After almost 100 hours in Mordhau starting with frontlines and now mainly in duels, I want to share my findings of some mechanics that most people don't realise. I think these mechanics will greatly add depth and flexibility to Bannerlord.
The weapon throw.
Ok, everyone knows you can throw weapons in Mordhau, what's the big deal?
Yes, but not many people realise you can:
What:
Pretend to stab or attack and transition (morph) it into a throw.
Why?
Fake an attack at a close distance but deliberately miss, at the last second change(morph) it into a throw. Enemy thinks they are safe when normal attacks would miss... but a throw would hit. This works. I tried it in duels and people fall for it.
What:
Throwing weapon while climbing, jumping, from a horse and any animation states that makes sense.
Why?
Fun. I once headshot someone with an arming sword throw from the middle of a ladder who barricaded himself with spikes that I could not get to. Of course it adds flexibility to your combat choices. Also throwing a maul at someone from horseback or whatever is always fun.
What:
Epic moments
Why?
Imagine you lost your weapon. Two guys attacking you. One with a dagger stuck to their armour. You kick one person, dodge the other guy, pull out the dagger, kill one with a hit and throw the dagger to kill the other guy. Epic? You say it can't be done? I have seen this similar thing happen. Imagine you are the last guy alive in a battle, everyone is watching.
Also let's say you do it in single player, easier to do vs bots. Must feel good for the player.
Don't deny epic history being made, TaleWorlds. It will happen if you give people the choice. . One day this will happen on youtube.
Throwing a weapon (or whatever) is realistic because in reality you can do it and if you're lucky hit something.
Does throwing your main weapon make sense?
In reality… it depends on what your enemy is wearing, the type of weapon and if you like to take risks.
If your enemy is wearing a gambeson, chain mail, or armor heavier than these, then throwing whatever tickles him, you will lose your weapon and then be killed by him while he laughs at your strategy.
If he is not wearing anything heavy then it's just a bet: if you catch him you are likely to kill him, and if you don't take him you die.
In summary: the mechanic should be introduced and its use is at the player's discretion.
"Imagine" you lost your weapon. Two guys attacking you. Unfortunately no one have a dagger conveniently stuck to their armour. What do you do? You grab one by the arm, rip it off together with his sword, then bash the other guy with it while the first one bleeds off. Epic? No, just stupid.
No thanks. If you want to play Batman with swords, play Mordhau and stay there.
Everything that is possible in reality, however unlikely, and if programmable without too much cost and if well balanced, should be added.
Your refusal of something just because it seems unlikely to you is deleterious.
The point is how balanced a mechanic is, not how arbitrarily realistic it seems, as I repeat: everything that reality makes possible, however improbable, can happen.
If your criticism is instead directed to the mechanics itself, that is, that you are interpreting it as the combat mechanics of the batman games, I inform you that your interlocutor had not mentioned it, and therefore that the system is batman-like is only one. your interpretation.
The mechanic might look like this: If an enemy has weapon X on their side, your character must:
1) get in contact with the enemy body (approaching it avoiding being hit) -> any movement mechanics would help and make the game less woody and arbitrarily slow.
2) look at the weapon placed on the enemy's side with the camera.
3) press the appropriate button to take the objects in order to grab the weapon.
4a) use kick button while grabbing the enemy weapon.
If you manage to perform these actions, you steal the weapon that was placed at your enemy's side and they are pushed back by the butt, giving both of you cooldown time.
4b) the enemy must kick before you in order not to be stolen from the weapon.
If he can use it before you do, then you are pushed backwards as his recovery after the kick is faster and gives him an advantage.
As you can see it is not easy to use, it exposes to many risks and the style is classic of mount and blade, with a series of actions that exploit the keys already present in the game.
The mechanics seem balanced as it exposes the "thief" to many risks and is difficult to implement and, even if it succeeds, it does not mean that everything will be fine from that moment on.
CONCLUSION:
I would add the mechanics:
- throw anything (at your own risk and as I have described above)
- possibility for the player (and the AI) to steal a secondary weapon from the opponent (similar to how I described it, but also with some modifications to make it even more realistic or difficult).
And to further balance these two, 2 of my suggestions:
-
JOINT HURTBOXES and ARMOR HURTBOXES: an armor system that provide a way to balance factions warfare and make more deep the combat system(suggestions)
-
NON-SPAMABLE DIRECTIONAL STEP-DODGE new mechanics suggestion
The step-dodge would be part of a more complex system of movement but I will avoid writing it because the conservatism that does not bring progress (neither realistic in physical terms, nor historical accuracy, nor gameplay and fun) of someone would not hold it.
I ask only one thing: don't stop at the title, read the mechanics and "simulate it in your head for how it is presented, not for how you interpret it".
