Sohei Revision

I'd like to expand a bit on what Simba started in the previous post. Let me start by saying that the 'ideas' behind the Sohei revision are excellent, but the result of the class is underwhelming. The Sohei class is even more unplayable now that I've seen their skill set in action. Here's some of the reasons why:

Sohei's cant create comparable damage to ANY other class. The skills based on mana doesn't work. When you focus on say 'spinning bird', it creates a kick that does MAYBE 2x the normal kick damage, which might not even amount to a normal blow (roughly 20-30 damage in total). It consumes mana, which is not recoverable as the Sohei class doesn't regen like a mage or cleric. After literally 2-3 battles (if you live) you are OUT of mana and are therefore reduced to a skillless weak hitting warrior.

When you focus on 'Tiger Paw' or one of the skills that enchance pound or pummel (one of them doesnt even work at all) you consume your mana even faster, and the additional benefit from it again only at best doubles the damage caused for one round... The entire POINT of pound or pummel is to KNOCK the animal your fighting to the ground, then have a chance at an EXTRA damage blow caused by knocking the mob down. The thing is, if you don't assist LAST in a group, then the double damage blow on the subsequent round goes to whomever is on TOP of the fight (usually a cleric). You wind up with loosing out on the extra xp from damage, and the fight lasts longer since you double up on a 'very hard' hitting cleric instead of a LIQUIFYING Sohei....

If you decide to go with RESILIENCE then your loosing 10 mana every single round it goes off (which reduces dmg similiar to 'ORB' a jedi skill. However, I found out that a single fight can take your mana to zero. How ridiculous is it that orb lasts 4-6 ticks at a defined amount of mana, and resilience uses all your mana in less than 1 tick....

Now that the class been stripped of combat spells, I would have expected the equipment options to lend themselves more to damroll, strength, and dex. These revisions really need to happen. The Sohei class is limited in what it can wear and really has no identify. There is a skill called 'strike' which does massive damage at the cost of hp/mana/moves, yet the sohei does not get a benefit of extra move gains at 25 dex (its a 1d3 no matter what).

On Barehand: This needs to be drastically upped. If you look at the table, there is a section that goes from 5d5 to 6d4.... That's worse folks! You're average actually stays the SAME (average of 15) for all of those levels. I might add that wielding a laced +2 outhits a Sohei barehand ALMOST all the way to level 30. At this point you hit 7d4 which is 17.5.... You have to remember that most decent weapons have the benefit of a damroll/hitroll/stat or a combination of two of the above. So now the sohei class looses a slot in effect, but again, hit's weaker barehand than a mage (I think the staff of parts or the staff andrus has both average 18).

ADDENDUM to barehand: It doesn't even WORK some of the time. You can actually get a 1d1 roll or something comparable, and it's not like a 'miss'. It's simply a landed blow with NO dieroll. How annoying! I think I'm going to have to just use a weapon to grind through this remort. Case in point... over 20 rounds killing a turtle with 'barehand' (including pound ect), and only 13 rounds wielding a weapon...

On Mana Channel: Its a ml 27 spell, and unless the Sohei is soloing, or leading the group, no one's going to wait while the Sohei 'repumps' in order to be affective for more than a single battle. The skill comes way too late in the scheme of things to even matter, and would be better served coming in at level 15 or so.

All this being stated, I always envisioned Sohei as a monk like class that used speed (dexterity) and tactical knowledge to win battles. They ought to be able to look more like a mob with MH1 and MH0 (ie 1-4 attacks). Even if they were hitting an average of 2.5 hits per round, the total damage wouldn't even equal up to a SINGLE warrior swipe with weapons knowledge, much less a warrior dhitting at 90%. Could we please please relook at the class. I'm volunteering to help make suggestions and play test again.

Gambler.