Brawler Archive

Long time no see. Sorry about that but I was pretty dissapointed about the state of things for us melee types and needed to take a break from the game. I still think there are signifigant game balance issues that need to be addressed but (flamethrowers aside), things are certanly much better now than they were. They're good enough that I've started playing again at least, and I've had a couple of ideas that might make our lives better...

First Idea = Weapon Movement Penalties. That is - slowing down the players (and npcs) while in combat based on the weapon they have equipped. Personally I think the slowdown should be more based on the difficulty of using the weapon while moving than the weight of the weapon so it would only apply while you are attacking something. I think it should work something like:

Unarmed = No Speed Penalty
1h Melee = .05 Penalty
2h Melee = .1 Speed Penalty
Polearms = .15 Speed Penalty
Pistols = .2 Speed Penalty
Carbines = .3 Speed Penalty
Rifles = .4 Speed Penalty
Heavy Weapons = .5 Speed Penalty

The marksman will hate this but IMHO, the ability to kite INDEFINATELY is not an imbalance, it is an exploit. They keep saying that we shouldn't be bringing knives to a gunfight as if running full speed while shooting an assult rifle at something directly behind them is realistic. The penalties for the larger weapons are not really that high when you consider that these are the guys that can tag your mind pool for THOUSANDS of points (and DOT) at very long range. This would help us close with kiting marksmen because they would either have to unequip their weapon, let us catch them, or kill us before we got there. It would help us flee from chasing marksmen because we would be faster unless they unequipped their weapon. This one thing might be all we need to get melee and ranged balanced (or at least a lot more balanced).

Second Idea = Unified Toughness Ability. Toughness is one of the only defensive abilities that doesn't stack. It provides a damage reduction which in thory helps us tank better. I play a TK + Swordsman on Bria. When I'm unarmed or using knucks, it's my Unarmed Toughness that matters but when I'm using a sword, it's my 2h Toughness. Why not just have a single Toughness ability so that the defensive abilities from different professions will stack. If you're wondering why I'm suggesting this, try hunting something big that hits for lots of damage. Kimogillas,for example, hit hard enough to incap most players in one shot. The ranged guys can take them on because unless they get stupid, the Kimo will never get close enough to hit them. We don't get the luxury of picking off the mobs from a safe distance though so, we're not very effective at hunting high level mobs. I was hoping this would help with that by allowing us to boost our defensive abilities somewhat at the expense of some skill points.

Well, that's about it for now. Any thoughts, suggestions, etc. ???

Akuna