Duelist - single 1h without shield?

I'm a bit new, so forgive me if this suggestion has been done before (or is just bad).

When I was looking at the duelist tree, it struck me that there isn't really a lot that's unique to them. What they have is kind of a mixture of various generic weapons skills, but nothing that really sets the duelist apart as a class with its own playing style. There's a passive skill called water dancing, but what's missing is the ability to play as a true water dancer.

Back when I was playing Knights of the Old Republic (the single-player game, not the MMORPG) years ago, I remember there being a line of feats called Dueling, that provided you with both offensive and defensive bonuses for wielding a single bladed lightsaber in one hand, and keeping the other hand free. Similarly, monk classes in RPGs often have special bonuses for not wearing heavy armor, or not using a shield. These bonuses often include defense or evasion, as well as a bonus to their speed. The emphasis is on their mobility and technique providing them with defense in the place of an unwieldy shield or heavy armor.

So, with that in mind, I think it'd be interesting to have a cluster of passives in the duelist tree designed specifically for a player wielding a single one-handed melee weapon, and no shield or weapon in the other hand. You could perhaps provide them with the ability to block and parry using their weapon, or have massive crit rate and crit multiplier bonuses (with a single sword the duelist easily finds the weak points of his opponents, and strikes at them with deadly precision). Or perhaps have a passive the grants them a certain percent chance to counter an enemy's attack (instantly strike back at them with 100% accuracy and guaranteed stun).

I'm sure other players can come up with far better (and more unique) additions to this. I just know that when I look at the duelist, I think of a classical fencer, and it would be brilliant to be able to build him that way.

One potential balance problem with this idea is that such a Duelist would be missing an entire gear slot, which would almost certainly offset most of the advantages he would've had by using a shield or duel-wielding. This might be solved by introducing a utility item for the duelist to be wielded in the off-hand, which don't have direct offensive or defensive properties, but can have supportive stats (like what you might see on a quiver), and give them the ability to have up to 4 sockets. This would make up for the gear slot deficit.

I, too, have given this topic a bit of thought.

I disagree that there should be a node cluster specifically for this. This "build" would be quite niche, and like the Unarmed build, doesn't really deserve to have specific a cluster for it.

What I suggest however, is one of the 2 following options:

1) Make an unique 1 handed sword that gives a variety of benefits if you're not using any offhand weapon. You could say that this is the same as a 2 handed sword, but it would still be affected by 1 handed sword passives and have the same characteristics as 1 handed swords (accuracy, high attack speed, low damage, etc.).

2) The other option, which I like the most, is to add a keystone that, as with the previously mentioned sword, grants benefits if you're using a 1 handed weapon and nothing else.

I think this could lead to quite a few fun builds.

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xxxmetalgearxxx wrote:

I, too, have given this topic a bit of thought.

I disagree that there should be a node cluster specifically for this. This "build" would be quite niche, and like the Unarmed build, doesn't really deserve to have specific a cluster for it.

What I suggest however, is one of the 2 following options:

1) Make an unique 1 handed sword that gives a variety of benefits if you're not using any offhand weapon. You could say that this is the same as a 2 handed sword, but it would still be affected by 1 handed sword passives and have the same characteristics as 1 handed swords (accuracy, high attack speed, low damage, etc.).

2) The other option, which I like the most, is to add a keystone that, as with the previously mentioned sword, grants benefits if you're using a 1 handed weapon and nothing else.

I think this could lead to quite a few fun builds.

I think a node cluster is justified because it would help to lend some personality to the duelist class. It wouldn't be that niche of a build, really. It would be the game's way of saying, here's one way you can play this class which you can't do with any other class. Strictly speaking that wouldn't be true, of course, since other classes could just make their way over to the duelist tree and take the same skills, but it would be one way that you could specialize as a duelist which could be identified with this class more than with any other. Consider for example that one of the things that is often identified with the Shadow class is traps, and he has a cluster improving their use. Nowhere else in the tree, except the center, can a trap cluster be found.

I haven't thought much about the unique thing, because I'm more interested in diversity of builds than individual items, and I don't ever think one item should make or break a build. I think it's a good idea when considering issues of builds or mechanics to stay clear of anything relating to one specific item that would be hard to obtain.

I think a keystone would be a great idea, considering what a change to gameplay this sort of playstyle would represent. Perhaps the cluster could be placed at the bottom of the tree, below the duelist area, with the keystone located after it?

Uh, besides you mentioned old republic everything you suggested came from one of my old threads. Not sure if you really came up with all the ideas on your own or just echoed what was said there.

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/60748/highlight/

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xxxmetalgearxxx wrote:

I, too, have given this topic a bit of thought.

I disagree that there should be a node cluster specifically for this. This "build" would be quite niche, and like the Unarmed build, doesn't really deserve to have specific a cluster for it.

What I suggest however, is one of the 2 following options:

1) Make an unique 1 handed sword that gives a variety of benefits if you're not using any offhand weapon. You could say that this is the same as a 2 handed sword, but it would still be affected by 1 handed sword passives and have the same characteristics as 1 handed swords (accuracy, high attack speed, low damage, etc.).

2) The other option, which I like the most, is to add a keystone that, as with the previously mentioned sword, grants benefits if you're using a 1 handed weapon and nothing else.

I think this could lead to quite a few fun builds.

There is a unique like that, Charan's rapier but it's low lvl. The reason unarmed work is because it doesn't scale off a weapon (and facebreakers are gloves). Something like this would only make sense/work well coming from a keystone. If you make it a unique weapon, unless it's godly, people will out grow it.

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Moosifer wrote:

Uh, besides you mentioned old republic everything you suggested came from one of my old threads. Not sure if you really came up with all the ideas on your own or just echoed what was said there.

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/60748/highlight/

Well, I had seen that thread, but only read a bit of it.

I just wanted to make a thread that was a bit more focused on a single idea.