Melee weapon ranges

The idea and question is fairly simple.

Should different weapons have different effective ranges?

In my eyes a spear should allow you to hit someone from farther away than a longsword, and a longsword should be able to hit from further away than a dagger.

This would be opposed to the typical RPG thing were you can stand a few meters from the enemy and hit them, even if the animation doesn't look like it's hitting.

This could be balance out in terms of damage and attack speed of course. This would also give players quite different playstyles depending on the equipped weapon. A spear wielder would actively try to stay at range, whilst a dagger user might need to use his skills to rush in and close the gap.

Weapons would then need weapon skills which actively promote said styles. For instance a spear could have the classic D&D Sentinel feat where they can stop someone from moving when hit on a reaction. In the MMO case, he could apply a stun at the maximum range of the weapon, giving a short window to retreat a little bit.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Would this be too hard to balance out? Would it affect the visual aspect of weapons? (wherein a certain weapon looking bigger would actually grant a wider range)

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Comments

Caww

There should be something to hit distance being affected by weapon size for in-close fighting but then the length of the characters arm reach is also a valid concern, especially between large and small reach races.

Ludullu

Yes.

LordPax

Not to any extremes, but absolutely yes. If my twin daggers hit the same range/hitbox of my staff/spear/halberd, I will be highly disappointed

Sapiverenus

I hope they're significantly different and Strength/ Agility affects speed and even animation type. And Stamina is required. . .
I hope Strength affects speed and effective animation, and Agility comes into effect whenever the Strength requirements are met, with a combo of Strength/Agility required to push the speed of heavier weapons. Some sort of ratio.

Edit:
strength<>agility ratio, scaling, [and requirements] can be different for pre-swing, mid swing, and post-swing with different moves also having different requirements, ratios and scaling. It should just mirror what's realistic.
Balance Tuning is POST-DESIGN; POLISH.
Simply giving Rogues more use outside of Combat allows for less power in-combat, for instance. Having small threats all around the Node that requires more Rangers (due to high stamina and decent Agility?) means their use fits the Classic Ranger Role of 'Forest Warden' or whatnot rather than "WE RAIDIN' BOYS".

Also the random 30 ft dashes shown in the Melee showcase will definitely affect travel time, tactics, be devestating to any nuance in action combat, make 'Aimed' abilities awefully underpowered, and affect Ranger archetypes in all likelihood.
Probably turn the game into Tab or Lose.

This is essential Weapon/ Combat design.

LordBlank

Asgerr wrote: »

The idea and question is fairly simple.

Should different weapons have different effective ranges?

In my eyes a spear should allow you to hit someone from farther away than a longsword, and a longsword should be able to hit from further away than a dagger.

This would be opposed to the typical RPG thing were you can stand a few meters from the enemy and hit them, even if the animation doesn't look like it's hitting.

This could be balance out in terms of damage and attack speed of course. This would also give players quite different playstyles depending on the equipped weapon. A spear wielder would actively try to stay at range, whilst a dagger user might need to use his skills to rush in and close the gap.

Weapons would then need weapon skills which actively promote said styles. For instance a spear could have the classic D&D Sentinel feat where they can stop someone from moving when hit on a reaction. In the MMO case, he could apply a stun at the maximum range of the weapon, giving a short window to retreat a little bit.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Would this be too hard to balance out? Would it affect the visual aspect of weapons? (wherein a certain weapon looking bigger would actually grant a wider range)

I like your idea

Azherae

I prefer if this isn't a thing, as it is sometimes harder to balance, forces characters and animations to be made more precisely in ways that can lead to other problems, and often makes hurtbox manipulation metagaming not only possible, but an obvious choice, if the game moves as fast as Ashes does.

If the combat was slower I'd be in favor of it, but we've seen a 5-frame reposition with only 30f of animation in total, and at that point while it would be fun, you're pushing on the network solutions really hard.

Sapiverenus

Slower makes sense. Hence the idea of built in delay that all MMOs probably employ lol [or probably should?]; so they can reposition execution queue and accommodate higher latency.
64 ms at least. minus latency, basically.
Latency spoofing frequently informally tested in ways, packaged in ways that change monthly or so and gets people banned.

Tacualeon

I would love this idea. Range has always been a dominant feature in warfare and combat. It would add something unique to the game

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