Fun/Unique Underwater Combat

Ace1234

What would make for fun and unique underwater combat?

I dont think it should be copy paste of the land combat, but it also shouldn't just be "land combat but worse" just for the sake of making it different since its underwater. What are some ideas for what would make it stand out from land combat without being completely inferior?

Mag7spy

I just want to know the main combat before anything else, tbh i don't really care that much for underwater combat. It is always bound to be just a worst version of ground combat. Id rather any underwater combat just be like underwater dungeons where you move normally in lol.

Dolyem

GW2 executed water combat pretty well. I would say to take inspiration from them. Basically you abilities switch to specific underwater abilities based on your weapon. Although in this case you would have to do it based on class

Veeshan

Dolyem wrote: »

GW2 executed water combat pretty well. I would say to take inspiration from them. Basically you abilities switch to specific underwater abilities based on your weapon. Although in this case you would have to do it based on class

only issue i had with GW2 underwater combat was all water weapons seem so much weaker than land counterparts :P

Mag7spy

Honestly i didn't even know GW had water combat, i should check it out just cause im curious xD

Dolyem

Veeshan wrote: »

Dolyem wrote: »

GW2 executed water combat pretty well. I would say to take inspiration from them. Basically you abilities switch to specific underwater abilities based on your weapon. Although in this case you would have to do it based on class

only issue i had with GW2 underwater combat was all water weapons seem so much weaker than land counterparts :P

Maybe, I didn't see it as too terrible.

Strevi

Underwater content would make the game 3D.
On the land and sea, all the action is on a surface, you can target where you want to do an area damage.
In 3D you have less control, you shoot toward an enemy but you cannot easily select a zone where an area damage to happen.
But spells can be adjusted, the damage or buffs to jump from player to player if the target was hit. Or around the selected target, especially important for healing.

Still I would like the time under water to be limited to 5 minutes and that time to be refreshed in a way or another. The healer could do that, or some other support class player.

Ace1234

@Strevi
Thats a really good point I didn't think about that aspect. Adding another dimension to the combat area can add good gameplay value through having the potential for more options in combat.

That might be the way to go in order to set it apart from the land combat, by capitalizing on the verticality through incoporating it into the combat design. I think this could actually make for some extremely fun and unique gameplay if they go about it the right way.

Asgerr

I wonder if projectile inefficiency under water would be a good idea. Essentially: an arrow cannot travel more than maybe 2 meters before being slowed down by the water itself. A wet bowstring will lose its ability to launch an arrow too.

So this could be interesting, but I feel that, though everyone can use a bow, it would be primarily screwing over the Ranger archetype from all aquatic content.

So perhaps a reduction in range, or a nullification of fire effects etc could combo interestingly with aquatic content.

Dolyem

Asgerr wrote: »

I wonder if projectile inefficiency under water would be a good idea. Essentially: an arrow cannot travel more than maybe 2 meters before being slowed down by the water itself. A wet bowstring will lose its ability to launch an arrow too.

So this could be interesting, but I feel that, though everyone can use a bow, it would be primarily screwing over the Ranger archetype from all aquatic content.

So perhaps a reduction in range, or a nullification of fire effects etc could combo interestingly with aquatic content.

Oooo i love this. Just have an underwater buff for everyone that reduces accuracy or damage from incoming projectiles from out of water. But it may be too much of a nerf to ranged classes so I can see why it wouldnt be a thing.

Strevi

Dolyem wrote: »

Asgerr wrote: »

I wonder if projectile inefficiency under water would be a good idea. Essentially: an arrow cannot travel more than maybe 2 meters before being slowed down by the water itself. A wet bowstring will lose its ability to launch an arrow too.

So this could be interesting, but I feel that, though everyone can use a bow, it would be primarily screwing over the Ranger archetype from all aquatic content.

So perhaps a reduction in range, or a nullification of fire effects etc could combo interestingly with aquatic content.

Oooo i love this. Just have an underwater buff for everyone that reduces accuracy or damage from incoming projectiles from out of water. But it may be too much of a nerf to ranged classes so I can see why it wouldnt be a thing.

A player below water might not be visible at all from above.
But under-water... archers might need some other kind of weapon, something which works under water better.

WHIT3ROS3

When it comes to Underwater combat, I think they should have a bespoke suite of underwater combat abilities/animations completely removed from land-based abilities. Have a small selection of weapons that can be used underwater.

Launch with 3 underwater weapons. Trident, Harpoon, Dagger. With a limited skill tree open to all classes. Focus primarily on getting the XYZ movement down and then you can add new weapons and abilities as time goes on.

I'd like to see a concentrated, quality underwater combat system that gets the basic fundamentals down and allows for easy, down-the-line expansion. (Like so many of the systems and content of the game)