[Slayer] DPS Rework Wishlist

[Scragmuncher]

Oh he will tell you Slayer is S tier all day long. That is part of his Roleplay of an Order Player.
Slayer got stripped off of it's class unique melee blob counter ability. Choppa has his unique Pull, double Channel aoe, self aoe wave dot.
But they were all after rampage. And they got what they wanted.

Right now slayer is more or less B tier. Lions clear the fights while slayers still wait to get rage up and be able to use their rage requiring skills just to then have their exhaustive blows been denied by deference moral 2 or seeing that the fight is already over.

Slayer needs a rework, not a total class change. No need to replace everything. Order already has a melee with range finishers.

Slayer needs adjustments. The changes to Accuracy at the last slayer change took out some of the classes build options. 2H slayer can no longer use 24 target flurry without bricking down his auto attack dmg by 20%. ID can no longer be used without Accuracy because of the high cooldown it gets without it. That alone deleted 2 more build options.

What the slayer needs is first of the undoing of some nerfs and limitations it had before the Accuracy change.
- ID needs to get rid of the horrible RNG duration factor since we are now forced to spend a tactic slot for this ability. So guaranteed 8 sec duration instead of 4 to 8.

- Wild swings no more RNG dmg. fix dmg number and most important a buff to its dmg. Wild Swings is an exaustive blow with 5 sec cooldown and got its dmg nerfed hard in the past.

- Pulverizing Strike and Spine Crusher finally need to switch places in the trees. The Taktic ''The bigger they are...'' reduces the cost of Spine Crusher and Deathblow. They belong in the same tree, to make use of this tactic.
Trollslayer path is about long duration fights Giantslayer path is 2H high impact attacks. Having the debuff attack and the high impact attack placed like now is just wrong.

- Buff ''Incapacitate'' knockdown. 3 sec single target knockdown that requires berserk state and exhausts rage and sits on a 20 sec Cooldown, is way to weak. Either make it last
longer, require only furious rage and or lower the cooldown.

- FIX and REPAIR!!! Runic Blessing tactic. Or just change it to be something useful like turning Shatter limbs into a self target 6 sec AOE wave like Choppas Furius stomping.


And maybe a change to Firceness. Nobody uses it anyway right now because the self debuff is not worth the buff it provides to WS. Keep the CD on 60 sec and turn it into a self boost to get instantly into first Rage stage. That way Slayer could finally take part in fights from the beginning and not have to wait 15 sec to be able to use exhaustive blows, when most of the fight is already over doe to the ever faster ttk.

While I disagree with Slayer being B tier, I agree with most of what was said here.
The loss of the rage build-dump gameplay with rampage, build back up for big dmg really hurt the class identity and makes it feel more of just an aoe spam class.
It's clear for the recent healer changes that the devs are interested in making sure each class has a clear identity, so I am hopeful for a solid rework for SL.
As for the changes posted above, they are cool ideas but not particularly viable unless they redesigned the class from the ground up all over again.

I would like to see a better use of the rage mechanic, a much better offensive M2, and a buff to baseline defensive stats for SL. These fairly small changes would make SL much more engaging to play and more accessible for newer players.

[gersy]

"Disclaimer this post was assisted by AI"

yeah, no. disregarded immediately sorry. slayer doesn't need 2 execute abilities lmao. these changes in general would just make the class immediately god tier, and it's already A or S tier depending on the content. most just haven't adapted or learned to play it after OP rampage was nerfed,

In no way is Slayer now A or S tier in solo. But yes I know ur gonna say it's WB game play in WB.

not in solo of course. I don't really know much about solo SL, as I am not a solo player. in SC groups, org city aoe party (especially here) and warbands it is def A or S tier depending. a lot of people are playing SL atm with great efficacy. i'm more than happy to link you plenty of 6/9/12/18/24 man end-of-night scoreboards where SL any mix of: top overall damage, top kill damage and 80-100 kills with 1-5 deaths routinely. if the class was so horrible, i don't think it would be able to perform in such a way.

simply put most SL players have a major skill issue. sometimes the truth hurts, but in this case that is exactly what it is. they never learned to play the class after 100% rampage was taken away and then they didn't adapt to the meta shifts. I watch many pug SL play as both their teammate and their enemy and I can clearly see so many mistakes. these types of players never drop rage, don't know how to spread ID properly, not using shatter limbs at the right time, will die without even using m1, never apply IHD, wrong builds, don't know how to fish for proper retri channels from behind or after enemy has used interrupts, etc. SL is not a forgiving class due to its career mechanic, so you cannot make so many blatant mistakes and hope to perform well.

I have a 80+ SL which I greatly enjoy playing. I ground out so hard on it that it nearly had 5/4 bis including triumphant ring at 78rr. part of the reason for that enjoyment comes from the amount of power SL has when played in the proper context and with good mates that you can rely on. it's a tremendous amount of fun to play in aoe situations where you are allowed to ramp, especially in a grindy city siege match where fights last 10-20+ minutes straight before a wipe.

[Bergbart]

I would simply make the mechanics of Slayer/Choppa like the old Pent up Rage (Choppa) without Tactic.....core.
Unfortunately, this was lost with the skill rework... now there's a 50% chance tactic...
For those who don't know what that was:
It basically gave you a buff that ensured you only used 33% rage with exhausting blows.
One use of your exhausting blows, has consumed one buff.
The buff could stack 3 times and you got one every 4 seconds.

Because a part of her utility is blocked behind the mechanics where it's either one or the other without tactic

the above would solve the problem

second I would change the rage mechanics so that exhausting blows get a 75% damage boost in red(maybe 100% without red Tactic) and not in yellow Jesus, whoever came up with the current nonsense, that's all


Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Toshutkidup]

"Disclaimer this post was assisted by AI"

yeah, no. disregarded immediately sorry. slayer doesn't need 2 execute abilities lmao. these changes in general would just make the class immediately god tier, and it's already A or S tier depending on the content. most just haven't adapted or learned to play it after OP rampage was nerfed,

In no way is Slayer now A or S tier in solo. But yes I know ur gonna say it's WB game play in WB.

not in solo of course. I don't really know much about solo SL, as I am not a solo player. in SC groups, org city aoe party (especially here) and warbands it is def A or S tier depending. a lot of people are playing SL atm with great efficacy. i'm more than happy to link you plenty of 6/9/12/18/24 man end-of-night scoreboards where SL any mix of: top overall damage, top kill damage and 80-100 kills with 1-5 deaths routinely. if the class was so horrible, i don't think it would be able to perform in such a way.

simply put most SL players have a major skill issue. sometimes the truth hurts, but in this case that is exactly what it is. they never learned to play the class after 100% rampage was taken away and then they didn't adapt to the meta shifts. I watch many pug SL play as both their teammate and their enemy and I can clearly see so many mistakes. these types of players never drop rage, don't know how to spread ID properly, not using shatter limbs at the right time, will die without even using m1, never apply IHD, wrong builds, don't know how to fish for proper retri channels from behind or after enemy has used interrupts, etc. SL is not a forgiving class due to its career mechanic, so you cannot make so many blatant mistakes and hope to perform well.

I have a 80+ SL which I greatly enjoy playing. I ground out so hard on it that it nearly had 5/4 bis including triumphant ring at 78rr. part of the reason for that enjoyment comes from the amount of power SL has when played in the proper context and with good mates that you can rely on. it's a tremendous amount of fun to play in aoe situations where you are allowed to ramp, especially in a grindy city siege match where fights last 10-20+ minutes straight before a wipe.

No thanks I don’t care about score boards or kill lists or kill counts or ratios. Keep the info.

[nebelwerfer]

Spoiler:

Throwing Axe (New Finisher)

Why it could be bad:

Undermines class weakness: Slayer is designed to be a high-pressure melee glass cannon. Giving him a reliable ranged finisher removes one of his few clear counters — kiting.

Punishes positioning disproportionately: Ranged snare/knockdown on a class already hitting hard in melee would make life miserable for healers, ranged DPS, and solo roamers.

Encroaches on other classes’ niche: Ranged punish tools are part of what gives ranged DPS and hybrid classes value. If Slayer gets that too, the meta narrows.

Deathblow Buffs

Why it could be bad:

Guaranteed crit under 50% HP is oppressive: Squishy targets would have even less counterplay when low, making fights feel “binary” — either you’re fine or you’re deleted instantly.

Rage restoration on kill rewards zerging: In large-scale fights, Slayers would sustain their Rage almost endlessly, creating a snowball effect.

Too much burst reliability: Slayer already has some of the best melee pressure; guaranteeing critical finishers would tilt kill trades heavily in their favor.

Wild Swing Upgrade

Why it could be bad:

Strikethrough + high base damage = AoE monster: This could push Slayer damage in warbands to absurd levels, rivaling or outshining dedicated AoE classes.

Longer range AoE on a melee class breaks spacing: It reduces the skill required to maintain positioning and punishes defensive play.

Power creep risk: Any flat buffs to a core spam skill can spiral quickly without nerfs elsewhere.

Exhaustive Blow System Slimdown

Why it could be bad:

Removes a built-in balancing limiter: Exhaustive Blow mechanics force decision-making and pacing. Cutting them down lets Slayers spam finishers with fewer consequences.

Less skill expression: With fewer restrictions, the skill ceiling lowers — making the class easier to play but harder to balance.

Risk of spam-rotation gameplay: Could lead to monotonous, high-output “one rotation fits all” builds.

Even the Odds (Defense Scaling)

Why it could be bad:

Erodes the glass cannon identity: If Slayer gets toughness scaling, it’s no longer living on the edge — which is the point of the class.

Blurs class lines with off-tanks: Giving a pure DPS access to scaling mitigation risks making actual tanks less relevant in certain comps.

Encourages bad play: If you get tougher just by being hit, some players might ignore positioning, expecting the passive defense to bail them out.

Mobility / Inevitable Doom Replacement (Leap)

Why it could be bad:

Mobility is already a pain point for counterplay: Adding a leap to one of the hardest-hitting melee DPS in the game removes one of the only escape tools defenders have.

Mirroring Choppa’s pull isn’t a good 1:1 trade: A leap + punt could actually be stronger, letting Slayers bypass frontline and isolate backliners freely.

Creates dive-overload comps: If multiple Slayers leap in simultaneously, fights could become nearly unwinnable for ranged groups.

Summary of why this whole rework could backfire:

It erases the Slayer’s intended weaknesses (kite vulnerability, fragility, dependence on smart Rage management).

It pushes the class toward hybrid burst + utility, which can warp both smallscale and large-scale metas.

It increases the class’ power floor so much that either it dominates or gets nerfed into frustration.

It makes other melee DPS (especially Choppa and White Lion) less unique or less desirable.

If you presented these changes to a balance team, this is exactly the type of pushback they’d give: the ideas might be fun to play as a Slayer, but they’d be terrible to play against and could destabilize the ecosystem.

[nebelwerfer]

I haven't been following news very well, and many people are talking about the dps rework. Could someone please tell me what exactly is going on and what developers is working on?

Hey there, the balance team is working on a big rework of the dps classes, atleast that's what their roadmap has mapped out after the tank and healer reworks already that have been made. There's not a lot of info on what it is going to look like except a few unverified and for the most part uninteresting leaks here and there.

That's why I make a contribution on what I would like to see the class look like in future, and people can feel free to share their ideas aswell.

"Disclaimer this post was assisted by AI"

yeah, no. disregarded immediately sorry. slayer doesn't need 2 execute abilities lmao. these changes in general would just make the class immediately god tier, and it's already A or S tier depending on the content. most just haven't adapted or learned to play it after OP rampage was nerfed,

Perhaps, but what are the point of these finishers then? Deathblow and wild swing kinda sucks, and that's a shame because they look amazing and should have their use except ragedumping.. I could more easily see how this would be bonkers on choppa with his two channels, one with movementspeed component and popping a finisher like this at the end would be.. yea, but I am not arguing for choppa balance, that's a different beast. And please don't make this about rampage.

Oh he will tell you Slayer is S tier all day long. That is part of his Roleplay of an Order Player.
Slayer got stripped off of it's class unique melee blob counter ability. Choppa has his unique Pull, double Channel aoe, self aoe wave dot.
But they were all after rampage. And they got what they wanted.

Right now slayer is more or less B tier. Lions clear the fights while slayers still wait to get rage up and be able to use their rage requiring skills just to then have their exhaustive blows been denied by deference moral 2 or seeing that the fight is already over.

Slayer needs a rework, not a total class change. No need to replace everything. Order already has a melee with range finishers.

Slayer needs adjustments. The changes to Accuracy at the last slayer change took out some of the classes build options. 2H slayer can no longer use 24 target flurry without bricking down his auto attack dmg by 20%. ID can no longer be used without Accuracy because of the high cooldown it gets without it. That alone deleted 2 more build options.

What the slayer needs is first of the undoing of some nerfs and limitations it had before the Accuracy change.
- ID needs to get rid of the horrible RNG duration factor since we are now forced to spend a tactic slot for this ability. So guaranteed 8 sec duration instead of 4 to 8.

- Wild swings no more RNG dmg. fix dmg number and most important a buff to its dmg. Wild Swings is an exaustive blow with 5 sec cooldown and got its dmg nerfed hard in the past.

- Pulverizing Strike and Spine Crusher finally need to switch places in the trees. The Taktic ''The bigger they are...'' reduces the cost of Spine Crusher and Deathblow. They belong in the same tree, to make use of this tactic.
Trollslayer path is about long duration fights Giantslayer path is 2H high impact attacks. Having the debuff attack and the high impact attack placed like now is just wrong.

- Buff ''Incapacitate'' knockdown. 3 sec single target knockdown that requires berserk state and exhausts rage and sits on a 20 sec Cooldown, is way to weak. Either make it last
longer, require only furious rage and or lower the cooldown.

- FIX and REPAIR!!! Runic Blessing tactic. Or just change it to be something useful like turning Shatter limbs into a self target 6 sec AOE wave like Choppas Furius stomping.


And maybe a change to Firceness. Nobody uses it anyway right now because the self debuff is not worth the buff it provides to WS. Keep the CD on 60 sec and turn it into a self boost to get instantly into first Rage stage. That way Slayer could finally take part in fights from the beginning and not have to wait 15 sec to be able to use exhaustive blows, when most of the fight is already over doe to the ever faster ttk.

Now that's a reply! Thanks Grollinger, you point out a lot of items on the menu that really need attention aswell, I appreciate it. I hope that this thread can produce atleast something of value in the end.

Again, I'd prefer if this doesn't turn this into a rampage thread though.

I for the most part agree on adjusting, for example on the 2h + accuracy build you're correct, the goal should always be to make changes that are meaningful without upending the whole class and putting a big workload on the devs who make the magic happen.

Wild swing we agree on that it needs a buff.

The tactic about reducing ap for spinecrusher and deathblow is an example of a lot of the crappier tactics that needs to be reworked and maybe merged into bigger tactics that do multiple things. Here we also disagree though, Troll is about longevity, giantslayer is about big ****, ofc. But giantslayer can also be about priming the target for the bigger hits, right? So reducing wounds, reducing toughness, shattering debuffs all works towards the grand finale; deathblow.

Incapacitate should change by removing the exhaustive blow component of it, but locking it behind berserk state. That's my take on it.

Runic Blessings is for sure a LOL. I used it before, i know peoiple who used it, and looking back it produced hilarity and some epic gamer moments - but please, please balance this while maintaining it's spirit.

Again we agree on fierceness, and having it generate rage is an interesting idea. Idk, I think granting crit + chance to be crit (ctbc) is a fair trade, but maybe simply having it grant ws + (ctbc) is better.

Spoiler:

Oh he will tell you Slayer is S tier all day long. That is part of his Roleplay of an Order Player.
Slayer got stripped off of it's class unique melee blob counter ability. Choppa has his unique Pull, double Channel aoe, self aoe wave dot.
But they were all after rampage. And they got what they wanted.

Right now slayer is more or less B tier. Lions clear the fights while slayers still wait to get rage up and be able to use their rage requiring skills just to then have their exhaustive blows been denied by deference moral 2 or seeing that the fight is already over.

Slayer needs a rework, not a total class change. No need to replace everything. Order already has a melee with range finishers.

Slayer needs adjustments. The changes to Accuracy at the last slayer change took out some of the classes build options. 2H slayer can no longer use 24 target flurry without bricking down his auto attack dmg by 20%. ID can no longer be used without Accuracy because of the high cooldown it gets without it. That alone deleted 2 more build options.

What the slayer needs is first of the undoing of some nerfs and limitations it had before the Accuracy change.
- ID needs to get rid of the horrible RNG duration factor since we are now forced to spend a tactic slot for this ability. So guaranteed 8 sec duration instead of 4 to 8.

- Wild swings no more RNG dmg. fix dmg number and most important a buff to its dmg. Wild Swings is an exaustive blow with 5 sec cooldown and got its dmg nerfed hard in the past.

- Pulverizing Strike and Spine Crusher finally need to switch places in the trees. The Taktic ''The bigger they are...'' reduces the cost of Spine Crusher and Deathblow. They belong in the same tree, to make use of this tactic.
Trollslayer path is about long duration fights Giantslayer path is 2H high impact attacks. Having the debuff attack and the high impact attack placed like now is just wrong.

- Buff ''Incapacitate'' knockdown. 3 sec single target knockdown that requires berserk state and exhausts rage and sits on a 20 sec Cooldown, is way to weak. Either make it last
longer, require only furious rage and or lower the cooldown.

- FIX and REPAIR!!! Runic Blessing tactic. Or just change it to be something useful like turning Shatter limbs into a self target 6 sec AOE wave like Choppas Furius stomping.


And maybe a change to Firceness. Nobody uses it anyway right now because the self debuff is not worth the buff it provides to WS. Keep the CD on 60 sec and turn it into a self boost to get instantly into first Rage stage. That way Slayer could finally take part in fights from the beginning and not have to wait 15 sec to be able to use exhaustive blows, when most of the fight is already over doe to the ever faster ttk.

While I disagree with Slayer being B tier, I agree with most of what was said here.
The loss of the rage build-dump with rampage, build back up for big dmg really hurt the class identity and makes it feel more of just an aoe spam class.
It's clear for the recent healer changes that the devs are interested in making sure each class has a clear identity, so I am hopeful for a solid rework for SL.
As for the changes posted above, they are cool ideas but not particularly viable unless they redesigned the class from the ground up all over again.

I would like to see a better use of the rage mechanic, a much better offensive M2, and a buff to baseline defensive stats for SL. These fairly small changes would make SL much more engaging to play and more accessible for newer players.

OK, I guess the rampage thread is happening anyway - here's my take on it. The rampage change ruined the style we all knew of playing slayer, but I think it was in the end, a step in the right direction. The problem is they didn't take this far enough, almost ALL exhaustive abilities needs this to happen, except a few truly unique build-defining finishers as explained in the OP. This is necessary to keep the gameplay fluent and frictionless in certain trees like especially Troll, giant and now not so much skavenslayer- thankfully.

I think the ideas are solid and shouldn't be too hard to implement, this is mostly tweaking and building a couple of new abilities like leap and axe throw. I'm fairly sure both of which have animations that work well - hell, everyone has axethrow already just put a bigger axe-model in it.

[jughurta69]

The Slayer is actually well-balanced — he’s among the top-tier melee DPS classes. Some people are asking for a buff just because the White Lion exists. As for those who mention the Choppa’s unique abilities, the Slayer also has two skills with no real equivalent. If the White Lion’s damage or mobility ever gets reduced, the Slayer will definitely regain his former glory.

Right now, the White Lion’s advantages clearly create an imbalance. It has a ranged stun through the pet that you can’t defend against and that always counts as hitting from behind. The pull is invisible and can’t be interrupted, and on top of that, it has a 360° AoE wherever it wants thanks to Pounce. Meanwhile, the other pure MDPS classes get controlled or detaunted before they even reach their target.

Pounce itself is incredibly strong — being able to choose exactly when and where to use it is a huge tactical advantage. And to make things worse, the White Lion has a DPS rotation with a built-in stun, leaving almost no chance of survival for anyone caught by it.

Once one or two of these advantages get toned down, the Slayer will naturally become more represented and much more sought after.

[DiMakss]

Sound like wl

[Alubert]

As many really good players have written many times, SL/choppa doesn't need any buffs.
Both classes are currently in a good place.
The mistaken impression that SL is weak comes from three things:
1. The rampage nerf. Any reasonable person knows that was insane.
Currently, an average SL wonders why his target doesn't die in one Retribution along with the tank guarding him.
The change is very good. 20% more parry/block penetration is a lot. Additionally, the skill does not consume rage.
2. WS/INI change. Those accustomed to WS builds cannot accept that by putting everything into offensive stats, they do not get additional parry.
One of the best changes on our server. Offensive stats give offensive capabilities, and defensive stats give defensive capabilities.
3. WL. I don't think I need to explain.
It naturally replaced SL, not because SL is weak, but because WL is incredibly strong. Something bad happened to arm pene or its tooltip dmg. I'm sure the Devs already know the cause and it's only a matter of time before it changes. It's funny how aoe WL is stronger in aoe and ST than any other dps in the same build.

SL/choppa only needs a better 2h mastery tree. Which has never been implemented.

[normanis]

rampage was never problem byt how it was changed on ror
either buff slayer to wl level or nerf wl to slayer level.
give some good cc for slayer for wb like aoe silence , aoe pull
make slayers great again