PvP idea: adding axes as weapons to break planks

  • TonyCP94
    Seafarer
    Insider

    Ahoy pirates !

    The idea is not from me but I would love to share it with you, so we can all talk about it and maybe make it happen.
    So, Axes !

    • Those would be weapons, but would also deal significantly less damages than the Cutlass. Their main purpose would be breaking planks on the ship being boarded.

    • Breaking those planks would take some time, depending on the size of the hole, same as nailing a plank.

    • You would be able to do the same on a previously broken mast and take its planks away to break it once more.

    • You could also use it to cut the ropes of a harpoon that has grabbed your ship (and why not adding a cooldown on the harpoon once the rope is cut)

    • You would also be able to fully repair your own ship (without any holes, making it brand-new) in any outpost for a full crate of planks (which can already be bought).

    Benefits:

    • Boarding ships would be much more about actually sinking the ship instead of spawnkilling its owners and waiting for your mates to pop a hole. Hence it would allow the defenders to have a chance to respawn and defend their ship once more.
    • Boarding would also be more difficult for the attacker since he would only have one reliable weapon (the axe being more of a tool than a weapon)
    • It would add some sick viking vibes

    Please don't hesitate to post your feedback and your ideas ! I do believe this would be a great addition to the game.

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  • D3ADST1CK
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    Founder

    Cannonballs work pretty good for that, and if you don't have any you can also just ram them into a rock or throw fire all over and wait for holes to appear.

    The only reason someone would purposely make their character weaker by picking an axe weapon would be because picking off planks would be faster than any of the above methods, which means it would be OP.

  • ladarius SOT
    Ship Mate

    @tonycp94 cannons already do the same thing and I don’t see the point in using something that takes a while when you could just hit the same place or another place with a cannon and get the same task done quicker. I think axes would be better as throwable weapons tbh.

  • TonyCP94
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    @mcgarnaglewolf @D3ADST1CK

    Indeed, cannonballs already do the trick, but this is not about ship fights, it's more about the boarding mechanic. Honestly, there is nothing else you can do except killing people and setting the ship on fire. Plus, it pushes attackers to spawnkill people (especially on sloops) which is not supposed to happen.

    The axe would make it more dynamic, you would spend some time breaking the planks while your enemies would be reviving each other or have an opportunity to respawn and defend their ship. On the attacking side, it would add more things to do on an enemy ship, because so far you only have 3 things: killing people, setting fire (optional) or drive the ship on an island...

    Also, you would need to damage their ship first before even thinking about using the axe, if they don't have any hole your boarding is pretty much useless

  • TonyCP94
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    @d3adst1ck What I mean is I don't think it is OP at all. I believe there would be some adjustments to make and that is for sure (the time necessary to pick a plank could increase for example), but this new mechanic in itself is very interesting and could make boarding more interesting.

  • ladarius SOT
    Ship Mate

    @tonycp94 my point still stands, there are faster ways to sink people while boarding. Nobody would use the axe if it does little damage compared to other weapons. And if you make it do more damage it would just be op. I think a throwable hatchet or tomahawk would fit better for an axe type weapon to be added.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
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    Founder

    @tonycp94 said in PvP idea: adding axes as weapons to break planks:

    @d3adst1ck What I mean is I don't think it is OP at all. I believe there would be some adjustments to make and that is for sure (the time necessary to pick a plank could increase for example), but this new mechanic in itself is very interesting and could make boarding more interesting.

    If it's more proficient at sinking ships than using cannons, fire or ramming into rocks it's OP. If it's not better at sinking ships than those methods, then no one will use it because they are weaker offensively (they'll just use double guns or equip a sword instead) which means it's pointless to bother adding.

    You also introduce a number of balance problems by providing a method of mostly silently sinking a ship if no crew are on board as well as introducing a permanent weakness into any ship that has suffered damage of any kind.

    Boarding doesn't need to be made more interesting. It's already an extremely powerful meta for sinking ships, because you need to disrupt the crew from repairing and bailing out water. Adding a method of dealing ship damage on top of that is overboard.

  • Odyssee mit Tee
    Sailor

    A long time ago I was actually very reluctant of boarding.
    It feels lame for me to this day to climb a ladder even on the open sea's in a naval battle.
    Immersion breaking like other stuff yeah yeah but this one never started to feel good or cool for me.

    The loud shots of the cannons, seeing the hits, this is what I always felt was cool for the longest time.
    But then more and more people noticed how they could just kept "turteling" in their ships and wait it out, which feels utterly stupid to me.

    It negates even the superiority of many cannons on bigger ship to some extend.
    The ability to damage pirates inside a ship that is shot at with cannonballs is way too small.

    • These cannonballs should still kill someone in the ship if they stand one meter behind where it hits
    • Wood splinters would fly everywhere and add a weaker radious of AoE damage too
      Which will get rid of the 'unbreakable crew' as well.

    Would love to see it implemented.
    Boarding and pirate killing may be a form of skill.
    Yet it never started to feel that immersive and cool since it was the only way to support what should already be destructive in itself.
    .

    It feels so stupid to be able to utterly pummel a ship with cannonballs and know it means nothing since behind these frail line of planks "are unbreakable pirates" which strangely die instantly if hit directly by a cannonball on deck, but not inside the ship.

    When in truth the projectile would rip a tunnel through it and turn it into a switzercheese and rip the vessel utterly appart after like +8 hits.

  • Capt Soul Beard
    Commander
    Insider

    Fun idea but your suggestions need to be looked at by the team so they can balance it if so.

  • TonyCP94
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @mcgarnaglewolf The throwing weapon is a whole new mechanic though... And why not, I just haven't thought about it yet and it could be fun !

    @D3ADST1CK I get your point, and I must say you are right. With those axes you could find a ship doing any event/tall tale or whatever, board them from afar and sink them without any noise. However, whatever you are doing, leaving your ship out of sight is an extremely bad idea, wether there is axes or not, and that is something most people have learnt the hard way and are not doing anymore once they reach a certain level. Hence, I don't believe these axes would change anything much. They would only punish people who do not keep an eye on their boat which is only fair, don't you think ?

    Also, when you say "if it's more proficient at sinking ships [...] and if it's not [...]" you assume they would not be balanced in the first place. They would most probably need some, but there is room for that: you can change the time it takes to remove a plank, decrease/increase the damage it deals, the noise it makes, and why not, the move speed of your pirate when he wields it... All of those are variables you can adapt to the situation to make this new thing balanced and viable.
    And yeah, it would add some new things to do on a ship. You would do it or not, depending on your play style, simple as that :)

  • TonyCP94
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @odyssee-mit-tee I like that wood splinters thing mate but I'm afraid that's not the subject of the original post :/

    @Capt-Soul-Beard I sure hope they would ! Do you know if they often visit the forum ?

  • Capt Soul Beard
    Commander
    Insider

    @tonycp94 said in PvP idea: adding axes as weapons to break planks:

    @odyssee-mit-tee I like that wood splinters thing mate but I'm afraid that's not the subject of the original post :/

    @Capt-Soul-Beard I sure hope they would ! Do you know if they often visit the forum ?

    Not to bring you down, but it feels like never xD

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