Very well said @Ydiss
I’ve been playing it off and on since it’s been added, war opr arena… Fighting against a GS or using my own, the fights tend to be over very quickly, for both sides, but is that a bad thing?
There’s definitely rock paper scissors play style system. A well placed BB Azoth shrapnel is basically a free kill against Onslaught stance GS player, while a GS hunts down runners (bows/lonely FS users) very well, but cannot do anything against a life staff.
Fighting against a GS, you HAVE to take a hit now and again, which catches most players off guard. We’ve had over a year of iframe meta where taking any damage is frowned upon. Now take 1 hit from a skyward and you feel as if the tempo of that fights gone, I guess throw in the towel… But this trading, it’s a good thing imho. More of a slug fest in battle instead of a, dodge everything until one player lands 1 good string of attacks, usually because they outstammed the opponent or messed up 1 iframe.
The GS has many “roll catches”, which is good, because the forever running meta is dumb and not fun chasing people across a map. Only spears perforate or leaping strike can really do what GS does, better.
I’ll always take a Skyward hit, but you can always dodge a Sickening Slash.
You can properly dodge both Feral Rushes if you dodge once in the correct direction.
The tracking on Onslaught heavies is a tad too high, but if you know you’re going to get hit, might as well trade some damage back instead of give away free HP.
Yes GS shreds FS/IG, but does it do it better than a spear? I don’t think so it’s just in the spotlight from everyone crying nerf.
The Swift Onslaught is really the main problem, I can see it being changed just like history has shown (Adrenaline rush on Hatchet, Evade Runspeed/Stamina gain spam on Rapier, etc). Of course some tracking adjustments in some areas, it’s hard to get everything right/perfect on the first go. The next problem is why’s it taking so long for a balance patch 