Hey folks. As I mentioned in General Discussions several days ago, it's hard for me to get my SimuCon Sunday seminar notes up as quickly as I'd like, because they close the computer lab at noon on Sunday, and I don't have a laptop. But unless I'm looking in the wrong places, I didn't spot any other transcripts of the Combat seminar, so here goes.
Dual wield is almost ready. They've been playing with it on the development server. They're working on messaging. It will be released "soon, really." But after DR2. Offhand weapon usage will be a new skill. Barbarians and Paladins will be the only ones able to dual-wield some of the heaviest weapon classes. Ssra has shield bash almost working. Shield bash will be based on shield skill and shield quality. Veyl is working on weapon disarm. Disarm is not written yet. It's based on whatever Veyl feels like. Empaths might be able to do it. The disarmed person has the first shot at picking up the dropped weapon, but you'll be able to get it if they fail whatever skill check comes into play. Counterattack is also being worked on, as is the Barbarian whirlwind attack. Counterattack will be parry-based. Ssra promises it won't tank your balance. Every weapon attack will have a feint version. Whips currently do not have attacks, so it needs to be worked on. Ssra will be re-evaluating every weapon. In particular, foraged logs of doom will be taken care of. Force of impact is still being looked at.
In DR2, armor will be able to impact brawling, like spiked gauntlets. Brawling messaging is being looked at and reworked. They're looking at adding messaging to show armor effectiveness in brawling. New armor is still planned. Put your money on cloth. Ssra wants to add other non-metals, but not scale as it would be too hard to differentiate from the existing types. But they're thinking about studded leather, bone armor, and banded armor.
The combat system could be better. Don't you hate having your chest fatally taken out and then dying? Physical damage will be more closely tied to vitality. Some things are out of line with stats and skills.
Retreat will be set up like advance, with gradual change of range. It will not screw everyone over. A flee command will be implemented as a first step, that will take some time to get out of combat, but will work from any range. Escaping will help, but Ssra has other plans for it. It will be affected by leg wounds, burden, and armor hinderance. And everything is at your back when you do it. If all this is too hard for characters, some penalties may be removed. Ssra wanted to have the peeing of one's pants as a potential message, but it was nixed. Barbarians take an inner fire hit if they flee, and Paladins take a soul hit. But they will both have enhancements to an upcoming rush command that causes you to barrel over the opponent in order to make your escape. Thieves will have perks to flee.
They are re-evaluating the multi opponent penalties. They dont' want you to need to have 4 or 5 lower level critters at your back in order to learn, but rather 2 or 3 critters at your level, and the third one coming in shouldn't mean certain death for you.
Hangback will no longer have a roundtime.
There are no plans for arrows to land anywhere other than "nearby."
Any questions about new combat?
Q: Jabbers are less effective now. New maneuvers are needed.
A: Noted. (They nodded yes a bunch.) They'll give everyone backstab. (They were kidding!)
After all these years, Milgrym's stuff sucks. Enhancements to weapon creation and assessments of their stats will have to wait until other new creation systems are ready.
It's all about getting the right balance of realism and fun.
Q: It would be nice to be able to reset your stance (in terms of the attack sequences) whenever you like.
A: There's not likely to be a reset command, unless maybe if it's an overwhelming problem. Is it...?
You'll be able to personalize your stance settings. It's approved.
The agility bonus to ranged is overpowered. Ssra wants to make the bows and crossbows more balanced. Fletching 2.0 will have composite bows and sling staffs. It is not a high priority for ranged weapons to be damaged when parried. First, the ranged weapons will need to be better able to withstand damage in the first place. Every ranged weapon in the game is going to change.
Oh, and master smiths may be able to repair those pesky "beyond repair" pieces.
Sorry again for the delay. I'll most likely not be able to do much better for next year's Sunday seminars either, though...
Sincerely,
David (Jolebin Swordstaff, Elemancer of Riverhaven)