Falchion being armour-piercing is probably a bug

[Agent_Ash]

I decided to update my post one more time for greater clarity (and I even updated the title).

Falchion in the game is armour-piercing and it looks like a mistake to me. Here are three facts.

Falchion's description doesn't mention armour-piercing attribute

To my knowledge all armour-piercing weapons have the 'armour-piercing' keyword in their description. Falchion doesn't. So either it being armour-piercing is a bug or the description is wrong, it's as simple as that.

Falchion being armour-piercing makes axe obsolete

I've had a few fun runs as zealot with an axe. I don't see why this weapon gets so much hate; it's fun and pretty effective.

However, falchion makes it obsolete. Falchion is basically the same as axe, except it's faster (axe has a pause in animation after 3 swings, falchion doesn't) so it has higher DPS and no drawbacks compared to the axe. Gameplay-wise it makes no sense.

It makes no sense from the point of view of realism

This is the LEAST important factor IMO, but I'll mention it anyway. The game's armour-piercing system is not realistic and I don't think it should be, it's created with a solid gameplay in mind, not simulation.

Nevertheless, let's be realistic for just one minute. Here are a few facts that you can treat however you like:

• You can't cut, slash or chop plate armour. Period.
  
• Ratmen are probably not wearing actual plate armour. Plate armour was extremely expensive and tailor-made, it was basically used only by the nobility. Regular soldiers could wear mass-produced munitions armour, which is a similar concept but it's not hardened or tempered, so it's much less sturdy. However, it's still very unlikely to be chopped, although it's imaginable that a heavy weapon like an axe could theoretically damage it (then again, so would maces and clubs, which don't work like that in the game, which is a wholly different issue).
  
• Real-life falchion is not a very well-studied weapon. There are few accounts of it and few of them have been recovered. The ones that have are very different in design; some look more like light swords, others like sabers, others more like modern machetes. However, in all cases a falchion is a single-edged sword designed for slicing through the target and it can't damage armour.

Conclusion

Since the description of the weapon doesn't mention it, I think falchion being armour-piercing is just an oversight and not intended. I love the weapon now, but I think it should be just a regular fast one-handed sword and nothing more.

[kesuga7]

Yeah i was very confused by thiss
Like why is my sword peircing armor?!?!

[Abomination713]

Why does Krubers mace/shield have zero armor damage with normal attack and only does like 25 damage when you charge attack when it's a weapon specifically designed to break armor? Cause the devs suck and don't want you to use shields.

[Hokou (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡]

Flail ineffective vs armor while falchion effective xD

[Myrmidon]

It's always been the case since V1 that flesh and armour weapons are reversed. It's very annoying.

[Gummiel]

Yeah its almsot liek the devs don't know how weapons and armors interact in the real world.

[Cat_Thulhu]

Falchion isn't actually armor piercing. It has the High Damage modifier, same as the Executioner Sword. Neither ACTUALLY pierce armor. Its just that they both do high enough damage on a swing, that it actually does significant enough damage, regardless of armor, that it is noticed.

Think it is a an internal balance number, to be honest. I think Armor was meant to reduct damage by N (being damage) x 0.5 (lets say), but instead it does N - 0.5 for high damage weapons. Armor Piercing is probably N - 0, or N - 0.25.
Im just guessing, and using these values as random numbers. But I'm guessing that is what happens, and why Falchion is more effective than Hachet, basically. The number that is meant to literally divide the damage dealt, is instead being subtracted for (specifically) High Damage weapons. Armor Piercing weapons work as they intend to, but High Damage weapons do not.

Again, just my guess. But Executioner Sword with High Damage AND Headshot? Well, currently it can one shot Stormvermin and Chaos Warriors on Champion. I feel like it's not meant to be, sadly.

[Captain Worthy]

Devs can't implement an actually realistic weapon simulation because then the Swedish feminists would get concerned that it would inspire people to violently attack in RL all the armoured knights with AP weapons.

[Mr. Guicken]

Originally posted by Mithrandir:

Devs can't implement an actually realistic weapon simulation because then the Swedish feminists would get concerned that it would inspire people to violently attack in RL all the armoured knights with AP weapons.

do you blame it on feminists when you catch your ♥♥♥♥ in your zip, too

[Grimmrog_SIG]

because none of these wepaons can pierce an armor even in RL and the implemention is just made to have different things do different things, thats why.

[kesuga7]

Originally posted by I <3 Mayflies:

Originally posted by Mithrandir:

Devs can't implement an actually realistic weapon simulation because then the Swedish feminists would get concerned that it would inspire people to violently attack in RL all the armoured knights with AP weapons.

do you blame it on feminists when you catch your ♥♥♥♥ in your zip, too

What do feminists have to do with this!? 0.o

[BACCALA]

Originally posted by kesuga7:

Originally posted by I <3 Mayflies:

do you blame it on feminists when you catch your ♥♥♥♥ in your zip, too

What do feminists have to do with this!? 0.o

M I S A N D R Y

[Medusahead]

The problem is not that it's armour piercing it's how armour works in general in this game. In vermintide 1 you could take any weapon and aim for the head and it would kill stormvermin in a reasonable amount of hits. Now you have chaos warriors who can take up to 30 power attacks to kill, shield vermin that take so much effort to kill from the front without a shield breaker that it isn't worth trying and spin 180 degrees every time you hit them from behind and still block the attack.

Oh and bosses like Skarrik which many weapons do so little damage against him that it's pointless to attack him so you just let your team mates kill him. In the first game you could kill any enemy with a reasonable amount of effort, even if it was weak against that enemy type, now it feels like you're breaking your finger and mouse button with the amount of hits some enemies take and how long some fights drag on for.

[Forelan]

Because falchion more like axe, than sword... Not slash-slash... But chop-chop)

[Frazzledragøn the Trustworthy]

Falchions are chopping weapons like machetes, not slashing weapons.
Also:

RIGHTOUS FURY GUIDES MY HAND - Saltzpyre swings the weapon with such force, he dun' care about no armour.

[Gummiel]

Originally posted by Forelan:

Because falchion more like axe, than sword... Not slash-slash... But chop-chop)

Doesnt really change anything, axes and other chop chop weapons are one of the worst types of weapon for dealing with armor, not enoguh of a surface contact area to make a dent or anything, and neither enough precision to hit through the cracks either