[Rendar]

Okay so. I've been deciding to test how stupid Arbalests are. And, lo and behold? They're pretty god damn dumb. Not gonna lie.

The only way to effectively beat them, is with shittons of dodge. Because then they can't land their horrendously painful attacks. butttt. At that point, they can't actually harm you! Against Tanks, they shred them (even more so if they have rampaging, or are equipped properly). Hell, I even used a spirit mirror in my test fights (admittedly in a battlefield that had quite a few obstacles). In a 1v1, Archers are nigh untouchable. If you aren't a Martial Artist with Kip Up, they're even more so. Why? Because...

Pulling Shot > Cripple Leg. That will gimp any dodger trying to dodge, even more so if they're a tank trying to get at you because they simply won't have the movement.

What follows up that? Just spam shooting them. Re-applying Cripple Leg/Arm/Other Statuses as needed. Enemy get too close for your comfort? Just Blowback cannon them (or heavy tackle if you're that kind of arbalest). It has about a 70% chance to stun the opponent, send them flying back, AND deal tons of damage. What happens if you got stunned? You sit there, sobbing to yourself. What happens if you didn't? You limp towards your opponent. Only for them to inevitably reload accel > Blowback cannon your face once more. Hell, if you did get Stunned, they can Pulling shot you at their earliest convenience, and proceed to gimp you even harder. To the point where, even when the stun does end, you'll only have 4M (or 3M).

Sooooo. Now that we got the "DUH REN WE ALREADY KNEW THIS" out of the way and Psych's inevitable "SALT" comment.

I tested this on myself. I've come to the conclusion that, yeah, Arbalests are stupid OP.

How do we fix it?

I'm really not sure. Nerfing their damage isn't the way to go, though.

I have a few suggestions, though.

*STUN no longer lowers POSITIVE status effects, instead it prolongs them whilst stunned. (This will make knockdown immunity last longer).
*BLOWBACK CANNON stuns or KNOCK BACKS, not both.
*When becoming unstunned, automatically end KNOCKED DOWN status.
*Arrow Change skills take a turn to go into effect.
*Long Draw maybe makes attacks that benefit from it cost 1M, but costs 0M itself. (Makes an Arbalest only able to attack twice with a bow, even with Fleur).
*Put a cap on range bow range maybe? Not having Gust Arrows and Longdraw stack for absurd amounts of range???

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Discuss the stupidity that is Arbalest and the possible ways to change them to be more... balanced.