Back to basics: An in-depth analysis of the Back-Guard stance
Written by gyl on Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Back-Guard
Melee ATK
The basic stance for fencing. A well-balanced attack and defense stance. Improves ATK Speed and Block.
Melee ATK
The basic stance for fencing. A well-balanced attack and defense stance. Improves ATK Speed and Block.
Sword (or Sword + Shield)
Characters that can use this stance:
Adelina, Adelina the Pirate, Catherine of STR/DEX/INT, Claude, Coimbra Trooper, Diego, Idge the Battlesmith, Panfilo, Panfilo the Battle Cook, Ramiro, Reboldoeux Soldier, Tiburon
Granadosource's take:
The stance bonus isn't that great. 2% bonus on Attack Speed is almost nothing but the bonus block is what it makes this stance salvage-able. You really don't need to max this stance since there is no Veteran stance that relies on it and it doesn't even have a skill that is shared in any other stance. Back-Guard is your typical default stance that simply allows you to jump-start your adventure and into discover a much better stance that will suit you. Its skills are leaning towards dealing more damage which should be useful in the early levels of the game. You can totally ditch this stance if you're not able to equip a shield with it. But with a shield, it allows you to tank more and survive more on high spawn areas which is a good thing. PvP-wise it is a below average stance. The only redeeming factor is that it has quite spammable skills which has a knock back to it and it can be executed fast. Penta Train is quite commendable as it can be Soft-Armored (Coats/Robes) killer. Though at higher levels, the use of this stance becomes even more limited as there are more specialized stances for every occasion. On Boss Hunting or Raids, unless you have a shield to go with this it's quite useless to use it as more stances should be able to allow you to deal more damage.
The skills aren't that big as well. Earth Tremor has a small AoE (Area of Effect) attack but can barely kill anything. It's good for knocking down mobs when they're too much but other than that it seem to be a so-so skill. Penta Train, again, is very commendable because of its extra damage on soft-armored targets. Vortex Slash seems so promising but because of it being under th sword category, the damage seem to be limited. If you plan on going the shield-path shift to High-Guard as soon as you can.
Stance Bonus:
1: Deep Straight
2: Block +1
3: Block +1
4: Block +2
5: Block +2
6: Block +3
7: Attack Speed 1%, Block +3
8: Attack Speed 1%, Block +4, Earth Tremor
9: Attack Speed 1%, Block +4
10: Attack Speed 1%, Block +5
11: Attack Speed 1%, Block +5
12: Attack Speed 1%, Block +6, Penta-Train
13: Attack Speed 1%, Block +7
14: Attack Speed 1%, Block +7
15: Attack Speed 1%, Block +8
16: Attack Speed 1%, Block +8, Vortex Slash
17: Attack Speed 2%, Block +9
18: Attack Speed 2%, Block +9
19: Attack Speed 2%, Block +10
20: Attack Speed 2%, Block +10
21: Attack Speed 2%, Block +11
22: Attack Speed 2%, Block +11
23: Attack Speed 2%, Block +12
24: Attack Speed 2%, Block +12
25: Attack Speed 3%, Block +13
Deep Straight - Impales the enemy on a sword before delivering a powerful kick.Required Stance Level: 1
Shared Stance: None
Required Skill Points: 1
Range: Adjacent
Area Type: None
Knock Back: 4.5m
Number of Targets: 1
Effects: None
SP Consumption: 100
Cast Time: 2.02 Seconds
Duration: None
Recovery Time: None
Damage per skill level:
1: 360%
2: 393%
3: 426%
4: 459%
5: 492%
6: 524%
7: 557%
8: 590%
9: 623%
10: 655%
11: 688%
12: 721%
Earth Tremor - Plunges sword into enemy while airborne.Required Stance Level: 8
Shared Stance: Defending Guard
Required Skill Points: 2
Range: Adjacent
Area Type: Adjacent
Knock Back: 4m
Number of Targets: 3
Effects: None
SP Consumption: 200
Cast Time: 2.2 Seconds
Duration: None
Recovery Time: 10 Seconds
Damage per skill level:
1: 317%
2: 346%
3: 374%
4: 403%
5: 432%
6: 461%
7: 490%
8: 518%
9: 547%
10: 576%
11: 605%
12: 634%
Penta-Train- A series of aggressive attacks that pushes the enemy back.Required Stance Level: 12
Shared Stance: None
Required Skill Points: 2
Range: Adjacent
Area Type: None
Knock Back: 4m
Number of Targets: 1
Effects: Double Damage against [Soft Armor]
SP Consumption: 250
Cast Time: 3.4 Seconds
Duration: None
Recovery Time: 15 Seconds
Damage per skill level:
1: 516%
2: 563%
3: 610%
4: 657%
5: 704%
6: 751%
7: 798%
8: 845%
9: 892%
10: 939%
11: 986%
12: 1033%
Vortex Slash - Makes a series of fast and powerful attacks.Required Stance Level: 16
Shared Stance: None
Required Skill Points: 3
Range: Adjacent
Area Type: None
Knockback: 4m
Number of Targets: 1
Effects: Character moves forward notably during the skill animation.
SP Consumption: 300
Cast Time: 3.2 Seconds
Duration: None
Recovery Time: 20 Seconds
Damage per skill level:
1: 1089%
2: 1188%
3: 1287%
4: 1386%
5: 1485%
6: 1584%
7: 1683%
8: 1782%
9: 1881%
10: 1980%
11: 2079%
12: 2178%
Data taken from X-Calibre of the GE Forums.
| Posted in »
2 Comment: Responses to “ Back to basics: An in-depth analysis of the Back-Guard stance ”
By Anonymous on September 7, 2007 at 11:37 AM
Backguard for fighter isn't that much of a threat. BUT back guard on Claude/Adelina is a whole different story ><
By gyl on September 9, 2007 at 9:28 PM
Agreed.. That is because of their extra STR over fighters but seriously, you wouldn't be seeing Claude/Adelina staying on Back-Guard for too long.