second faster--indeed, it's the fastest attack in her repertoire--but True Strike wins against creatures that are especially difficult to hit.
Ranger
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Combat Focus focus 5/5 Passive Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Dirtkick dirtkick 4/5 Setup Feint feint 5/5 Setup Warrior Guild Groin Kick gkick 4/5 Setup Hamstring hamstring 3/5 Setup Shield Bash sbash 3/5 Setup Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Sweep sweep 5/5 Setup Rogue Guild Trip trip 3/5 Setup 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 thematic maneuver for an archer ranger since it deters enemies from evading or blocking their arrows. Do I ever use it? Nope.
- Feint: Purely here for defensive purposes against many enemies.
- Groin Kick: Purely here for defensive purposes against bandits and pirates.
- Hamstring: Purely here for defensive purposes against bandits and pirates.
- Shield Bash: Purely here for defensive purposes against various enemies.
- 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: The one good thing here! Tangleweed is generally better, but Sweep does have its niche since it's faster, adds RT, adds Vulnerable, isn't subject to hindrance, and uses stamina, which has less competition than mana.
- Trip: Purely here for defensive purposes in the Hinterwilds.
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. Disarm Weapon will be an option if more capped hunting with disarming is added at some point.
Rogue
Last updated August 7, 2023
Option 1: Open Combat With Dual Katars
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cheapshots cheapshots 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Combat Focus focus 3/5 Passive Combat Mobility mobility 1/1 Passive Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Coup de Grace coupdegrace 4/5 Attack Divert divert 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Evade Specialization evadespec 3/3 Passive Eyepoke eyepoke 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Footstomp footstomp 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Hamstring hamstring 2/5 Setup Kick Specialization kickspec 5/5 Passive Kneebash kneebash 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Mug mug 1/5 Attack Nosetweak nosetweak 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Stun Maneuvers stunman 6/6 Buff Rogue Guild Subdue subdue 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Sweep sweep 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Swiftkick swiftkick 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Templeshot templeshot 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Throatchop throatchop 6/6 Setup Rogue Guild Weapon Specializatio wspec 4/5 Passive Whirling Dervish dervish 3/3 Martial Stance Available Combat Maneuvers Points: 1
Context
My rogue wears robes and uses dual katars while having ranged as a backup option used exclusively for Volley. 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: I 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.
- Hamstring: With two weapons, it's one of the strongest combat maneuvers in the game, if not at the very top!
- 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 one rank.
- Side by Side: Staple booster for AS and DS in groups.
- 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 maybe post that on this page at some point, 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!
Feint is offensively redundant with a rogue's other tools, but always a consideration for defense against an RT-inducing maneuver if nothing else.
Warrior
Last updated August 7, 2023
Skill Mnemonic Ranks Type Category Subcategory ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Berserk berserk 6/6 Attack Warrior Guild Combat Focus focus 3/5 Passive Combat Mobility mobility 1/1 Passive Combat Movement cmovement 2/5 Passive Coup de Grace coupdegrace 3/5 Attack Disarm Weapon disarm 6/6 Setup Warrior Guild Evade Specialization evadespec 3/3 Passive Feint feint 6/6 Setup Warrior Guild Kick Specialization kickspec 5/5 Passive Side by Side sidebyside 5/5 Passive Spin Attack sattack 6/6 Attack Warrior Guild Stance Perfection stance 2/2 Passive Warrior Guild Surge of Strength surge 5/5 Buff Tackle tackle 6/6 Setup Warrior Guild Weapon Specializatio wspec 5/5 Passive Whirling Dervish dervish 3/3 Martial Stance 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, even after the point of learning Elemental Barrier and Lesser Shroud, 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.
- Combat Movement: Basic prerequisite for Side by Side.
- 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. Warriors have numerous other disabling options.
- Kick Specialization: Some hunting grounds or individual enemies are more manageable with unarmed combat than a lance, so Spin Kick shines in those situations.
- 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 and essentially the warrior version of Sweep.
- 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 used to be. A multi-weapon build also plays better with Dervish.
Additional Considerations
Practically everything.
True Strike and Trip were the last two cuts made. If I end up taking either, 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.