[Mivereous]

Here's a comparison of Duelist and Kensei offensive skills, and some reasons why Kensei doesn't feel like an upgrade offensively. I don't care about the passives, innates, or active supports, however I will mention Absolute Death R5.

Duelist Sidecut vs Kensei Kagekiri

Sidecut is a 3M move that attacks a 3-line, for a diminishing 10/8/6/4/2 FP cost. It can be elementally enchanted. It does STR+Weapon Power damage, and is a basic attack.

Here's a rank one Sidecut: Karatynn Arena Combatant takes 50 Slash damage.

With Absolute Death R5, at rank one, 75 damage.

Kagekiri is a 4M move, reduced to 3M if using a Katana, that attacks a 3-5-line for an increasing 14/16/18/20/22 FP cost. It can be elementally enchanted. It does 3/4 STR+Weapon Power+Bonus based on rank of 3/6/9/12/15 damage, and is an autohit.

Here's a rank one Kagekiri: Karatynn Arena Combatant takes 27 Slash damage.

At rank five, that would be 42 damage.

With Absolute Death R5, at rank one, 40 damage; at rank five, 63 damage.

Conclusion: I'm losing power and FP efficiency from a promo move, and the only way to make that move almost reach the same power as its base-class counterpart is to use more FP for a limited time status. But hey, at least I can have a bit more range. And it is an autohit.





Duelist Repel vs Kensei Sharenzan

Repel is a 3M move that pushes back an opponent one tile, or three on a critical hit, for a diminishing 10/6/2 FP cost. It does STR+Weapon Power damage, and is a basic attack.

Here's a rank one Repel: Felidae Arena Combatant takes 54 Slash damage.

With AD R5, at rank one, 81 damage.

Sharenzan is a 4M move, reduced to 3M if using a Katana, that pushes back one enemy 3 tiles for an increasing 14/16/18/20/22 FP cost. It does 3/4 STR+Weapon Power+Bonus based on rank of 3/6/9/12/15 damage, and is an autohit.

Here's a rank one Sharenzan: Felidae Arena Combatant takes 33 Slash damage.

At rank five, that would be 48 damage.

With Absolute Death R5, at rank one, 49 damage; at rank five, 72 damage.

If the target is Airborne, I can slap another 1.5x damage on that.

Rank one: 49 damage.
Rank five: 72 damage.
Rank one, AD R5: 73 damage.
Rank five, AD R5: 108 damage.

Conclusion: I'm losing power and FP efficiency from a promo move, and the only way to make that move almost reach the same power as its base-class counterpart is to use more FP for a limited time status, and/or hope they are somehow Airborne by Raijinken or some other move. But hey, at least I can guarantee that I will knockback the enemy 3 tiles, and maybe apply Knockdown, if they are Airborne. And it is an autohit.




I would go on for the rest, but the general conclusion I found is:

Conclusion: I'm losing power and FP efficiency from a promo move, and the only way to make that move almost reach the same power as its base-class counterpart is to use more FP for a limited time status