These suggestions are linked to the core idea of this topic and balance with other mechanics I'll be adding to this topic. In short, 300 primaries are freed up by making sprinting, combat maneuvering, and blocking secondaries. This allows new primaries to be added to every role. This is also the 4th topic in the series with other topics on foot-melee, foot-ranges, and foot-magic already existing. This topic will reference many of those mechanics and is balanced around some ideas contained within such as the buff against cavalry polearms receive in the melee topic.
There are three really big objectives I'm aiming for with these ideas:
1. Nerfing the advantage mounted builds have in traversing the map to remove it from the equation in terms of their combat balance.
2. Better define the cav roles and their niches to make them a solid addition to group combat without having them come to dominate it.
3. Creating distinct and engaging gameplay for a role that has not only been neglected by MO2 but the entire MMORPG genre so that it can better serve as a major selling point for this title.
HORSE/MOUNT REBALANCING
Controlled Riding / Swift Riding Rebalance
Controlled riding and swift riding no longer increase speed for decrease stam usage for riding at 1-3 speeds. Controlled riding is now a defensive buff for mounts much like defensive stance for players. Swift riding now is a stam reduction while 4 speeding.
Even with 100 swift riding 2-3 speed should still be the most effective way to cross long distances. The point of this change is simple. With these changes crossing the map with no mount-related primaries is just as efficient as doing so with mount-related primaries. People with no mounted training still have a huge disadvantage in a big mounted vs. mounted fight but they can at least ride at the same speed as everyone else.
Horse Rebalancing
Horses should have their 1-3 speed and stamina rebalanced so that they are more equivalent in overall speed when crossing long distances. However, their 4-speed traits should still favor faster mounts as they do now making faster mounts able to gain on and dispatch opponents in actual combat far more easily. Horses on the slower end of the spectrum should be given more of a health and stam advantage than they currently have but not to a huge degree.
The biggest rebalance change should come in the form of mount armor. Different breeds should have different cut-offs before armor makes their mount start to lose weight, and different rates of speed loss once that cutoff is hit. The end outcome should be that while horses retain their current speed balances if unarmored, certain horses become the new fastest if assuming armor of a certain weight. For instance, a jotun horse would be the slowest by default, but likely the fastest in tungsteel with ironfur padding as it would suffer far less speed reduction than faster horse types.
This greater armor weight will come into play more in the section on trampling.
Multi-Rider Mounts
Horses should almost immediately be updated to have some types which allow for 2 riders, and as new mount types are introduced the number of riders they can carry should be a major consideration with 5-10 rider mounts even being a thing in the not-too-distant future.
One of the biggest disadvantages to play a foot-only build is your mount is frequently going to die the moment you dismount to engage in your proper fighting style. This continues to be an issue even with the long-distance-travel rebalances suggested above.
Multi-rider mounts address this issue by allowing some players to essentially fill the role of drop ship pilots. Depositing footies onto the frontline and then continuing to fight mounted themselves. This allows players to viably drop mounted combat from their build entirely to focus on foot-only gameplay.
NEW MECHANIC, TRAMPLING
Impacting a player on foot while on a charging mount should do damage to the player impacted and push (but not knockdown) the player slightly forward and a bit to the side as if bashed with a shield. Trampling should be based on two hidden stats. Trample value of the rider (based on horse weight and horse armor weight) vs. trample resist of the player impacted (based on player weight and player armor weight with additional bonuses for balance and the equipoise clade).
Each time a player tramples someone it should cost them stam and deal damage to the player trampled. Additionally, if the trample value of the rider is seriously low vs. trample resist of the character being hit there should be a threshold at which it actually starts dealing damage to the mount in addition to the target. This damage WOULD be subject to blunt resist from armor.
So a player riding a desert horse in silk armor into a cluster of thur/khals in steel armor may hurt themselves more than their targets. A player riding a jotun in tungsteel into a squad of alvarin would inflict a lot of damage.
Trampling is NOT meant to be a one-shot mechanic even in a best case scenario. The idea of trampling is that if built for it, a heavy cavalry build can ride through clusters of infantry that do not counter with polearms and inflict multiple small/moderate damage hits to help their team. A small squad of heavy cav working in unison could inflict considerable damage on behalf of their team. Heavy cav are strongest when they soften the enemy line for pushes by allied footies with hammer and anvil tactics. Without allied foot support, they are not in their strongest context.
(Note, polearms as described in my melee thread are also a MAJOR counter to heavy cav trying to break a foot force without allied foot support)
NEW SKILLS
Mounted Armor Training(Pri), (Child of Mounted Combat) - Mounted armor is now nerfed to work similar to player armor where there is a max armor value and major penalties for exceeding it. This value should be shown in the pet window. Mounted armor training raises the max cap.
Spirited Charge(Sec), (Child of Mounted Combat and Mounted Charge) - Activated ability that drains significant horse stam in exchange for a 5-second speed boost. This speed boost applies a turn speed debuff that scales significantly based on horse armor weight so that lightly armored horses suffer very little and heavily armored horses suffer quite a bit.
Hand-and-a-Half-Weapons(Pri), (Child of Melee Combat) - This skill category opens up hand and a half weapons by scaling damage up to it's intended value. These are variants of all 1h weapons (except spears) which are longer than normal for use on horseback. The regular skill is still needed as well, so for instance a bastard sword would require swords AND hand-and-a-half weapons. Hand and a half weapons can charge a left or right strike just like couching a lance so that they develiver a blow to opponents they make contact with. Additionally, they can hit multiple targets consecutively with a couched hit needing no recharge. These hits suffer a penalty against other mounted opponents though. (Keeping lances as the superior melee weapon in cav vs. cav.) Hand and a half weapons consume a lot of stamina when used as regular weapons. This isn't meant to make them bad on foot, but more to balance them with regular one handed weapons on foot so that the mounted value is really what you're spending the primaries on.
Kheshig's Charge(Sec), (Child of Sprited Charge and Dual Wielding) - A special charge that allows the player to hold a left and right attack at the same time using dual-wielded-weapons.
CHANGED SKILLS
Mounted Charge(Sec) - This skill is now a child of controlled riding and not mounted combat. It applies to thrown ranged weapons in addition to melee weapons. It's also entirely rebalanced so that attacking someone from a stationary mount does the same damage as fighting on foot and adding speed increases the attack up to the max values as it does now with 100 charge.
MOUNTED MAGE/HEALING CHANGES
Casting time is no longer debuffed in mounted combat. This is partially to catch up mounted magic to the fact mounted magery was added so the additional 100 primary investment is now part of the cost of being a mounted mage.
However to counteract this healing received by mounts is now halved when being healed by the rider. This ALSO applies to veterinary which can now be used on your own mount while riding it, somewhat diminishing the massive advantage mages have in being the only mounted build that can heal their own mounts.
Those of you who have read over my ideas on separating mages into int mages (focused on damage) and psyche mages (focused on healing) may say "This is unfair to psyche mages!" This is the reason the debuff applies ONLY to your own mount. Healing your own mount is always insanely powerful to have and not doing this makes it too powerful. Psyche mages are actually buffed by these two changes together when functioning as the healer for a squad of cav and kind of break even when just focusing heals on their own mount.
There are three really big objectives I'm aiming for with these ideas:
1. Nerfing the advantage mounted builds have in traversing the map to remove it from the equation in terms of their combat balance.
2. Better define the cav roles and their niches to make them a solid addition to group combat without having them come to dominate it.
3. Creating distinct and engaging gameplay for a role that has not only been neglected by MO2 but the entire MMORPG genre so that it can better serve as a major selling point for this title.
HORSE/MOUNT REBALANCING
Controlled Riding / Swift Riding Rebalance
Controlled riding and swift riding no longer increase speed for decrease stam usage for riding at 1-3 speeds. Controlled riding is now a defensive buff for mounts much like defensive stance for players. Swift riding now is a stam reduction while 4 speeding.
Even with 100 swift riding 2-3 speed should still be the most effective way to cross long distances. The point of this change is simple. With these changes crossing the map with no mount-related primaries is just as efficient as doing so with mount-related primaries. People with no mounted training still have a huge disadvantage in a big mounted vs. mounted fight but they can at least ride at the same speed as everyone else.
Horse Rebalancing
Horses should have their 1-3 speed and stamina rebalanced so that they are more equivalent in overall speed when crossing long distances. However, their 4-speed traits should still favor faster mounts as they do now making faster mounts able to gain on and dispatch opponents in actual combat far more easily. Horses on the slower end of the spectrum should be given more of a health and stam advantage than they currently have but not to a huge degree.
The biggest rebalance change should come in the form of mount armor. Different breeds should have different cut-offs before armor makes their mount start to lose weight, and different rates of speed loss once that cutoff is hit. The end outcome should be that while horses retain their current speed balances if unarmored, certain horses become the new fastest if assuming armor of a certain weight. For instance, a jotun horse would be the slowest by default, but likely the fastest in tungsteel with ironfur padding as it would suffer far less speed reduction than faster horse types.
This greater armor weight will come into play more in the section on trampling.
Multi-Rider Mounts
Horses should almost immediately be updated to have some types which allow for 2 riders, and as new mount types are introduced the number of riders they can carry should be a major consideration with 5-10 rider mounts even being a thing in the not-too-distant future.
One of the biggest disadvantages to play a foot-only build is your mount is frequently going to die the moment you dismount to engage in your proper fighting style. This continues to be an issue even with the long-distance-travel rebalances suggested above.
Multi-rider mounts address this issue by allowing some players to essentially fill the role of drop ship pilots. Depositing footies onto the frontline and then continuing to fight mounted themselves. This allows players to viably drop mounted combat from their build entirely to focus on foot-only gameplay.
NEW MECHANIC, TRAMPLING
Impacting a player on foot while on a charging mount should do damage to the player impacted and push (but not knockdown) the player slightly forward and a bit to the side as if bashed with a shield. Trampling should be based on two hidden stats. Trample value of the rider (based on horse weight and horse armor weight) vs. trample resist of the player impacted (based on player weight and player armor weight with additional bonuses for balance and the equipoise clade).
Each time a player tramples someone it should cost them stam and deal damage to the player trampled. Additionally, if the trample value of the rider is seriously low vs. trample resist of the character being hit there should be a threshold at which it actually starts dealing damage to the mount in addition to the target. This damage WOULD be subject to blunt resist from armor.
So a player riding a desert horse in silk armor into a cluster of thur/khals in steel armor may hurt themselves more than their targets. A player riding a jotun in tungsteel into a squad of alvarin would inflict a lot of damage.
Trampling is NOT meant to be a one-shot mechanic even in a best case scenario. The idea of trampling is that if built for it, a heavy cavalry build can ride through clusters of infantry that do not counter with polearms and inflict multiple small/moderate damage hits to help their team. A small squad of heavy cav working in unison could inflict considerable damage on behalf of their team. Heavy cav are strongest when they soften the enemy line for pushes by allied footies with hammer and anvil tactics. Without allied foot support, they are not in their strongest context.
(Note, polearms as described in my melee thread are also a MAJOR counter to heavy cav trying to break a foot force without allied foot support)
NEW SKILLS
Mounted Armor Training(Pri), (Child of Mounted Combat) - Mounted armor is now nerfed to work similar to player armor where there is a max armor value and major penalties for exceeding it. This value should be shown in the pet window. Mounted armor training raises the max cap.
Spirited Charge(Sec), (Child of Mounted Combat and Mounted Charge) - Activated ability that drains significant horse stam in exchange for a 5-second speed boost. This speed boost applies a turn speed debuff that scales significantly based on horse armor weight so that lightly armored horses suffer very little and heavily armored horses suffer quite a bit.
Hand-and-a-Half-Weapons(Pri), (Child of Melee Combat) - This skill category opens up hand and a half weapons by scaling damage up to it's intended value. These are variants of all 1h weapons (except spears) which are longer than normal for use on horseback. The regular skill is still needed as well, so for instance a bastard sword would require swords AND hand-and-a-half weapons. Hand and a half weapons can charge a left or right strike just like couching a lance so that they develiver a blow to opponents they make contact with. Additionally, they can hit multiple targets consecutively with a couched hit needing no recharge. These hits suffer a penalty against other mounted opponents though. (Keeping lances as the superior melee weapon in cav vs. cav.) Hand and a half weapons consume a lot of stamina when used as regular weapons. This isn't meant to make them bad on foot, but more to balance them with regular one handed weapons on foot so that the mounted value is really what you're spending the primaries on.
Kheshig's Charge(Sec), (Child of Sprited Charge and Dual Wielding) - A special charge that allows the player to hold a left and right attack at the same time using dual-wielded-weapons.
CHANGED SKILLS
Mounted Charge(Sec) - This skill is now a child of controlled riding and not mounted combat. It applies to thrown ranged weapons in addition to melee weapons. It's also entirely rebalanced so that attacking someone from a stationary mount does the same damage as fighting on foot and adding speed increases the attack up to the max values as it does now with 100 charge.
MOUNTED MAGE/HEALING CHANGES
Casting time is no longer debuffed in mounted combat. This is partially to catch up mounted magic to the fact mounted magery was added so the additional 100 primary investment is now part of the cost of being a mounted mage.
However to counteract this healing received by mounts is now halved when being healed by the rider. This ALSO applies to veterinary which can now be used on your own mount while riding it, somewhat diminishing the massive advantage mages have in being the only mounted build that can heal their own mounts.
Those of you who have read over my ideas on separating mages into int mages (focused on damage) and psyche mages (focused on healing) may say "This is unfair to psyche mages!" This is the reason the debuff applies ONLY to your own mount. Healing your own mount is always insanely powerful to have and not doing this makes it too powerful. Psyche mages are actually buffed by these two changes together when functioning as the healer for a squad of cav and kind of break even when just focusing heals on their own mount.
