Checkmate should not have a 3 turn cool down or any at all. Maybe I'm not experienced enough, however plenty of other classes have skills that can do just as much as checkmate (if not more) with zero cool down. The only, maybe, pro that checkmate has other moves is the fact that it applies on-hit affects which I'm not sure warrants a 3 turn cool down.
Sudden Death and Zugwang is another weird thing. I'm thinking we should combine them instead of having them as different moves, by that I mean keep the dealing less damage triggers an effect and the effect would be +5 power and +15 hit, maybe adding in that if they're already feared then you get the bonus without needing it triggered. The reasoning for this is basically it feels like an odd combo. You don't exactly when enemies feared (at least not me) when you want them to hit so that you can proc Prophylaxis. Personally my hit isn't that great so dodgy enemies require auto-hits or Prophylaxis, but if they're feared and miss me, I'll miss them right back. Seems odd to me.
All just a thought though and I'm not that experienced in the game.
Checkmate should probably have something extra attached to it to justify the 3 turn CD, like Knockdown if you're using Heavy Armor, and maybe a long-term Interference (7 rounds at max rank) if done when the enemy is below a certain health threshold, to give the feel of 'You won't be getting back after that, boy'.
The Sudden Death and Zugzwang is so Black Knight has things to spend points on, to be honest. They don't have a lot of interesting skills, aside the offensive ones. The defensive ones are only bad because the enemy can simply re-inflict you with whatever status effect you cleansed, which is dumb, because you need to be using momentum that you can't spare all the time.
That would actually be a better idea for checkmate, being named after a finishing move and all. Personally I wouldn't mind either changes.
I get that they're good for having places to put points, but I just find it extremely odd that they in a way go against your other passive. I think it would still just be better overall to combine them, personally I feel like we have too little slots as it is to hold enough skills when you aren't a pure BK/BK
Checkmate's 3 round CD might be a relic of an older time, but it exists because it's just straight up better than basic attacking. It could be adjusted though.
It can add DEF to your damage, it is straight better than basic attacking because of that, on a crit it could deal loads more damage, especially if done with a dagger of some sort.
I don't think the 3 round cooldown is a bad thing here, honestly because of that.
I'd rather have it not add damage, but have bonus effects that Black Knight (the class) doesn't have alone.
My proposal's still there above, but below there is how I expect it to work. This would give the class a little more utility, since they don't really need to have damage. And basic hitting/building SKI is not really optimal for tanks anyway, unless they're the 'good ol' (Ghost or Kensei/BK). So just add a few effects per rank, increase the FP costs up by 10, and cooldown up from 3 to 5. There we go, a very thematic 'touche' for a class with no love.
Quote:Checkmate (5 round cooldown/3M)
- Rank 1: 35 FP, Bonus damage equal to 50% of your Scaled DEF
- Rank 2: 31 FP, Bonus damage equal to 60% of your Scaled DEF// Knocks the enemy back by 4 tiles, ignoring effects that would stop those.
- Rank 3: 27 FP, Bonus damage equal to 70% of your Scaled DEF// If you're using Heavy Armor, its Armor + Magic Armor is added to the damage.
- Rank 4: 23 FP, Bonus damage equal to 80% of your Scaled DEF// If you're using Heavy Armor, and it is heavier than the enemy's, it will inflict Knockdown. If you miss the attack while your armor is heavier than the enemy's, you are knocked down instead.
- Rank 5: 19 FP, Bonus damage equal to 90% of your Scaled DEF// Inflicts Interference for Rank + 2 rounds if the enemy is under 25% of their maximum HP.
**I'd suggest only having Heavy Armor and weight differences, but since some people go "AH GOD KNOCKDOWN MOST BROKE STATUS EFFECT BUFF POISON", I think this spaghetti of a condition is enough to justify that. Ugh. Also! The reason Heavy Armor is required for most of it to work is that Black Knight doesn't seem to be needing Heavy Armor for most of its antics, and it's ugly.