Development Cycle Archive
Thread: IC 1-15: Combat Roles; Swordsman
In a galaxy far, far away, it is a time of civil war. The Empire has taken control over the galaxy and attempted to build the ultimate battle station to enforce the will of the Emperor. The rebellion destroyed the fearsome Death Star and this galactic conflict is at its peak.
In Massively Multiplayer combat, each profession should have a distinct role. Each role should help define the profession and have a relationship with its abilities in combat. In popular fantasy games, wizards cast ranged spells, warriors are “tanks”, and clerics “heal”. Each archetype has a specific role in combat and they all depend on each other for success. Additionally, each role gives any particular player group a unique feel depending on how many of each type is involved in a group and the role they play when combat gets tough.
In a science-fiction oriented game, those traditional roles aren’t so clear cut. Most skills and abilities are redundant because of balance issues, which take away from the unique feel of the profession. Many players have stated that they would like to see SWG professions have a more unique feel to them and we would like to know what your thoughts are.
Some basic balance considerations are:
* Ranged and Melee Professions
In SWG, a key thing to consider about each profession and its role in combat is that there are many ranged combat classes and many melee combat classes. Each ranged combat profession should have a unique aspect to their “ranged” abilities that helps distinguish them from other ranged combat professions, and likewise, each melee combat profession should have a unique aspect to their “tanking” or melee abilities that helps distinguish them from other melee professions.
* Redundant vs. Unique Abilities
There are two basic set of combat skills any profession should have. The first are Redundant Abilities. These are abilities that either most or all combat professions posses, in other words, “everyman combat skills”. The second set of combat skills a profession should posses are Unique Abilities. Unique abilities are the abilities that give a profession its unique feel in combat. In other words, it defines the profession and its role in combat.
* Game Space
Another basic concept to keep in mind when thinking about combat professions and their role in combat is Game Space. The next big consideration for assessing combat abilities is where the combat takes place. There are indoor spaces and outdoors spaces. Indoor spaces would be dungeons, bases and the like and outdoor spaces would be wilderness and/or city spaces.
* PvP and PvE
In SWG, players can choose between PvE and PvP playstyles and even shift back and forth to play in elements of both. PvE is “Player versus Environment” and basically deals with fighting computer controlled enemies in combat. PvP is “Player versus Player” and is real players fighting real players and tends to be very tricky because anytime something in game is at stake (like faction equipment, etc), it is important to keep things fair and balanced, but also fun.
* Profession Lifespan
What is the profession’s role in its novice state and how should the skill progress over the course of a player’s time investment in the profession? At all times any given profession should have a distinct role and value in combat. As a player progresses from Novice to Master, the profession should reflect something special about the profession and also be fun to play.
Given the basic considerations listed above, please answer the following questions:
What defines theSwordsmanrole in combat?
What basic combat elements should they possess?
What offensive abilities?
What defensive abilities?
What unique abilities?
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
How could/should they interact with other professions?
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Request For Comments:
The community is invited to make commentsthrough April. At that time, the thread will be closed to further comments. Feel free to comment on any or all of the above items. Please stay on topic.
Our specials are a bit...bland at the moment. I've never really played many other classes, so I can't compare well, but I do think we deserve a knock-down or maybe some more status inflicting moves. Right now, we have five or six skills that aren't really all that different.
I think you could also give us a little more slack when it comes to HAM costs by using specials. I find myself getting out of a fight with more HAM left when I don't use them than when I do.
If you want to involve us in the GCW, I think it would help if our weapons fit more with the times. We've got blasters, droids, and interplanetary travel, but we still swing little swords around? Yes, I know you need to provide for all players, and this includes some sort of brawler class. I dunno, I guess I'm just rambling here.
Oh, and I forgot to add that we need a new weapon to replace the hammer. Please.
well i want to ask what is the swordsman stuff diffrent then the other meele jobs? it seems to be the most offence, but i was pikeman and i did more dmg then i do as swordsman and i woulds think that pikeman is the defence,and fencer and tka have both speed and defence, so....... what do we (swordsman) get?
o i think we sould get a title myrmidon instead of expert heavy swordsman, and a heat sword that has molten metal sry just posting my thoughts
What defines theSwordsmanrole in combat?
Close quarters high damage dealer with moderate defenses high AR weapons. (Make the cleaver AR3, cleavers are meant for hacking through steel and armor).
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Ability to mitigate melee damage well but not avoid as well (high toughness but less melee defense). Be able to put out high amounts of damage to a single target. (I think Pikemen should have most the AoE specials)
What offensive abilities?
Bleeds are our trademark so keep those, maybe a type of snare (Leg hit that slows enemy movement by 30% for x amount of time) Specials should depend on weapon used maybe a KD/dizzy with hammer. Bleeds with swords. Cleaver AR3 for hacking through armored opponents.
What defensive abilities?
High toughness (anyone weilding a heavy 2h sword should be tough) lower defense, not as agile counter attack is meant for faster weapons a person with a 2h weapon doing high damage should be using it to block hits. Counter attack maybe should be given to pikeman and block to swordsman that is if it is fixed and actually starts to do what the word means.
What unique abilities?
Bleed, attack the mind (again its our trademark), maybe a enraged mode where all attacks for 20 seconds are aoe.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
High damage dealer, ability to take fairly well, and have high AR weapons.
How could/should they interact with other professions?What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
Disadvantage from range so they will need ranged users as support, not the best tanks but able to do fairly well, need to be up close to do damage. They will be up front taking lots of damage in pve so they will need medic skills and/or doctor support.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Heavy damage dealers and also effective against armored units AT-ST, AT-AT, Turrets ect.
What defines the Swordsman role in combat?
I kind of think of 2 handed swordsman as the real heavy hitters,Masters of One on One Damage dealing,Swinging and hitting hard and deadly, they dont care as much about defence but are naturally tough due to their nature.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
High - Huge Damage dealers, Medium - Low Defence (Right now I think we are Medium damage, Horrible Defence)
What offensive abilities?
Bleeds and Mind Hits are our saving grace. Who doesnt want to use a sword to cut someones head off?
What defensive abilities?
Counterattack fits great, but feels too low, melee defence is OK, I dont know the difference between Toughness and Melee Defence.
What unique abilities?
Bleeds and Mind Hits must stay with 2 hand swords, We need a real knockdown not a posture down. I dont think Swordsman should focus on area attack. One area attack is nice. More than one AOE is redundant
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
Damage King for one on one.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Not the best defence, might need a healer around.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
Everyone should be able to solo, IMHO
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Kings of Damage.
Also as a By the way,
More accurracy is a must.
Top of the line weapons with -30 or even -7 its laughable. Should be +15 or +30
hall0559 wrote:Counterattack fits great, but feels too low, melee defence is OK, I dont know the difference between Toughness and Melee Defence
Just fyi, +Toughness is subtracted as a percentage of your enemies melee damage, and Melee Defense raises your enemies chance of a Miss.
What defines theSwordsmanrole in combat?
The Swordsman should be the melee heavy-hitter. He should deal out the most damage of anyone, and thus be the best "offensive tank" in the game.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Powerful melee combat with weak defense. Their specials should deliver massive damage and include effects like knockdowns or stuns as a side-effect.
What offensive abilities?
Swordsmen should have the most damaging melee attacks, though probably the slowest. Their specials should revolve around dealing even more damage.
What defensive abilities?
As a melee class they should have some melee defense capability, but it should probably be poorer than the other melee classes. Their ranged defense should be almost non-existant.
What unique abilities?
Specials that deal massive damage AND have side-effects like a knockdown or stun should be their hallmark. They might even be the class with the best combo-attacks.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
Massive damage-dealing. They should be the reason why people wear armor! Also, they act as decent tanks. Quite likely a group will put their Swordsman to tanking the best-armored target, or the one they want to kill first.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Swordsmen are not about subtlety. They want to get in close and start pounding away. This should give them a huge advantage over professions with poor to moderate defenses, but leave them fairly vulnerable to ranged attackers and those with strong melee defense like TKAs.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
The Swordsman is probably the worst melee class for taking damage, so they may rely on TKAs or Pikemen for assistance in surviving the fight. But their ability to dish out raw damage should far exceed anyone else's.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Second-line melee. After the TKAs and Pikemen go in to defend, the Swordsmen follow and dish out damage.
Added Question: What is their weakness or shortcoming in combat?
Poor defense makes them vulnerable to other professions, particularly the ranged fighters.
This kind of has to do with swordsman.
Add more bonuses for wookiees with powerhammers. Like +30 dmg when wookiees use it. Wookiees need some bonuses. +350 to health is not enough since they can't wear armor