Any plan to make spears viable?

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Hi, Since warband I've pretty much mained spear/shield support role in battle, siege and since the beginning of bannerlord this class has basically been ignored, forgotten and tossed to the side in terms of effectiveness in combat. Compared to its performance in warband.

The spear gets stuck on more things behind you than even big 2h weapons. You cant really 1 on 1 anyone with a spear its too slow, its dmg is nonexistent all you have to do to troll a spearmen in a 1 on 1 is hold W down and stay close to them they cant hurt you. Generally you can ignore spearmen in melee combat. Pikes are a different story but still suffer from many of the issues thrusting polearms suffer from in this game. They don't feel fluid at all.

So the question is simple: Are spears in bannerlord only to rear horses or are there plans to increase their viability in terms of dmg model, hit registry and removing clipping issues *within reason* of objects behind you (including teammates). I haven't played bannerlord in some time mostly because I cant enjoy my favorite class and haven't been able to since release. I'd love to see combat support roles made effective and competitive on the battlefield.

This thread isn't about "oh there is this one guy that can 1 v 1 with spears." This thread is about the average player and how spears are ignored as weapons. Its incredibly sad that even in single player you have to install mods to have usable spearmen. Mods that have been out since game release.
 
I think the main reason why spears work the way they do in Bannerlord is the sheer amount of cheese that was attached to them in Warband. The Sarranid Bamboo Spear alone should be enough reason as to why spears are a shadow of their former selves.

With that said, I think they are in an okay position since they are a good way to damage cavalry or assisting a player in a 2v1 setting, where the usage of your sword or axe would otherwise end with an accidental teamkill. Only things I'd change so far would be the following:

Sturgian Short Spear being replaced with a new weapon that has 186 or so reach, but deals less damage so as to still encourage Varyag picks. (Starting shield makes the Sturgian Short Spear a lot more usable, though the current cavalry balancing nullifies the extra reach you'd gain from one-handing it. I think having a weaker version of the Aserai Skirmisher's 185 reach spear would be a huge helper)

Pilum replaced with the 179 reach one-handed pitchfork and a quiver of 3 Javelins in non-Captain modes (162 reach is pathetic for horse stabbing purposes, and you're trading your main source of damage with what damn well better be a one-hit kill on throw)
 
I think the main reason why spears work the way they do in Bannerlord is the sheer amount of cheese that was attached to them in Warband. The Sarranid Bamboo Spear alone should be enough reason as to why spears are a shadow of their former selves
There is a state inbetween "massively overpowered" and "massively underpowered" which is called balanced. Spears can definitely stand to be buffed/reworked
 
Just because they were annoying in Warband doesn't justify their current state since release of Bannerlord.

The best spears in the game are actually the javelins in melee mode which is enough said about the balance of spears.

Short spears are a second best option and long spears are practically useless. I'd rather use my sword/axe/mace to assist in a 2v1 situation it is far safer and much less likely to end in team damage because the spear has a hitbox the size of a barn and will clip on allies even when its obvious it shouldn't. + you will kill the enemy faster as your spear only tickles enemies. Don't be fooled the only use of spears currently is to halt cavalry and make cavalry second guess their path.

I don't necessarily agree all of them should be chuckable but at this point they need to do -something- to increase spear usage or reward spear usage in some way. preferably outside of throwing them.

I don't have access to player statistics like they do but I imagine spears are the lowest dmging, least brought. items in the game.

To fix spears they need to make them more fluid, better hit registry *more precise* so that you don't whiff on an ally 2 feet to ur left. or right. or some random archer standing behind you. They desperately need a lot of changes otherwise they will forever be gutter weapons
 
Spears are totally fine and I'm constantly baffled by this opinion. Comparing to Warband, as OP does, spears there got stunned if they were blocked, making them infinitely less viable in 1v1 than in Bannerlord where you can freely spam them whilst instantly blocking, then shieldbashing to create space.

I do agree the weapon getting blocked from behind by players or objects is annoying though.
 
Spears are trash for anything other than anti-cavalry purposes. I specifically went Spearman for almost all my time in Bannerlord in the hopes it would be buffed and I'd be some form of Spear-God at that point, but that day has still yet to come.

The only good way to use it is to stand behind an ally who is engaged in a fight, and jump and stab over his head to get an occasional sneaky hit in. If friendly-fire is enabled it makes this a risky move though, and you'll be infinitely more useful with a bladed weapon and flanking anyway.

The biggest problem with spears in my eyes has always been the movement speed differences and glancing. If an enemy is even a fraction faster than you, all he has to do is keep the distance sealed and your spear will consistently glance off of him. That problem is even worse if you are trying to go shield+spear.
 
Spears are fine rn. Super useful in group fighting and 2v1s. Pikes are very good too rn, you can just run away and harass people with pikes. No changes are really needed other than maybe some glancing problems
 
Spears are totally fine and I'm constantly baffled by this opinion. Comparing to Warband, as OP does, spears there got stunned if they were blocked, making them infinitely less viable in 1v1 than in Bannerlord where you can freely spam them whilst instantly blocking, then shieldbashing to create space.

I do agree the weapon getting blocked from behind by players or objects is annoying though.
I feel like i'm misreading your post but spears in Warband are a pretty good multitool if you unequip your shield. This is especially true if you were playing as the Sarranids, who essentially have a free pike that can be swung in all directions and be used as a dedicated thrusting weapon when paired with a shield. From all the times I played Sarranids in Warband MP, I have felt no need to use any other weapons besides the Bamboo Spear (Free), Kite Shield (Can equip/holster as needed) and two Jereed quivers
 
What's wrong with spears? They are good in group fights, you can't expect to beat someone in a 1v1 with a spear. Might be a skill issue
 
lmao. the people that are saying "skill issue" are missing the point of the thread.

I'm asking for spears to be buffed so they can be *viable* weapons. They are not good in group fights because you hit everything around you and glance or do 14 dmg 90% of the time. If enemy's close distance you are practically a free kill. I would gladly trade, dmg, speed, weapon length and every stat in the game to get spear hit registry looked at by the developers. Spears are -ok- in the hands of a good player, but that same player could opt to use any other weapon and do infinitely better. I'm not saying, I'm good but every weapon is a cake walk to use compared to spears and I've been using spears in mount and blade since release of warband.

If the developers would release player statistics with weapons and dmg output I 100% guarantee you spears would be unacceptably low on the list. No other class in bannerlord is as ignored as the support spearmen. The only thing they did was give pike a bracing ability which is hilarious, rather than fix the pike and make it a better weapon they just "here press X and get free kills" that isn't rewarding gameplay either. That is a lame fix.

Its insane to me that people think spears are "fine" right now. Must be blind or haven't used them enough to get frustrated by your inability to land consistent hits.
 
You have to actually aim with the spear, have to constantly be aware of your spacing more than other weapons, get two attack directions and put out hardly any damage even if you don't glance. Unless it's been changed in the past few patches, you don't even get an assist for rearing a horse which is the only thing spears have going for them.

I doubt anyone saying spears are fine actually uses them often. The pike on the other hand is actually decent, but I still believe all spear-type weapons could use a rework mechanically.
 
Spears are -ok- in the hands of a good player, but that same player could opt to use any other weapon and do infinitely better.
What's wrong with this? Spears should be a utility weapon, useful for support and anti-cav. If they become best of all scenarios then that's all people will use - as was the case at one point beta, which was easily the worst the game ever played.
 
Spears shouldn't be "viable" 1v1 and strong support weapons, they should be bad 1v1 and "viable" support weapons which they already are.
Spears already have the capability to destroy cavalry which already fulfils their intended purpose and can cause annoyance to the enemy in group fights so I don't see a problem here.
Ppl want to use spears like greatswords apparently lol.
 
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