Some comments and thoughts for MB:Warband

[Zhaker]

I been playing a bit of M&B Warband for a few days now and getting into the rhythm, but I am a bit puzzled by all of this:

- Rhodok and Nord have Calvary (Notice on MP not sure on SP)? I thought they would have huscarls (Nord) and spear men (Rhodok) that can move some distance towards their targets faster than the footman of the other 3 factions? I was surprised to see horses from Nord and such, and to me it felt strange. Also saw that the Huscarls were as fast as the other classes on foot, I thought they would have been able to close in the gap noticeably faster than other footman type troops from other factions.

I realize that other classes have having horses is such an advantage, and it seems that most classes are sorta the same, but it'd be cool if the faction had some sort of uniqueness besides the weapons they can carry like how many weapons they can carry all up. I was surprised ( and I could be wrong ) that the cavalry can carry as heavy armor as the footmen, I would have thought they carry lighter to medium size armor as a way to evenly balanced this.

- Bows vs. XBow: So far I was surprised to see how sorta unbalanced the XBow was to Bow, the problem is that the first timers would stick to the XBow for excellent aiming and Damage and the veterans the bow that was quick efficient. But I noticed that for Bow, it took 4 or more shots to take one down, I thought 2 to 3 shots be enough for a bow to kill someone, more often than not Xbow takes 1 or a few times 2 to kill a target.  There is a longer stun effect for XBow but I assume its the offset to reload and re-fire again I could be wrong.

- 2 handed vs 1 handed weapons: I notice that for some or most of the 2h weapons vs. 1h weapon and board, that the 2 handed weapons can swing as fast as SnB, what makes it more funny is that holding just the 1h sword alone doesn't mean that you can swing faster, which I felt a little sad. What makes it a bit worse is that the 2h weapons can swing further than the graphics allowed, even if they don't connect graphically i still get the full effect of the damage, I wasn't sure it was lag or not but they seem to double the range of my one handed.

- Companions: They seem pretty weak at the start, I noticed this with their initial equipment that even a forest bandit can defeat them easily, and if I grab them later, they aren't going to be useful later on, except for getting skills. The problem here is that they're too low level and low weapon skilled wise to do some carnage like the other units I have. I know they'll be powerful when I get them up to scratch but right now on my first character instead of doing quests I'm grinding money by doing arenas and trading to get more than enough gold to full equip them to the best I can.  I don't remember needing to do this so badly as I remember in their initial gear they can actually go toe to toe with a bandit before losing to a horde ( understandable ).

 

[Yoshi Murasaki]

I didn't quite understand, how is bow vs xbow imbalanced? Which one is much stronger? They seem fine to me.

As for uniqueness of factions - this was brought out in beta by some of us. I guess developers decided to make everything almost the same, to avoid initial balance problems at the expense of uniqueness. And he reason for Nords and Rhodoks to have cavalry was "it's needed for Capture the Flag", from what I remember. Most of the uniqueness is in weapons you can take.

 

[Zhaker]

In terms of the Aim of both the bow and xbow, they're fair IMO.
In terms of the damage that both the bow and xbow does, they're fair IMO.

But I dont think the xbow should be nearly as rapid as a bow.

Here is the example to what I mean:

It seems from from within the same space of time

xbow: aim-->shoot-->----reload------>aim-->shoot
bow:  aim-->shoot-->aim-->shoot--->aim-->shoot

So for every 2 shots an xbow does 3 shots of a bow can be done, And even if you shoot the xbow user with a bow to stop him from reloading, it doesn't seem likely from a decent distance ( maybe about 3 yrds+ ).

I would have thought that by the time the bow user would shoot their shot the xbow would by then be ready to aim, or do xbow take longer, cause from my observations they seem to be a bit more rapid than before in the original M&B ( or was I wrong? )

 

[sebcw]

i watched a show on youtube called "weapons that made britian" and at one point they are comparing the two weapons with regard to firing rate. IRL within the same period of time the xbow was about half the firing rate of longbow. but that was when the longbowman had his arrows in the ground. another show whose name i dont remember showed how horse archers using their short bows got extremely rapid fire, they held additional arrows in their bow hand, and their draw hand just had to make the most minor of movements to go from release to draw and fired nearly thrice as fast as a longbow would, but with less draw distance it meant less penetration. mabye bows should be max accuracy faster but not very powerful or long range if you loose early, and still keeping the fatigue aspect. also i feel that throwing weapons take FAR too much time to chamber if you were blocking. it should take exactly the same ammount of time to chamber a throw from block as it does to chamber an overhand strike from block. the slow part should be the recovery, not the chambering. throwing weapons were by nature more like long reach melee than actual ranged weapons. also i think that you should be able to block with your shield while drawing a 1hand weapon or throwing weapon instead of dropping the block like a retard.

 

[Archonsod]

- Rhodok and Nord have Calvary (Notice on MP not sure on SP)?

Only in MP, and they're markedly inferior to the cavalry of other factions.

I realize that other classes have having horses is such an advantage, and it seems that most classes are sorta the same, but it'd be cool if the faction had some sort of uniqueness besides the weapons they can carry

There's some skill differences between the factions.

I was surprised ( and I could be wrong ) that the cavalry can carry as heavy armor as the footmen, I would have thought they carry lighter to medium size armor as a way to evenly balanced this.

Cavalry can get heavier armour usually. You need to factor in encumbrance - heavy armour on an infantryman makes him slow and pretty much a sitting duck. Cavalry on the other hand are fine ... as long as they're still on the horse.

I noticed that for Bow, it took 4 or more shots to take one down, I thought 2 to 3 shots be enough for a bow to kill someone, more often than not Xbow takes 1 or a few times 2 to kill a target. 

The X Bow has always dealt higher damage than the regular bow. It takes far longer to reload though, and you cannot move when reloading without resetting the whole process, which is a serious disadvantage when the enemy is close or you're duelling bow armed archers.

- 2 handed vs 1 handed weapons: I notice that for some or most of the 2h weapons vs. 1h weapon and board, that the 2 handed weapons can swing as fast as SnB

Speed of the swing depends on weapon speed. Two handers are usually slightly slower than one handers. There's different merits to each - a two hander gives better damage and longer range, but you can't wield a shield which makes you an easy target for archers. Shields do have a movement penalty which you wouldn't get if you just had a single one handed weapon, but there's no real reason for infantry or cavalry to ever take a one handed weapon and not a shield. The only time that's ever really an advantage is for crossbowmen who want the extra ammo a second quiver would give them.

- Companions: They seem pretty weak at the start

Depends on the companion. Some start at level 1, others at level 10. Equipment varies too; the more combat oriented companions such as Matheld begin with reasonable equipment, while the non-combatants like Marnid start off with basic stuff.
It's no different from M&B in that respect. The main advantage of companions has always been their inability to be killed combined with the option to level them up as you choose. Some you will want to turn into frontline fighters, others will cover party skills you don't want to invest in on your main character.

I would have thought that by the time the bow user would shoot their shot the xbow would by then be ready to aim, or do xbow take longer, cause from my observations they seem to be a bit more rapid than before in the original M&B ( or was I wrong? )

Not all bows are the same speed. Shortbows tend to be fast while longbows are slower. It's also affected by the bow skill and power draw of the wielder. In multiplayer, you tend to get a choice between the shortbow or equivalent, which is fast and accurate but does poor damage, and a warbow or similar which will be less accurate, slower to aim and fire but kicks out heavy damage. Which works better for you depends on your playing style.

 

[Fattyfat]

- Companions: They seem pretty weak at the start, I noticed this with their initial equipment that even a forest bandit can defeat them easily, and if I grab them later, they aren't going to be useful later on, except for getting skills. The problem here is that they're too low level and low weapon skilled wise to do some carnage like the other units I have. I know they'll be powerful when I get them up to scratch but right now on my first character instead of doing quests I'm grinding money by doing arenas and trading to get more than enough gold to full equip them to the best I can.  I don't remember needing to do this so badly as I remember in their initial gear they can actually go toe to toe with a bandit before losing to a horde ( understandable ).

I suppose you are right they aren't very strong to start with.  But if you can solo a group of six sea raiders and take their gear, you will easily get them geared enough to cause some carnage with little effort.

 

[Cyrilix]

In this game, bows are WAY more powerful than crossbows. It's not even close. I made a mini-mod where I had REPEATING CROSSBOWS that shot for 44 damage a piece, and shot faster than a longbow. The longbow was still king in damage (unless you're shooting at an immobile target repeatedly, in which case the repeating crossbow would win). Why? Longbow is crazy good with power draw. Hear this, the damage is raised to 72 per hit with power draw on the most powerful bow. 72 DAMAGE PER HIT. DO YOU SEE THIS? And unlike the siege crossbow, you shoot and shoot and shoot again like a madman with near perfect accuracy.

 

[Finaz]

and they're markedly inferior to the cavalry of other factions.

How? I'm not sure if Nords have heavy lance but i haven't noticed Rhodok cavalry sucking any more than others.

 

[Disparate]

Nord cavalry are limited to lance/light lance. (and limited in horse selection (i dont tend to use anything other then the courser/hunter anyway)) I'm pretty sure that the Rhodok cav have lower horse riding/polearm skill (i'm not entrely sure about this as i'm not at home where i can check the stats) which makes them slower on horses (and wider turning circle) and slower to reset their lance. Its not a major disadvantage in the initial charge but when the melee starts it becomes a reasonable disadvantage over the more horse oriented factions