Personally, I think the area in need of the most reworking is the shield department.
Currently they're strange metaphysical forcefields, at least in relation to melee weapons. Hold RMB to make it appear, let go and the forcefield is gone. In some situations this can be really damn weird, such as when you couch a lance and your character holds up his shield, but it's actually doing diddlysquat to protect you from melee attacks, most notably someone else's lance.
Ideally, a shield should always protect you from melee attacks, BUUUUT it should only protect what it visibly covers, in all dimensions. That means there shouldn't even be magical leg covering either.
Instead of blocking to create a forcefield of magical protection that prevents you yourself from attacking, blocks should be directional, in effect moving the shield to prioritise the defense of one part of the body over an other in a sort of stance-esque system:
Right block: "Default" stance. Your shield is held up front, Your left foot goes forward. If you have a kite shield your left leg should theoretically be somewhat protected this way.
Up block: Raise your shield, focusing the defense on your head. Look up to go full testudo mode..
Down: Hold the shield down to protect your legs.
Left: Hold your shield at your side, protecting the left part of the torso. Primarily useful against an enemy obsessed with getting around your left side.
Note that the stance changes are toggled, you click once and you stay in that specific stance, and you are always free to attack. The attack animations should be so that your shield movement is minimal - the obvious exception being left-to-right swings where your shield inevitably has to move far out of the way, unless the attack animation becomes more diagonal.
Initially this may sound like it would make shields overpowered because the other guy can keep attacking while his shield protects him, but remember the reduced coverage. Bypassing a shield would be far easier this way. A person who rushes up swinging willy-nilly and neglecting defense would be vulnerable anyone who can get around his sides, or even to a quick stab to the feet/face with a long weapon.
Currently they're strange metaphysical forcefields, at least in relation to melee weapons. Hold RMB to make it appear, let go and the forcefield is gone. In some situations this can be really damn weird, such as when you couch a lance and your character holds up his shield, but it's actually doing diddlysquat to protect you from melee attacks, most notably someone else's lance.
Ideally, a shield should always protect you from melee attacks, BUUUUT it should only protect what it visibly covers, in all dimensions. That means there shouldn't even be magical leg covering either.
Instead of blocking to create a forcefield of magical protection that prevents you yourself from attacking, blocks should be directional, in effect moving the shield to prioritise the defense of one part of the body over an other in a sort of stance-esque system:
Right block: "Default" stance. Your shield is held up front, Your left foot goes forward. If you have a kite shield your left leg should theoretically be somewhat protected this way.
Up block: Raise your shield, focusing the defense on your head. Look up to go full testudo mode..
Down: Hold the shield down to protect your legs.
Left: Hold your shield at your side, protecting the left part of the torso. Primarily useful against an enemy obsessed with getting around your left side.
Note that the stance changes are toggled, you click once and you stay in that specific stance, and you are always free to attack. The attack animations should be so that your shield movement is minimal - the obvious exception being left-to-right swings where your shield inevitably has to move far out of the way, unless the attack animation becomes more diagonal.
Initially this may sound like it would make shields overpowered because the other guy can keep attacking while his shield protects him, but remember the reduced coverage. Bypassing a shield would be far easier this way. A person who rushes up swinging willy-nilly and neglecting defense would be vulnerable anyone who can get around his sides, or even to a quick stab to the feet/face with a long weapon.