Hi folks!
Ok, after some additional testing and thought, here is my
revised list of suggestions for weapon skill revision.
Revised Feat Suggestions
Bow: Auto hit, 3x damage, can’t be used against an adjacent target.
Throw: Auto hit (at least one hits the selected target), volley effect, 50% chance for either a slow movement or fear effect (random one of the two not both) per hit, can’t be used against an adjacent target. Fear duration equals number of missiles in the volley for regular foes, number of missiles divided by 2 (round down) for “powerful” foes.
Unarmed: Auto hit, 4x damage, carry over damage (beyond what was needed to finish off your foe) to additional adjacent target(s).
Bludgeon: Auto hit, 2x damage, armor reduction (by 50%), 50% chance of stun for 2 rounds.
Cleave: Auto hit, multi-target (a full spin, all adjacent targets), 33% chance (each adjacent target) of stun for 1 round.
Sword: “Force Advance” - Auto hit, 2x damage, target is immediately pushed away to a different space not adjacent to player, and if no such space is available target is overwhelmed and takes 8x damage instead. No one else can move into vacated target space this round (ie, if target dies or is moved the space remains clear so that the player can choose to move into it next round).
Pierce: Auto hits, 2 attacks, ignore armor (specifically any armor damage reduction is ignored), bleed (twice the damage of the second attack applied over 20 rounds).
Shield: “Shield bash” - Auto hits, stuns (100% chance) target adjacent enemy for 2 rounds, 50% chance (each) to stun up to two other adjacent enemies (must be either side of target) for 1 round, should probably do some damage as well (some basic damage, plus benefit for shield skill, plus benefit for weight of shield).
Dodge: “Feint” – Defensive benefit (invulnerable to melee or ranged attack for this round) plus 50% bonus to hit and x2 damage for a melee attack immediately following the feint.
Revised Feat Cooldown:
I recommend requiring more skill investment to minimize the cooldown of feats across the board. Currently it's something like 100 - (skill level * 3), with a minimum level of 5. If it were adjusted to 100 - (skill level * 2) instead, our bow feat spamming friends can still do their thing, but it will require another 5 levels worth of skills for them to get there.
That also emphasizes the whole point of the feat - big benefit, spend it wisely you only get it once in a while.
Additional Suggestions for Thrown Weapons:
Thrown weapons should not cost a round to equip. (Reasoning: if start with it in hand, during round you throw and draw new weapon. It takes no more time to draw new weapon and throw. Therefore there should be no time penalty to moving thrown weapons around. If a thrown weapon launcher is ever added to the game, such as a sling, it should have a penalty to equip similar to a bow.)
Thrown weapons could be implemented with a “quiver” similar to arrows, and throwable any time the player has a free hand (either hand). With thrown weapons in this ammo bag gameplay is greatly simplified, because any left click at range can throw one of these weapons if a hand is free. (Throw from hand first if thrown weapon there, ammo bag second). You need to actually put the thrown weapon in hand if you want to use it for a point-blank attack.
Suggested further combat skill benefits (at skill level 15):
Bow: Missile conservation – chance for arrow reuse, the arrow stacks up in the backpack (if there is room) instead of being consumed. See chart below based on weight. (Optionally there could be a delay between the use and the recovery, perhaps they only show up once combat ends, or they show up but are shaded or labeled and can’t be used until combat ends. They should be dumpable though, in case the player needs the space to pick something up prior to combat end. If you leave the map while combat is going you lose them.)
Thrown: Missile conservation – chance for thrown missile reuse, the missile stacks up in the backpack (if there is room) instead of being consumed. Does not apply to thrown potions / demon oil. See chart below based on weight. (Optionally there could be a delay between the use and the recovery, perhaps they only show up once combat ends, or they show up but are shaded or labeled and can’t be used until combat ends. They should be dumpable though, in case the player needs the space to pick something up prior to combat end. If you leave the map while combat is gong you lose them.)
Unarmed: "Kick" - 10% chance of a bonus unarmed attack with any melee attack (with any weapon type) (ok, it's not necessarily a kick per se, maybe an elbow smash or whatever cool move you can imagine)
Bludgeon: “Smash” - 10% chance to stun for 2 rounds with any bludgeon attack or 1 round with any cleave attack
Cleave: “Cut” - 10% chance for x2 damage with any sword or cleave attack
and at this skill level x4 damage to objects with any cleave weapon
Sword: “Counter” - 5% chance of a "free" counter attack in response to any melee attack on the player while a sword is held
Pierce: “Bleed” - 10% chance of double attack plus bleed effect (twice the damage of the last attack applied over 20 rounds) with any pierce attack, or just the bleed effect for any cleave or sword attack;
and at this skill level
all pierce attacks ignore armor (armor damage reduction does not apply)
Missile Conservation Probability versus Weight
Since the game has already built in a weight trend for missiles, presumably for balance reasons, a weight-based system seems feasible for missile conservation:
Weight Range --- Chance to Lose Missile (else can reuse it)
0.1 to 0.2 --- 2/3
0.3 to 0.5 --- 1/3
0.6 to 0.9 --- 1/4
1.0 to 1.9 --- 1/6
2.0 to 3.9 --- 1/8
4.0 to 7.9 --- 1/12
8.0+ --------- 1/20
Ok folks, let me know what you think! (Perhaps if we ask really
really nicely, and if he actually likes some of these ideas, we might see BW tweak things a bit for us in Book 2?
)
