Martial Stance Question

[HgCn]

Whirling Dervish or Executioner?

55 train 2h (Claidh) Warrior, with 90 ranks in MOC

and If Executioner is it worth ranking in Staggering blow?


Thanks,

A

[Jeril]

I've honestly not found either of those stances worth it, I am currently working on getting the third rank of griffins voice though. I plan to see how long I can keep holler up with it. I'll probably keep it just because I happen to use warcries a lot

[MrMortimur]

with a quad strike you'd benefit more often from Dervish of these two and it also has a higher activation %. Less pre-reqs for Dervish as well. That being said, I love executioner on my warrior, but I also thoroughly enjoy using the Staggering Blow prereq as a standalone so I'm probably in the minority.

[Slamy]

I run dervish ... it really is great. It activates a lot. Make sure both critters are in a stance you can hit them at and go for the weaker one first. If it dies in a blow or two you'll have a couple other for the next one.

[Aganii]

I also have had mixed feelings about these two stances. In the end i think they are great for style and you should choose whichever you picture your warrior using. Mechanically they are situationally useful but maybe not worth the points. For example, how often as a thw user do you have two or more critters incapacitated or opened up for either of these to be worth it? If that is something that happens often for you then I would say get dervish, probably. Exec stance is awesome if the sblow proc puts the other critter in RT but that doesn't even happen all the time. I almost wish it didn't attack a second critter and only knocked dead ones into others in the room and was buffed to add a knockdown.

Again great for style but I wouldn't expect a significant combat advantage versus normal THW strats. I actually think dervish is better for sword and board builds because of trample, shorter mstrike times and potential for shield strike mastery for an additional bash if your target was turtled

[Jeril]

I tend to like more control over my attacks then either of those stances give so the points aren't worth it to me. I often just go after whatever my bounty is, so it isn't necessary for me to kill everything I come across. Most things I mstrike tend to take 3-4 strikes to kill with the exception of sentries and then I'd prefer to keep my rt low. If I had more focused strikes, dervish would be amusing to use sometimes but it isn't like I can target which additional targets I want to hit. Executioner is kind of the same way, I also think that 50% is too low, it should be more like 100% chance to attack the second creature, then 75% for a third, 50% for a fourth, and 25% for a fifth. Being able to designate targets before hand would also make each stance much better but I doubt it will ever happen.

[Aluvius]

Dervish doesn't give you more rt does it? Or would you have gotten less rt if the target died in 2 strikes out of a possible 3 and the extra 3rd attack on another target gave you full 3 mstrike rt?

Does Executioner's give you more rt or is it a "free" attack?

[Jeril]

Yah, sentries take 2 strikes, 3 would give me more. And from what I remember of executioner you don't get any extra rt, or maybe 1 second, its been a while but not worth the points to me.

[Aluvius]

Okay, so if you killed a sentry in 2 hits and hit another sentry with the extra 3rd mstrike attack then you'd get the full 3 mstrike rt and if not, you'd have shorter 2 strike rt? I guess I'm not that familiar with mstrike rt in general. Huh, I guess I thought it was basically a free strike from Dervish.

Yeah if Executioner's free rt or just 1 sec that makes it more attractive. If it has more rt then then I see why a lot of folks go with Griffin's Voice once you get warcries.

Mongoose's potential rt lock is just too frightening.

[Jeril]

Okay, so if you killed a sentry in 2 hits and hit another sentry with the extra 3rd mstrike attack then you'd get the full 3 mstrike rt and if not, you'd have shorter 2 strike rt?

Basically, yes. Also you can't exactly pick your targets with dervish so pretty sure it would just hit the next creature, it would be nice if you could pick the order though.

[Loyrl]

If there are 2 sentries in the room, I am not going to MSTRIKE. And if I did on accident, the second one would be in DEF and I wouldn't be able to hit it. But I usually hunt alone.

[stormcrow]

If there are two sentries in the room I'd probably leave it in the first place. But here is a quick clip of how dervish works. It takes some setup and the right critter combo to work to full effect but it's still very effective when it work.

You concentrate intently, focusing all your energies.
You explode into a fury of strikes and ripostes, moving with a singular purpose and will!
You swing a glowing coraesine flail at a triton combatant!
AS: +565 vs DS: +269 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +99 = +429
... and hit for 102 points of damage!
Stomach ripped open by mighty blow!
You swing a glowing coraesine flail at a triton combatant!
AS: +565 vs DS: +258 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +69 = +410
... and hit for 103 points of damage!
Hard blow breaks the femur!
The triton combatant is knocked to the ground!
You swing a glowing coraesine flail at a triton combatant!
AS: +565 vs DS: +179 with AvD: +34 + d100 roll: +41 = +461
... and hit for 105 points of damage!
Blast to hand sends fingers flying in several different directions.
The combatant's brine-stained parma falls to the ground.
The triton combatant gurgles once and goes still, a wrathful look on his face.
You deftly switch your ongoing attack towards a triton executioner!
You swing a glowing coraesine flail at a triton executioner!
AS: +565 vs DS: +219 with AvD: +42 + d100 roll: +4 = +392
... and hit for 134 points of damage!
Blast to hand reduces it to pulp!
You feel a slight resistance from the weapon. Quicker than you are able to react the resistance fades and you notice your movements speed up!
You swing a glowing coraesine flail at a triton executioner!
AS: +565 vs DS: +203 with AvD: +42 + d100 roll: +38 = +442
... and hit for 170 points of damage!
Hard blow breaks the femur!
The triton executioner gurgles once and goes still, a wrathful look on his face.

Your series of strikes and ripostes leaves you winded and out of position.
Roundtime: 11 sec.


If there are 2 sentries in the room, I am not going to MSTRIKE. And if I did on accident, the second one would be in DEF and I wouldn't be able to hit it. But I usually hunt alone.