Cunning defense - for pures?

[JHarris]

Does anyone else get the feeling that this new cman was made more for non-squares than for squares? Warriors and rogues tend to have enough cman points/guild skills to defend a lot of the offensive cmans employed by most creatures in the game as it is. I have found that 2 ranks of charge at level 100 really nerfs tritons' ability in Nelemar, for instance.

Yes, it is far cheaper for squares to get this cman, but it also doesn't address their bigger maneuver weakness: things like stonefist or burrows that squares eat because of a lack of dodge being factored in and armor. I just don't see the need for this cman in a standard warrior build, but it seems perfect for casters who are loading up on cmans to try to defend certain maneuvers. It would allow them to defend against feint or disarm in almost the same way a warrior mastered in the guild (without use of this cman) would be able to.

[thefarmer]

It would allow them to defend against feint or disarm in almost the same way a warrior mastered in the guild (without use of this cman) would be able to.

No, it wouldn't.

[Deathravin]

It's not as much defense as you'd think... Re-read it man


A new CMAN, Cunning Defense, has been released. Training in Cunning Defense will raise your defense against all CMANs from the Combat Maneuver List (CML). Mastery in Cunning Defense is equivalent to having one additional rank (for defensive purposes) in all offensive CMANs.

It aint all it's cracked up to be. It's decent, don't get me wrong. But it's not so uber.

[droit]

Actually, he's technically right. If someone is mastered in disarm or feint via the combat maneuver list, mastering cunning defense puts them at 6 ranks of defense, just short of the 6.3 ranks that guild mastery confers. However, the TP/CMP costs of that for non-squares more than make up for it. I personally think CDEF is an excellent choice for just about anyone, but I'm sure squares have more alluring CMAN options.