I know there were probably a lot of threads dedicated to this, but... I noticed a lot of em were dated 2020 and pre-2020, so I figured I'd open up a new one on it.
I would very much like the ability to dual wield in bannerlord, if for any reason than simply the rule of cool. I'm not going to get into historical accuracy arguments or realism arguments, because lets be real here... realism flies out the window when you can tank a longbow shot to the face wearing an open-faced helmet or walking off a 4 foot javelin going through your kneecap.
It's a game and the rule of cool should allow for some fun stuff like dual wielding weapons for both players, wanderers, lords, and units!
I even have a rough idea on how to work it out with the combat system... but to simplify the suggestion before getting too much into detail, please implement Dual Wielding for fun's sake. Now lets get into some rough nitty gritty about it.
First, how would it work as equipment, as in how does it work in the inventory system. Well, glad you asked strawman! Simply allow the designation of a slot as an offhand weapon slot. So for example you could set your second weapon slot as your offhand weapon slot if you so choose. This also means you could cycle between a shield or an offhand weapon or cycle immediately to an offhand weapon if your shield gets smashed to bits! This also lets you designate what weapons you are dual wielding specifically instead of having a set weapon combo, I.e. things like "Rapier and Dagger" being a single weapon to occupy a single weapon slot. So you really can mix and match what weapons to dual wield with.
Next lets get into how combat works, specifically, blocking. Blocking is pretty easy, each direction blocked would use the double defense technique. Its a simple and dirty way to do it without getting into the intricacies of one weapon defense one weapon offense. Each direction you block in, you move both weapons to block in. Up and down you cross your twin weapons either over your head or down below your waist to protect against overheads and thrusts respectively. You could do the same theoretically on side blocks, but I'd prefer a single weapon block much like already exists in the game while the other weapon moves low. What this could mean is dual wielding might actually let you guard against a thrust and side attack at the same time, which could offer some versatility in dual wielding, which could be fun.
Now attacking is where things get a bit... weird... complicated even. Dual wielding effectively means you would have a faster attack rate since in general you'd always have a weapon ready to swing. Swinging both at the same time isn't nearly as powerful as one might think because you're dividing the same amount of force over two separate areas. Not saying that can't be a thing and it can be ignored for the rule of cool, but just putting that out there. So my suggestion is a bit of an odd combo and I'll go over it with the different directional attacks.
So if you attack from the left side, you would swing with the left weapon. Right side, right weapon. Thrust would be with the right hand weapon, and overhead would be with the left hand weapon. Now, here's where we make things interesting and how this can interact with the block (Or we can just keep it simple like this). So if you're blocking and you press the attack button, you should now make an attack in that direction with the opposite weapon. Think back to how I mentioned the block would somewhat function. If you're blocking left for example, your right weapon would be low and across your body, prepped to make a left side attack, likewise with the right side. It gets a bit awkward with the upper and lower blocks, but not all animations in this game are clean, so its a rough way to make it work to do switch attacks between your two weapons.
This is a pretty simple way to make dual wielding somewhat work based off the fantasy of it, but I'd like to hear some ideas and thoughts on how to integrate it in a fun and somewhat balanced way into the game. Also would it have its own skill section or would one handed be altered somewhat to accommodate it?
Thanks for reading! : )
I would very much like the ability to dual wield in bannerlord, if for any reason than simply the rule of cool. I'm not going to get into historical accuracy arguments or realism arguments, because lets be real here... realism flies out the window when you can tank a longbow shot to the face wearing an open-faced helmet or walking off a 4 foot javelin going through your kneecap.
It's a game and the rule of cool should allow for some fun stuff like dual wielding weapons for both players, wanderers, lords, and units!
I even have a rough idea on how to work it out with the combat system... but to simplify the suggestion before getting too much into detail, please implement Dual Wielding for fun's sake. Now lets get into some rough nitty gritty about it.
First, how would it work as equipment, as in how does it work in the inventory system. Well, glad you asked strawman! Simply allow the designation of a slot as an offhand weapon slot. So for example you could set your second weapon slot as your offhand weapon slot if you so choose. This also means you could cycle between a shield or an offhand weapon or cycle immediately to an offhand weapon if your shield gets smashed to bits! This also lets you designate what weapons you are dual wielding specifically instead of having a set weapon combo, I.e. things like "Rapier and Dagger" being a single weapon to occupy a single weapon slot. So you really can mix and match what weapons to dual wield with.
Next lets get into how combat works, specifically, blocking. Blocking is pretty easy, each direction blocked would use the double defense technique. Its a simple and dirty way to do it without getting into the intricacies of one weapon defense one weapon offense. Each direction you block in, you move both weapons to block in. Up and down you cross your twin weapons either over your head or down below your waist to protect against overheads and thrusts respectively. You could do the same theoretically on side blocks, but I'd prefer a single weapon block much like already exists in the game while the other weapon moves low. What this could mean is dual wielding might actually let you guard against a thrust and side attack at the same time, which could offer some versatility in dual wielding, which could be fun.
Now attacking is where things get a bit... weird... complicated even. Dual wielding effectively means you would have a faster attack rate since in general you'd always have a weapon ready to swing. Swinging both at the same time isn't nearly as powerful as one might think because you're dividing the same amount of force over two separate areas. Not saying that can't be a thing and it can be ignored for the rule of cool, but just putting that out there. So my suggestion is a bit of an odd combo and I'll go over it with the different directional attacks.
So if you attack from the left side, you would swing with the left weapon. Right side, right weapon. Thrust would be with the right hand weapon, and overhead would be with the left hand weapon. Now, here's where we make things interesting and how this can interact with the block (Or we can just keep it simple like this). So if you're blocking and you press the attack button, you should now make an attack in that direction with the opposite weapon. Think back to how I mentioned the block would somewhat function. If you're blocking left for example, your right weapon would be low and across your body, prepped to make a left side attack, likewise with the right side. It gets a bit awkward with the upper and lower blocks, but not all animations in this game are clean, so its a rough way to make it work to do switch attacks between your two weapons.
This is a pretty simple way to make dual wielding somewhat work based off the fantasy of it, but I'd like to hear some ideas and thoughts on how to integrate it in a fun and somewhat balanced way into the game. Also would it have its own skill section or would one handed be altered somewhat to accommodate it?
Thanks for reading! : )
