Was KFM nerfed?

[csisy]

Hi,

 

I'm just wondering if KFM was nerfed in the past few months or not.

 

I'm currently leveling a KFM and a Summoner (lvl46 and lvl42 atm) and it seems my DPS with KFM is pretty low. I'm doing ani-cancel, I'm using my abilities, and everything but it just feels weak. My summoner has worse gear but deals higher dps from a distance, so I don't even have to learn the patterns, I can CC them or let the cat tank. Also I'm leveling my KFM with my friend who has a destroyer and he out-dps me with lower AP.

 

I don't really like to PvP, I mainly want to do PvE. So should I forget KFM and learn another class (like Destroyer as melee, or Summoner as ranged)?

 

Edit:
I've just compared the damage with other classes and it's the lowest. I mean literally the lowest if bnstree is reliable. Every class have higher damage skills :(

[Shuchin]

Basically the KFM is designed to require reactive play to be strong, meaning that only with the correct skill rotations and combinations you get a good boost. But on the other hand for balancing reasons (class should not out-dps other classes while having threat skills _and_ strong iframes) they moderated the basic damage a lot.

So, if you rapidly and efficiently build up your searing palm to stage 4, trigger fighting spirit just when your group does a double-CC and grab on the boss, your KFM can dish out around half a million damage in 8 seconds with HM comet strike (left skill branch).
But everything has to go perfect for this, and realistically a KFM's strength lies in iframing and counter play, not in damage. It is fair to say that it is class well suited for solo challenges and for tanking, with a lot to offer as group support. It's not a straightforward damage dealer, and due to all the moving around they will always need threat modifiers to keep up with the ranged (mainly FMs).

KFM might get a boost soon, given they fall way behind in arena rankings at the moment, and to keep it attractive versus the soulfighter. I have no insider info though.

[Teisho]

No, KFM was not nerfed. Actually, KFM has been getting buffed over and over again these past few balance patches and is actually getting buffed again in the next one.

 

Yes, your DPS seems low and it seems like you do the lowest DPS in the game because you do, in fact, do the lowest DPS in the game. BMs (who also have the second lowest DPS in the game) and KFMs already provide the ultimate party utility (tanking) so it should not surprise you that our damage is lower than that of other classes.

[csisy]

Thanks for the replies and sorry for the late comeback from my side.

At least it seems that I'm not doing THAT bad (I'm not even good tho :D), because I felt my damage isn't that high.

 

Yea, probably it's balanced, the KFM is not meant to be a DPS class, I agree with that. Oh, and I've just switched to Tiger Strike and Searing Blow, looks awesome. :D And at least I have more AoE skill. :)

 

I haven't played Soul Fighter too much (she's around lvl35 I think) but it looks like it's OP and similar (and also different :P) to the KFM.

I thought that BM is the second lowest DPS, but I don't know. It has high burst damage, especially with the Lightning build, while the flock of blades things are active. But that's out of topic.

 

Anyway, thanks for your feedbacks.

[eyburv]

Tiger strike with range and healing with searing blow is the best dps you can get. Also gives you some leverage in AOE pvp. For that though you will need a soulshield set with lots of evasion.

 

I think they nerfed animation canceling on kfm but other classes werent hit as hard by it.

On 7/20/2016 at 5:25 AM, Teisho said:

No, KFM was not nerfed. Actually, KFM has been getting buffed over and over again these past few balance patches and is actually getting buffed again in the next one.

 

Yes, your DPS seems low and it seems like you do the lowest DPS in the game because you do, in fact, do the lowest DPS in the game. BMs (who also have the second lowest DPS in the game) and KFMs already provide the ultimate party utility (tanking) so it should not surprise you that our damage is lower than that of other classes.

They need to buff KFM in Aggro and tanking because there is always a HUGE gap between Ap on KFMs and everyone else. KFM cant even tank because everyone else outDPSs KFM in PVE by a SIGNIFICANT margin. Everyone other class spam skills within milliseconds while KFM is only pumping small 2/lmb hits

[Teisho]

On 2016-10-08 at 1:28 AM, eyburv said:

Tiger strike with range and healing with searing blow is the best dps you can get. Also gives you some leverage in AOE pvp. For that though you will need a soulshield set with lots of evasion.

 

I think they nerfed animation canceling on kfm but other classes werent hit as hard by it.

They need to buff KFM in Aggro and tanking because there is always a HUGE gap between Ap on KFMs and everyone else. KFM cant even tank because everyone else outDPSs KFM in PVE by a SIGNIFICANT margin. Everyone other class spam skills within milliseconds while KFM is only pumping small 2/lmb hits

KFM ani canceling was not nerfed. You may find it harder to use 2rf or r2rf because with all of your relevant HM skills, cyclone kick will proc more often, resulting in a quicker loss of focus.

 

KFM does not need to be buffed in aggro at all. I have no trouble taking aggro from ANYONE except BMs. Even people with 60-80+ AP over me cannot hold aggro over me if they are not specced into threat which means that only other BMs and KFMs will ever take aggro over me unless I die.

 

If you find it hard to hold aggro it might be because you are not using a good rotation, you have focus issues, you have fps lag and/or bad ping or you are not specced into aggro generating skills/not using your aggro generation skills enough. Make sure you have RMB, Tremor, and Counter specced to aggro if you intend to tank. Also, I don't find that similarly geared people outdps me by any significant margin. Usually I'm the one doing the highest amount of damage/dps in my party though I can't really say if that's because my party members are usually just not very good or they have lag issues.

 

Also, I should note now that KFM does not have the lowest DPS (anymore?). Destroyers do even lower damage than us, unfortunately for them. We are still, however, more towards the lower end of the dps meter in ideal party compositions though that's fine by me because we have very high party utility.

[Shuchin]

I have to agree with Teisho here.

 

 With proper anicanceling and rotations, your damage compared to same gear other classes should not hang behind more than 10-20%, so you should always keep aggro with threat spec.

 

A few other things you could check to make sure your damage is up to scratch in boss fights:

- use damage versions of iron shoulder, avenging fist, chain mace (instead of firestorm kick), flurry and smite

- use stage 1 comet strike with your fighting spirit, whether focused or party version

 

Also against bosses you will do nicer damage with Swift Strike - Cyclone than with Tiger - Searing unless your ping is bad. You can still proc your 4 kick often enough from counters.

[Aloth]

On 09/10/2016 at 3:13 PM, Teisho said:

KFM does not need to be buffed in aggro at all. I have no trouble taking aggro from ANYONE except BMs. Even people with 60-80+ AP over me cannot hold aggro over me if they are not specced into threat which means that only other BMs and KFMs will ever take aggro over me unless I die.
 

I had no trouble tanking for a WL friend even though she had about 100 AP more than me. I can do well even with 150-200 AP difference when a WL uses Soulburn. However, I find it almost impossible to compete with similarly geared BM's. If they are spec'd for threat, they'll almost certainly pull aggro from me. And no, I won't use FFS to compete with them. Another friend started this game with a BM and is already hitting 10k DPS with 440 AP, 25% crit rate and like 160 crit damage in Mushin's Tower. Meanwhile, I can't get 10k DPS consistently with 502 AP, 48% crit and 190% crit damage. So yeah, KFM doesn't need a threat buff in general, but struggles compared to the other tank class in the game. When in a party with a decent BM, I'm just a buff bot for the most part. Hell, fire BM can probably compete with the top DPS classes at the moment...

 

In gear-equalized arena, KFM seems to have the longest TTK. Even if you go full PvE mode (damage palm, fighting spirit), a destroyer will probably out-dps you. However, that may be the difference between burst and sustained dps.

 

OP, having levelled a KFM recently, I share your frustration. The class requires a hell of a lot more work to perform on par with others and is really lacking at low levels. I mean, there's a reason why only Soul Fighters are less popular than KFM. That being said, if you enjoy the way it handles, you'll probably put up with its downsides like me and the handful of other KFM's do. KFM gives me a Dark Souls vibe when I play it so I'm enjoying it, even though I see all my friends go easy mode in both PvE and PvP.

[Tsuzor]

Well i have both kfm and bm but what i like about kfm is that u need to work a bit harder to get high dps u need good rotation and so on, where with bm u just spam lmb and rmb than add some tab and ur gut to go, my kfm is a new char and as i dont rly know much about it for me now its hard with the dps in mushin i get somewhere only 3k/sec for now where with bm i go easy over 10k close to 20k even tho i havent played for like 5 moths or so, but yeee kfm need more work than bm 

[Shuchin]

Currently I am rethinking my dungeon boss built, realizing I have not gone deep enough into fire built (^_^' <-- too much 6v6). I suspect my damage output could rise a good bit more, which would mean it would end up at around 90-100% of what I see from my equally geared BM friends.

 

Then again, it seems a lot of effort and optimizing is required for a KFM to reach what BMs attain with less effort, so no news from me here. ^_^'

 

Summoners and BDs often outdamage me and the BMs in my party, by the way.

 

Not sure what is mean about burst in gear equalized PvP. Damage palm is only faster than regular 3RF if you can pre-stack one or two stages (on a cat for example), fighting spirit also costs damage as its animation is very long. Good destroyer anicancelling and 3RF feel about the same horrible speed of dying to me, and KFM can have the longer CC chain. Fury destroyers are faster, but then that's a very risky build in 1v1...