A Kingly Challenge to all Warriors!

[lvb2555]

In the keenest interest of pseudoscientification and alchemy and what-have-yous, come and brave the depths of Daragoth with extreme restrictions placed on your soul by the most helpful priests in the healing college of Deralia!

Single weapon specialization! Why? Science, Comfloundit!

Goal: To promote the utmost in teamwork and strategic play, with the inevitable and eventual discovery of where the_wall in player advancement arises with such restrictions in mind.

Rules: Ye shalle be restricted to one weapon and one weapon only. Twinking *thineself* is acceptable in such cases as to where the item in question will be unobtainable without said twink. *wink wink* Hearty restrictions will be in place, atleast for the time, on the twinking of the fabled Elbow, *ahem*, I mean LBoH. Ah damn it all, the bag that magically holds things.

Current Party Makeup:

Worfaire, the macely Basher.
Zeddicus the Mage, yours truly.

Accepting applications for:
Swordsman
Axe Handlers
Archers
Lineman
Martial Artist
Dagger Specialist. (Shanker just sounds so wrong.)
Mage (To split the support workload, not necessary but surely will be helpful in the advent.)

Will be posting observations about ramifications this playstyle has on gameplay in the future.

 

[zeus9860]

Hahaha, wut.

I'm having a hard time deciphering this challenge... >_<

 

[The Man In Black]

Zeddicus, it seems to me you're really only looking for a capable swordsman and a woman proficient in daggers as well as charm magic. Maybe a second woman who's a master of affliction and blunt arms. As for you, branch out of fire magic already :roll:

 

[Truewarrior]

HA! A chalenge for True'Warrior'!
I would like to support everyone as a mage 8)

Edit: Do we start leveling one as soon as we choose our role?

 

[Thothie]

Will be posting observations about ramifications this playstyle has on gameplay in the future.

Not the first time someone has attempted this, but I can tell you the ramifications straight off: You'll all die, a lot.

Problem is, specializing in a weapon type, in this game, isn't team work. Your team members aren't fulfilling any roles - they are just weaker. Most of the weapon lines are equally applicable to any situation, and aside from magic, and perhaps archery, none of them fulfill a function different from any other. Individual weapons might - but not weapon lines.

For a real teamwork experience, without Titles, sadly, your best bet would be to gather normal, nearly equally powered players, and try to go after a map far above your collective tier. At least then you can gear up and choose roles, but as specialists, the range of what you can do is much narrower, and there isn't really anyway to configure a specialist team for specific tasks.

 

[lvb2555]

Application for mage is pending, feel free to make a new char level up some spellcasting if this is what you desire, Truewarrior. While forwards would be appreciated at this point, passing back and forth offensive/support roles during a fight will be most welcome.

Clarification needed it seems, pick a weapon type, any weapon type. Only level that weapon type. All others are off limits.

And Mr. Man In Black, how dare you reference that horrible television series. I am affronted, shocked, nay insulted! Though, in all fairness, after a certain point the books get pretty bad as well.

And thank you, Thothie, for pointing out everything wrong with this game's balance. Though I must expand after some thought, in a perfect situation, how different weapons approach to a situation given weapon properties. Small Arms should be able to pump out good damage over a short time, and use the speed boost to get out of danger before it runs out. Blunts can stun, MA can stun and create some breathing room, and now dodging out of danger a bit is possible. While 'just' being weaker is indeed a problem, there's more of a difference between weapon lines than just 'doing damage with a different model attached.' It's slight, but I feel there is a role that each weapon line can fall into.

The only thing stopping these roles from shining is the sheer amount of raepface most maps contain to counter the demigods running around.

Edit: Apparently Bludgeon Hammer requires Spell Casting to do the rage. Blunt arms master is disappoint.

 

[zeus9860]

Edit: Apparently Bludgeon Hammer requires Spell Casting to do the rage. Blunt arms master is disappoint.

Haha owned! There goes your best bet in blunt...

The clarification worked, but yeah sounds kinda annoying to do. As it would be a death feast for the group.

 

[FER]

how about roleplaying as a human being who posts like a normal person?

 

[lvb2555]

how about roleplaying as a human being who posts like a normal person?

I barely post on forums, so when I do, I like to make it an event to remember.

 

[Orochi]

The way the weapon skills are set up, any weapon ability that is remotely "magical" in nature needs Spell-casting to be used. As it stands, you cannot go through the game without at least taking Spell-casting; that's just how it's set up. Spell-casting is treated as a "secondary" skill in MSC, partly because you can master everything given enough time, and it shares this distinction with Martial Arts. I have been told flat-out that they're secondary skills and made weaker on purpose (How much this actually applies in practice varies, obviously) because "that was the devs' original intention" or something. I've never quite gotten why it is like this, and I can tell you that it won't be like that in MSS. But in MSC, you're hosed, to put it bluntly.

 

[lvb2555]

For the most part that makes me feel like magic is, for all intents and purposes, a primary necessity. For all the gameplay experiments I've done this time around I was actually surprised with the ease with which a total of ~160 hp (60, 100) could take down Calrian and Keledros, just because I had enough magical goodies in my spellbook to ease the process, and often times I find myself looking at this, that, or this other map and rating it as "Possible when I get Spellcasting XX" with the various spells I can use at certain milestones.


Right now it's more or less, Where's the wall for current player advancement under this setting and restriction, and how far can that wall be pushed back with robust teamwork.

With the discovery of the SC requirement on Blundgeon Hammer, enthusiasm has puttered a bit, but if we can manage to procure some morning stars, that may change.

 

[zeus9860]

Honestly, morning stars? You can still use bludgeon hammers, just without rage ability. They are the thing to go with in blunt, along with the earth breaker, but that's a long grind to get there.

Btw, i think the best damage input of all of the players would be archery and mage. If it's permitted to used magical potions to boost things up (such as firebrand), both could probably surpass everything else in an event such as this. Not to mention, mages get to use staves and summons, and we got two recently which are kinda good for lvl 30- enemies

 

[FER]

Wouldnt it be easier to level up like normal then restrict yourself to use only one kind of weapon? its not as if the stats do something else besides giving you more health and some carrying weight.

 

[Slash]

Hahaha, wut.

I'm having a hard time deciphering this challenge... >_<

werd....


Look, I don't speak spanish.

 

[lvb2555]

ごめんなさいみんなさん。I'll try better in wording my for-kicks lingo in the future.

 

[Thothie]

Been too busy to comment on this further… But should explain that the reason I always poo-poo on the idea of "teamwork" by weapon specialization, is because a mob of players doing damage at various rates isn't really teamwork.

For real teamwork, each member of the team has to have a specific function. Traditionally, you have your DOT and AOE guys (shamans/wizards), your negative status guys (necros/poisoners), your critical hit guys (thieves/assassins), your meat shields and tanks (warriors), and buffers (druids/clerics/etc), amongst others. There's almost always some bleed over between the classes and various hybrid types, but their primary function within a group is usually clear cut.

Be it defensive, offensive, aid, or other, said position within the team rarely, if ever, restricts the character to a single weapon or spell. Traditionally, each character has its own line of equipment, but it's not the weapon that defines the role, but the combination of innate abilities and a range of equipment.

But Bluntman, swordman, daggerman, etc. all perform the same function. Rather, what is desired, is classes that serve offensive, defensive, support, etc. Ideally, all classes would use an array of skills towards a specific function.

Thus, the example Titles chart, which hopes to create a large range of classes with special abilities and advantages and weaknessses, unique to each class, that combine to provide a specific role within a combat team.



But even sans the titles, under the current system, generalists have more options for team work than do specialists, it's just you must assign specific tasks - someone to tank, someone to keep a boss stunned, someone to specialize in one element or another in the case of rainbowed minions, etc. etc. A group of players, each with access to the full range of equipment, makes those roles easier to set than it is among a group of players all relying on single weapons.

Until we finally get around to at least basic Titles, there's no pre-defined roles, but specializing in a single weapon line serves no purpose towards creating a role, as the weapon lines simply aren't designed to work that way, nor could they be, nor should they be, as a true combat role is about more than what you might happen to be holding in your hand.