[Suggestion] One-Hand Weapon Line

Ffastyl

While there are several polls which ask if the community wants a One-Hand weapon line, there are none I have come across which discuss how to go about creating such a line. This is my suggestion for what such a skill line could look like. My aims with the following skills and passives is to create something similar to other weapon lines, Dual Wield, Two Hand, and One Hand and Shield in particular, while maintaining a unique feel.

Active Abilities

Cut
Slash at your opponent with practiced form, dealing additional damage to wounded foes. Damage scales up to 300% against low health enemies.
Damage: Moderate
Range: 5m
Target: Single
Cast Time: Instant
Cost: Moderate (similar to Low Slash from One Hand and Shield)

Cut Morphs
Lacerating Cut
Deals additional bleed damage to target.
Slash at your opponent with practiced form, rending skin and causing (45/50/55/60% of the initial damage) bleed damage over 6 seconds. Finish off wounded foes. Damage scales up to 300% against low health enemies.

Powerful Cut
Becomes a cone-based AoE. Deals increased damage.
Slash in front of you with all your might, sweeping the area and cutting down foes. Damage scales up to 300% against low health enemies.
Damage: Moderate +10/11/12/13%
Range: 7m
Target: Cone


Thrust
Quickly lunge at your opponent, pinpointing their weak spot and expanding it. Inflicts target with Major Fracture and Major Breach, reducing Physical and Spell Resistance by (scales with level).
Damage: Moderate-Low
Range: 5m
Target: Single
Cast Time: Instant
Cost: Moderate

Thrust Morphs
Lightning Thrust
Chance to set target off-balance.
Lunge faster than the eye can blink, slamming your foe with immense force before they can prepare. Inflicts Major Fracture and Major Breach, reducing Physical and Spell Resistance by (scales with level). 20/30/40/50% chance to set target off-balance.

Power Thrust
Reduces target's damage done.
Put immense strength into a swift thrust, knocking the wind out of your opponent. Inflicts Major Fracture, Major Breach, and Minor Maim, reducing Physical and Spell Resistance by (scales with level) and reducing target's damage done by 15%.
Damage: Moderate +2/4/6/8%


Parry
Anticipate your opponent's strike and redirect it back at the attacker. Reflects one melee attack.
Target: Self
Cast Time: Instant
Duration: 3/4/5/6 seconds
Cost: low

Parry Morphs
Mocking Parry
Knocks down the attacker.
Help out your opponent by adding a little extra force to their swing, watching them fall flat on their face. Reflects one melee attack with an added knock down effect for 2/3/4/5 seconds.

Efficient Parry
Increases damage of returned attack.
Parry and riposte your opponent, reflecting one melee attack with 15/20/25/30% increased damage.


Drawing Cut
Draw and cut in the same motion for a quick and devastating slash, dazing your opponent in its wake. Inflicts Disorient on target for 10 seconds.
Damage: High
Range: 7m
Target: Single
Cast Time: Instant
Cost: Moderate-High

Drawing Cut Morphs
Fluid Cut
Grants Major Empower upon hitting target.
Draw and cut in the same motion for a quick and devastating slash, leaving your opponent vulnerable for a follow up strike. Inflicts Disorient for 10 seconds and grants Major Empower, increasing the damage of the next attack by 20%.

Charging Slash
Increases range and charges to target.
Draw, cut, and lunge in one fluid motion, assaulting your opponent with unbeknownst speed. Inflicts Disorient for 10 seconds.
Range: 3 - 22m


En Guard
Take up a combat stance become light on your feet, granting Minor Berserk, Minor Evasion, and Minor Expedition for 20/21/22/23 seconds.
Minor Berserk increases damage dealt by 8%. Minor Evasion increases dodge chance by 5%. Minor Expedition increases movement speed by 10%.
Target: Self
Cast Time: Instant
Duration: 20/21/22/23 seconds
Cost: Moderate

En Guard Morphs
Meditation
Replaces effects with increased regeneration. Removes 1/2/3/4 negative effects on cast.
Calm body, mind, and spirit on the battlefield, increasing regenerative properties. Grants Major Intellect, Major Fortitude, and Major Endurance for the duration.

Vanguard
Increases the potency of the effects. Increased cost.
Charge into the fray, adrenaline pumping, and smite all before you! Grants Major Berzerk, Major Evasion, and Major Expedition, increasing damage done by 25%, dodge chance by 20%, and movement speed by 40%.
Cost: High


Passive Abilities

Fencer
With One One-Hand Weapon Equipped
Increases Weapon Power by 10/20%.

Foot Soldier
While Using One-Hand Skills
One-hand weapon skills cost 10/20% less.

One-Hand Weapons Expertise
With One One-Hand Weapon Equipped
Swords deal 3/5% extra damage. Axes inflict (scales with level)/(scales with level x2) bleed damage over 4 seconds. Hammers ignore 10/20% armor. Daggers increase critical hit rate by 3/5%.

Spellsword
With One One-Hand Weapon Equipped
Increases Spell Power by 10/20%.

Respite
With One One-Hand Weapon Equipped
While weapon is sheathed, increase all regeneration by 8/15%.


These abilities and passives were thought up after analyzing and considering the other weapon lines and how their abilities/passives worked. The passives contain one cost reduction, one weapon specialization, one power increase, and two unique passives.

Often times one of the unique passives is an "increase regeneration for x after killing an enemy" or "restore x by y amount after killing an enemy." Respite follows the same vein of regeneration, but goes about it in a unique way, providing reason to sheath your weapon from time to time.

The second unique passive is always different for each weapon line, from deal extra damage to enemies suffering x, y, z ailments to deal extra damage after a heavy attack or at enemies farther away. Here, Spellsword allows the ability for One-Handers to create competitive hybrid builds utilizing magicka based class spells or guild/world spells.

Active abilities seem to all have the same amount of utility to them, counterbalanced by a cast time if it somehow got too much utility (Uppercut).
Each ability has to reach a utility rating of 3 to be balanced, with said rating explained below (this is not ZOS's system, but one I developed after analyzing the various in-game weapon line abilities):

Damage up to Moderate is +1
Damage beyond Moderate is +2
Execute effect is +2
One hard CC effect is +1
One soft CC effect is +1
Cast time is -1
Channel time is +/- 0 because it adds cast time (-1) and more damage ticks (+1)
High cost is -1

Moderate-Low is not Moderate or Low, but between Moderate and Low.
Moderate-High is the same as Moderate-Low, but between Moderate and High.

Morphs generally add a +1 to an ability's utility rating or greatly alter the ability's function.
The abilities listed above for One-Hand follow the these guidelines and also try to offer what the other weapon lines do: an execute, a gap closer, an AoE, a CC and a self-buff. The one effect which may be hard to grasp for inclusion is Expedition (movement speed). With magnetic tracking, increasing movement speed does not offer increased evasion. However any seasoned fighter knows the value of breaking Line of Sight and being able to position properly and quickly. Rather than offer a background heal and become a Momentum clone, En Guard offers a burst of agility that is best used by those favoring mobile combat (with some added Evasion to follow the agility theme).

Drawing Cut inflicts a Disorient for the line's CC. It is not widely known what a Disorient does, as it looks identical to a Stun. Disorient is a Stun broken by any source of damage, and lasts considerably longer to compensate. Disorient in most scenarios acts as an interrupt rather than a Stun, but if the target is left alone it can act as a very long Stun. Since Drawing Cut deals high damage, the Disorient duration is shorter than normal to compensate. (Disorient is normally 15 seconds.)

If there are any abilities, morphs, or passives you are confused/curious on, disagree with, think should be replaced, find fantastic please comment on it! A good discussion does not consist of one participant.

PKMN12

Major problem with this is that you now have an empty item slot. using ANY OTHER style would probably prove then to be more efficient and better offense or defense wise.

And as you said, use a system ZOS does not have, thus will almost definitive not be implemented.

Ffastyl

PKMN12 wrote: »

Major problem with this is that you now have an empty item slot. using ANY OTHER style would probably prove then to be more efficient and better offense or defense wise.

Currently equipping just a One-Handed weapon offers no bonus. Even equipping a shield grants +5% Weapon Power. The passives Fencer and Spellsword address this by increasing Power by 20% with a One-Handed weapon equipped, bringing it on par with other offensive lines, though still of a lower tier. For reference, an Epic Weighted Two-Hander can have 1706 Weapon Power, while an Epic Infused One-Hander with Momentum active (+20% Weapon Power) can have 1696 Weapon Power.

frould

i would love to see combination of Spell&Sword. Fighting like queen Ayrenn did in cinematic trailers.
my idea
-AOE dome damage shield barrier.
-Cone shape AOE Green shackle that pull enemies in to one spot and stun. 1 second cast time.
-weapon enchantment buff that add magical damage to your attack.
+and i pick Cut & Drawing Cut from your skill line, should be very attack speed/animation.

Ffastyl

I have an edit to make on the En Guard morph, Meditation:
Add the effect
Removes 1/2/3/4 negatives effects from self on cast.
to balance it with the alternate morph, Vanguard.

Overall, En Guard is meant to be a powerful self-buff fitting of the final unlock in the skill line. I admit Vanguard may be too strong (Major Berzerk should be reduced to Minor Berzerk, or some buffs last for less than the full duration), but the intent behind the buffs is to use some seldom seen in combat or at all (in the case of Major Berzerk).
This change does not grant an aspect to Vanguard that scales with Rank, which is something that is missing from the morph.

ushanshek

In my opinion they should have made skill lines for swords, maces, axes, daggers etc.. and then you could combine them somehow, becouse right now, there are far more magicka based abilites than stamina

Ffastyl

True. 1.6.0 was an attempt to address that, but the majority are still Magicka based.

ArRashid

So I'm in a mood to waste a few hours writing..

Skill line RAPIER

One-handed style using a sword with a slender blade (often with only one edge sharpened) to unleash a flurry of slashing and stabbing attacks while making it easier to focus on magic with the help of a freed hand. Not just magic though.. a free hand can also be used for certain hand-to-hand techniques.


I'd go with policy of always having one morph promoting pure weapon-based fencer fightning style and second morph promoting a "spellsword" type of combat - mixing stamina and magicka abilities as a true hybrid.

(don't kill me for borrowing names & stuff now:)

ultimate (if weapon ultimates ever get implemented that is) :

Neutron
(channeled combo attack that works on groups (unless morphed for single target only) but is way more effective on a single target)
Range: 8m, Target: cone, Cast time: channeled (1,3s), Cost: 125 Ultimate
Delivers 5 extremely fast consecutive thrusts divided among targets in frontal cone, dealing 200% weapon damage with each, dealing mixed physical (20%) and holy (80%) damage. Deals up to 275% bonus damage depending on the amount of ultimate spent.
SMorph: Star Splash
Number of thrusts increases to 8 (increases channeling time to 2,1s) and each thrust also deals 20% splash damage to targets within 3m.
MMorph: Crucifixion
Changes to 3 horizontal slashes and 3 vertical slashes (forming a cross) striking a single target. Also applying debuff on target for 10 seconds, healing anyone who strikes this target for 20% of their damage.


Linear
(base attack with standard debuff turned into standard charge or a magical combat enhancer by morph)
Range: melee, Target: single, Cast time: instant.
Single thrust dealing 120% weapon damage as well as decreasing enemy armor by 25% for 8 seconds. Damage is doubled against targets that are stunned or off-balance.
SMorph: Shooting Star
Range increased to 25m and turns into a charging attack.
MMorph: Slant
Instead of decreasing enemy armor it increases damage dealt by your spells by 25% for 6 seconds. (turns into simplest of attacks to "free the mind" - a diagonal slash)

Vault
(self-defence skill / CC)
Range: 15m, Target: single(/self), Cast time: instant.
Uses target as stepping stone to launch yourself in the air 15m away from target. Deals 50% weapon damage.
SMorph: Flash Blow
Also stabs target. Damage increased to 100% weapon damage (20% physical 80% holy) while also leaving target bleeding for 300% weapon damage over 3 seconds and disorienting him for 16 seconds.
MMorph: Crescent Moon
Also covers the distance between target and yourself with 5m wide icy field for 5 seconds, rooting any enemy stepping on it in place for 4 seconds.

Flashing Penetrator
(heavy damage dealer for those immune to it's nauseating effects on player who uses it. Perfect for confusing the hell out of enemies in 1vs1 PvP, if your eyes can keep up with your speed, otherwise you suffer the same disadvantage as your enemy)
Range: 25m (or 5m behind last target hit), Target: line, Cast time: instant.
Character fuses with rapier and launches forward like a comet fast enough to produce a sonic boom, piercing through targets for 250% weapon damage. Guaranteed critical hit on the first target hit. Character stops after 25m or 5m after last target hit and turns towards that target (if it hit any. Camera also turns).
SMorph: Rending Penetrator
First target hit is also bleeding for 500% weapon damage over 8 seconds.
MMorph: Lightning Penetrator
Also leaves all targets electrocuted, suffering 50% weapon damage every 0,5s for 3s.

Fencing
(toggle combat enhancer, alternate to blocking without using up stamina. Ever wanted to tank a boss without using a shield by wildly clicking?)
Range: self, Target: self, Cast time: instant.
Causes your attacks to negate enemy attacks (if they hit within 0.3s of each other. Ofc light attacks can only negate enemy light attacks or instant abilities and heavy attacks can negate enemy heavy attacks and spells with cast time). Negated attacks as well as your attacks negating them will deal no damage.
SMorph: Elite Fencing
Every attack you negate stacks a 20% armor debuff on target for 6 seconds (refreshing). Your next attack consumes all stacks and throws enemy off-balance.
MMorph: Chilling Presence
Every attack you negate stacks a 20% speed (movement, casting and weapon swing speeds) debuff on target for 6 seconds (refreshing). Enemy with 5 stacks is frozen solid for 16 seconds or until shattered. Shattering target by a spell doubles the damage of that spell and deals 300% weapon damage (20% physical 80% frost) in a 5m radius.

Savage Fulcrum
(AoE skill completely changing for by morphing. Where's the fun in just slight alterations? hehe)
Range: 8m, Target: cone, Cast time: instant.
Three rapier slashes (trajectory traces the number "4") dealing 250% weapon damage (40% physical 60% frost) with each strike.
SMorph: Horizontal Square
Increases number of hits by 1, ability turns into channeled (1.3s) with all strikes being horizontal slashes (character is spinning but cuts only frontal cone). If there is a target bellow 25% HP in the frontal cone, that target is hit twice as hard, but skill is no longer affecting other targets in the cone.
MMorph: Lightning Fall
Range: 25m, Target: ground, Cast time: instant.
Character jumps in the air and falls down on target location, stabbing lightning-infused blade in the ground, causing lightning shockwave which deals 400% weapon damage (20% physical 80% shock) and knocks down enemies withing 10m radius for 3 seconds. Affected targets are immune to being knocked down again by Lightning Fall's knockdown for 10 seconds.

passives:

Unhindered
(rapiers hardly weight anything compared to conventional medieval weapons)
Increases movement and attack speed by 2/4% and stamina and magicka regeneration by 5/10%.

Peerless Agility
Decreases Rapier abilities' stamina cost by 10/20%.

Spellsword
(operating weapon by one hand only frees up some brain resources for other things)
Increases spell damage by 5/10%.

Exploiter
(nothing like tickling balls with the sharp point of the rapier)
Increases critical damage of Rapier skills by 8/15%.