Combat Overhaul and Combinations

[Squeak]

Combat Overhaul Suggestion

Something I’ve been thinking about for some time, to give a bit of deviation between attacks and make combat feel more dynamic overall. It’s bugged me for some time that a skilled swords(wo)man can’t choose what type of attack they perform with their favored weapon to make use of the variety of damage types present on a good many of them, at will. Also, the roundtimes for attacks have really bothered me as well, coming from a game that has a varied set of weapons, each with their own unique round times (Round times were also split between pre-round time and recovery round time, i.e a longknife would have 1 second to swing, the attack rolls would display, with 3 seconds of recovery). In the current iteration of combat, there’s no difference from swinging a knife, to a longsword, to a poleaxe, except for the possible end damage and types of damage that it can deal.

So, to that end, I’d like to suggest that varying attacks have different roundtimes, further modified by the weapon used, material of weapon (heft, for instance), and aiming for a specific body part. It’d be incredibly complex to code, but I think it’d give a dynamic and enjoyable variation on combat that would further allow “lesser” materials to shine in their appropriate uses and give those non-warrior classes a more combative “feel” if they were to utilize it. I’d like to note that the ubiquitous “kill” command should still be active, and work as it currently does, for those that don’t really want to delve into the complexity this suggestion offers.

When considering these following attacks, remember that the base seconds of round time are further increased by the weapon used, material (heft and weight) and aiming at a specific body part. I would suggest making it as easy as possible; ½ second per pound and ⅕ seconds per point of heft bonus. If I’m remembering correctly, this would give a fjelbrons poleaxe an additional 2 seconds of round time which seems like it would be fair considering the massive potential of the weapon and material. Furthermore, please, please, please note that I am by no means a game designer nor a mathematician. I absolutely detest math, so the numbers stated below are really just for example and I’ve no idea what would be feasibly possible or expected.

Below, I’d like to detail a couple suggestions for attack verbs, with proposed roundtimes and other pros and cons. I’m considering Warrior Guild specific attacks, but with their abilities, potentially, working with combinations that might be overkill. Another thing I’d contemplated was having various attacks “skill locked”, much the same as crafting recipes, to give diehard warriors something to strive for and have something to show for having 700 melee, beyond, you know, just having 700 melee.

MELEE (Pierce, Puncture):

Stab: You quickly stab at <enemy> with your <weapon>! A quick, fast attack that is more distracting than damaging. Base 2 seconds of RT, -35% damage, low energy use(-1 energy).

Drive: Stepping forward, you drive your <weapon> in a rapid jab at <enemy>. A mediocre thrusting attack. Base 3 seconds of RT, -20% damage, low-mid energy use (-3 energy), increase chance of Armor Chink.

Thrust: You thrust your <weapon> suddenly at <enemy>, putting weight behind the attack. A solid piercing attack, more powerful than a quick stab, but more tiring. Base 4 seconds of RT, -15% damage, mediocre energy use (-5 energy).

Impale: A lunging thrust, you attempt to impale <enemy> on the end of your <weapon>! A strong thrust with the full strength of the user behind it. Base 6 seconds of RT, exceedingly tiring to use repeatedly (-15 energy), no damage reduction, +5% chance for Armor Chink.

MELEE (Slash, Hack,Rake):

Slice: You slice your <weapon> at <enemy> quickly! A quick, easily controlled attack. Base 3 seconds of RT, -20% damage, low energy use (-2 energy).

Chop: You chop your <weapon> downwards at <enemy>. A medium fast, high damaging overhead strike. Base 5 seconds of RT, no damage reduction, medium energy use (-5 energy), good chance to inflict hack damage type, if present.

Undercut: Moving upwards, you slash at <enemy> with your <weapon>! A quick, upward slash, perfect for getting up under one’s guard. Base 4 seconds of RT, -15% damage, low-med energy use (-4 energy).

Cleave: With a wide stance, you direct a powerful downward cut with your <weapon> at <enemy>! A slow, high damage strike requiring a hand-and-a-half or two handed weapon. Base 6 seconds of RT, +10% damage, high energy use (-15 energy), high chance to cause hack damage type, if present.

Reverse Strike: You launch your <weapon> in a quick, reverse strike at <enemy>! A quick, reverse swing that doesn’t deal much damage, but has the potential to distract one’s enemy. Good follow up to other attacks. Base 3 seconds of RT, -35% damage, low energy use (-3 energy).

MELEE (Bludgeon, Crush):

Swing: You swing <weapon> at <enemy>, attempting to bop them. Quick, mildly disorienting attack. Base 3 seconds of RT, -15% damage, low energy use (-2 energy).

Bash: Rotating into the swing, you bash <weapon> at <enemy>! Medium damaging attack that uses the business end of the weapon to crush through defenses. Base 4 seconds of RT, no damage reduction, medium energy use (-5 seconds).

Crush: Bringing a powerful strike downwards, you attempt to crush <enemy> with <weapon>! A heavy damaging attack that carries considerable round times. Base 6 seconds of RT, +10% damage, high energy use (-10 energy), -2 balance.

Wallop: You start swinging wildly as you attempt to wallop <enemy> with <weapon>! When all else fails, just beat something about the head! Base 5 seconds of RT, -15% damage, high energy use (-10 energy), -5 balance, 10-15% chance to strike a second time. Second strike is calculated as a base “swing” with all requisite penalties..

Ranged: (These might be better suited as Class Abilities, as opposed to typical ranged attacks. If so, I haven’t the faintest idea what to put in lieu of these.)

Precise Shot: High damaging, highly accurate attack with an armor chink chance. Base 5 seconds of RT, no damage reduction, high energy use (-8 energy), 20% chance for armor chink.

Rapid Shot: Quick shot with a small chance for a follow up shot. Base 3 seconds of RT, -15% damage with a penalty to aiming. Second shot adds an additional 3 seconds of fixed RT (i.e. not dependent on weapon roundtimes), but has a further penalty of 30% to aiming and damage.

Unarmed (with or without fist weapon)
Addendum: Fist Weapon Mastery is giving me a bit of trouble to reconcile, but I think it’d be reasonable for the ability to remove whatever RT penalty for using a fist weapon and/or perhaps a chance to change the “heavier” attacks (i.e hook and uppercut) to either crush or puncture, dependant on the fist weapon used, in lieu of giving a “free” attack (though I really like the free punch). Additionally, I think changing fist weapons to “a pair of bronze knuckledusters” or “some bronze spiked-knuckles” would be a nice QoL (similar to how a pair of gloves works for both strikes with FMW but still leaves hands free for other things … knuckledusters are “worn”, after a fashion).

Jab: You deliver a quick, sudden jab at <enemy> with <weapon>. A quick, straight armed punch that deals nominal damage but is the foundation for combos. Base 2 seconds of RT, -35% damage, low energy use (-1 energy).

Cross: You deliver a straight-armed cross at <enemy> with <weapon>! A moderately powerful, straight armed punch. Base 3 seconds of RT, -15% damage, low energy use (-3 energy).

Hook: You launch a powerful, bent arm hook at <enemy> with <weapon>. A strong, bent-armed strike. Base 4 seconds of RT, -10% damage, medium energy use (-5 energy).

Uppercut: Dipping down and rotating into <enemy>, you deliver a devastating uppercut with <weapon>! A powerful strike using the body’s momentum for a devastating attack. Base 5 seconds of RT, -5% damage, high energy use (-8 energy).

Claw (druid specific): Bringing terrifying claws to bear, you slash them at <enemy>! A specific move in which one rakes their claws (or other special weapons) across an enemy in pure beastly fashion. Base 3 seconds of RT, no damage penalty, medium energy use (-5 energy).

While these are just examples of possible verbs to use with each attack, and limited by my own knowledge of anything other than firearms and boxing; suggestions are welcome to expand or modify this listing. I had originally intended on tying these verbs to the individual damage types, but after further perusal of the available damage types available, and the oddities that some would present, I think each verb should be attached to the weapon type instead, giving each weapon a specific set of verbs that would be available to use with it. As an example, a longsword with the slash, hack and pierce damage types might have an additional line to the examine stating:

You feel as if you could use the following combat maneuvers with this weapon: stab,thrust,drive,impale,slice,chop,undercut,cleave,reverse.

Doing it this way, I can see those weapons with oddly opposing damage types, i.e warhammers with crush and puncture - where one could not reasonably expect to stab, thrust or lunge with - could have commands set for them, namely the Melee (blunt) verbs, but still manage to do either crush or puncture when actually striking. The same with every other weapon; using the longsword example above, chop, cleave or reverse might have an additional chance of causing hack damage instead of the weaker slash. The more damage types a weapon has access to, the more varied types of attacks it could have associated with it, though I can still very much see some glaring issues with a certain varieties of weapons that I’m just not sure how to accommodate. For instance; a hatchet with only the hack damage type would have access to a number of the Melee Slash verbs. Would it make sense to give hatchets the entire complement of verbs for that set? Or just the heavier hitting ones that cause Hack damage (if present on the weapon)? How would that put hatchets in the line of other weapons, DPS-wise?

Now, if you’ve made it this far, you’re probably going, “Why in the hell are all the attacks at a severe disadvantage?”. That’d be a good question. The idea behind this is that each attack is intrinsically weak on its own, but can really shine when added as a larger, rolling combination. As part of a combination, these penalties might be reduced, removed, or additional effects might come into play. Finish a short combination? Have a small amount of balance added to your pool for finishing a well-rehearsed moveset. Some attacks might include additional armor chink chances when added into a combination. Others still might have a short second RT of stun, just enough to set something off balance, or even knockdown or other balance affecting penalties on the mob.

Getting into the meat and potatoes of things: Combinations. These are why the proposed attacks above are at severe disadvantages, when used alone. When used in conjunction with one another in hard-coded, learnable combinations (I.e. COMBO LIST), things really start to change in your favor. We’ll take unarmed as an example; An easy, beginner combination is the simple 1,2,3 - the jab, cross, hook. Using it would look something like this:

You deliver a quick, sudden jab at <enemy>.
*This attack would be the simple, plain jab with all requisite penalties. I.e. Low damage, low round time, low energy use. The next step of the combo, a cross, would appear as:

<Enemy> reeling, you follow up with a quick cross!
*Being the second part of the combination, the cross’ original penalties would be decreased, perhaps less energy use, etc. The next attack, the hook would appear as:

Stepping in and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>.
*As the final attack, all penalties are removed and might even have a second of stun time. Because this completes a combination, you might have a small bonus to balance.

If at any point you miss an attack or are stunned or surprised, the combination fails and the next attack starts a new one. These combos could have anything within them, including abilities. Using the same combination above as an example, we could add a circle in there:

You deliver a quick, sudden jab at <enemy>.
<Enemy> reeling, you follow up with a quick cross!
With some fancy footwork, you circle <enemy> setting up for another attack!
*Might include additional balance given, slightly reduced round time.
Stepping in and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>.

Without further ado, here are some proposed combinations for folks to peruse. I’ve got them split into various classifications and included a space for Guild/Class-Specific (I.e. Combinations that require certain guild abilities to complete; like mblow, dirtkick, sorcery, etc.)

Brawling Combinations:

Combo: jab, cross, hook
Suggested flavor text for each attack and possible boons for completing each one:
You deliver a quick, sudden jab at <enemy>.
<Enemy> reeling, you follow up with a quick cross! (+5% damage, -1 energy)
Stepping in and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>. (+10% damage, chance for stun)
Additional End Results: +2 balance gained.

Combo: Jab, feint (fist weapon), jab, cross
Suggested flavor text for each attack and possible boons for completing each one:
You deliver a quick, sudden jab at <enemy>.
You feint at <enemy>, dipping your shoulder suddenly to throw them off guard! (additional balance loss to enemy)
Snapping a fist at <enemy>, you follow up with another jab. (+10% damage, +aim chance)
<Enemy> reeling, you finish with a quick cross! (+15% damage, +aim chance)
Additional End Results:

Combo: Uppercut, cross, hook
Suggested flavor text for each attack and possible boons for completing each one:
Dipping down and rotating into <enemy>, you deliver a devastating uppercut.
<Enemy> reeling, you follow up with a quick cross!
Stepping in and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>.
Additional End Results:

Combo: Uppercut, uppercut, hook
Suggested flavor text for each attack and possible boons for completing each one:
Dipping down and rotating into <enemy>, you deliver a devastating uppercut.
First not enough, you launch a follow-up uppercut at <enemy>! (+10% damage, -3 balance, chance for stun)
Stepping in and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>. (+15% damage, -5 balance to enemy, chance for stun)
Additional End Results:

Combo: Jab, cross, circle, hook
Suggested flavor text for each attack and possible boons for completing each one:
You deliver a quick, sudden jab at <enemy>.
<Enemy> reeling, you follow up with a quick cross!
With some fancy footwork, you circle <enemy> setting up for another attack! (+balance)
Stepping in and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>. (+5% damage, 15% chance for 1 second stun)
Additional End Results:

Combo: cross, hook, upper, sweep, jab
Suggested flavor text for each attack and possible boons for completing each one:
You deliver a straight-armed cross at <enemy>.
Stepping and twisting, you deliver a powerful hook at <enemy>.
<Enemy> reeling from the onslaught, you launch a devastating uppercut.
Changing pace, you sweep your leg out at <enemy’s> legs. (+chance for knockdown)
Adding insult to injury, you snap out a quick jab at <enemy>!
Additional End Results: Inspiration bonus (if applicable) because who doesn’t like a good beat down and shameless popping someone in the face while they’re down?

Admittedly, I've been working on this for awhile, but I never got around to figuring out melee combinations for the Pierce, Slash, and Bludgeon attacks. I am woefully unskilled in the mechanics of sword play and how each strike would roll into the next ... and I'm not going to watch hours on hours of Longsword Fencing Tutorials since it doesn't interest me in the slightest. So if anyone has suggestions on weapon-related combinations of either variety, or mix and matched with or without class abilities linked to them, please suggest them! I'll update this as I come up with more, or others contribute.

[Gorth]

I am in huge favor of something like this. It would likely require a large rewrite of the combat system, but that's the point. I'd like to see combat shift away from having the ability to either alphastrike like Dreadnought, or stack negatives like Nightblade or Marauder. I'll update with some suggestions, soon.

[Spidercat]

the part I like the most here is the fact attacks have their own names for the d types. Which means if realistically a weapon had multiple ways of afflicting damage with multiple ouchy bits, it'd open up multiple oppertunities depending on the weapon.

Which means I can establish Poleaxe dominance with the swisarmy knife of polearms. It can hack, it can crush, it impales someone with the butspike.... Same would go for the halberd to an extent.

[Gorth]

It'd be a way to let us tighten our range of damage types, as well. We've wanted ways to specifically thrust, or slash, for a long, long time. This would be a much, much more interesting way to, over just setting it and never having variation.