[Nootella]

[align=center][color=#400080]Howdy people,

I just figured this was a matter that ought to be addressed. I've been informed that it was mentioned beforehand in another section, and was told to make a remark about Stalemate here instead!

Regardless, whilst sparring with a hell tank whom I shall keep anonymous, I and a few other people witnessed something that made us all go "wot". It has to do with Stalemate and attacking from behind.

Everyone knows that attacking a BK from in front or on either side is a gamble, so as you'd expect, the smart way to deal with this bothersome obstacle is to strike them from behind. Needless to say that attacking from /directly/ behind seemed to give favorable results. Now... At one point I used sidecut, flew a fair bit behind him (3 tiles I believe) and followed up with Couloir to reach... Only to have this move interrupted by Stalemate.

Much like Cobra, I'm personally under the presumption that it should only cancel attacks from the 270-degree radius that it already nullifies, not give them an essential 359-degree range of cancelling the attack.

I simply felt as though this matter should be addressed and look forward to what people have to say in regards to it! Thank you very much for your time.


[b]TL;DR :
Stalemate blocks attacks if you're anywhere except for one tile behind them, even if you're 2 tiles it can be blocked. Please balance this out. Thank you~

[Sawrock]

I agree that it should work like cobra, in that it should not count tiles behind the target as stalemate-worthy.

[MegaBlues]

It would be neat if it worked as "If you're facing the same direction, Stalemate won't work."

[Kameron8]

Just to confirm this has been discussed before, there was a bug report thread here.

I agree it should change.

[Chaos]

To be honest, while the effect can be pretty serious for something that only has one specific tile it can be entirely bypassed on, Stalemate also requires the following conditions:
1. The incoming action is an 'attack' (see: precisely like Normal Attack)
2. The weapon used in the attack is a sword, a spear, or an axe
3. The RNG rolls somewhere between the minimum value and (Rank*5)+(DEF/2)

Given these conditions, I think forcing Stalemate to adhere to Snake Dancer's 'within vision' restriction would be a little too much for an effect that only occurs for a specific portion of offensive actions, much less one that also requires RNG to trigger. Maybe if it had a buff to equally compensate, perhaps.

[Soapy]

Every time this happens I imagine the BK turning their head around like an owl.

As funny as that is, yes please. This needs to happen.

[Ranylyn]

Rule 1 to combat with melee weapons: Keep your weapon between yourself and your opponent. It is more than an offensive tool. It is your defense. If they get their weapon past yours, it hurts. A lot. And naturally, this only works if you can see your opponent. As in, if they're not behind you.

There's literally no reason to be able to parry attacks from further behind you than 1 square. It's BEHIND YOU. Assuming you DID have some kind of magical 360 degree vision like... I dunno... armor of eyes? Even if you could see it coming, your parrying implements (Weapon and shield) remain in front of you, rendering you unable to react in time.

This is why Watchful Eye is a thing: To simulate following your opponent's movements and keeping your weapon and shield facing them. As such, if they are behind the BK (and thus having either bypassed watchful eye or having it not been used agains them) they should not be magically parry-able if they're 2+ spaces back.

[Egil]

People thrusting behind themselves/swinging over their shoulders to block attacks are entirely possible. Perhaps make it so that the base chance isn't factored in at all when trying to negate attacks made behind you?