Triple Attack is something to be looked at of course, but you have to remember our Double Attack skill does not work the same as a regular melee class. Bestial Frenzy give a 3% bonus to our chances to double attack per rank. Ferocity VI+ gives another 18%. Direwolf Totem of Battle/Predator spell line give another 6% or 4% (won't stack with each other). That's upwards of 63% chance to Double Attack before you even look at what our actual (admittedly meager) skill of 75 (max) does.
Yes, we need increases to Double and Triple attack. Double attack should have its own "Burst of Power" type AA, with at minimum enough ranks at any time to keep its cap ahead of Triple Attack by at least 5. As for Triple Attack, I think I would prefer to see an AA line similar to Bestial Frenzy rather than a massive increase to the skill cap itself. It would keep it consistent with the existing way Double Attack increases and is more likely to make it through any sort of veto process. Even if it's only 3 ranks or 5 ranks initially, once it's there its far easier to tack on more ranks than it is to boost skill cap directly.
Where we need our skill caps boosted directly and immediately is DODGE and BLOCK. I looked at the skill caps for melee/hybrids. Every melee/hybrid character class that wears metal armor is AT LEAST as good at dodging as we are. Monks of course have the highest dodge skill. Our defensive abilities are mostly avoidance based and not mitigation based like the chain/plate classes, who place more reliance on heavier armor. Our ability to block with a shield, if we choose to equip one, is inferior to that of pure casters, never mind melee and hybrid classes. So, if we rely on avoidance so much more than many other classes, why are we at the bottom of the heap for actual dodge skill?
At the very least, our Dodge cap should be boosted (or be boostable by AAs) by a minimum of 25 points to a base skill cap of 405. This would put us on par with the warrior and rogue, but still behind monk, which puts us on the low end where we should be. Our Block skill could use a boost as well, gaining an additional 20 or 25 points, most likely via AAs. This would still leave us 25 to 30 points behind monk for skill. We should be able to dodge, block and riposte in a 360 degree circle around us, since our weapons tend to be smaller and faster on average and the fact that our lighter armor allows for a greater range of motion compared to someone in chain/plate.
At the moment, our defensive skills are being held back to a mitigation standard, while we are also stuck with avoidance oriented armor. Our Dodge/Block needs to be boosted to change this or we deserve access to (along with a higher occurance of) more natural armor types, like scales and chitin, that mitigate at levels equivalent to chain and plate. No way should we be stuck with the disadvantages of both combat styles with none of the benefits.
