Could this game be better with a BLOCK mechanic?

[jep1000]

Most games with dodge and parry mechanics, also have a block mechanic. Very useful if you're not good with dodging/parrying.

Thoughts?

[Soft Kleenex]

that could work, parry being shortest window with highest reward, dodge in middle taking no damage, and block would have the biggest window but you take a small amount of damage

[FlappyDappy]

parry kinda has a block mechanic, doesnt it? i find it hard to track the numbers. you can half parry n full parry?

[jep1000]

Originally posted by FlappyDappy:

parry kinda has a block mechanic, doesnt it? i find it hard to track the numbers. you can half parry n full parry?

For blocking I was kinda thinking how it works in other games: you can just hold the button and not think of timing at all. And maybe just get a reduced damage and maybe added cost (e.g. 1 AP per hit)

So it will still be easier than dodging but not as effective. But can still save your a$$ from being one-shotted

[FlappyDappy]

Originally posted by jep1000:

Originally posted by FlappyDappy:

parry kinda has a block mechanic, doesnt it? i find it hard to track the numbers. you can half parry n full parry?

For blocking I was kinda thinking how it works in other games: you can just hold the button and not think of timing at all. And maybe just get a reduced damage and maybe added cost (e.g. 1 AP per hit)

So it will still be easier than dodging but not as effective. But can still save your a$$ from being one-shotted

yeah word i get ya. like the defend command in the earlier final fantasys.

or the forward n back stance of the party member effecting dmg n def stats.

i dont see it making it better or worse. the option would be okay to have. too lazy to press b or square. sure negate a lil dmg for less effort.

[Svlyn]

pressing dodge is like block. Its parry with a more forgiving window. Just saying.

[FlappyDappy]

in my head a block means take reduced damage not negate it 100.

Originally posted by Svlyn:

pressing dodge is like block. Its parry with a more forgiving window. Just saying.

[jep1000]

Originally posted by Svlyn:

pressing dodge is like block. Its parry with a more forgiving window. Just saying.

The blocking I have in mind doesn't even require you to think about timing. So players that suck at dodging have an alternative.

[KombatKaine]

Originally posted by jep1000:

Originally posted by FlappyDappy:

parry kinda has a block mechanic, doesnt it? i find it hard to track the numbers. you can half parry n full parry?

For blocking I was kinda thinking how it works in other games: you can just hold the button and not think of timing at all. And maybe just get a reduced damage and maybe added cost (e.g. 1 AP per hit)

So it will still be easier than dodging but not as effective. But can still save your a$$ from being one-shotted

no, it wouldnt work. heres why:

the game is balanced around taking 0 damage, or full damage, assuming you are at the appropriate level for the encounter you are facing. if they add a block mechanic that requires no timing, only holding the button, functionally that becomes the "full damage" to be scaled upon, since there is 0 reason to ever not be holding down the block button. so to balance this, they would have to increase the damage everything does.

the game is designed around parry/dodge. parry/dodge IS the game, not a mechanic. everything else is the mechanics. i understand that its easy for some, hard for others, but thats just gaming in general. not every game is for everyone. im bad at FPS games and soulslike games. but i dont go on the forums asking them to add an aimbot to Warzone because im bad at aiming, or nerf all the enmies in elden ring because im not good at the game. i just dont play them. im not trying to throw shade here, im just stating that games arent and cant be designed for everyone. and theres nothing wrong with not being good at something. but wanting it to be changed to suit you is a little unfair to everyone else who does enjoy something.

BUT, if you still want to play, its an RPG. use the RPG elements to your advantage. stacking defense/vitality effectively does exactly what you want blocking to do. it reduces the damage you take, and increases the number of hits you can take for free. no timing necessary. then you can run healing spells to recover from those hits. the game was designed with this option in mind, by way of most weapons scaling with either DEF, VIT or both, meaning you are gaining damage while building defensively.

[jep1000]

Originally posted by KombatKaine:

the game is balanced around taking 0 damage, or full damage, assuming you are at the appropriate level for the encounter you are facing. if they add a block mechanic that requires no timing, only holding the button, functionally that becomes the "full damage" to be scaled upon, since there is 0 reason to ever not be holding down the block button. so to balance this, they would have to increase the damage everything does.

Disagree that adding blocking would mess with the game balance. And the blocking I have in mind is NOT FREE. It would mitigate some damage but not all (just like in other games) and it would have an AP cost.

So this would be something in the middle: 0 damage-->partial damage-->full damage.

No real need to scale damage as it is now. Players good at parrying can still keep on parrying but blocking will just give an alternative.

[Agranite (Luong)]

Why don't people just switch to story mode. the difference is just lower damage from the enemy, and the window frame to dodge/parry/jump is larger. There's no one to shame you on playing the game in an easier mode, unless you are bragging about playing it on easy mode.

[jep1000]

Originally posted by Agranite (Luong):

Why don't people just switch to story mode. the difference is just lower damage from the enemy, and the window frame to dodge/parry/jump is larger. There's no one to shame you on playing the game in an easier mode, unless you are bragging about playing it on easy mode.

Don't misunderstand, my thinking of adding blocking is to add more alternatives, NOT just to make the game easier.

And with blocking as a mechanic, you can have a myriad of Pictos that center around it too. So that means more build options. Maybe.

[KombatKaine]

Originally posted by jep1000:

Originally posted by KombatKaine:

the game is balanced around taking 0 damage, or full damage, assuming you are at the appropriate level for the encounter you are facing. if they add a block mechanic that requires no timing, only holding the button, functionally that becomes the "full damage" to be scaled upon, since there is 0 reason to ever not be holding down the block button. so to balance this, they would have to increase the damage everything does.

Disagree that adding blocking would mess with the game balance. And the blocking I have in mind is NOT FREE. It would mitigate some damage but not all (just like in other games) and it would have an AP cost.

So this would be something in the middle: 0 damage-->partial damage-->full damage.

No real need to scale damage as it is now. Players good at parrying can still keep on parrying but blocking will just give an alternative.

i get what you're saying, but even with an AP cost, 0 timing required effectively means that the blocked damage is the damage floor, since you would block every single ability, as you rarely have 0 AP.

i dont think were on the same page here about the damage intake, but ill concede that point for now.
if there was a block mechanic, the only scenario where i could see it being ok would be another timing mechanic, more lenient than dodge. (idk the actually numbers here, so ima just use some arbitrary numbers) if the windows were as such:
parry - .25sec
dodge - .5sec
block - .75sec
maybe i could see that being ok.
the problem i see with the no timing block is the it removes a core functionality of the game. without the timing mechanics, the game is honestly a pretty paint (no pun intended) by numbers turn based RPG, nothing special. and when a mechanic like the blocking you described is put into the game, those who would not normally use it would now feel obligated to in come scenarios, because not doing so would be suboptimal, even though it wasnt a mechanic they wanted. like, not interacting with the block mechanic would be self-imposed difficulty, rather than game-imposed difficulty. they are functionally identical, but one feels WAY worse for the player.
EDIT: Edited because i cant type worth a ♥♥♥♥.

[jep1000]

Originally posted by KombatKaine:

i dont think were on the same page here about the damage intake, but ill concede that point for now.
if there was a block mechanic, the only scenario where i could see it being ok would be another timing mechanic, more lenient than dodge. (idk the actually numbers here, so ima just use some arbitrary numbers) if the windows were as such:
parry - .25sec
dodge - .5sec
block - .75sec
maybe i could see that being ok.
the problem i see with the no timing block is the it removes a core functionality of the game. without the timing mechanics, the game is honestly a pretty paint (no pun intended) by numbers turn based RPG, nothing special. and when a mechanic like the blocking you described is put into the game, those who would not normally use it would now feel obligated to in come scenarios, because not doing so would be suboptimal, even though it wasnt a mechanic they wanted. like, not interacting with the block mechanic would be self-imposed difficulty, rather than game-imposed difficulty. they are functionally identical, but one feels WAY worse for the player.
EDIT: Edited because i cant type worth a ♥♥♥♥.

Yeah, I guess a timing that's more lenient than dodge makes sense.