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Feature Request: New Weapon Types/Skills
I find myself bored, frankly, with the existing weapons and skill lines, and I think a great addition to the game would be additional types of weapons and weapon/shield combinations that could offer a variety of ways to customize your character's combat "style". Before going into details, I'd like to say that I, personally, would be willing to pay for an "expansion" or "DLC" that opened up these options (as long as it's balanced with existing weapon types of course).
Now, I play primarily melee, so I can't speak to ranged/magic weapon types. But I'd like to see some new melee weapon types and the ability to have different skills for each weapon with a shield equipped.
Let's start with the simple stuff: new weapons.
Flail/Morningstar (1h or 2h): This was, in medieval times, an iron handle with a chain attached to it, and on the other end a giant spiked ball that was swung around and crushed in people's heads, chests, etc. Picture "Uncle Benjin" in Game of Thrones when he rescues people dropping that flail, it lights on fire, and he starts whipping it around and smacking white-walkers.
Quarterstaff (2h): Think "Kung-Fu Monk" here. A staff that's NOT a magic staff, but instead opens up a skill line that lets you learn to use a staff in melee combat. Picture Morgan from The Walking Dead.
Spear/Polearm (1h or 2h): A long stick with a pointy thing on the end. Picture Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermopylae.
Speaking of the Spartans in "300", notice how they had a spear/shield combination? Left hand closes the shield in front of the body, right hand with the spear out. To attack, pivot the torso "forward", moving the shield to cover your left and thrusting the spear forward. Reverse the motion to resume the "ready" position. Also, remember when Leonidas says, "To the cliffs!" in that first battle scene? Using the shield to provide a mobile "barrier" and the spear to force the enemy to move back is something that should be possible - great for positioning some bosses/mobs.
Existing one-hand/shield abilities, as they are, seem fine with a sword, axe or dagger, but when you change this up to use a spear, or a flail, those abilities, their animations, and what they do don't make sense. If I have a shield in one hand and a spear in the other and I thrust to attack, I should hit the target for damage and cause a bleed effect. If I use a flail one-handed, I should hit the target with heavy momentum, causing a "crushing" effect that could throw them off-balance or stun them briefly.
So I'd like to be able to see my abilities, when I equip a spear/flail with a shield, change to reflect the type of weapon I'm using.
Also, it wouldn't make sense to allow equipping a spear or a flail in each hand (dual wield) so maybe you have to have a shield equipped to use either of those weapon types - I don't know, just a thought. A spear/dagger combination might be cool but a flail/flail or spear/flail sounds just stupid.
As for specific abilities, I don't have a whole lot of feedback there, but here are a few ideas:
Spear:
- Whirl: Swing your spear tip in a wide arc (cone effect) in front of you hitting each enemy within N range and forcing them back N units.
- Hold Fast: Put your shield in front of you while holding your spear forward. Attacking enemies have a chance to take damage from the spear while you block.
- Force Position: Using your shield as a mobile wall, advance on your enemy's position with your spear, forcing them to move backward.
Quarterstaff:
- Parry: (Passive) Increases your chance to parry melee attacks. The lighter your armor, the faster you can move and the more you can parry. Heavier armor makes parrying less likely.
- Whirlwind: Spin your quarterstaff around you in 360 degrees, damaging and knocking back all enemies surrounding you.
Polearm (2H):
- Force Thrust: A high-damage frontal thrust that can impale an opponent and shove them backwards. (Maybe balance with cooldown?)
- Hack: A strong downward thrust of the blade toward the enemy's head. Has a chance to stun.
- Parry: For N seconds, the next melee attack that comes at you with automatically be parried by the end of your polearm. (Picture you holding it with the pointy end gripped near your right hand and the other end near your left. Now someone swings at you; you move your left hand to block that swing.)
Admittedly the change-your-weapon-skills-with-shield-and-different-1h thing sounds like a big ask, but I'm sure it's doable. Maybe not any time soon, but you guys have built more complex things!
Think of the cool "classes" you could build with things like this:
"Monk": Take a Templar and give him a quarterstaff. With light armor and the Parry passive, we now have a Franciscan Friar type monk that's agile and melee combat viable.
"Death Knight": Put a Necromancer in heavy armor with a shield and a flail, or a polearm.
"Spartan": Medium armor with a shield and spear.
"Death Priest": A Necromancer with a quarterstaff.
"Fire Knight": A Dragonknight with a polearm or flail/shield.
You get the idea. Thanks for reading!
Now, I play primarily melee, so I can't speak to ranged/magic weapon types. But I'd like to see some new melee weapon types and the ability to have different skills for each weapon with a shield equipped.
Let's start with the simple stuff: new weapons.
Flail/Morningstar (1h or 2h): This was, in medieval times, an iron handle with a chain attached to it, and on the other end a giant spiked ball that was swung around and crushed in people's heads, chests, etc. Picture "Uncle Benjin" in Game of Thrones when he rescues people dropping that flail, it lights on fire, and he starts whipping it around and smacking white-walkers.
Quarterstaff (2h): Think "Kung-Fu Monk" here. A staff that's NOT a magic staff, but instead opens up a skill line that lets you learn to use a staff in melee combat. Picture Morgan from The Walking Dead.
Spear/Polearm (1h or 2h): A long stick with a pointy thing on the end. Picture Leonidas and his 300 Spartans at Thermopylae.
Speaking of the Spartans in "300", notice how they had a spear/shield combination? Left hand closes the shield in front of the body, right hand with the spear out. To attack, pivot the torso "forward", moving the shield to cover your left and thrusting the spear forward. Reverse the motion to resume the "ready" position. Also, remember when Leonidas says, "To the cliffs!" in that first battle scene? Using the shield to provide a mobile "barrier" and the spear to force the enemy to move back is something that should be possible - great for positioning some bosses/mobs.
Existing one-hand/shield abilities, as they are, seem fine with a sword, axe or dagger, but when you change this up to use a spear, or a flail, those abilities, their animations, and what they do don't make sense. If I have a shield in one hand and a spear in the other and I thrust to attack, I should hit the target for damage and cause a bleed effect. If I use a flail one-handed, I should hit the target with heavy momentum, causing a "crushing" effect that could throw them off-balance or stun them briefly.
So I'd like to be able to see my abilities, when I equip a spear/flail with a shield, change to reflect the type of weapon I'm using.
Also, it wouldn't make sense to allow equipping a spear or a flail in each hand (dual wield) so maybe you have to have a shield equipped to use either of those weapon types - I don't know, just a thought. A spear/dagger combination might be cool but a flail/flail or spear/flail sounds just stupid.
As for specific abilities, I don't have a whole lot of feedback there, but here are a few ideas:
Spear:
- Whirl: Swing your spear tip in a wide arc (cone effect) in front of you hitting each enemy within N range and forcing them back N units.
- Hold Fast: Put your shield in front of you while holding your spear forward. Attacking enemies have a chance to take damage from the spear while you block.
- Force Position: Using your shield as a mobile wall, advance on your enemy's position with your spear, forcing them to move backward.
Quarterstaff:
- Parry: (Passive) Increases your chance to parry melee attacks. The lighter your armor, the faster you can move and the more you can parry. Heavier armor makes parrying less likely.
- Whirlwind: Spin your quarterstaff around you in 360 degrees, damaging and knocking back all enemies surrounding you.
Polearm (2H):
- Force Thrust: A high-damage frontal thrust that can impale an opponent and shove them backwards. (Maybe balance with cooldown?)
- Hack: A strong downward thrust of the blade toward the enemy's head. Has a chance to stun.
- Parry: For N seconds, the next melee attack that comes at you with automatically be parried by the end of your polearm. (Picture you holding it with the pointy end gripped near your right hand and the other end near your left. Now someone swings at you; you move your left hand to block that swing.)
Admittedly the change-your-weapon-skills-with-shield-and-different-1h thing sounds like a big ask, but I'm sure it's doable. Maybe not any time soon, but you guys have built more complex things!
Think of the cool "classes" you could build with things like this:
"Monk": Take a Templar and give him a quarterstaff. With light armor and the Parry passive, we now have a Franciscan Friar type monk that's agile and melee combat viable.
"Death Knight": Put a Necromancer in heavy armor with a shield and a flail, or a polearm.
"Spartan": Medium armor with a shield and spear.
"Death Priest": A Necromancer with a quarterstaff.
"Fire Knight": A Dragonknight with a polearm or flail/shield.
You get the idea. Thanks for reading!
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