in other threads, I mentioned I wouldn't comment much on combat system, being a noob and playing with very high ping (>250ms).
However, by testing more the combat, there are some issues which I feel are quite relevant, if even a noob like me can pick those up.
the 2 main issues I have with the new combat (and their possible fixes) are:
- wide parry arcs: pretty self-explanatory. something feels not right when people can still parry you, even when you manouver all the way behind them and hit them in their back (in the futile effort or trying to prevent the 10th parry in a row, more on that below).
solution: decrease the parry arc, maybe to 150-180 degree angle in front of the player.
- parry-turtling and fast weapons: these are 2 issues that go hand-in-hand, which unfortunately not only make the combat problematic, but also make weapon crafting extremely dull with a lot of unviable options. In the current system, it feels way too easy to just sit there and parry non-stop. expecially with a standars Spw/ironsilk-handle weapon which barely consumes any stamina. The current system really penalizes heavier weapons, which offer no advantage except maybe slightly higher damage, in the rare occurrence you manage to land a hit through their highly-telegraphed and slow-release attacks which can be easily parried (think for instance 2h axes and 2h maces).
I think the main issue here is not the slow combat per se, but the parry mechanic. In MO1, the parry (and counter) was introduced to reward fast reflexes when the combat was sped up after release. you time a good directional parry = you are rewarded with a full damage reduction (the key problem here in MO2 imo) and a counterattack. However, this mechanic becomes quite problematic in MO2, with the combat slowed down (for very legitimate reasons), in which every hit can be parried so easily and not just blocked, but perfect parried 100% of times.
possible solution: without slowing donw the combat, rework the parry mechanic in 2 ways could fix this problem for good:
1) remove the "perfect parry" ( and potentially the counterattack as well) or greatly reduce the timing window to get it (though the second option could again make combat "skill" ping-dependant). make the directional "block" reduce the incoming damage without nullifying it to 0 automatically, and
2) make the damage reduction of a directional "block" dependant on weapon weight: the heavier the hitting weapon, the more damage can get through a parry, and vice-versa
quick examples with 100% fictional numbers:
player A attacks B with a weapon of the same weight, player B succesfully parries and reduces 50% of the damage of a regular hit.
player A attacks B with a weapon of twice the weight of player B's weapon, player B succesfully parries and reduces only 25% of the incoming damage.
player A attacks B with a weapon of thrice the weight of player B's weapon, player B succesfully parries and reduces only 15% of the incoming damage.
player A attacks B with a weapon of half the weight of player B's weapon, player B succesfully parries and reduces 75% of the incoming damage.
In this way, parry-turtling would simply not be possible anymore, and heavier weapons will gain back a tactical spot in foot fighting (and not only secluded to mounted fight). Heavier weapons would trade higher stamina cost (a huge cost in MO pvp) for an extra bit of chip damage, whereas lighter weapons would still bethe to-go choice for regular and faster playstyle. if heavier weapons can be meta, means 90% of the weapon crafting recipes won't be useless anymore.
please do post your criticisms to this ideas, as i have to admit these suggestion come mostly from a crafing point of view, rather than a strictly competitive pvp one.
However, by testing more the combat, there are some issues which I feel are quite relevant, if even a noob like me can pick those up.
the 2 main issues I have with the new combat (and their possible fixes) are:
- wide parry arcs: pretty self-explanatory. something feels not right when people can still parry you, even when you manouver all the way behind them and hit them in their back (in the futile effort or trying to prevent the 10th parry in a row, more on that below).
solution: decrease the parry arc, maybe to 150-180 degree angle in front of the player.
- parry-turtling and fast weapons: these are 2 issues that go hand-in-hand, which unfortunately not only make the combat problematic, but also make weapon crafting extremely dull with a lot of unviable options. In the current system, it feels way too easy to just sit there and parry non-stop. expecially with a standars Spw/ironsilk-handle weapon which barely consumes any stamina. The current system really penalizes heavier weapons, which offer no advantage except maybe slightly higher damage, in the rare occurrence you manage to land a hit through their highly-telegraphed and slow-release attacks which can be easily parried (think for instance 2h axes and 2h maces).
I think the main issue here is not the slow combat per se, but the parry mechanic. In MO1, the parry (and counter) was introduced to reward fast reflexes when the combat was sped up after release. you time a good directional parry = you are rewarded with a full damage reduction (the key problem here in MO2 imo) and a counterattack. However, this mechanic becomes quite problematic in MO2, with the combat slowed down (for very legitimate reasons), in which every hit can be parried so easily and not just blocked, but perfect parried 100% of times.
possible solution: without slowing donw the combat, rework the parry mechanic in 2 ways could fix this problem for good:
1) remove the "perfect parry" ( and potentially the counterattack as well) or greatly reduce the timing window to get it (though the second option could again make combat "skill" ping-dependant). make the directional "block" reduce the incoming damage without nullifying it to 0 automatically, and
2) make the damage reduction of a directional "block" dependant on weapon weight: the heavier the hitting weapon, the more damage can get through a parry, and vice-versa
quick examples with 100% fictional numbers:
player A attacks B with a weapon of the same weight, player B succesfully parries and reduces 50% of the damage of a regular hit.
player A attacks B with a weapon of twice the weight of player B's weapon, player B succesfully parries and reduces only 25% of the incoming damage.
player A attacks B with a weapon of thrice the weight of player B's weapon, player B succesfully parries and reduces only 15% of the incoming damage.
player A attacks B with a weapon of half the weight of player B's weapon, player B succesfully parries and reduces 75% of the incoming damage.
In this way, parry-turtling would simply not be possible anymore, and heavier weapons will gain back a tactical spot in foot fighting (and not only secluded to mounted fight). Heavier weapons would trade higher stamina cost (a huge cost in MO pvp) for an extra bit of chip damage, whereas lighter weapons would still bethe to-go choice for regular and faster playstyle. if heavier weapons can be meta, means 90% of the weapon crafting recipes won't be useless anymore.
please do post your criticisms to this ideas, as i have to admit these suggestion come mostly from a crafing point of view, rather than a strictly competitive pvp one.
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