Do you think smithing skill should be removed?

[Phantom425]

I may be entirely biased because Smithing is one of my biggest, "Oh hey, that's really cool" factors in BL, but I really don't think that it should be removed.

However, I can see how it should be tweaked in a little way, and I can somewhat agree to that. Personally, I don't want the level of customization to be changed right now for smithing, as it is really nice to be able to create your own weapons and use them in a battle. There are some major quality of life ideas that I could think of, like being able to pay a blacksmith for your own weapon which would take time, or paying them to be able to learn a specific part so that you would be able to make it for yourself.

Beyond just smithing, I think another neat factor would be the idea of gifts. Having Nobles gift you items from time to time if you've become friendly, and you getting relationship bonuses from using that weapon in combat with them, and losing it if you sell that item. It would add a lot as you fight with a named weapon gifted to you by a close friend in the game, and would add a lot onto immersion, and you being able to gift that friend back a custom made weapon as well.

 

[bonerstorm]

Beyond just smithing, I think another neat factor would be the idea of gifts.

Absolutely agreed! There was a mechanic similar to this in modded WB and - I think? - in VC. Those little bits of personality definitely made the older games feel more like living worlds.

 

[bonerstorm]

I mean, give us meaningful relationship. Intrigue. Betrayal. Our +100 relation ally who comes to save us when we're desperately holding a castle with no victory in sight, something like Gandalf breaking the siege of Helm's Deep. A lady we're courting is kidnapped by a rival to be forced to elope, and we have to chase the guy and duel him. Stuff like that, meaningful storytelling that's kind of unique with each and every playthrough.

YES! THIS is all I've ever wanted from BL.

The system of feasts and intrigue quests and courtship and personalities from MB was basic AF, but I developed real emotional attachments to these poorly-programmed AI entities based on how they helped or hurt me throughout play. This is a gigantic missing piece in BL and I'm struggling to understand why 90% of it couldn't have been copied and pasted from earlier games.

 

[Antaeus]

I have made 3 logs of charcoal. Ever.

So I'm not fussed either way. Now if I could repair cracked or damaged battlefield items... I'd make more use of a smith. But in lieu of that, I've never really been a grindy mechanic kind of guy so I get no satisfaction.

But I wouldn't advocate removing it... many people seem to enjoy it, and just because I don't now, doesn't mean I never will. I'd hate to go back and find it not there.

 

[SOku]

I´m constant at 500k+ denars without smithing a single item (or abusing any other stuff), most income comes from loot of course. Took some time of course.

After restarting a serious game ( the first one I've ever done since the beginning of the EA ) to test out that beta patch, I'm literally a hobo for more than a year ingame. God I miss the wealth I had on my previous one, it's good to start fresh though.

I have made 3 logs of charcoal. Ever.

So I'm not fussed either way. Now if I could repair cracked or damaged battlefield items... I'd make more use of a smith. But in lieu of that, I've never really been a grindy mechanic kind of guy so I get no satisfaction.

But I wouldn't advocate removing it... many people seem to enjoy it, and just because I don't now, doesn't mean I never will. I'd hate to go back and find it not there.

Yeah it's not like the game is forcing us to play this mechanic afterall, they did a great job on generating a meaningful economy without tasking the player to touch it, ever. So it's a good thing, more choices are always welcomed.

 

[Ted Striker]

I may be entirely biased because Smithing is one of my biggest, "Oh hey, that's really cool" factors in BL, but I really don't think that it should be removed.

However, I can see how it should be tweaked in a little way, and I can somewhat agree to that. Personally, I don't want the level of customization to be changed right now for smithing, as it is really nice to be able to create your own weapons and use them in a battle. There are some major quality of life ideas that I could think of, like being able to pay a blacksmith for your own weapon which would take time, or paying them to be able to learn a specific part so that you would be able to make it for yourself.

Beyond just smithing, I think another neat factor would be the idea of gifts. Having Nobles gift you items from time to time if you've become friendly, and you getting relationship bonuses from using that weapon in combat with them, and losing it if you sell that item. It would add a lot as you fight with a named weapon gifted to you by a close friend in the game, and would add a lot onto immersion, and you being able to gift that friend back a custom made weapon as well.

The customization as it currently is is one of the reasons it's so broken. There are only a few weapons worth crafting for use and only a few worth crafting for selling. Even with all the options, lengths etc. we can choose we are gimping ourselves if we don't choose a select few only.

Smithing feels like an afterthough, something tacked on to the game without much discussion about how it would fit.

Plus you touched on something important: the time it should take to smith some of these weapons. Why is smithing instantaneous but you have to wait a day to recover? Smithing a quality weapon took time. It could take days to finely craft all the quality parts a weapon needed. A spear? Pretty simple and could be mass produced. An ornate sword expertly balanced and tempered? You're talking days, and the smith wouldn't be out campaigning or battling looters or anything in the meantime. Smithing armor could take weeks or months.

The way it's implemented in game really does make it feel like it was an afterthought.

 

[Phantom425]

Why is smithing instantaneous but you have to wait a day to recover? Smithing a quality weapon took time.

If I'm being entirely honest, I kinda prefer it to be instantaneous. Its sorta that click dopamine thing. And if it was to be made realistic, then you'd be spending a decent amount of time in that town.

I guess one of the reasons to level your own smithing could be just be being able to do it quickly, whereas paying for a sword takes longer.

The customization as it currently is is one of the reasons it's so broken. There are only a few weapons worth crafting for use and only a few worth crafting for selling. Even with all the options, lengths etc. we can choose we are gimping ourselves if we don't choose a select few only.

Yeah, definitely. There are also very few options for stuff outsides of swords, and I think that's been touched on a little bit. Obviously, Swords are going to get the most love, but it feels like nothing else really has.

 

[Honved]

I'm not sure if there are any historical examples of smiths being part of a field army's logistical operation in addition to engineers, so that might be dumb too. I know that American expansion-era border forts housed blacksmiths.

Smiths, tailors, cooks, engineers, and a host of other craftsmen were important parts of practically all medieval and ancient armies. I ancient Rome, those specialists were often exempt from serving in the front ranks, because losing them was a serious blow to the entire army. A few armies had portable forges, and even casting replacement parts out of bronze or iron in a fort wasn't all that unusual.

The famed "Triarii" in Republican Rome were essentially specialists, and only called to fight as a reserve if things went too badly. Since most of them had decades of service and sizable retirement accounts which would be forfeit if the unit's standard was lost and the unit disbanded, they had ample reason to fight tenaciously, even if they weren't as young and spry as the kids on the battle line.

The same situation affected the German army in WWII, where the bitter winter of 1941-42 saw German units pull men from their support services behind the lines to fill the growing gaps as the front lines took casualties faster than new recruits could be trained and brought in. The army consumed its own logistical tail in order to stay in the fight. By the time the front collapsed, the specialist services had been depleted, and it would take years to re-train all of the necessary skills back up to the "veteran" status which had been squandered.

One's companions could, or perhaps even should, include specialists in the various support services such as smithing. Making it a player-only function seems backwards.

 

[Cousin Nic]

personally I love the smiting aspect, one of my favorite parts of the game. if you don't want to spend points in it you can just level a companion in smiting and use his skill instead. the cool part is its not really critical to the game either, so if you don't like it it can just be ignored. even if you don't like it I don't see why it should be removed, just don't use it.

 

[Count_Morfetico]

its not really critical to the game either, so if you don't like it it can just be ignored.

But if I want more variation in weapons I have to use it... or I can use the same old sword forever... (don't how it is now though, last i've played it was 1.6.2 i think)
That's why I would prefer to have blacksmith npc's that would sell to cities or to other lords even...
To be clear, i don't think they need to remove it, but i do agree it needs some changes..

 

[Ananda_The_Destroyer]

Does anyone feel that if they make crafted weapons' it makes the save time longer? I made about 3 crafted weapons just to see the default price for noob crafts (it's okay. like 600 a piece) and now I feel the save time tales slightly longer.

 

[CptMuppet]

Does anyone feel that if they make crafted weapons' it makes the save time longer? I made about 3 crafted weapons just to see the default price for noob crafts (it's okay. like 600 a piece) and now I feel the save time tales slightly longer.

I just have tested it on my save in which I never crafted any weapon. In my case, crafting weapons doesn't make any difference in save time.
It seems like save time increases when you make progress in game. Saving campaings I played for a long time takes 2-3 times longer than saving freshly started one.

 

[Danny5]

I think it shouldn't be removed but more expanded, such as crafting more things, armour, horse armours, bows, xbows, etc., maybe even upgrading your existing weapons and armours.

The other thing is, and I thought this would the case before the release of EA, was how you get weapon parts from loot of battles and if you collect the parts, you'll be able to craft a particular weapon for example. But just like the above suggestions, I totally agree with them, they'll make smithing more meaningful!

 

[Phantom425]

I think it shouldn't be removed but more expanded, such as crafting more things, armour, horse armours, bows, xbows, etc., maybe even upgrading your existing weapons and armours.

For the Armor aspect, it would be really cool if you upgraded armor there could be a couple different variations of designs, to make it feel a lot more unique. Not needed, but just a nice aspect to make you feel special.

 

[Danny5]

For the Armor aspect, it would be really cool if you upgraded armor there could be a couple different variations of designs, to make it feel a lot more unique. Not needed, but just a nice aspect to make you feel special.

Yea like having to craft heavy armour or lighter armour something like that

 

[archaicwarrior]

I haven't used it yet but I see myself using it later, to create those unique weapons for fun and games.

;D

 

[bonerstorm]

I haven't used it yet but I see myself using it later, to create those unique weapons for fun and games.

;D

LOL be warned that it's game-breaking. Because dev infinite wisdom decided that pointy sticks have to cost more than champion racehorses, crafting javelins for sale will quickly bankrupt literally every city you visit.

You can make some pretty cool weapons once you have all the stuff unlocked. Slightly better than vanilla weapons depending on what you want... I made good use of custom bastard swords with moderate length for use on horseback and civilian-tag swords that aren't hot garbage.

Use this as a reference:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

Keep in mind:

1. RBM broke lance physics last I checked, so all your custom-made lances will be hot garbage on toast
2. Big 2H weapons are crap in mass combat unless you've got a mod that no-clips them (you'll swing your greataxe at a group of soldiers and it'll do absolutely nothing because it clips on one dude's nose hairs two rows back)
3. Unless you've got a mod that auto-unlocks every part of every weapon you smelt, you're never going to get all the parts you want unless you wear your mouse-click finger down to dust smelting and smithing thousands of weapons you'll never use or sell

Unmodded Bannerlord isn't a game. It's a torture device.

 

[Phantom425]

Also, I know it was a bit of a meme at some point, but all of the scabbards that they added to the game are actually really nice. Its cool to see that each different blade has its own scabbard.

 

[STcloz]

No. It's annoying but I can make some more beautiful weapons than vanila weapons. That's the only one reason why I want to keep the smithing system.

 

[black_bulldog]

Thoughts and prayers, otherwise I´ll ignore it forever I guess or until fixed by mods.

It makes zero sense spending time and effort on a core game mechanic that people just ignore. It's just bad game design and shows TW lack of experience.