Hey! I recently just advanced to a buccaneer and noticed that the ability Dragon Strike has a substantial delay but ONLY while hitting monsters. I did a rough timing test on my own to get some numbers. Note this was with weapon booster+level 1 speed infusion active: 20 dragon strike casts in 30 seconds when NOT hitting a monster 14 dragon strike casts in 30 seconds WHILE hitting a monster There is a disconnect with the time-between-abilities frames and the actual ability itself while it effects monsters. I searched the forums for a report or mention of this but was unable to find anything. I believe it is a pretty odd bug and could just be an issue with my character. Side QoL/buff suggestion: Lower dragon strike cast frames overall to help with leveling/buff. It's a change that happened in GMS at some point (i think big bang)!
I'm pretty certain the delay isn't a bug. There are similar skills like Rush where the cast speed differs depending on if the skill actually registers on a mob. As far as I know, other v62 private servers that kept Dragon Strike at default also has that same delay feature for the skill. This was intentional design that gives buccs a unique gameplay. Other bucc skills like barrage or demolition also has that disconnect. Bucc playstyle is a lot about maximizing iframes during and in between attacks, so the disconnect usually works out to your advantage if you know your skill combinations. So it's no real surprise that Dragon Strike also follows that same style of delayed attacks, but it can get annoying because it doesn't grant you iframes. But you look at other servers like Slimetales that's tested with shorter cast time on Dragon Strike which ended pretty terribly because turns out that just gives buccs too much iframe with their bossing combos. Simply put, the game gives you two options of either maximizing iframe (such as barrage + corkscrew or barrage + summersault combos) or walk the line in between iframes and dps (the most common: barrage + dragon strike). It sucks that dragon strike isn't exactly "spammable" but that's what you get when you play bucc. Bucc is also closer to a single-target-dps class than a mobbing class, so the delay on one 4th job mobbing skill isn't overkill imo.
Well there is a pretty large logical difference between those two abilities though. One is a mobility skill while the other one is an attack which if you look at it from that perspective no other ability in the game functions like that one. Regardless, seeing as someother pirate abilities aren't functioning correctly (energy blast) I figured it would be appropriate to bring awareness as it could be a potential bug. Also, if dragon strike doesn't get i-frames in the first place, how does shortening it increase i-frames at all? That also does not make sense to me. Lastly, because something is unique doesn't make it good though that is arguably subjective.
Can you describe how Energy Blast isn't working properly? As far as I know, all pirate skills are working properly on MapleSaga. And as timecube mentioned, Dragon Strike is working perfectly fine.
Backspin and Corkscrew are both mobbing skills but they also have delay where the skill animation is unnecessarily drawn. It's not just unique to dragon strike. That's just how mobbing is with buccaneers - it's about mastering combos that minimize delays that are built into skills while maximizing iframes. It increases i-frames during combos. Like i said, for veteran buccs, the usual combo is barrage + dragon strike. Barrage grants you near perfect iframe, so buccs are only really vulnerable while they're doing the latter half of that combo. when dragon strike cast time is shortened, that means that buccs can cast barrage more often, which gives them higher overall iframe rate during raids. And like i said, what you're suggesting has been implemented in other servers but has been counterproductive That wasn't the point I'm making. I'd actually point out the same of you and say that just because something isn't at the highest efficiency in terms of damage per second, doesn't mean it's bad or broken. Bucc skills are tanky and drawn out. That's just their playstyle. It's not as much dps as the traditional dps classes, but if you were to look only through the lens of dps when approaching skill rebalances, it'd result in flattening out all differences between the variety of classes offered. I think you may have a right idea in that buccs could be buffed, which is something I'd support to a certain extent, but i just think reducing cast time for dragon strike isn't a great way to do it.
I've never seen the delay between each cast take so long before in other servers, old videos, etc. It was also mentioned in a guide post. It functions/does damage/hits the correct mobs etc. Pirates are changed so much in the time period that they were released that it is hard to tell what is exactly 'this version'.