I know that I always got completely owned as an archer when a friend used magic attacks. Oddly enough, this friendly arena fighting was the only time I ever saw a SK try magic attacks against me. Well maybe that's just because I never see SK's on the battlefield :P
But the ones I have seen never really tried it. I find that foolish. At least against an archer with lousy m. def
In theory I'd have to say it depends on who you're fighting and who you're fighting with, but that at least bringing Empower and acumen into combat shouldn't be overlooked.
I'd really like to see one with the buffs you mentioned though.
an SK doesn't need magic to beat an archer... the only skill to even bother with is maybe arrest and lightning strike on an archer other than that just going in and stabbing him repeatedly works pretty well :P
Killed an 63 PR (full A) on a duel when I was 58, LS worked and then I spent many mp an all skills since his evasion was a killer... SK has an arsenal of skills, if used effectively in battle it can do much dmg, in PvE though I prefer melee, and use magic skills to drain, arrest archer mobs or LS dangerous mobs (stunners). The debuff landing rate is decent with the use of BssA even in yellow mobs.
I have tried nuking angel mobs with my drain and empower/bd/sws buffs and I was dealing great dmg, but angels are very vulnerable to my drain ;)
It's not so easy as you make it out to be, and I rarely feel very threatened by SK's. There is the chance of LS and arrest, but what happens if those don't work?
SK's should see the use of the other skills as well, they do more damage than they think - not against mdef strong classes like mages, but the archers are so incredibly vulnerable to magic strikes
(grr and thats a reply to Dracone, seems I hit the wrong reply button)
All I hate on archers is their evasion and the cursed stun shot... I know I was lucky the LS landed but arrest has a higher land rate and DoT from Sting and the enhanced dmg of Judgment are killers ;) not to forget the decent dmg drain life does and the freezing strike's effect -> I am still behind you so stop running :p :p :p
an SK doesn't need magic to beat an archer... the only skill to even bother with is maybe arrest and lightning strike on an archer other than that just going in and stabbing him repeatedly works pretty well :P
You really have to know your target then base either melee weilding or magic abilities off of that. If its an archer in 1v1 then of course the magic is going to out do the melee. If its a mage then your pretty much [censored] anyways, but lightning strike would be a key role in that fight and then try and melee the mage to death hoping your cubics land a lot on the mage. Sk's magic attacks aren't going to hardly do anything to a mage. Also for a fully buffed archer party an SK is pretty much pwned anyways because of all the resist buffs to dark magic and the overwhelming combined p. atk of the archer party. SK's make a great 1v1 tank though.
Interesting post... but won't the magic get less and less useful as time goes on? The sword/blunt masteries give no buffs to m. atk, so it seems like m. damage output % would go down the higher it gets... just curious.
To say it like that would be to view melee and magic on the same equal level originally as long as they have the same level mastery. That's not the case. They are so different that you have to avoid that line of thinking entirely. Because even if a Knight had magic masteries, those skills would be very weak in comparison to full-time nukers mainly due to the low INT of fighter classes, which control all other stats.
It's definitely more on the lines of what many are saying; that It depends on your enemy, as well as applying the special ability of the magic skill, instead of thinking only about pure damage. Drains return HP. Freezing strike slows your opponent down. Lightning Strike immobilizes them. Hex weakens them physically. Power break weakens their attack. All of them can't be used at the same time, but they could be used brilliantly in certain situations.
Interesting post... but won't the magic get less and less useful as time goes on? The sword/blunt masteries give no buffs to m. atk, so it seems like m. damage output % would go down the higher it gets... just curious.
The damage out put for your m. atk drain doesn't necessarily go down the higher lvl the SK gets. The skill is leveled all the way up until 74. I guess the big shaft to the skill is against S graders with S jewelry since Life Drain wasn't upgraded at all past 74. I assume (since I'm not an SK) that you can enchant Life Drain, but as to what you can enchant it to do is entirely beyond me. There is a possbility though you can enchant the damage out put of the skill.