Use of Polearms, half-swording and some combat mechanics ideas

[Pierdzimir]

Hello, I was doing some research on polearms and i found out that grapling, hooking and pulling was a very important part of using them. People used hoocks and curves of the blade to hook on opponents legs, shields etc to throw them off balance or disarm them. It would be very interesting if we could have a such mechanics here in game. Also it should be possible for ous to ratate pole to allow ous to choose which side we want to strike with. For example poleaxe has a spike and blunt hammery thing on the other side of pole. Instead of making swords do more damage against plate, we could also get an option to half-swording. It would allow to maybe knock enemy off balance and finish him off with a dagger? I think that making swords do some damage do plate armor isn't as cool as allowing you to do some historical tactics.

[ClassicMetal]

There was at some point talk about some kind of grappling/pulling mechanic that would make hooks work better. Haven't heard anything in a while though.

[Pierdzimir]

It would make combat much more interesting. It's not a big deal in PvE, but they want to add some form of co-op, and this technique would make a huge differance in PvP skirmishes.

[Gheist]

A lot of what you suggested is indeed in the game, you can hook and trip up people for instance with weapons. Half-swording is done when you stab with a longsword. They want to include stances for all of us HEMA guys and other mechanics are being discusses. How it all plays out we'll have to wait and see.

[Pierdzimir]

I don't think there is a technique for hooking your opponents right now. If you're lucky enought to hook enemy it's more by accident. I wish there was a way (like alternate attack) that will be only used for hooking and turning pole weapon around.

[Gheist]

Ah, well I can do it fairly consistently myself after quite a bit of practice. The potential for most combat manuovers is built into the engine, it's a matter of figuring out how to manipulate the character to pull those off. They are continually updating the combat and a lot of what you brought up has been discussed and some of it will indeed be in the game. For instance I can get my character to essentially flick his wrist around to get me quick little redirect cuts. You can perform draw cuts, you can pull someone's feet out from under them with the billhook and various other curved weapons. I can also consistently tackle enemies and grapple them over. A lot of it is there already, it's just nuanced and you don't start to realize it until 20+ hours in. That's both the major draw of this game and critcism by those that don't get it.

Basically I just wanted to let you know, some of what you asked for can be done, some is in the works, some may never come to pass but it's at least been brought up and the devs are aware of the want for it.

[Pierdzimir]

Cool, do you know any tutorials that mention those techniques? I myself have20+ hours but i mostly do stabby stabby and overhead blows with polearms. I haven't figured out hot to hook yet.

[Bare Mettle]

We do plan to introduce specififc mechanics for these things. Wielding the same weapon in different ways is something we want to add, and one of the close combat techniques you can't unlock yet is supposed to be "Draw". The idea of this technique is that by holding the alternate attack button immediately after landing a hit you will pull your weapon towards you, allowing things like hook and pull with a polearm or additional draw cuts.

[Pierdzimir]

That's really cool. How about ranged weapons? Will i be able to re-use arrows, bolts and javelins?