Honestly...its a joke. Mordhau has set the standard for real time melee combat. MO2 and any melee action combat game these days aren't even getting close to that standard. I understand that MO and MO2 lean towards group combat but that's no excuse not to have a semi decent melee system that facilitates 1v1 and 1vx. What we have now is just sad.
ima outline what I think needs to be improved upon sooner rather than later. Most people are about to have their first impressions of the game and even if you call it a test you only get 1 first impression.
right away install some turn caps. Jesus watching people start swings facing away from you and bringing them all the way around looks janky as hell. If melee combat cant be done without hiding the animations of your melee combat then its a bad combat system.
Feinting is a joke. Costs basically nothing. does basically nothing. why feint if I still have to charge up a super telegraphed swing to do damage.
Get some stam penalties for missed swings ASAP. Missing a fully charged swing costs you nothing. Not only can you still block incoming attacks near instantly after missing but there is no stamina penalty for throwing your big ass axe around like a moron.
Charging directional attacks for damage. This is just bad in general. Its not only a dated system it just doesn't work in making the combat flow well and feel good. Because of the charging system it promotes parrying to riposte for damage. Even in group we just look for attacks to parry so we dont have to charge.
Heres is some basic now industry standard ways to do melee combat. welcome to 2021.
Timed blocking. Mordhau has shown that directional blocking is subpar in gameplay. Having a timed block allows you to dictate the flow of combat and determine which player you want to have initiative. Lets look at the current system. IT has a timed parry in the block. This is fine I suppose. Hold a block to long and you switch to blocking state which has some chip damage in it. You also dont get frame advantage if you hold your block up to long and miss the parry window. However good luck ever missing that parry window.
The window is not only super forgiving which is probably a good idea in an mmo. It's also to easy to drop your block and reblock near instantly if the opponent holds the attack to long. Another words the attacker cant force the penalty of blocking an attack because you can just reblock right away. It's silly.
Ideally we want a system where you look at the blade itself and you have a block that will defend you for roughly .25 seconds. This number can be adjusted of course. Why? simple, its an active system that makes you feel as though you are actually blocking the attack not some silly calculation. Physically moving your blade to intercept an attack is a lot more engaging than holding it left right up or down and waiting to hear a sound.
it also allows us to give players options for circumventing a skilled blocker. sure the block catches all attacks that you can see on the screen but it's also timed. Meaning you can easily get punished for missing a block or panic blocking. Your block is good but it also has weaknesses. We can adjust the time you have to wait before you can block again. Ideally this number is made so that if you block an attack correctly you go into the riposte state but are also able to block again right away. So you can deal with multiple opponents swinging at you.
On the flip side should you fall for a feint or block to early you cant block again right away which allows your opponent to "punish" your mistake. Giving them the opportunity to capitalize and do damage.
In the same vein attacking and blocking and feinting should all have varying costs to stamina. Attacking and landing on your opponent should have almost no stamina cost. Attacking and landing should have none. Attacking and whiffing should cost you far more stamina.
Blocking properly should cost you some stamina, Blocking and whiffing should cost you quite a bit more. Blocking lighter weapons that favor speed should be less taxing than blocking heavier and slower weapons. It allows players to pick preferred play styles and opens up the meta making it both deep and dynamic.
Crafting already lends to this idea. You can make all sorts of weapons that can be heavy even as one handed or light as two handed. So many different variations to craft but almost no reason to try anything out. You are just looking to maximize damage and minimize stamina costs. Its a stale meta and a waste of IMO the best crafting system ever offered in any online game.
I can go on but im running out of time so I will edit in more critiques later.
In closing Mordhau set the standard. The meta for both group and single combat in the game is incredibly deep. Much more deep than what is currently offered in MO2 and any game using the same outdated directional combat system. The weapons in MO2 like Mordhau are physical objects. You can manipulate swing timing to vary your offense and even the angles of attacks. In MO2 there is some of this. you can manipulate your camera to make attacks faster but you cant make them slower. IE (accelerating or dragging) because of the outdated charging attacks and directional blocking being utilized.
Look im not saying copy paste another games system. It wouldnt work and would be lazy for MO2. What I am saying is that Mordhau pioneered the next gen melee combat system and it would be foolish not to try to incorporate as much of that deep and engaging system as would fit in MO2 and work well. I wager that MO2 is better situated to expand and innovate on those ideas far better than anything currently out on the market. You dont have to sacrifice 1v1 and 1vx to have an engaging system for all forms of combat.
ima outline what I think needs to be improved upon sooner rather than later. Most people are about to have their first impressions of the game and even if you call it a test you only get 1 first impression.
right away install some turn caps. Jesus watching people start swings facing away from you and bringing them all the way around looks janky as hell. If melee combat cant be done without hiding the animations of your melee combat then its a bad combat system.
Feinting is a joke. Costs basically nothing. does basically nothing. why feint if I still have to charge up a super telegraphed swing to do damage.
Get some stam penalties for missed swings ASAP. Missing a fully charged swing costs you nothing. Not only can you still block incoming attacks near instantly after missing but there is no stamina penalty for throwing your big ass axe around like a moron.
Charging directional attacks for damage. This is just bad in general. Its not only a dated system it just doesn't work in making the combat flow well and feel good. Because of the charging system it promotes parrying to riposte for damage. Even in group we just look for attacks to parry so we dont have to charge.
Heres is some basic now industry standard ways to do melee combat. welcome to 2021.
Timed blocking. Mordhau has shown that directional blocking is subpar in gameplay. Having a timed block allows you to dictate the flow of combat and determine which player you want to have initiative. Lets look at the current system. IT has a timed parry in the block. This is fine I suppose. Hold a block to long and you switch to blocking state which has some chip damage in it. You also dont get frame advantage if you hold your block up to long and miss the parry window. However good luck ever missing that parry window.
The window is not only super forgiving which is probably a good idea in an mmo. It's also to easy to drop your block and reblock near instantly if the opponent holds the attack to long. Another words the attacker cant force the penalty of blocking an attack because you can just reblock right away. It's silly.
Ideally we want a system where you look at the blade itself and you have a block that will defend you for roughly .25 seconds. This number can be adjusted of course. Why? simple, its an active system that makes you feel as though you are actually blocking the attack not some silly calculation. Physically moving your blade to intercept an attack is a lot more engaging than holding it left right up or down and waiting to hear a sound.
it also allows us to give players options for circumventing a skilled blocker. sure the block catches all attacks that you can see on the screen but it's also timed. Meaning you can easily get punished for missing a block or panic blocking. Your block is good but it also has weaknesses. We can adjust the time you have to wait before you can block again. Ideally this number is made so that if you block an attack correctly you go into the riposte state but are also able to block again right away. So you can deal with multiple opponents swinging at you.
On the flip side should you fall for a feint or block to early you cant block again right away which allows your opponent to "punish" your mistake. Giving them the opportunity to capitalize and do damage.
In the same vein attacking and blocking and feinting should all have varying costs to stamina. Attacking and landing on your opponent should have almost no stamina cost. Attacking and landing should have none. Attacking and whiffing should cost you far more stamina.
Blocking properly should cost you some stamina, Blocking and whiffing should cost you quite a bit more. Blocking lighter weapons that favor speed should be less taxing than blocking heavier and slower weapons. It allows players to pick preferred play styles and opens up the meta making it both deep and dynamic.
Crafting already lends to this idea. You can make all sorts of weapons that can be heavy even as one handed or light as two handed. So many different variations to craft but almost no reason to try anything out. You are just looking to maximize damage and minimize stamina costs. Its a stale meta and a waste of IMO the best crafting system ever offered in any online game.
I can go on but im running out of time so I will edit in more critiques later.
In closing Mordhau set the standard. The meta for both group and single combat in the game is incredibly deep. Much more deep than what is currently offered in MO2 and any game using the same outdated directional combat system. The weapons in MO2 like Mordhau are physical objects. You can manipulate swing timing to vary your offense and even the angles of attacks. In MO2 there is some of this. you can manipulate your camera to make attacks faster but you cant make them slower. IE (accelerating or dragging) because of the outdated charging attacks and directional blocking being utilized.
Look im not saying copy paste another games system. It wouldnt work and would be lazy for MO2. What I am saying is that Mordhau pioneered the next gen melee combat system and it would be foolish not to try to incorporate as much of that deep and engaging system as would fit in MO2 and work well. I wager that MO2 is better situated to expand and innovate on those ideas far better than anything currently out on the market. You dont have to sacrifice 1v1 and 1vx to have an engaging system for all forms of combat.
