[Shujin]

As a Rebell against the idea of 1 attack evade buffs I would like to suggest a change in windswept to better please Dodgers needs in the mage sections of things.

New Effect:
Gain +3 Evade for every Sylphid Spell you cast, caps out at 20  (so thats 7 Spells to cap out on here. 5 if we do +4 Evade per cast)

Embroidered Windswept:

Gain +4 Evade for Every Sylphid Spell you cast, caps out at 25 ( 6 spells for +24 evade, and the last evade need the 7th cast. 5 casts with +5 Evade per cast.)


Duration I personally would set to something long or perma even. Numbers can be adjusted, but I think most people are alright with a slightly slower build up passively, for having a better buff at the end. Mages could need a little bit of dodge support. Most wind mages will start with a Talvyd enchant, so the first cast is free. Buff should be cleansable.

[saikyogroove77]

I won't lie bro, taking that long to build up an evade boost like that is kinda dog. Not to mention that if you're relying on a buff like that to reach the evade cap, you may be jobbing.

[Poruku]

Nah, this is genuinely really powerful. You serious bro? A permanent buff to your evade is insanely good and this is for free. I was honestly thinking it's a bit too good. Like just frame one that's 4 evade, turn 2 you might have 8 or 12. And it lasts for the entire fuckin match. That literally allows you to build around it.

And wind mages are notoriously lacking in evade buffs, being basically forced to get a bunch from spellthief or whatever. Getting 25 evade for FREE is insane.

[Cogster]

There's no such thing as a permanent evasion buff in the game, and there likely wouldn't ever be one without some heavy clauses, considering that long-term evasion buffs that build up already exist. Take for example two pretty popular classes Shapeshifter and Verglas.

Let's take a closer look at Shapeshifter, which grants 8 evade per chaotic form (youkai evoke). This class already has a momentum refund mechanic built into it, allowing you to chain up to 4 evokes at a time, resulting in 32 evade off the bat for one round. Now, consider Verglas, whose hare stance provides 5 evade for every instance of ice damage you deal in that stance. This effect caps out at 30, yet you can hit the maximum threshold with just two of its moves, one of them being in Hare Stance itself.

This, along with the fact that you're often racing against an enemy who can either dispel all your progress in one hit (RUNE MAGE) or fighting against another evadie that took one round to cap its own evade, its kinda clear that there are some issues with this thing. This doesn't remove the necessity whatsoever in grabbing the evasion buffs (Like distortion or ring of pearls) as a Wind Mage Spellthief, nor does it add anything to existing evasion engines classes already provide. The momentum race isn't favorable to this thing at all. 

What made Windswept Gi so strong in the past was how efficient it was in the momentum race. People could cap their evade immediately for three momentum by using Fortune Wind.

The only strong use case I can see for this is where it acts as a safety net for anyone trying to dispel buffs you actually care about, since there seems to be no cooldown to it.

[Shujin]

Verglas can technically get into 30 Evade with one move, ye. Assuming you start in hare. So I'd dare say that both Verglas and Shapeshifter, have stupidly easy conditions with borderline Permanent duration and 0 direct momentum costs. So if a condition to keep your buff is as easy as breathing, then you might as well call it permanent imo. I am not against giving it a turn duration, it justs going to reset with each wind cast anyway. I think that ends up with basically the same.

Windswept was nerfed because it was too effective, so it won't return to that state. Right now it's barely worth using at all. So some sort of leeway has to be given. This will provide in most cases a better dodge puffer than the current iteration does, the numbers are purposefully chosen to be low enough so that you have to work for it. While cleanse effects are still fulfilling their purpose. And I dare say that dispells aren't THAT common. (Aside from maybe that one tome part, but that's a topic for another thread)

The question is what kind of narrative we want, going forward. Do we want to just "Let's go! Full Evade cap!" turn 0, or do we want to have atleast some sort of build up, so rush strategies are still viable?
Imo, I am not a fan of these sort of buffs that just max you out so easily, by doing what you do anyway. The downside for that, I think should be a slightly slower build up, as trade off for it being what you do anyway. It was never the intention to have it be the only buff you need to max out. I think this is meant to be combined with other things.

Having this in the backhand does increase the number of builds you can do, without one of the 3 crutch classes, or at the very least get very close to it. You could technically run it with Evoker/Aquamancer, and essentially have it, as one of the new combos. And I think any new combo is a good thing.

I doubt you think the current version is better or fine, cause if it were, you would actually see it more. But instead, people choose gear with better base evade and better overall effects.

So what do you think, should we do instead, to buff it?