Pikeman Archive

HAM-SPECIALS system:

Im aware you guys are already making some changes to this system, supposedly to make it so that people dont just spam specials to no end plus so that using a special doesn't hurt the player like it does now (aka one special does damage to ham bar, usually the equivalent of getting a heavy hit by a hostile). Here's what I would suggest:

- Add a fourth set of ham bars: Combat(primary) and Discipline(secondary). This would be the ham bars that are exclusively for combat specials. However, unlike the Health/Action/Mind ham bars, the Combat bars cannot be migrated and do not use migration points (aka you cant take points out of your health bar and plug them into the combat bar).

The size of the combat bar is tied to a skillmods in proffessions..just like mitigation mods. Discipline mods are tied to the weapon being equipped and will only use the mods found in the specific proffession.

For example (0=none 1=smallest 3=biggest)

Pistoleer: size 2 combat bar, size 1 discipline bar
Smuggler: size3 combat bar, size 0 discipline
Bounty Hunter: size 1 combar bar, size2 discipline bar (applies to both pistols and carbines)
Carbineer: size 2 combat bar, size2 discipline bar
Rifleman: size 1 combat bar, size 3 discipline bar
Marksman: size1 combat bar, size 0 discipline mods.

Hybrids:
Commando: size 2 combat bar, size 3 discipline bar
Bounty Hunter: size 1 combar bar, size2 discipline bar (applies to both pistols and carbines)

Melee:
Brawler: size1 combat bar, size1 discipline bar
Teras Kasi: Size 3 combat bar, size 2 discipline bar
Fencer: Size 3 combat bar, size 2 discipline
Swordman: Size 3 combat bar, size 2 discipline
Pikeman: Size 3 combat bar, size 3 discipline


Combat bar is the bar that will be used up for specials only, Discipline is its efficiency (aka like focus, strength and quickness). There is no regeneration bar (aka constitution,stamina,willpower) because the combat bar regenerates at a fixed rate for everyone over time (when not in combat players regen 5 points per second) and it regenerates per non-special attack (aka autoattack, players regen 10 points per autoattack).

Each discipline mod size reduces the 'cost' of a special by 15%, each combat mod size gives 300 points to 'spend' in specials.

As always, the mods are given throught the trees. Only at master level does each class receive its highest mod. Proffessions with size1 as its highest will be given that mod at novice box. Those with size3 as highest get size1 at novice, size2 at box3, size3 at master.

But how to make this work so that people dont spam specials? Easy, just ADD up the current weapon's health/action/mind costs and make that be the 'combat' cost of the special.. before the special's ham modifier of course. So a weapon with 20/50/40 ham cost performing a special that has 1.5 cost modifier, would cost 165 'combat points'.

So if a player with size2 combat and size2 discipline (carbineer for example) uses this attack, he has 600 combat points to spend and a 30% reduction in cost. 115 points per this attack, this player can now only really 'spam' 5 attacks before he's outta juice.. and he'd have to autofire for 11 seconds before he has regenerated enough combat points to fire one more special off.

Bleed System:

Simply put, make wounds=bleed .

'bleed' specials should not do any damage to a target but instead should cause wounds to target. Of course, wounds would also be subject to armor rating (hitting an AR1 with AP0 means 50% less wounds that it would do to an AR0 target)

Per every 1 wound, the target should bleed 1 pnt per tick in the ham bar that was wounded. This neatly ties in with the current system that only one bleed is allowed per person and bleeds cannot be stacked... to prevent people from the hit-bleed-and-run exploits. For if you want to bleed a target to death you would need to KEEP hitting the target to cause enough wounds in a ham bar that it will actually have the effect of the pre-patch stacked bleeds. Tie this in the above HAM system and you will see that to make a target get a real heavy bleed would require about 30 seconds worth of only using bleed specials on a target. While this sounds a bit odd, it turns bleeds into tactical attacks and group-oriented attacks (5 swordmen whacking the mind bar of a target with bleeds WILL cause serious mind wounds and thus a big bleed on the target).

To prevent diseases from becoming the cuases of super bleeds, simply make a target NOT bleed if its under the effects of disease. And bleeds would not kill, they stop the ham bar at 1 pnt, just like current poisons and disease rules.


Abilities for Melee's:

(NOTE: This suggestion does NOT tie in with the above suggestions, its independent and is suggested to be added to the CURRENT game system)

Teras Kasi receives the benefit of healing wounds, poisons, diseases, force of Will and self-boost.

Give the other proffessions a 'power boost' of their own:

Fencer: A powerboost that boosts Constitution and Stamina by 50% of the Health ham bar.
Swordman: powerboost that boosts Focus and Quickness by 50% of the Action bar
Pikeman: powerboost that boosts Strength, Constitution, quickness and stamina by 50% of the Focus bar.

Add these abilities at MASTER level.

This is so that the other melee proffessions have their own unique ability similar to the tka, but still gives tka the vast benefit of the healing wounds, poisons/diseases and force of will.

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tacwraith wrote:

supposedly to make it so that people dont just spam specials to no end

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I hope this is notthe reason for changing the system, because anyone with group attacks would sufferseverlywithout the ability to constantly use specials to control the crowd.

Let's just face it, Carbines and Polearms have too high HAM costs!

turrix, what do you prefer?

hitting a 15k ham heavy armor mob for a mere500 damage with a good and damage sliced LVA or hitting it for 300 wounds with same lva every hit on one ham bar 8 times then doing 500 damage to the ham bar .. knowing the creature will begin to bleed for 2400 in a few seconds while you do the 500 damage?

the whole points of bleeds are to 'add' damage to your normal damage. in many cases its the bleeds that save your butt... because the mob hits harder than you, faster than you and has 10 times your ham. bleeds expedite. Go ask your local commando just how badly the flamer is now that the dot ticks for nothing worth mentioning, when before it took out huge chunks per tick.

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tacwraith wrote:

turrix, what do you prefer?

hitting a 15k ham heavy armor mob for a mere500 damage with a good and damage sliced LVA or hitting it for 300 wounds with same lva every hit on one ham bar 8 times then doing 500 damage to the ham bar .. knowing the creature will begin to bleed for 2400 in a few seconds while you do the 500 damage?

the whole points of bleeds are to 'add' damage to your normal damage. in many cases its the bleeds that save your butt... because the mob hits harder than you, faster than you and has 10 times your ham. bleeds expedite. Go ask your local commando just how badly the flamer is now that the dot ticks for nothing worth mentioning, when before it took out huge chunks per tick.

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Good point...I guess i didn't quite understand you. In that case.../agree

Well, both systems favor Pikers, I like it!
but the other professions wouldn't, well it doesn't sound like a preferable system to the current, but I sure do like favoring Pikers!

The truth is there are about 50 differnt ways they could manage HAM that would be perfectly acceptable. Yours is a good one.

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ArkMindSpear wrote:
The truth is there are about 50 differnt ways they could manage HAM that would be perfectly acceptable. Yours is a good one.

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