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Wishlist - Weapons

I’d just like to talk a little about the weapons that we might see in Ashes. We know that weapons will not be class restricted which is fantastic news and truly opens up the possibilities of some amazing customisation of not only character cosmetics, but also to play style.

Throughout my gaming life I have, more often than not, been disappointed by the design of the majority of weapons in games. They tend to follow a singular path: low levels are simple, plain weapons which become increasingly elaborate as level increases to the point where the most powerful look like bizarre anime fever dream weapons.

History is an amazing resource and is absolutely full of beautiful examples of weaponry and shields. I would really love to see some of these brought into the game and given a Verra flavour. I would also love to see a more realistic design aesthetic with a fantasy flourish. Not as garish as WoW, not as simple as ESO, and very far from the eastern MMO style that is so prevalent these days. Something of a kind of middle ground.

I like the majority of what I have seen so far (which is really tiny), knowing that it is all very early iterations. Can’t wait to see more of these in the coming months (dole us out some more little tidbits please).

Something else I’d like to see is the ability for any weapon style to be available at any level of power. Really love the design of that simple longsword you saw at level 10? Sure, find a crafter with that design, choose a material to provide a power level and choose the trait you prefer and craft away.

Similar with shields. Having a simple aspis allows endless possibilities for the addition of designs. A simple google search will show examples of all the different styles that could be chosen for the face of a shield. You could even have the guild logo be added to shields – I think it would be amazing to be able to see a bunch of tanks from the same guild with different armour and weapons but with the same guild logo design on their shields :)

I would also love to see the ability to use a spear with a shield. There is a huge amount of historical precedent for this, but it never seems to make it into fantasy games. Does it have something to do with a whole separate set of animations required?

Can polearms also be as useful and valid a choice as two-handed swords, axes, and mauls. They seem to get sidelined in so many MMOs, with almost no choices and those there are look horrendous.

Just some of my thoughts and hopes anyway.

To the weapons:

Swords – falchion, katana, gladius, longsword, khopesh, scimitar, sabre, parang, talwar, zweihander, cutlass, viking, etc

Maces/Hammers – morning star to flanged, to mauls and warhammers to clubs, cudgels and shillelaghs and even flails

Axes – single and double bladed, hand-axe to battle-axe

Spears – from the short thrusting assegai to the long European spear, tridents

Polearms – glaive, halberd, bardiche, pop scythes in here

Daggers – hundreds of different styles and sizes

Staves – from the simple wooden quaterstaff, to ornately topped staffs mainly for healing, not for smacking

Bows and Crossbows – short and long, repeating crossbow, pistol crossbow

Fist Weapons* – we can use our imagination here

Offhands – spellbooks, orbs, chalice, talismans, etc

Shields – round, kite, aspis, heater, buckler, scutum, pavise

* Not a fan of fist weapons. They haven’t been confirmed to exist in Ashes yet, and I would be more than happy if they do not.

 

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Comments

  • Apart form crossbows and fist weapns, I think the rest of your list will be in Ashes.

    Even the polearm is on Michael Bacon's site :)


  • Oh, Michael Bacon's site. I didn't know there was such a thing. Thanks for that.
  • I would also prefer a nice variety of weapons, but not to have most of them "locked away" due to being inpractical or significantly worse than other weapon types.

    For example spears, they do very good damage, but extremely low attack speed. By the time you wield it to attack, you're already dead or even worse, a player with double swords does damage so quickly, it outdamages a spear by miles in terms of damage per second and not just damage per hit.

    This has been the case in some games I played, there is nothing more frustrating when your group finally gets the kill on a boss and the drop is... spear or 2-hand mace ...
  • what is a god without his magic books ^^
  • Daggers  <3
  • nagash said:
    what is a god without his magic books ^^
    An ignorant bloody demon soul.
  • I would love to see hand weapons along with monks added.  
  • nagash said:
    what is a god without his magic books ^^
    An ignorant bloody demon soul.
    hey I'm not a demon thank you very much in an elder lich it's on a whole different level 
  • nagash said:
    nagash said:
    what is a god without his magic books ^^
    An ignorant bloody demon soul.
    hey I'm not a demon thank you very much in an elder lich it's on a whole different level 
    Aye,  you are a god with tomes to be envied by many.
  • nagash said:
    nagash said:
    what is a god without his magic books ^^
    An ignorant bloody demon soul.
    hey I'm not a demon thank you very much in an elder lich it's on a whole different level 
    Aye,  you are a god with tomes to be envied by many.
    Indeed I do 
  • I mostly prefer weapon skins and just use the most practical weapon, but I get what you mean. I wish you good luck with that idea. More choices in customisation is always a good thing.
  • Bajjer said:

     You could even have the guild logo be added to shields – I think it would be amazing to be able to see a bunch of tanks from the same guild with different armour and weapons but with the same guild logo design on their shields :)

    I really love this idea. Something like this



    So you could represent your guild with your shield on your back as you run around, and it would look pretty cool to face off against across the battlefield against a guild with a bunch of people with the same shield design, kind of like a little army :)

    I also hope that for the Cleric, shield and hammer will be a viable option. We know Steven loves D&D and the classic image of the cleric is heavy armour with hammer and shield. 

    I know that the cleric's heals will be based off damage, and it makes sense then for them to carry a big two-hander to do more damage, but I hope that everything balances to make a bunch of different things viable, including the classic archetypes.

    I thought the way the Cleric held the staff in the footage from PAX was bizarre, but if you take out the staff and put in a maul, it makes a lot more sense. Maybe the animation was really for a different weapon that was not ready.
  • Really interested how the weapons for the Bard class will be like, or if all the magic based classes use staves and tomes. There is also the question if there are going to be weapons from many different cultures like the gladius used by Romans for a one-handed sword or a katana, or is it all based on medieval period with straight swords etc. 
  • I'm hoping for scythes so I can assassinate my enemies as a rogue grim reaper style.
  • Hardmode said:
    I'm hoping for scythes so I can assassinate my enemies as a rogue grim reaper style.
    Rejoice! Scythes are confirmed through both concept art and comments from Steven :)
  • Bajjer said:
    Hardmode said:
    I'm hoping for scythes so I can assassinate my enemies as a rogue grim reaper style.
    Rejoice! Scythes are confirmed through both concept art and comments from Steven :)
    As weapons? *Gasp*
    2H ones? :O
  • I really hope that the fact that weapons aren't class locked is universal and doesn't come with half a dozen caveats.

    I would like to have a Mage that can wear light armour and carry a shield and wand or staff and sword. Let us have some interesting combos, that have a ton of precedence in fantasy books.

    I really want the days of the Mage/wizard/sorcerer that wears robes and only carries a staff or wand to be over. Let's do some trope smashing in Ashes.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2017
    I really hope that the fact that weapons aren't class locked is universal and doesn't come with half a dozen caveats.

    I would like to have a Mage that can wear light armour and carry a shield and wand or staff and sword. Let us have some interesting combos, that have a ton of precedence in fantasy books.

    I really want the days of the Mage/wizard/sorcerer that wears robes and only carries a staff or wand to be over. Let's do some trope smashing in Ashes.
    @Jemini-Kricket
    All classes can wear all gear. Some classes just work better with some types of gear. So no need to hope!
  • The races are based on a fairly wide range of cultures: Ren'Kai is based on Japanese/Asian culture; Vek is based on Mayan culture.
    I expect the weapon designs to reflect the culture the race is based on - same for armor.
    And should become available as NPCs begin to appear at settlements and encampments.

    I think of D&D Cleric as primarily wielding mace or long hammer.
    But, Jozan wields hammer and shield and 3.0 is 17 years old now, so makes sense that would be the iconic image for many.
    If short hammer is an option, which seems likely, anyone would be able to wield short hammer and shield.

    I wonder if different gods will favor different weapons - especially for their Clerics.
  • How about a slingshot?





    I've got balls of steel!!
  • While I understand their reasons for not including firearms, even if I disagree with it (technology developing alongside civilization when node levels increase would be incredibly cool, but that's for another topic), you can still have rifles and pistols and such without gunpowder.  There are numerous examples in fantasy of gun shaped magical focuses,  It satisfies Steven's desire to focus on the magic, and the niche of fans that really want firearms, without sacrificing much for either.
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2017
    If rifles or guns (magical in effect) are ever introduced I can vouch that people like me who like pure Fantasy settings will stop playing. For me at least it completely ruins the setting.
    Like Aion, reason I stopped playing it early after it originally released:
    There was a chainsaw like blade skin for 2H swords.

    Just my preference tho
  • ArchivedUserArchivedUser Guest
    edited September 2017
    When we speak about pure magic, my personal preference is no focuses at all.

    Real mage controls the elements with his mind and needs no focus. Perhaps only beginner or intermediate mages need a focus.

    Ofc. this is only my own personal view on this.
  • I'm pretty sure that Steven is anti-rifle and anti-pistol for Ashes; no matter the ammo or firing mechanism.
    Steven is going for High Fantasy.
    Rifles and pistols are too close to SteamPunk - which is Fantasy, yes, but not High Fantasy.
  • Ziltch said:
    If rifles or guns (magical in effect) are ever introduced I can vouch that people like me who like pure Fantasy settings will stop playing.
    No need for drama here.  All I am saying is that if a mage wants to hold their magic staff along the length of their arm and point it at the target when casting spells, then that should be allowed.  And if said mage customizes the staff with various features that other realities associate with rifles, then who are we to criticize?
  • Here is the quote for those interested. Note the "for players." You may very well see gunpowder being used in the naval content, no one knows yet, though they might just go with ballistae and other more medieval themed large weapons on ships also. The siege vids show trebuchet and catapult at castles. What you are not going to see is an evolution into steampunk and other genres in my opinion, they have been pretty vocal about keeping the style/genre vision clean. I think those that think they are going to be able to skin over their "summer bikini while holding an AK" will be disappointed.

  • I think the chain and sickle would be really cool to incorporate as a possible weapon too. This may have been stated or answered elsewhere, but since I want to be a bard, I hope they add damage dealing instruments. Like the mandolin, violin, lute (really any stringed instrument), drums, flute, trumpets any kind of instrument. Then they could also use that instrument and play it casually throughout any city or pub. I think it would be cool
  • I'm 100% interested in a huge variety of weapons, I dislike the generic sword & shield copy paste we see for a lot of modern MMO's. I'm specifically interested in the repeating crossbow, after playing Vindictus for a while a few years ago it sucked me in. Sadly it could cause balance issues so I don't think it will make it into AoC.
  • Lots of weapons.
    All the weapons!
    Bat'leths and all!
    For the empire!
    and other such mixed genres....
  • I have always been a fan of spears/halberds/polearms, but I rarely get to use them, given that in most games they're only aesthetically pleasing, and totally outclassed by other weapons. To be fair, I haven't played that many games, but, with that said, it seems they're often not an option, or ridiculously underpowered. I'll even take a shield/spear combo a la spartan, even that would make me happy.
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