From the desk of the ninja

1.Is there a badge for earning all other badges and if so is the reward worth the effort?

2.Flanking nerf?
Flanking was my favorite epic talent, every companion on my roster had it if possible. Sometime ago I noticed the damage from flanking change. Hits from flanking used to do double damage but now they seem to do half damage instead, yet it is still advertised as a “sneak attack”. I’ve since removed flanking from my crew wherever possible. Has anyone else experienced this?

Yes, I have noticed this also. Seems like a lot of adjustments are being made to epic talents and damage. It is great to post them, so KI knows which ones, but I do not know if it is their intent or not.

For instance, First Strike, Vengeance, Flanking, & Quick Draw all seem to have lower damage.

Hide in Shadows/Walk in Darkness does double damage to hits and to other classes with cards and for backstab with bleeding, but is not doing double damage to assassins strike with bleeding, except for other classes that have that card on gear. Also, it is not working with Dance of Steel, it is slightly increasing the damage, but not by much.

nullI don't remember flanking ever doing double damage, and now it still seems to do the same damage as a normal attack. It has changed in the way it has triggered (for the better in my opinion). See https://www.pirate101.com/forum/messageBoard/listPosts/free_game/8ad6a41c3bffbb35013c0b6002c85aca for more information.

As for it being a "sneak attack", all I think that means is that it doesn't trigger first strike.

Ratbeard on Jan 11, 2013 wrote: "If you have anything to report, please do so-- put it in the Bilge forum."

I can't find a Bilge forum. What Board topic is that under?

no my swashbuckler has first strike it does full damage on my target.

I survived a wave of bone drakes with first strike and peaceful talents and got 2462 gold

Dr Zeppers on Jan 10, 2013 wrote:

Flanking is advertised as a "sneak attack"? I am curious where is this reference?

Its always referenced as a "bonus" attack in my game as I recall (I have been recently implementing flanking).
A bonus attack granted when flanking your opponent.

I dont know if there has been a change in damage it does, I myself generally try to use epic talents that will maximize the number of attacks within my strategy.

I do believe I saw a post indicating Flanking had been broken, and was fixed, but I could be confused on that, they have tried to fix so many different things. lol.

The talent "card" states, "bonus sneak attack when flanking."

Ratbeard on Jan 11, 2013 wrote:

If you have anything to report, please do so-- put it in the Bilge forum.

I know there are issues with Flanking. At the moment I only have confidence that Flanking rank 1 is working as intended. There may be issues with Flanking 2, Crossfire 1&2. I've fixed them but I am not sure if they are live.

(For the record, I love Flanking, it's not nerfed, it's great, and I also choose it every chance I get. )

I'm not aware of any issues with First Strike, Vengeance Strike, or Quick Draw. They're still working as far as I know; they have not been changed. These are some of the oldest epic talents, they've worked correctly for a long time. That said-- as I've told you guys many times, this is why we are so careful with patches! Because you never know when something you do is going to break; or worse, when something you do is going to break something somebody else has working. Aye, I said it: If these are broken, I'm blamin' somebody else!

Darth, I am not sure what issues you are seeing with Hide/Backstab, but I can tell you that the Hide powers won't double the bleed damage-- just the initial hit. If that doesn't clarify the issue for you, please let me know in the Bilge, and give me a bit more info to work with.

What I mean is simply this: Flanking, First Strike, Quick Draw, and Vengeance were doing normal attacks for a long time, but after some updates, things had changed and these attacks are doing only 3/4 damage of a normal attack.

Now, I understand, sometimes warriors slip and dont get a full attack in, but this is not how this was working, it was practically every time and "flubs" if you will, were doing around 1/2 damage.

I have been doing a lot of Wizard101 lately, so I have not checked this in a little while, so I will have to retest this to verify it is still happening.

Now, I had noticed your post on Backstab/Sneak Attack/Hide the damage.
I have also noticed some of the flaws are not happening anymore, such as some attacks doing 2 sets of damage with each hit, which happened for backstab while hidden or backstab with bleeding while hidden. you would see 2 sets of numbers overlapping eachother for the first hit, then 2 sets overlapping eachother for the second hit, showing 2x damage. This had never happened for Assassins Strike and until recently, or that post, Backstab with Bleeding, a 2x damage hit while hidden was doing more damage than Assassin strike while hidden, even including the bleed damage.

Now, as I said, there have been some fixes and the overlapping damages are not showing up anymore and it may be working as intended now, I will continue to do research and let you know my findings.

I hope this information helps you and that it is not too late, so much to do in Wiz & Pirates, lol...