Melee balancing ideas (yes, including the Katana)

(watsyurdeal) #1

So, it seems we’re not getting rid of that turn speed thing anytime soon.

So, I have some ideas for the devs that not only will fix certain weapons, but give them something of a unique feel or purpose to them to make them stand out.

First up, Phantom’s signature weapon (arguably)

Katana - The Power Attack (RMB) now has increased range, and gives Phantom a small umph forward, almost like a charge since he’s stepping into the attack. The turn speed limit occurs at the time the damage window for the attack is open, so you have to be careful about using it. This adds a bit of skill indexing to it, while also doing something that no other weapon does. I think this is more like the high risk high reward weapon we were promised in the Phantom role call. Maybe could even get a damage buff as well.

Just imagine the current RMB attack, but with 33% more range and Phantom actually charges forward a bit into his enemy.

Bat - No longer has a turn speed limit, but has a small damage window, since you are swinging downward in a sort of chopping motion. So it’s a little hard to land, but when it does it hits hard.

Beckhill - No change needed, just get rid of the turn speed limit on it altogether.

Stiletto - Possibly give it the fastest draw and switch times, and the highest speed boost of all the melees. Making this the ideal weapon for those who are using their melee purely to get around, instead of damaging people.

Kukuri - No clue really, maybe the same as the Katana, where the Power Attack increases the range of this weapon, but has no turn speed limit, as a trade off for less damage than the Katana deals.

Global change - Successful hits allow a faster recovery from the attack animations, rewarding accuracy and punishing misses.

Just some ideas I was rolling around in my mind, what do you think?

(Samniss_Arandeen) #2

Instead of headshots, melee weapons should register backstabs. No more will we have people charging headlong into someone shooting them in the face and successfully melee-killing said face-shooter.

Or we could have melee damage scale with how much damage you’ve taken in the last few seconds. So if you spot someone about to melee a teammate, you shoot them, giving your teammate more of a fighting chance. Support XP for this all the way, bro. This curve could differ greatly between weapons.

(watsyurdeal) #3

We could do that as well, but then Phantom would need to be buffed so he can actually get behind people. He’s too visible

(LANshark) #4

the only problem i see with backstabs is that the devs have to define what is ‘behind’ you. if it is 180 degrees opposite of where a player is looking you could stab them from the side and possibly get a backstab because where the hit registered happened to be on the back half of the player. If the area is too small backstabs would be to hard to hit when there are 2 people moving, jumping, swinging weapons, dodging explosives, etc… And we would have to deal with people complaining about how op melee is because it could oneshot rhino with a rmb backstab (the killer probably deserved the kill it they could pull that off). If phantom could cause a shitstorm because he could get close enough to use the melee weapons consistantly, what would backstabs cause?