Overview

Fighters are among the classes with the fewest abilities, so much of this update is additive and focused on filling out their toolkit with satisfying upgrade paths. We’re introducing retaliation abilities and the Vengeance mechanic to their kit, allowing Fighters to continue dealing damage while solo or tanking for a group. Most of their current abilities remain intact, but expect some balancing adjustments as we tune numbers between classes. To set your expectations, we’re aiming for Fighters to do more DPS than most tanks, but less than a DPS-centric class like Ranger or Monk.

As a “master of arms”-themed class, Fighters now have a number of abilities requiring a specific weapon type. You’ll want to choose a loadout based on your weapons, or alternatively, bring multiple weapons and swap based on the encounter.

There’s also been a shake-up in regards to cooldowns. All Shouts are now on a shared cooldown, while Taunt no longer shares a cooldown with Unnerving Shout. Shield Bash is now on a cooldown with Shield Block instead of Frenzy.

Retaliation / Vengeance

This is a new mechanic specific to Fighters, granted automatically while in any of their three stances. When taking damage, you’ll have a chance to generate a stack of the Vengeance buff, which you can spend on a few abilities:

• Frenzy - Eviscerate your target with a frenzy of attacks, dealing Weapon Ratio Damage up to five times and increasing your Attack Speed. (This ability consumes all your Vengeance, performing a weapon strike for each stack consumed. It has a higher baseline damage than before, so the hits should feel a bit more satisfying.)

• Cleave - Cleave through targets in a frontal cone, dealing Weapon Ratio Damage plus Physical Damage. (This 2H-based ability consumes one stack of Vengeance to hit up to three targets.)

• Second Wind - Catch a second wind, restoring Health every few seconds. (This ability consumes one stack of Vengeance in return for a short-term regen. Vengeance stacks fade relatively quickly, so using this after a fight is a good way to burn any leftover stacks. The amount healed scales with your Stamina stat.)

Stances

Fighters retain their Offensive and Defensive stances, while gaining a third:

• Tactician Stance - Shift into a tactician's stance, increasing your resistance to Root, Stun, and Incapacitate effects. (This stance is useful for pulling, specific encounters, and likely PvP.)

Melee Abilities

Some existing abilities have been slightly adjusted:

• Rend - Now has a chance to reset Cleave and Feint in addition to Frenzy and Shield Bash.

• Shield Bash - Now interrupts spell casting.

In addition to Rend, Kick, and Clobber, Fighters gain:

• Cross Cut - Cut through your target with dual weapons, dealing Weapon Ratio Damage plus Physical Damage per equipped weapon. (This is a DW-based attack on the same cooldown as Rend. It deals more raw damage than Rend, while lacking the ability to reset your cooldowns.)

• Feint - Outmaneuver your target with a feint, dealing Weapon Ratio Damage plus Physical Damage, decreasing their Agility, and knocking them off balance. (Since this attack is on the same cooldown as Frenzy and Cleave, it's best used when you don’t have Vengeance available to fuel other attacks. Monks can also take advantage of this “off-balance” state to empower some of their abilities.)

In addition to Disarm and Armor Break, Fighters now have:

• Kneebreaker - Smash the knees of your target, decreasing their Movement Speed.

Ranged

• Challenging Arrow - Fire an arrow of challenge at your target, dealing Weapon Ratio Damage plus Physical Damage, and increasing your Threat against them. (This is a high-threat pulling option, dealing marginally more damage than the base Shoot ability.)

Other Abilities

• Shield Block - Raise your shield in defense, temporarily absorbing damage received. (As implied, this ability requires a shield.)

• Juggernaut - Charge at your target like a juggernaut, immobilizing them. Additionally, your Threat generation is temporarily increased and all damage received is reduced. (This is a high-level alternative to Charge.)

• Vanguard - Impede enemy aggression toward your target, decreasing their Threat generation. (This helps you prevent a group member from pulling aggro off of you.)