i think they should first fix the combat. i agree that blocking without shield against fast weapons are very difficult, but on the other hand its insanely easy against slower weapons even on highest difficulty. there are a lot tournaments that feature very slow weapons (aserai long sables for instance) so you could go about blocking as much as you want in one match and gain skill or exp with zero consequences
at least for fixing the combat when it comes to this, ai should be less easy to manipulate. how you can block and hit with no obstacles, and with the ai eventually lowering their block for no reason and take the predictable incoming hit... they should be more mobile, dodging your attacks and retaliating with an already prepped attack, then i think blocking should grant exp, because then you dont just need to block predictable attacks, you also need to make a turn (ai is also insanely stupid when you do this against them)
reiksmarshal: "How about a perk the gives you + 20% damage for not having a shield? I usually run with a crossbow, voulge, and a mace so I don't have space for a shield in my load out."
i absolutely agree with this idea though, if its a perk added to one handed weapons only. i wish it was a common addition for every fighting game, perk or not. why am i expected to use a dagger and a shield, makes no sense. let me just wield the dagger and get a damage bonus for allegedly using it in a wieldy sneaky way, the way it was intended. you would also have more power in your swings when you get to use the force of both hands to hammer down a one handed mace into someones face
there is a game i know that makes use of it, and thats battle brothers. it makes very good sense in that game since shields are otherwise a nobrainer. having a dagger guy who can dig through armor and hurt them directly, makes sense to boost his damage as much as possible so he makes swift work of heavy armored opponents, sacrificing defenses
but i think first the devs of m&b really need to do something about the damage scale? like why am i able to damage so much at zero skill levels with a crappy weapon in the first place. if i tried to do the same in warband, unless i had a good speed bonus from riding against an opponent, i would always deliver 0 damage, with insane speed bonus i might be lucky to damage somewhere above 10. or you can at the very least put a hurt on some unarmored or civilian dressed troop. bannerlord is too cautious with making combat easy to learn and easy to master. it feels pointless to put full focus points into fighting skills unless you are eyeing for the perks alone for better leading. the damage boosts and attack speed/ranged accuracy quickly become an overkill. like my current playthrough i have just 3 focus points into polearm and i still slaughter enemies with up to 600 damage and can down any heavily armored troop in one hit. i also didnt spend that much points into riding. i dont recall having thrown that insane an amount of cash on a deadly weapon, just 2000-4000 ish. seems strange to me when there are weapons costing up to 60.000. now why would you buy them when a cheap weapon in comparison with only half maxed skill is enough
the way i understand it, putting all focus points into a skill should be because you dont want any situation where your damage is diminished, or you want to be lethal with the crappiest weapons possible, which would make more sense if they implement enemy looting your equipment. putting zero focus points into a skill is because you dont expect fighting with that weapon, ever, as it should do jack. i am winning tournaments using fighting skills i neglected, and i frankly hate it. then theres the middle road, get one or two points into a fighting skill, and let an expensive weapon take care of the rest
