General

Thoughts about the nerf

Good Evening Basil.

Spoiler Alert!
BIG WALL OF TEXT - See TLDR at bottom of the post.

@Orangemushroom's blog

Demon Slayer

Death Curse: instant death chance has been decreased from 5% to 1%
Soul Eater: damage has been decreased from 150% to 100%
Outrage: critical chance boost has been decreased from 20% to 10%
Demon Slash 1st Upgrade: damage boost has been decreased from 40% to 20%
Dark Judgement: damage has been decreased from 300% to 150%
Demonic Breath: damage has been decreased from 169% to 140%, DoT has been decreased from 135% to 115%
Dark Endure: resistance to states and elements boost has been decreased from 80% to 60%
Demon Explosion: damage has been decreased from 335% to 235%
Demon Impact: damage has been decreased from 400% to 240%, defense ignored while attacking a boss has been decreased from 50% to 30%
Dark Bind: damage has been decreased from 900% to 700%, DoT has been decreased from 200% to 140%

Ever since this news about the nerf for demon slayers came out,
I've seen a lot of people question the effectiveness of the Demon Slayer job class, both at the present and after the nerf is applied.
To some, just by looking how the numbers were lowered means that the "Overpowered" class is finally getting balanced
while others think that decrease in skills' percentile means that the class is severely weakened to "having to resort back to using potions".

In my opinion, The Demon Slayer class does need some nerfing.

[1st, 2nd, and 3rd job life]
Usually, when I train a character from level 1 to 120, I have a certain way of preparing what equipment do I need, pots to bring, buffs to use, etc etc.
Bring xxx amount of potions and train here from level xx to level xx, keeping in mind that I have to train monsters around my level
to avoid wasting time.

Demon Slayers just defies everything mentioned above.
Minimal amount of potions needed. Once I got to level 65, had Dark Thrust and Soul Eater, anything 20 levels above me was trainable.
leveling to 120 literally took a few hours whereas other jobs would at least require a few days' work with casual play.
This is made possible by Death Curse's instant death chance of 5%.
Sure, 5% is quite minuscule, but combined with Soul Eater's rapid multiple hits, anything was possible.. Not to mention Soul Eater itself did fairly high damage
for a 2nd job skill.

Thus explains why the nerfs below were needed:
Death Curse: instant death chance has been decreased from 5% to 1%
Soul Eater: damage has been decreased from 150% to 100%

Basically, the nerfs were to limit demon slayers to train monsters around their level, just like what every other class does.

[Nerfs]
Outrage: critical chance boost has been decreased from 20% to 10%
Demon Slash 1st Upgrade: damage boost has been decreased from 40% to 20%

[My thoughts]
Outrage: Demon Slayers are under the warrior category, and warriors aren't really known to deliver high and frequent critical hits.
Rather, the critical chance from critical is more of a bonus. Someone in Nexon HQ probably realized that they gave us a big bonus too much
and complained to give us less.

Barbed Lash: In comparison to similar "button mash" classes (Aran and Battle Mages), Demon slayers only need to allocate
1 SP, that's right, 1. Friggin. Skill Point to fully upgrade our button mash skill, While Aran and BatMages have to spend 20 sp to fully upgrade theirs when they
could've used it on other useful skills. THE NERF IS NOT THAT BAD.

[Nerfs]
Dark Judgement: damage has been decreased from 300% to 150%
Demonic Breath: damage has been decreased from 169% to 140%, DoT has been decreased from 135% to 115%
Dark Endure: resistance to states and elements boost has been decreased from 80% to 60%

[My Thoughts]
Dark Judgement: In all honesty, I never really used this skill that often. Nerfing it down just gives demon slayers a valid excuse to use it less and max it last.

Demonic Breath: Okay, we might lose a few hundred points in damage on this skill, but it does not change the fact that IT LOOKS REALLY BADASS.

Dark Endure: I love how other people get mad at me for not getting stunned at DRPQ's running stage as much as the next demon slayer, but i guess
everyone has to experience the joy of getting stunned every so often.

4TH JOB!
[Nerfs]
Demon Explosion: damage has been decreased from 335% to 235%
Demon Impact: damage has been decreased from 400% to 240%, defense ignored while attacking a boss has been decreased from 50% to 30%
Dark Bind: damage has been decreased from 900% to 700%, DoT has been decreased from 200% to 140%

**Leech Aura gets a cooldown and HP absorb limit! OMG we're SCREWED NOW OMG OMG**

[My Thoughts]
Demon Explosion: I think its safe for me to say that demon slayers don't use this skill with the intent to kill monsters with. Rather, more of as a utility skill
4th job thieves' skill [Taunt] and 2th job page's [Threaten] combined. The damage nerf is not bad, considering [Threaten] does no damage at all and [Taunt]
does not do much either.

Demon Impact: Okay, only nerf worth recognizing would be this one. I'm not too happy about this nerf either but I have an explanation why this is needed later down the thread.

Dark Bind: Once again, another utility skill, purpose being is to stun and immobilize enemies. Be thankful that as a utility skill, It does damage.[In comparison to other 4th job warrior "Crash" skills]

Leech Aura: No. We are definitely not screwed at all. The cooldown is applied mainly because demon slayers literally stay potless when training,
even with this skill at level 1. Maple Story is not meant to be played that way. You're supposed to train, get hit, die, use potions, etc etc. but with leech aura right now, this is impossible.

Here's what I think the new Leech Aura's skill mechanics going to be like:
[HP: 20,000/20,000]~>you get hit and your HP gets lower
[HP: 5,000/20,000]~>you decide to activate Leech Aura, skill effects apply and cooldown of 1 minute starts.
[HP: 15,000/20,000]~>You absorb 50% of your max HP or Buff wears out. Wait until cooldown is finished to re-activate.
Also, think about how long it would take for you to be brought down to low HP when training.
There's nothing that says our defences are getting nerfed as well. LHC monsters mostly do 1~200 damage on an average Demon Slayer. THINK.

To put it simply, Leech Aura will have similar functions to 3rd Job White Knight's [HP Recovery] Skill.
Heals HP at the cost of Mana/DF, only ours is better since party members also receive the effect.

[Dark Metamorphosis will NEGATE MOST OF THE NERF EFFECTS]
My argument is copy pasted here from a previous thread.

@Archopath
(Considering Dark Meta does not apply yet)
Facts:
Three 4th Job skills will be affected by the nerf.
Other nerfs are insignificant other than the crit rate decrease.

Demon Explosion: 335% to 235%
Demon Impact: 400% to 240%, defense ignored 50% to 30%
Dark Bind: 900% to 700%, DoT 200% to 140%

ok fine.

(Apply Dark Meta effects[35% total damage])
Demon Explosion: 335% to 235% = That's roughly a third off the damage. Dark Meta increases the total damage by a third thus negating the nerf.
Works for me.

Demon Impact: 400% to 240%, defense ignored 50% to 30% = Okay that's about half off the damage. Once again, calculate in Dark Meta's 35% total damage.
Slightly less damage.
That's fine with me

Dark Bind: 900% to 700%, DoT 200% to 140% = Calculate in 35% total damage.
No problem there, I still get to keep the duration of the stun so it works out fine.

Dont forget that once the skill is fixed, 2 orbs add additional DPS.

This is ASSUMING Dark Metamorphosis will be fixed by the time the nerf is applied.
If not, then yes, we'll be doing somewhat half the damage we do now.

OVERALL VERDICT/TLDR:

YES. This is a nerf to demon slayers 2nd job to 3rd job demon slayers, only to balance them with other classes.
4th Jobs would be affected as well, but will HAVE Dark Metamorphosis to compensate.

To those who read the entire thing, I'd like to receive feedbacks from you.