Let's talk about Backstab.
In a world where it's supposed to give an Assassin the edge over a warrior or ranger in combat (A high-powered opening move from stealth), this skill really and truly falls short, for a few reasons.
Without the strength to backup a backstab, or a good weapon, you are only going to rarely OHK someone with decent health. And when I say rarely, I mean rarely. Now, that being said, your follow up blows (if they connect) will more often than not finish the job, or a second round of combat. However, a few more things.
*Backstab starts incredibly low, and is difficult to train without twinking it or the appearance of twinking it, as you must backstab someone with the intent to kill to gain a 'fail' in order to proceed.
*Backstab, even up into journeyman and advanced, will yield failures that can mean the difference between life and death.
*If you fail a backstab, it has one of the longest 'after' delays in the game. So you cannot flee, or do anything, until the after delay is achieved.
It's a shame that most people don't even entertain using backstab, because it can be such a detriment to the would-be-assassin, that it's much safer to get weapons with poison on them and just 'kill' the target.
In a brainstorming, constructive fashion: How could we improve the backstab skill?
*It should start at Apprentice, or a level reasonable enough to yield success 1/10 times, rather than 1/20 to start.
*The after delay should be decreased, or a softer before and after delay should be introduced.
*More levels of 'success' should be mixed in with the levels of failure. There are currently many 'you fucked up' levels to the skill, but fewer 'you succeed, but not well'. As an opening move, if you are attacking from complete stealth, there should be a bonus that yields moderate success most of the time.
*Allowing for a few different styles of backstab. Backstab disable, backstab bleed, backstab kill. If successful, backstab disable would prevent the person from moving from the room for a period of 1 IG Hour (Ten Minutes). If successful, backstab bleed would do damage over time, but not as much damage at the forefront. Backstab kill would be aiming to do the most damage up front, and have a higher chance of failure.
It isn't all the time you want to murder the fuck out of someone with a sneak attack, which can be misleading with a skill titled 'Backstab'. Considering the skill is now more opened up to different sub guilds, it might be interesting to set apart the 'Assassin Backstab' from others, achieving a higher level of mastery and talents within the skill if you are a true assassin, rather than making it completely equal between a Slipknife and an Assassin.
Assassin is one of my favorite classes in ArmageddonMUD, but one that requires extreme patience and skill to train to their fullest potential, due to the drawbacks of skills like Backstab. What are your thoughts?