Small Cutlass Tweak

I like the idea of having good footwork to score a hit on a player perma-holding block. I feel like if lunge was your only counter to blocking they can also dodge the lunge and blocking would be way too strong.

My main gripe with swords at the moment is that they implemented an interrupt system where if you're being attacked you have to dodge or block to prevent being interrupted, and counterattack - awesome change EXCEPT it doesn't work half the time, even when I'm ahead and successfully counter by dodging / blocking / landing a hit between combos, I'm still seeing people left click spam and not get interrupted, it only seems to work half the time making swordplay feel a bit inconsistent. I hate feeling like I've landed a hit and therefore should technically be "safe" where the only way they can attack me back is to dodge/block only to get left click spammed to death still.

I'd also like to see further deterrents to left-click spamming such as if they are going to combo into a block, the third hit should stun them. This would prevent the left click spam a bit where if someone attacks you and they block twice they'll have to stop and restart their combo using dodge/footwork to try and land a hit. It would also allow the person blocking to punish them for hitting three times into a block as well as a slight window to counterattack after their opponents second swing (their opponent could also block this). I can see a system like this promoting a bit more back and forth with attacks and blocks from both parties and movement/timing/dodging being more important than face-hugging and left click spamming people to death. As a side note, I feel like the knock-back is a bit of a weird mechanic on swordplay too and makes counter-attacking more annoying.

@galactic-geek I would rather be able to time a counter-attack and lock them in "interrupt-mode" than knock them back tbh. The problem is the knock-back is giving them enough distance to restart their spamming without me being able to counter. A short stun would make more sense.

Also I am aware you can dodge through players, I love doing this. So I think if you have superior timing / countering / footwork / dodging the spam should be heavily punishable instead of knocking them back, effectively a reset. It will probably raise the skill ceiling a bit no?

@galactic-geek of course and this only works for people who are braindead and can't track you with their mouse while spamming, or if they're using a controller. Really not hard to do a 180 if someone dodges though h you or jumps around you while sword spamming? ... I'm just suggesting blocking combos could add more depth to swordplay if you could intentionally punish people comboing into a block.

@xxcaptmichaelxx said in Small Cutlass Tweak:

I highly recommended that blocking should become more effective by introducing a small movement penalty to the attacker. In other words when an attacking player makes contact with a successful block then that attacking player should be slowed just a little bit so that the sword fight stays a bit more grounded and fun.

What happens most of the time is someone will block, but the attacker will just jump over and over in the attempt to score a hit as opposed to actually going for the sword lunge guard break.

The previous change that unrooted players when they blocked was a good change, let's do more to enhance sword play.

and have it take more skill to learn

@xxcaptmichaelxx maybe it is worth adding the ability to knock back the enemy during the blocking? Our second hand does not participate in battle, so can we add a dagger to the other hand?
And why don't we carry weapons on our belts?

@barmaley7580 said in Small Cutlass Tweak:

@xxcaptmichaelxx maybe it is worth adding the ability to knock back the enemy during the blocking? Our second hand does not participate in battle, so can we add a dagger to the other hand?
And why don't we carry weapons on our belts?

because of coding for the weapons on our belts I wish they would add it prolly not and yes a dagger would be good

@barmaley7580

If you can manage to block a full combo it will toss the attacker back. I if you can't then you'll get tossed away anyway if you live.

Currently blocking is in a better place than it has ever been, but I still feel there is more that can be done to enhance the effectiveness of block. To me a movement penalty to the attacker will pretty much fix the block and bring it in line.

@galactic-geek

Wait, I don't understand. This is intended as a block buff, not debuff.

@galactic-geek by punishment do you mean to erratically move around the target lol? I think we are on a completely different page when it comes to sword-combat.. Nobody mentioned standing still and blocking anyway, that was just your assumption. If you slash someone they should be "flinching" (being interrupted) and have to block (tweaks made in Haunted Shores patch but its not fixed). The problem I'm seeing is two pirates being able to spam into each other where the flinching mechanic isn't working... If you're trying to tell me you've never taken damage while slashing someone who is trying to slash you back then you're either very fortunate to not get this bug, or you don't engage in much PvP combat. Even players like Shockwavez3r0 complain about it constantly, he's top-tier solo PvPer... You can't tell me this isn't a problem lol. I get its hard for Rare to implement something like this with the latency and speed of weapons which is why I'm suggesting, whiffs be more punishable, blocking the third hit be more punishable, as in there are more windows to counter-attack and correctly trigger the flinching mechanic...

Quote from shockwave
Link to twitch https://clips.twitch.tv/ResourcefulPlumpPoxNomNom

Haunted Shores Mechanic Update:

Combat

Improvements have been made to hit registration when shooting at players who are using static interaction points around the world, e.g. ladders and cannons on islands, docks and the Sea Dogs’ delivery ship in The Arena.

When engaging in sword combat, attacking a player and landing the first hit will now prevent the rival player from retaliating, ensuring they are unable to attack through a three-hit combo. The rival player will still be able to block, so be prepared for counterattacks.

Players are prevented from switching between throwables while throwing to bypass inventory limits.

@galactic-geek said in Small Cutlass Tweak:

@xxcaptmichaelxx If you want a block buff, remove the slower movement and look penalty while blocking.

But they did, is working a lot better now. They need only to add that last step.

@galactic-geek
Well they removed the root when blocking, that was a good step no?

@galactic-geek
No, earlier when you performed a block you'd be rooted in place. That was fixed only a few months ago. Now when you block you can move, but not very fast.

@galactic-geek said in Small Cutlass Tweak:

@xxcaptmichaelxx said in Small Cutlass Tweak:

@galactic-geek said in Small Cutlass Tweak:

@xxcaptmichaelxx If you want a block buff, remove the slower movement and look penalty while blocking.

But they did, is working a lot better now. They need only to add that last step.

Nope, they did not. Moving and looking is still slower while holding block than it is when, well, not blocking.

Huh? Camera movement (looking) is not hindered by blocking, only movement speed..

This was probably unnecessary but anyway:

- YouTube

its hard to know how any of these suggestions will feel unless they're tested tbh, it might feel awful. What 100% needs to be addressed is existing mechanics that don't work correctly such as interrupt... Flinching works fine in games like chivalry but the timing is slightly slower so maybe easier on the server. Mordhau and Chivalry both have stamina/kicking to address spamming and to break someone's guard, but there is no concept of stamina in SoT.