This is meant to be a constructive discussion, I am not claiming that these ideas are right or the best but are just intended to get some discussion going around how combat could be fixed / overhauled. So take it with a grain of salt and add your own ideas or poke holes in mine.
My suggestions:
First, speed up the wind up, it is way too slow. There should be a tell so that a player can react but it doesn't need to be several seconds long.
You should be able to feint attacks, I should be able to "pretend" to swing and cancel into a thrust or vice versa (which would also have a tell the player can react to if they are fast enough to react to the change up) I'm coming at this from fresh eyes so maybe you can do this already? But I could not figure out how in game.
CHANGE WHAT STAMINA IS FOR
Stamina costs for swinging your weapon etc is a flawed system at it's core. It creates an environment where zergs win most of the time because even if your opponents are better than you they will run out of stamina and not be able to swing.
"But Javelin, if swings don't cost stamina people will just spam left click"
Wrong:
What does this mean? It means that if all you do is spam attacks eventually you won't be able to move, you will be a sitting duck and if you can't move or sprint you will die.
It rewards defensive play, it means if you successfully parry you can sprint more, you can reposition more, you are rewarded for not just spamming left click. It means that skilled players who take the time to practice will be able to effectively fight even when out numbered.
It also means that if a newer player who hasn't yet mastered defensive play gets attacked and ends up unable to run they can still swing their weapon, they can still learn and it becomes a bit more forgiving as they discover when they parry their stamina goes up.
What about balancing heavier / lighter weapons? Lighter weapons should swing faster and be slightly more responsive to parries but do less damage. Heavier weapons should swing slower and be slightly less responsive to parries but deal more damage.
I know this sounds counter intuitive to how you would think stamina should work, but I think it would bring more rewarding gameplay, cut down on the effectiveness of just zerging and incentivize defensive play. Also you could do these changes and still keep the stamina cost for swinging and it would still be an improvement but I was thinking about what would be more forgiving to people who aren't as experienced with these types of games.
Of course all of this assumes that the combat speed is also increased. Now feel free to tell me how much you hate this idea but please also provide your own feedback on how you would like to see combat changed or not changed.
-Javelin
Founder of Myrmidon
My suggestions:
First, speed up the wind up, it is way too slow. There should be a tell so that a player can react but it doesn't need to be several seconds long.
You should be able to feint attacks, I should be able to "pretend" to swing and cancel into a thrust or vice versa (which would also have a tell the player can react to if they are fast enough to react to the change up) I'm coming at this from fresh eyes so maybe you can do this already? But I could not figure out how in game.
CHANGE WHAT STAMINA IS FOR
Stamina costs for swinging your weapon etc is a flawed system at it's core. It creates an environment where zergs win most of the time because even if your opponents are better than you they will run out of stamina and not be able to swing.
"But Javelin, if swings don't cost stamina people will just spam left click"
Wrong:
- Stamina should be for sprint / movement only and make the player slow down if they get under 10-20% stamina.
- Successful parrys / blocks should give the person who parried the attack a chunk of stamina back (based on armor type, lighter armor more stamina recovered, heavier less stamina recovered).
- Punishes swing spamming by rendering the player unable to chase / move.
What does this mean? It means that if all you do is spam attacks eventually you won't be able to move, you will be a sitting duck and if you can't move or sprint you will die.
It rewards defensive play, it means if you successfully parry you can sprint more, you can reposition more, you are rewarded for not just spamming left click. It means that skilled players who take the time to practice will be able to effectively fight even when out numbered.
It also means that if a newer player who hasn't yet mastered defensive play gets attacked and ends up unable to run they can still swing their weapon, they can still learn and it becomes a bit more forgiving as they discover when they parry their stamina goes up.
What about balancing heavier / lighter weapons? Lighter weapons should swing faster and be slightly more responsive to parries but do less damage. Heavier weapons should swing slower and be slightly less responsive to parries but deal more damage.
I know this sounds counter intuitive to how you would think stamina should work, but I think it would bring more rewarding gameplay, cut down on the effectiveness of just zerging and incentivize defensive play. Also you could do these changes and still keep the stamina cost for swinging and it would still be an improvement but I was thinking about what would be more forgiving to people who aren't as experienced with these types of games.
Of course all of this assumes that the combat speed is also increased. Now feel free to tell me how much you hate this idea but please also provide your own feedback on how you would like to see combat changed or not changed.
-Javelin
Founder of Myrmidon
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