Mod: Blademaster Era (V1.05)

[UninspiredName]

The idea behind the armblades is that A: it's much harder for the foe to stagger you or break your guard. Normal blades, since they're more extended and less, let's say fortified, can be knocked aside easier. Also B: that, due to the blade's 'back extension', it's much easier to block attacks to your sides. Think blocking with your arm, except it doesn't get hacked off. I will agree that the defense is much too high, though. I thought it would only actually count one of them. (My only past experience was with the Main Gauche of Parrying). Also, keep in mind that the stats for this weapon were based off the Katana (Grossly overpowered in my book), which means it, in fact, is clumsier. Probably not clumsier enough, though. And if its defense was any lower it wouldn't be any better a defensive choice than the Katana, except for a sort of cheat-y Ambidexterity bonus. Still, it definitely has too much defense.

Triple Katana... Yeah... I don't know how I got it in my head that would be easier to attack with. I would imagine it would be significantly easier to parry with, though, as the opponent's blade would be likely to get caught in-between your multiple ones. Unfortunately, that works the other way around as well.

The Wakizashi and Flail was based off the Kusari-gama, except I can't draw a Kama for the life of me.

The Sun Spear's stats were based off that of a Naginata (Like a glaive, except even tougher. They sort of overdid the japanese weapons.). I suppose that's not the best idea, considering the blade's really hard to cut with. Good call.

Ah, the Chaos Shield. I couldn't resist putting in at least one over-the-top one. Interestingly enough it gives less defense than the Arm Blades together, but they're overpowered too and I suppose it's put on top of a higher base defense.

I never thought of the Forge Magician as a Thug. He still goes down nigh-instantly to archers, fliers, or cavalry, and doesn't have much of a defense against any melee units that actually reach him. I don't see any "Elite stats", though, aside from two extra hit points and and militia-like attack and defense (Which might be pushing it), so I guess it would be the Flame Strike. I'll customize a new weapon instead of stealing from the Fire Elementals.

Thanks much for the feedback. I'll start a balance patch.

[Wauthan]

Well the Forge Magician does go down quickly to archers if you just send him in alone. With a few troops to attract the initial fire he has time to cast invulnerability and then alternate between firecloud and bladewind. Thug is probably the wrong description but in my initial test five of these guys held two opposing nations at bay with just twenty Enlivened Statues acting as bodyguards.

I know the AI is a poor substitute for a real player it's just that these units are extremely efficient for their cost. Since they also get a forgebonus you can quickly give a bunch of them dwarven hammers and the churn out 1 fire helmets and 1 earthboots at very good discount.

If you ignore a bless strategy and go for heavy gold scales instead you can mass a respectable number of these mages quite quickly, use earth gems to summon bodyguards and fire gems to fuel battle spells.

The elite stats comment implied the unusually high stats for a mage unit, which wasn't really explained by their descriptions.

If the armblades are based on Katanas, instead of say indian Katars, it feels a bit odd. I understand the idea though, which would look great in a movie, but I feel it sort of works against the design of a sword. The units are sort of wielding katanas with their elbows, which is a bit curious. In RL you would get a lot better results by simply using reinforced bracers (or perhaps two smaller bucklers) while wielding two shorter blades.

I of course have nothing against your vision, which for a modder is by far more important then realism. Heck, if I can dominate the battlefield with a rapid snakewoman, that has two stacks of dogs coming out of her sides, armblades seem like the very foundation of logic.

I'm glad you keep working on this mod. Would be great to see you expand on this idea with national summons. I'm sure these guys could come up with some nasty improvements on Clockwork Horrors.

[UninspiredName]

When I said based on, I meant stats. I didn't even know the Indians thought of it before I did.

And weilding Katanas with elbows is sort of... Odd, but it also improves the weapon's weight and gives you more leverage. I guess it would probably require special training, though. Maybe I'll give it to a national hero.

I really was going for some believability with this one, (Okay, aside from the chainsaw shields and fire auras) so I really appreciate the input in this regard. Anyways, the patch is out.

[HoneyBadger]

Couple things here: first of all, forget about the triple katana-it's just not a good structure for a weapon. Possibly it could work like a big rake as a polearm, but katana blades are too fragile for that kind of thing, generally, and the overall concept would be unwieldy if the blades were too long. I'd personally rather just be armed with a staff or a spear because then the balance wouldn't be off. You can talk claws, in which case the Indians and the Japanese both came up with some good ideas there, but they're much shorter, normally 6 inches or less, and as often as not lack blades, being just points. What gives katanas their excellence in combat is the single, razor sharp blade, and the skill of the samurai in using the weapon-a skill which is different than that of other swordfighting. The concept is somewhat similar for a glaive/naginada. A single heavy, relatively simple blade, designed for direct action, rather than other polearms which often used hooks or different types of weapons on a single shaft-ala the billhook, halberd, or lucern hammer. The Naginada was an evolution of the spear but also of the katana, rather than evolving from a farmtool like more of the European and Western polearms. Nunchaku (numchucks) were based on farm implements, as were other weapons, but not the Naginada. Infact, there's a type of weapon (I can't remember the name off the top of my head) that's in between a Naginada and a No-Dashi, featuring an extended handle (3-5 feet) and a blade that's almost the same length as the handle. Armblades are alright, and would provide some defense, although not as much as a shield or maybe even a buckler, especially against larger weapons, since you're taking more of the impact directly on your bone instead of distributing it along the face and length of the shield. Such weapons would also be very close, which is a disadvantage to defense as well as attack and while they'd be quick to use (which is why Gloves of the Gladiator allows 4 attacks), they may lose something in sheer power.

[UninspiredName]

I always thought Katanas, with the folded steel, were really durable as far as swords go. Though I still regret the Claw thing, and am trying to think of a suitable replacement. As for the arm blades, though, they actually extend pretty far outward. The extended backs are as much for balancing the blade as defense. And who's heard of weilding two bucklers?

[HoneyBadger]

the layers of steel do help, but the reason the swords are layered is to make the steel flexible while still enabling them to be sharpened to a razor edge, the edge being the more important aspect, because the sword needs to not only take an edge but hold it for a long time through severe but specialized use. They're really durable for what they're intended use is, but they weren't really made for cutting through heavy steel plate or shields or for directly parrying a Scottish broadsword, for example. You can turn blades with them, and you can cut through bamboo or even most kinds of armor, providing you have the skill necessary to use the blade correctly. Three blades next to each other would really reduce the ability to harness the skills involved. A katana isn't the weapon of a peasant farmer because the peasant farmer not only can't afford the sword, he also can't afford the time it takes to learn kendo properly.

[HoneyBadger]

By the way, Uninspired, please don't regret that you made this mod, it's a great idea and I hope we get more diversity in weapons and other areas of Dom3. There are things that can be done just as you have envisioned them, it's just perhaps unfortunate that you settled on the name Katana, since that means a certain very specific thing used in a very specific way. I do appologise, I think perhaps my third post was more negative than I ever intentioned, and I hope it hasn't in any way put you off what certainly should be an interesting and useful mod.