The sword in its current state I find to ruin close combat all together. All to often while juking and jiving I'm greeted with a single sword swipe that stops me dead in my tracks for not one or two hits but three total. This results in an near instant loss of half my health. The combat was much more dynamic and fluid when there was no stun penalty for being hit by a sword. It was about who could maneuver better than the other. Now it's a sword spam fest to get that first swipe. Sword combat when this game first released was a dance of timing and skill. Not it's a button mashing fest catered to console players. Please for the love of the Sea gods remove the stun on hit with the sword. I've been playing since release, back when the main complaint was "No Content". I stuck around during that dry spell while the talent at Rare worked on spicing up the game. You know what kept me coming back? Combat! Pure, chaotic and unadulterated combat. Now it's to a point where I don't even care to board anymore lest I be bested by a flurry of four weed whackers coming at me on a galleon.
On a positive note, the fatigue penalty for not hitting an opponent I feel was a step in the right direction. Please, make sword combat great again. Remove the 3 hit death lock. Lets get back to skilled dances with blades and away from a button mash spam fest.
Thanks for all you do Rare, I look forward to your input on the matter.
