No doubt speed and wits are both needed to be skilled. However, which one has more impact on a person's performance?
I'm asking this because, at least in the games I participate in, a majority of the kills appear to be due to speed. The combatants are facing each other, but one guy managed to get in the hit before the other guy. In other words, prediction and out-thinking the opponent is capped by how fast you can maneuver. This is supported by the popularity of MSI and ASI. These observations are not exclusive to strikers. Guardians and recons also follow this trend. Your thoughts?
Obviously responses will be opinions, but it would be nice if you can provide some concrete evidence (like a segment of someone's lockdown video) to support your claim.
Follow-up
If you were to divide up skill into three sectors, how would you split it (percentage wise)? The sectors are:
Mental - predicting, baiting, etc.
Physical - reaction time, movement/attack/dodging speed, etc.
Other - using the environment, stalling vs damage hound, teamwork, etc.
IMO:
Mental: 30%, Physical: 40%, Other: 30%
Reasoning - All three are important, but physical excellence augments your abilities in the other categories. Lockdown is a fast-twitch game.
Update:
To clarify, this is not about you but about Lockdown players in general. Nobody likes to think they lack wits and rely on speed. However, from an objective perspective that may not be the case. Just because someone doesn't attack randomly doesn't mean they rely on wits to win battles.
ex1.
If striker relies on flourish stun locking to defeat opponents, that is speed not wit. It's a perfectly valid strategy, except it doesn't involve much thinking. It prevents the opponent from doing anything to counter you.
If a striker manages to beat an enemy by stalling out the shield and slowly wearing them down, that is wits. The enemy is given a chance to retaliate but failed to overcome.
ex2.
If a guardian kills a striker by consistently landing counter hits for every hit the striker lands, that is speed. Given an enemy with better speed, that strategy would fail miserably.
If a guardian uses bombs/guns to area deny the striker, then move in for the kill after the striker runs out of boosts, that is wits. The guardian is not just trying to out-react the striker.
I can't reiterate this enough:
Neither speed nor wits is "cheap". Both are perfectly valid. The question is, what do you think is more "skill"?
The same question can be asked in real world sports. In soccer, the more dexterous and speedy player plays better, but the more strategic and predictive player also plays better. Who would be more skilled?
(it's been a while since I read this book so forgive me if I missed anything)
Just like any other fight, a thinking fighter will value positional placement rather then striking speed. Though it's fictional, the best example I can think of is when Drizzt fought Dantrag in the book Passage to Dawn. Dantrag has magical bracelets of speed, making his arms move blindingly fast. Drizzt was not use to this, since he had trained and had not met someone with speed so much superior to his. After taking a few minor hits, Drizzt took a step back and realized how predictable the swings were based on his approach. On average they were easily dodged/blocked, but the speed gave him such an advantage that they were a serious threat. Dantrag was then baited into swinging so much that it actually outbalanced him since he feet couldn't keep up. Drizzt had much better footwork, and was able to position himself to win. After taking the bracelets himself and attempting to use them on his arms, he actually lost a sparring match against someone he was training - being baited in the same way. He then placed them around his ankles for better maneuverability in a fight.
Jumping back into LD, your ASI/AT/Acheron player is probably the best example. You get close, hit them once, they win the speed contest in close and devastate you with it's ridiculous power by just clicking with no real thought process. Another example would be the flurry of swings that a fast flourish/sealed sword line weapon switch gives as an opponent give more area denial with that type of attack and can approach at a scary rate. Either way, the attacks that come at you are predictable. You can't swing a flourish two different ways, and they have to approach you to hit you.
If someone is beating you because of ASI consistently, you need to take a step back and evaluate the situation and try a different approach. As for MSI, one might disagree but I don't think it makes a noticeable difference in a striker fight. Players with no MSI but with varied latency appear faster to me then someone wearing Kat/Merc gear.
My final answer would be initially when you're beginning to wade into the fighting world, swinging speed gives you all the advantage you need. As you develop and become a better fighter, positional placement and baiting are way more important. For a good example watch the feet in a boxing match. Even though one fighter might have a slower punch, he can make up with it with footwork and thinking.
Good question!