Not wanting to hijack the thread, but here are some suggestions from an old post of mine that might inspire some of you to think about innovating combat.
Let's start with the weird suggestion first.
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MAGIC
Introducing spell casting to Sea of Thieves seems a bit far out the pirate fantasy, but really we deal with magic skelletons with mystical skulls that grant powers while shooting cursed cannonballs, we are way past realistic.
Now for magic to work in SoT I believe we need a weapon that concentrates all magic spells but at the same time maintains a level of balance to it by being a small mini-quest within itself. So here's the Skull Scepter:
Skull Scepter: A basic spell catalyst that starts off very weak because it's capable of only casting a single spell, however finding skelleton bounty skulls and consuming their power empowers the scepter's skull granting it the memories of the fallen soul and learning new spells. Works like any weapon, equipable in one of the 2 slots. Note that consuming bounty skulls doesn't destroy them or reduces their selling cost, it's just metaphorical.
It works on a 5 ammo system like guns but unlike guns that need to be reloaded in the ammo box, the scepter passively regenerates a "bullet" every few seconds. To swap between spells, it works like swapping bait from the fishing rod, while holding the scpeter bring up the equipment menu and hold the apropriate buutton to access the spell wheel.
(In the following examples consider max hp to be 100 HP)
Basic Spell: This comes with every Skull Scepter as a basic ability.
Shoots a slow green ball projectile from the scepter that travels in a straight line until it hits a surface or enemy. Deals 30 HP damage and uses 1 bullet.
Foul Spells: After consuming a foul bounty skull or the ashen variant, the scepter gains the following spells.
(Requires consuming a foul skull) Creates a small explosive blast in front of the caster player (similar range and AoE to a regular vomit) that intoxicates enemies with snake venom. Deals 20 HP damage over 5 seconds and uses 1 bullet.
(Requires consuming an ashen foul skull) Creates a small explosive blast in front of the caster player that intoxicates enemies with drunkness and blocking their vision with puke for 5 seconds. Deals no damage and uses 1 bullet.
Disgraced Spells: After consuming a disgraced bounty skull or the ashen variant, the scepter gains the following spells.
(Requires consuming a disgraced skull) Fires a cone of flames in front of the caster player that deals damage and burns enemies caught within it. Deals 20 initial damage and 30 damage over time for 5 seconds, and uses 2 bullets.
(Requires consuming an ashen disgraced skull) Fires a cone of cinders in front of the caster player that upon hitting an enemy briefly prevents their weapons from firing. Deals no damage and the effect lasts 10 seconds, and uses 2 bullets.
Hateful Spells: After consuming a hateful bounty skull or the ashen variant, the scepter gains the following spells.
(Requires consuming a hateful skull) Fires a lightining bolt in a straight line in front of the player that travels instantly in that direction, enemies struck by it take damage and are static for a few seconds, while they are static whenever they jump they will take damage. Deals 40 damage and getting shocked while static also deals 40 damage, and uses 3 bullets.
(Requires consuming an ashen hateful skull) Fires a red lightining bolt in a straight line in front of the player that travels instantly in that direction, enemies struck by it take damage and are grounded for a few seconds, while grounded they can't walk but can move their camera and attack normally. Deals 40 damage and uses 3 bullets.
Villainous Spells: After consuming a villainous bounty skull or the ashen variant, the scepter gains the following spells.
(Requires consuming a villainous skull) Creates an AoE explosion around the player that fully heals and removes all curse effects/negative effects from crewmates that are hit by it and the player that casted it. Uses 4 bullets.
(Requires consuming an ashen villainous skull) Creates an AoE explosion around the player that cripples all enemies caught in it for 10 seconds, making them walk on a limp. Uses 4 bullets.
Final Spells: After consuming a Stronghold Skull or a Skeleton Captain's Skull, the scepter gains the following spells.
(Requires consuming a stronghold skull) Blasts a horn-like sound that grants all players in the crew of the caster a temporary shield that blocks 50 damage and lasts 20 seconds. Uses 5 bullets.
(Requires consuming a skeleton captain's skull) Blasts a horn-like sound that curses the ship the caster is currently on with water that fills the ship regardless of holes for 20 seconds, as if a crying chest was on board. Uses 5 bullets.
Observations:
- A player may be able to have in their spell inventory all 11 spells
- Consuming a high tier skull does not grant you lower tier spells, to learn each spell you must consume the apropriate skull.
- Unequiping the Scepter in the armory doesn't reset the spell inventory
- Leaving the session resets the spell inventory of the player, which means that progress is not saved from session to session.
MELEE WEAPONS
Expanding the normal combat with new tools ought to shake the loadouts of the pirates, here are the suggestions:
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Rapier: A dueling weapon, unfit for multiple foes with it's thrusting strikes and no horizontal slashes, trading the versatility of the cutlass for extra range and defensive techniques.
Three thrusting strikes that have a longer range compared to the cutlass. Dealing slightly below 20 damage each requiring 6 strikes to down a full hp pirate. Due to the nature of the attack, the hitbox cone is much smaller than the cutlass, therefore harder to hit multiple enemies unless they are in line in front of the player.
Holding the block button raises the rapier in defense. Succesfully blocking the final strike of a combo of any melee weapon triggers a parry. The parry will stun the enemy for 2 seconds
- Holding Block + Jump + Direction
Quick step to a direction. Travels a little further than the cutlass hop.
A brief wind up of 1 second that leads up to a flurry of 6 thrusting strikes in quick succesion within 2 seconds, if all hit they deal 100 damage. Can be blocked but isn't interrupted by the rapier parry. Does not cause the player to be propelled foward, can't be used to sword surf. If all hits miss, the player is exausted for a brief moment.
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Long Sword: A great weapon for powerful strikes and debuffs. Maintaining a balance of movement, utility and power.
A three strike combo, dealing 20 damage each swing. Every time a player is hit by a regular strike or held down attack from this weapon, regardless of blocking, they recieve a brief 2 second movement speed slow on top of the stun lock of getting hit.
Hold the block button to raise the sword defensively and block all standard melee attacks.
- Holding Block + Jump + Direction
Hops and bashes with the sword in the chosen direction, if it hits an enemy that isn't blocking they are stunned for 1 second.
After a 1 second wind up, unleashes a sword uppercut that pushes enemies away. Breaks through blocking. If it misses, the player is exausted for a brief moment.
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Boarding Axe: A tactical option for the pirate that likes options for infiltration.
Three strike combo, dealing 20 damage each.
Holding the block button does not raise a defense, instead the player holds the axe foward. If the player is near the side of a ship while holding the axe foward it will cause the player to attach themselves to the ship, allowing them to climb up or down by pressing up or down while holding the block button. Once at the top the player will board the ship.
- Holding Block + Jump + Direction
Will make the player hop in a chosen direction.
The player shouts a battlecry that empowers them, granting them 10 extra damage per regular strike for 20 seconds.
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Trident: A melee weapon with good range and power. Slow but packing quite a punch.
Two thrusting strikes dealing 25 damage each. The range is very good on these attacks, but the horizontal cone of the hit is very poor, therefore will most likely not hit multiple players unless they are in line in front of the player.
Raises the weapon defensively blocking all standard melee strikes.
- Holding Block + Jump + Direction
Shoves enemies away in the chosen direction, knocking them back.
Throws the trident in front of the player, if it hits a surface or air nothing happens and the trident is quickly returned to the player hands but they can't move until the trident is retrieved, if it hits an enemy they take 25 damage and are pulled towards the player.
RANGED WEAPONS
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Portable Cannon: A powerful modified blunderbuss that shoots out small cannonballs, they don't deal damage to ships but still do splash damage towards enemies and also gives bonus damage to direct hits.
5 small cannonballs that travel in an arc and at the speed of a regular cannonball when fired and do small explosions when enter contact with any surface. The splash deals 40 damage to enemies but direct hits deal 80 damage to enemies.
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Crossbow: A versatile weapon for midrange fights, quick reloads and decent damage.
5 bolts that travel in an arc when fired dealing 60 damage each.
