Some ideas for an Ash rework

[(PSN)OmegAmorbis]

Ash is in a decent place imo, but he could certainly be better so here's how I'd go about doing that, because why not. Reasons for changes are in the spoiler tags.

 

Shurikens
Number of shurikens thrown is now 4 at base and can be increased with power strength. Enemies hit by the shurikens will be marked for a time, causing any further attacks against them to bypass a portion of their defenses. For eximus units, the mark increases damage done to their overgaurd.

Duration: 8/10/12/15 seconds (mark duration)
Strength: 10/10/15/20% defense bypass
               20/30/40/50% more damage to overguard

New Augment: Assassin's Mark
Throws a single shuriken which can be aimed and inflicts a stronger mark on whatever enemy it hits. When the target dies, any nearby enemies will be inflicted with the standard mark.

Range: 8/10/12/15 meters (mark spread range)
Strength: 50% defense bypass on initial target
               100% more damage to overguard on initial target

Spoiler

Presently, Shurikens is only useful with its augment and even then the limited number per cast is somewhat inconvenient. Fixing that problem, along with formalizing this as a debuff ability by default, seems like the way to go, seeing as how its damage will always be outclassed by Bladestorm. The augment offers Ash a way to accurately focus on specific targets and eliminate them even more quickly, fitting his role as an assassin, while still allowing him to mark multiple enemies.

Smoke Screen
Base duration and range increased to 12 seconds and 15 meters respectively. Tap to throw a smoke bomb at a targeted location, creating a cloud which blinds enemies inside of it. Hold to cast on self. While stealthed, the cost of thrown smoke bombs is reduced by 25%. All kills within a smoke bomb's aoe are treated as silent. If a target is marked, smoke bombs will refresh the mark's duration and double its effect. This also applies to the enhanced mark inflicted by the Assassin's Mark augment.

Spoiler

I've always liked the idea of throwable smoke bombs, as it makes Smoke Screen a more unique stealth skill and gives it some cc functionality. Given that newfound utility, a bump in range and duration seemed warranted to me.

Teleport
No longer requires a target to perform.

Blade Storm
Once activated, any time Ash kills an enemy, clones will attack other targets within range of that enemy. 1 clone is generated by ranged kills, 2 clones by melee kills, and 3 clones by finisher kills.

Range: 10/12/15/20 meters (clone attack radius)

Spoiler

This version has a bit more of the immediacy of the old Blade Storm, but still requires active engagement and use of Ash's other skills to maximize its efficacy. Also, clones will perform 3 attacks on enemies by default.

 

Didn't touch Ash's other augments since they're pretty solid as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I'm curious to hear your opinions so let me know what you think and thanks for reading.

[(PSN)Vexx757]

@(PSN)OmegAmorbis

While this is better than the other ideas I've seen however you are not aware of his issues he has nor have a solution for them, so therefor you did not mention them which is unfortunate plus your not giving Ash a rework its a revisit your giving him.

Therefor I`d suggest you play Ash with no add-ons no augments, no helminth, no arcans and you will see the issues he has.

Here is a Ash REVISIT that addresses all his issues and makes him into a better ninja.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by (PSN)Vexx757

[(PSN)OmegAmorbis]

On 2023-05-30 at 8:11 AM, (PSN)Vexx757 said:

This is good and all but I`d rather go for quality over quantity, now if it was an augment it would be great plus your changes doesn`t address one of the issues it has.

If the issue you're referring to is damage, I chose to focus on making Shurikens a debuff ability rather than a dps skill since Bladestorm will always be better in that regard. I just don't think having them compete for that role makes sense.

On 2023-05-30 at 8:11 AM, (PSN)Vexx757 said:

I don`t like this. I personally like the idea of teleporting to enemies coz its a combat teleport, it would of been better if you gave the option to teleport to enemies or teleport anywhere also you have not address the issues it has plus teleport could do a lot more than what you suggested. 

I didn't specify it in my post, but you can still teleport to enemies. I simply made it so you can use the skill more freely. Also, I am aware that Teleport has some inconsistencies; I didn't mention them because I figured fixing those would be a given. Lastly, I did consider adding some extra functionality to Teleport, but in the end I decided to keep it as is since it's a perfectly fine ability minus the aforementioned issues.

On 2023-05-30 at 8:11 AM, (PSN)Vexx757 said:

I'm not really sure what you`re saying here but if you`re saying that it kill enemies within a radius then I'm all for it, this makes sense and its practical much better than the rubbish marking system we have now however I don`t like that you didn`t say anything about being in the animation and this idea falls flat since I like being in th animation, while it`s quicker it`s still boring. Also most ppl are not going to think about what action they are goint to do to get the clones or ppl might not remember, it don`t need to be complicated just to activate an ability.

Yes, it does work radially. If you kill an enemy, clones will attack another target(s) within range of the enemy that died. I agree that the current marking system is clunky and should be replaced with something more expedient, while still making it engaging to use. As far as Ash being in the BS animation, I honestly forgot about that aspect of it, as it's something I never use. Ideally I would like to retain it, since there are folks like yourself who use it, though I'm not sure how it would work with my version of the skill. Anyway, hopefully that clarifies some things. Btw, I did see your rework post and while I'm not a fan of everything you suggested, there are some good ideas in there.

[Grave.Knight]

The only thing Blade Storm needs is a larger target indicator with it's own UI element.

Teleport is fine, just wish it did something to normal enemies immune to stealth finishers (i.e. Corpus Drones).

Smoke Screen just needs more base duration (should at least be 10 seconds) and the stun duration should scale with ability duration as well as open enemies up to finishers.

Shuriken needs an overhaul. Personally I'd like to see it throw three shuriken that fly where you're aiming which then each bouncing to nearby enemies after hitting an enemy or surface. Also benefits from headshot multipliers. Maybe even give it a crit chance.

[(PSN)OmegAmorbis]

14 hours ago, Grave.Knight said:

The only thing Blade Storm needs is a larger target indicator with it's own UI element.

Debatable, I think. BS as it is now is..serviceable, but it could definitely be improved quite a bit.

 

14 hours ago, Grave.Knight said:

Teleport is fine, just wish it did something to normal enemies immune to stealth finishers (i.e. Corpus Drones).

Agreed. Perhaps, assuming an actual finisher animation can't be used, Teleport could simply deal a % of the target's health as finisher damage?

 

14 hours ago, Grave.Knight said:

Smoke Screen just needs more base duration (should at least be 10 seconds) and the stun duration should scale with ability duration as well as open enemies up to finishers.

The finisher idea is a good one. Frankly, Smoke Screen needs something to differentiate it from other stealth skills besides a currently worthless stagger.

 

15 hours ago, Grave.Knight said:

Shuriken needs an overhaul. Personally I'd like to see it throw three shuriken that fly where you're aiming which then each bouncing to nearby enemies after hitting an enemy or surface. Also benefits from headshot multipliers. Maybe even give it a crit chance.

 

Almost anything would be an improvement over the current version. I think making it a debuff skill is the best option, since that's practically how people are already using it with the augment, but if you wanted to make it a damage skill then Vexx's and your ideas would probably be a solid way to do it.