Hello! If you're not familiar with the video game 𝘝𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, then this article won't be relevant or interesting to you. You can check it out here:
Vintage StoryA large portion of players find the game's combat systems lacking at present, but few agree on how to improve them. I can't solve that issue, but I can add to it by throwing my own opinions in with the others! So anyway, here's my little proposal.
Hit registration for melee is done in one of two ways, depending on the weapon used and attack type performed.
Direct attacks use hitscan augmented with some auto-aim, because aiming is never really a challenge in combat; it only serves to make small targets annoying. This is due to the lack of weak points and blocking hurtboxes.
Area attacks use a moving hitbox, permitting multi-target damage. The downside is that you need to physically aim, which can cause problems for the player when enemies are too short (rabbits, crawling drifters). This is arguably good for balance.
Melee weapons generally provide two attack types.
Basic attacks can be performed by pressing the attack button; holding the button will result in continuous basic attacks.
Strong attacks can be performed by pressing the attack button twice; holding the button on your second press will result in continuous strong attacks.
Most basic attacks are fast but weak and use direct registration, whereas strong attacks are slow but powerful and use area registration.
Basic: Stab
* Direct
+ Speed
* Range
* Damage
Strong: Swipe
* Area
- Speed
- Range
* Damage
Basic: Stab
* Direct
+ Speed
+ Range
* Damage
Strong: N/A
Basic: Poke
* Direct
+ Speed
+ Range
- Damage
Strong: Strike
* Area
- Speed
- Range
+ Damage
Basic: Chop
* Area
+ Speed
* Range
- Damage
Strong: Split
* Area
- Speed
- Range
+ Damage
Shields are guaranteed to absorb damage when held. Absorption starts at a fairly high value (dependent on tier), but quickly reduces while continuously blocking. The value resets upon re-initiating a block, which has a 0.6 second cooldown. Absorbing damage does not end a block, nor reset its absorption.
Two special ranged features are detailed here.
Scaled damage refers to a change in durability cost dependent on the relationship between the target's and projectile's damage tiers. For instance, a steel arrow is damaged less by hitting a raccoon than a nightmare drifter.
Shred refers to any effect that only activates when the target's damage tier is lower than the projectile's.
Damage ramps up while charging spear throw, reaching its maximum damage after about a second. This prevents spamming from being effective against non-puny targets.
Spear has high damage and a boosted scaled damage effect (so hitting tiny enemies is negligible), but cannot pierce enemies.
Arrows are guaranteed to pierce the first enemy they hit when shred applies to said enemy (see above). They are also subject to scaled damage.