Junior Member
Alustar, I respectfully disagree. What you are mentioning sounds like her overall move-set that allows for cancels. The problem, as i mentioned before, is shaman's lack of ability to make people bleed and her low light attack damage. Just because she has soft feints, doesn't mean we should ignore that. I think that by not raising the damage, but instead making the second light bleed damage, allows for better bleed opportunities, without increasing her damage output directly.
As for predator's mercy, 'getting better teammates' is not a proper argument. You can apply that to a majority of moves in the game, so that doesn't really help. Shaman is one of the few characters to have an attack take up almost 4 seconds to deal damage after a capture animation. The only other ones I can think of off the bat are shugoki's demon embrace and highlander's grab attack. Even then, the highlander doesn't have to rely on it to do damage nearly as much as shaman does with hers. Whether you use it wisely or not, I personally see that it is unfair for shaman players to have their strongest attack interrupted after already "biting" someone for 3 seconds, get hit at the last second, and then deal no damage.
If you think this would make a better idea, then why don't we split the damage Predator's Mercy into two intervals. The first is the actual 'bite' animation where the shaman actually sinks her teeth into someone, then 2 or 3 seconds later, the rest of the damage kicks in when shaman finishes the animation.
Banned
Just because you don't like what I said doesn't make it not valid. Predators mercy is fine as is. It is a high risk high reward ability that regenerates a moderate amount of health and will fully replenish stamina. If I'm in a PuG group(randoms) the chances of me going for that maneuver are very slim because I know the chances are high that the other players won't wait the short time needed for me to finish the ability. Instead what's more likely to happen is before I even start it, I will get slapped off by greedy teammates with wold top heavies. Knowing these circumstances is key to playing any hero well and should not be used as arguments for balance issues because they need to be in the game to encourage more strategic combat. Asking for a buff because of poor teammates is a bad call.
As to her lights/bleeds, those too, are in a great place. Her light attacks should not be increased because that would only encourage shaman players to crutch on them for the bulk of their damage. When they are really there to help initiate/continue mix up potential. Her bleeds are very easily accessible provided you know how/when to pull them out. I've actually recently just crafted a me attack routine that will land a bleed at almost 80% efficiency. Shamans feint game is how you do it. With how fast and frequently she can soft or hard cancel moves, even the best of turtles will struggle to keep up. It's all about mind games.
I've got a pretty decent chunk of time put into her, I've got two rep 20 shaman across two separate platforms. Currently playing on PC, and even here it's still pretty easy to land bleeds and a mercy here and there. I just know how and when I should use it.
From where I sit, shaman needs neither buff not nerf. Or that effort into other heroes that are actually suffering against other classes.
Banned
As an addendum, shaman damage values were set in a way that you shouldn't be relying so heavily on predators mercy for the bulk of your damage profile. It's very punishable in the event of a whiff, and over use of it is really a nub mistake. I can get more damage from using three different heavies: a wild cats rage does 22 damage, a heavy opener will do 25ish and a heavy from GB will land 29. Throw in an unlockable for mix up potential to land other attacks is a GB. If you stop trying to crutch so hard on predators mercy her while kit becomes more threatening simply because bleed damage will act as a mind game on its own with the potential for a predators mercy.
Junior Member
Ok, I see what you are talking about. However, I am not suggesting these changes because I rely, or intend to, rely on Predator's Mercy more. Heck, what I am suggesting will probably force players to learn shaman better, since I want the Predator's Mercy damage to go down and nerf/remove stamina regen, in exchange for uninterruptible. That means players won't have to try so hard to land that ability since it is not that powerful anymore, and, it would help players learn better combos. It will also help players in team fights so that they are not helpless if they do get a Predator's Mercy.
Also, you mentioned that the bleed damage acts like a mind game of it's own, but I still can't help but feel that shaman still has poor ways to cause bleeding. All her bleeding moves happen either at the beginning or end of a chain, zone cancel, and deflect. The aforementioned combos i find predictable, especially in a chain opener, but like you said, you found your own way to land bleed most of the time. The problem I find, and I wonder if you have as well, is that for a bleed-focused character, shaman cannot stack or keep bleed active on a character for very long. She doesn't even have the sharpen blade feat for which to cause bleed damage, though she does have nail bomb. It just feels so out of place to have her not have a better bleed kit in my opinion.
If you don't like any of what I am suggesting, then what do you think of what I wrote on my previous post about splitting the damage on Predator's Mercy? That is neither a buff nor nerf, and I think that can at least mend the problem that I am trying to get at here.
Banned
The problems I have with nerfing damage and stamina regen is that she is very squishy in 4s, a will times predators mercy can really help you shift a fight back in favor of you and your team. Using a nerf as a way to curtail the dependedcy of a move that is as punishable as it is I can't advocate. As to splitting three damage, I really don't see the purpose of outside of?
The bleeds are actually really cool once you get good at mixing them into your rotation. She can stack them, the problem is that most players focus debuff resistance, which negates a large portion of the damage. However, that will be patched out soon. If you are having trouble with bleed proc, I suggest "training" your opponent, finisher then top light a few times, then switching to side light after finisher or vice verse. The soft feint for openers are a great way to get bleed in too. Again the trick is feinting a heavy or two before to throw off indicators and confuse the enemy. Also it's important to note that switching targets immediately after a heavy finisher then using follow up bleed on the new target. It takes some getting used to, but with how fast that strike comes out very few players will block it on reaction if you are stitching targets regularly. In 1v3 I can usually bleed reach opponent, especially if I have revenge, then zone a once or twice for some nice AoE heals.
You also forgot(or didn't know) get throwing axe(third tier feat) will cause bleed damage too. It's a great way to blind side an opponent who may or may not be focused on you. Try using that on a player already engaged with one of your allies, preferably the one not being focused on so that you don't get caught by a stray attack. Plugs remembering that you have a decent throws distance, this can help land mercy more often without interference. I play crowd control more often than I do just straight aggressor. I pick a player, then pull him off and away from the main fray to isolate him. It's very effective since you can throw a player out of range of his allies, then get a confirmed mercy.
