In this topic I will describe the problems I encountered in general in the game involving Weapon Movesets, and I will highlight some specific examples.
I will also delve into the details of each weapon in the game in future topics which will be divided by weapon type, there will be a list at the end of the topic if you are interested (in these topics I will also talk about the runes with which the weapons are already equipped).
I’m not evaluating the damage, Every now and then I might mention that an attack doesn’t do as much damage as it should in relation to the other moves of the weapon but I wouldn’t compare the weapons to each other.
A little off topic: Focus gain and stamina and weight, are chosen arbitrarily based on the weapon class ignoring the Moveset and this creates balancing problems.
In my opinion all weapons should be equally strong and therefore they should also have the same weight (even if it doesn’t make much sense from a realism point of view).
Focus gain per Second should also be similar between all weapons.
And stamina costs should be chosen based on the specific moveset of the weapon and not based on the class
Weapon Movesets are Often Incomplete
To explain what I mean by “incomplete” let’s start by taking a look at the structure I use to describe weapons:
Weapon Name
General description of the problems of the weapon, its general problems and a possible solution.
-
Basic Attack: …its problems and a possible solution
Charged Basic Attack: …its problems (its probable absence) and a possible solution -
Running Attack: …its problems (its possible absence) and a possible solution
Charged Running Attack: …its absence (only exception Chipped Daggers) and a possible solution -
Roll Attack: …its problems (its possible absence) and a possible solution
Charged Roll Attack: …its problems (its almost certain absence) and a possible solution
I think you can already see what I mean now, (Ignoring the “Charged Running Attack” which only Chipped Daggers have) Very few weapons have all types of attacks.
This is obviously not always a problem, whether it’s a problem depends more on the weapon (heavy weapons without charged attack are much worse), the build (if you have found enchantments that enhance charged attacks or if you need charged attacks to break ice) and the player playstyle (Maybe you like enemies coming at you as you charge up your attack and have a playstyle that relies on planning).
But it’s always a missed opportunity, there is never a good reason to take away one of these options from the player (or rather the only reason is that maybe the basic attack is also good as a Roll Attack or as a Running Attack, but there is never a reason not to add a charged version of an attack other than the development time).
What is a good Moveset?
It is obvious that there is a certain degree of subjectivity behind this question.
Many would say: “let me use the Weapon and only after having tried it I will be able to tell you, if it feels good or not”, this is a very reasonable take, Essentially by trying out the weapon you can determine whether you want to use it again or not or if you’re having fun with it. But this it is entirely subjective.
In my opinion, this problem can be discussed in a more objective way. Especially when it comes to giving good feedback to developers, This doesn’t mean I will ignore the feel of the weapons, but we also have more concrete factors.
Movesets should be made more carefully, there is no need to fill the game with weapons if 60% of them they are of no use to anyone, and potentially ruin the experience for players who use them (or try to but end up disappointed) rather than enhancing the experience with replayability and customization.
In general it seems that every time developers try to make a “simple and effective” weapon the result is a good weapon that does everything it’s supposed to do well and has many options for combat approaches, and is effective and intuitive, but then they add weapons in the same categories, and try to do something different and experiment (which is a good thing) but too often the results are weapons that lack the practicality, (weapons that are half baked) for each category of weapon there is almost always only one or two “good” weapons (and often one of these is the “basic” weapon) then there are some weapons that have some gimmicks, which can be fun but in other aspects the weapon has obvious “friction” points and overall are less usable.
We have weapons that don’t work as well as players would like/expect to like the old old bows (the only Focus one) that in my opinion were good off-hand (just a bit underpowered and limited in rune selection) but were not good bows (another e.g. a heavy mace that moves smoothly and a sword that is used as a mace),
A little off topic: I would like the small crossbow to be off-hand and be similar to the old bows but with more runes, and I would like it to be a book or orb which is also used in a similar way but has different runes.
And then there are the weapons that Fail maybe the gimmicks do not work or have serious flaws like heaving an attack the is so slow that using it is almost always a mistake and or when compared to the “complete” weapons are clearly worse in every way, clanky and not as fun or miss features.
But I can only talk about many of these flaws only by talking about the specific example and that’s what I did for the bows and what I will do with the other weapons in the other topics. But I can speak of the Clunkiness that often occurs in similar ways in different weapons.
Clunky Weapons/Attacks
Every attack in this game has a:
Windup: The part of the animation where the actual attack hasn’t started yet but you’ve already lost control of the character (a charged attack increases the duration of this phase).
Execution: The part of the animation where the actual attack hitboxes are active
Recovery: The part of the animation where the actual attack has finished but you still cant’ control of the character (lifting the greatsword off the ground after attacking)
If one of these animation lasts too long the Clunkiness problem occurs, obviously a knife and a greatsword have very different speeds and the correct amount of Windup & Execution & Recovery depends on the weapon, and there is also an internal coherence to the weapon, for example if the first and second attack have a certain speed if the third is much slower and does not do more damage it is a problem.
If an attack is slow or not you can tell based in the context of the weapon, when too often it is better to avoid it, that is a problem, and this happens more often than one would expect.
And sometimes weapons have an attack that is so slow that it is not just good to avoid it, is so bad to use the using it might as swell be a trap! This is a serious problem.
Obviously there are also weapons that suffer from Clunkiness to a lesser degree, and removing the Clunkiness in these weapons would be more of a QoL issue but in my opinion it would be important to do so because it would make the game and the weapon more fun. It often also is a ferly straightforward change that should be easy to implement, and I’ll give you an example that I think everyone can understand and easily test (and I also take this opportunity to show you how I review weapons):
Key Symbols:
: Perfect/Low margins of improvement (ways to improve the attack )
: Should be improved
: Doesn’t work well/It’s terrible
: It could be problematic but I have to test more
Blood-Rusted Sword
This is the weapon that introduces you to the game, and it’s almost perfect,the only flaw of this weapon is that with the third and final attack of each combo has a recovery animation that is too slow.
In my opinion if there wasn’t this recovery animations the entire weapon would be even more fluid and nice to use, the addition of these recovery frames was done to give the weapon a clear 1-2-3 rhythm, for me it’s not important from a gameplay point of view as it reduces the fluidity of the moveset and instead makes it a little clunky (it’s not much given that the time isn’t very long but in my opinion it’s not worth it).
If the 1-2-3 rhythm it’s so important it can be done by putting a cooldown only on attacks at the end of the third attack, so the character can still move using a dodge rune etc. but the rhythm of the weapon is preserved.
If the third attack needs to be slower, at least it should deal more damage and stagger more. Otherwise, it feels like you’re being punished for finishing the attack combo (which is the opposite of what should happen, finishing the combo is something that should reward the player since he managed to find a window to do 3 attacks in a row without being interrupted).
-
Basic Attack: Slash horizontally 2 times then a thrust, This Moveset has been a video game classic since forever. A principle of game design is that the further you go in a sequence of attacks the stronger the attacks become, as finding windows to finish the combo is difficult (this happens in almost all weapons even in NRFTW but it is often done in a too simple and superficial way)
Charged Basic Attack: Each attack has its own charged version, 10/10 Perfect. -
Running Attack: Slash horizontally 2 times then a thrust While Dashing forward before each attack.
Charged Running Attack: It’s obvious that the first attack of the running attack combo isn’t chargeable, but there’s no reason why subsequent attacks shouldn’t be, this is not necessarily a weapon flaw but having the option would be a bonus without any negative consequences. -
Roll Attack: Series of vertical attacks the third act is a double attack.
Charged Roll Attack: Each attack has its own charged version, 10/10 Perfect.
You can check for yourself, Try using this weapon to do one attack and then roll, then two attacks and then roll, and finally three attacks and then roll.
You will immediately notice the difference with the third attack.
Thanks for reading this far. Now is time is to take a look at the individual weapons in more detail.
Weapon Movesets Reviews (Work in Progress)
Dual Wielding
- Double DAGGERS Movesets and Runes can be Improved
- … (Work in Progress)
One-Handed
- KNIFE Movesets can be Improved
- (Work in Progress)
- …
Two-Handed
- NEW BOWS Movesets and Runes can be Improved
- CURVED GREATSWORD Movesets Must be Improved
- (Work in Progress)
- …
Unique
- …
What do you think about the current situation of Weapons Movesets?
- Too often when I try a new weapon I don’t like it
- Too Many weapons are too weak (ignoring the moveset)
- I have a different opinion on this problem (please comment)
- I would like to see the criticism/talk of the weapons I used (please comment)
