Melee 2.0 Feedback: Megathread (With Template).

[eraze93]

Weapon(s) used: almost all weapon that can do front counter and back counter

Faction(s) fought: All

Mods equipped/Stance used:  parry mod (counter)

Thoughts & Experiences: front counter seems fine, exceptional fang prime and furax as i show above ^^^^^

 

BUT

the BACK counter seems bug or not dealing the same damage as the front counter but often seems to doing zero (0) damage

 

I usually kill this guy instantly from doing front counter but this screenshot is back counter which is dealing no damage, the damage done to shield becos im using reflection mod in my frame before get closer to him press block and channel.

stealth attack from behind and dealing no damage.

Supplementary info: Mouse and Keyboard.

Edited April 13, 2014 by eraze93

[TheWargiCorgi]

This is an Update to my prevous post here.

 

Weapon(s) used:  Dual, Swords, Heavy, Fists, Polearm, and Thrown.

Faction(s) fought: Grineer and Infested

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: None. Both Dual, both Swords, and Fist.

Thoughts & Experiences: Each stance needs more COMBOS. The slight alteration of the normal move set and the addition of a few combos (one of which is normal spam) is pathetic. This system needs more variety. how can you add vareity? By simply adding heavy attacks akin to charged attacks byut not being classified undera  different stat of heavy attacks. This system has killed the Gallantine and Thrown weapons primarily becuase they can nbot reach there previous potential. the glave must be comboed to be thrown and the Galatine loses its one true stat. Its cahrged attack. The addition of heavy attacks in combos by this i mean an optiono to hold F hold F hold F or hold F F F hold F or something to add varietry ot melee combos. Inn the time using stances with multipoe c ombos such as cleaving fan for the sythes I had so much fun alternating combos to do differnt attacks for differnmt scenarios. THIS is what Melee 2.0 should be. several combos say 5+ added to each weapon stance. This would make or break this system. Currently Melee 2.0 is melee 1.0 with the spam of the smae animations instead of the same animation chain.

Approximate Time Spent: ~20-30 hours

Supplementary Info: Mouse/KB and Private, online and Solo.

[scaleblue]

The melee system is not fluid, and is not very advanced.

It is adapted for controllers.
Not pc.

Whats been holding back the melee system since the game has been released is the turret style sword play.
Point & shoot with swords.

With a controller using a joystick for the melee aiming makes sense, but since this is PC, we use our mouse to aim our attacks.

You have a classic feature where you make the melee system attached to our camera (with the ingame setting) BUT, You lose your mobility.
literally disabled is any key but W when attacking in this mode
What we simply need is side stepping.
When "align attacks to camera" is enabled make sidstepping animations/movement happen.
If you press attack, it currently locks you out of any other keys but W.

Simply:
We need to be able to Move in a broad range while attacking, not just forward.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Without this, melee is currently terrible.


There is a bug(of many), you must be holding W when attacking or your attacks will often fail to respond.
when "melee align to camera" is NOT enabled
http://youtu.be/57uW75y1HGU < link to a youtube video of the melee combat not responding properly unless holding W.
 

[eraze93]

Weapon(s) used: Scindo

Faction(s) fought: corpus

Mods equipped/Stance used:  Rending Crane

Thoughts & Experiences: getting shockwave by moa make me cant do melee. rare bug, even the camera angle become weird. ( but it looks cool right?) but cant slash. cant do melee attack. but can shoot though.

 

The normal camera:

 

 

Supplementary info: Mouse and Keyboard, invasion

Edited April 13, 2014 by eraze93

[Varzy]

Weapon(s) used: Orthos Prime, Dual Ichor, Nami Skyla

Faction(s) fought: Grineer, Infested, some Corpus

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: In most cases - Fury (Maxed), Pressure Point (Maxed), Killing Blow (Maxed). Have tested Life Strike (Max) also.

Thoughts & Experiences:
 

Blocking and combat flow

Blocking now feels exciting and brings a real feeling of power into the game. I greatly enjoy running towards enemies and blocking their shots as I close the distance, so to my mind melee is viable in the vast majority of cases. Melee fighting as a whole now feels powerful and flexible. As blocking only works from directly ahead, it does not feel overpowered. Stamina mods feel like a worthwhile investment (though warframes themselves are still constrained by only having effectively 6 mod slots available for customization).

 

Combo Issues

Combos are too difficult to execute, because the lead into each combo is generally on the 3rd attack in the sequence making it very difficult to time. Because of the concentration needed to execute these combos, they're difficult and impractical to use in the heat of battle, even when you need them most (such as the lunging or wide attack range combos).

 

My suggestion is to keep the animations the same but have combos dependent on the first or second attack in the sequence. For example, the standard combo is executed with the sequence E-E-E-E, whereas the second combo is executed by E-HoldE-E-E or ForwardE-E-E-E. It's a simple change which would let players know intuitively what attacks they're making, rather than deciding mid-combo.

 

(Going forward this could also lead to sub-combos in the second combo chain. Combo 2, HoldE-E-E-E, may be modified in the first attack into HoldE-HoldE-E for a different effect, etc)

 

Attack counter

The hit counter for melee attacks is interesting and useful, but the bonus vanishes too quickly. I'd suggest either extending the duration a few extra seconds, or having the bonus degenerate in stages rather than vanish entirely.

 

The bonus multiplier itself builds up too slowly. I agree with the logic of an exponential curve rather than a linear one, but currently the number is too steep. Fighting a Judicator let me test it, and I believe it takes about 150~160 to reach a 3x Multiplier. At higher levels, standing in place this long isn't going to be viable, so my suggestion is to tone down the curve.

 

Heavy Weapons vs Light Weapons

Heavy Weapon's slow attack speed means they're weaker than fast weapons due to the removal of the Charge Weapon mechanic. Possible solutions include increasing the Channeling damage bonus of Heavy weapons, starting their hit counter bonus at 2x rather than 1.5x, or altering their hit counter curve so they get bonus damage faster.

 

Approximate Time Spent: 2.5-3 days

 

Bugs?

On some missions, Fury did not affect my attack speed.

On some missions, I lost all use of my melee attack. Changing keybindings had no effect. Being downed and revived had no effect. After some time (over 5 minutes generally), functionality occasionally returned. This has happened prior to this update, so I suspect it's a lingering issue.

On some missions, combos result in me getting stuck in place. Being downed and revived solved this.

[eraze93]

Weapon(s) used: Dual Heat Sword

Faction(s) fought: Corpus, Greener

Mods equipped/Stance used:  Swirling Tiger

Thoughts & Experiences: the energy color return to default when im not hosting.



when i am hosting.



Supplementary info: Mouse and Keyboard.

[intrand]

Weapon(s) used: Dual Heat Swords, Cronus, Galatine (& Stug, Grakata, etc)

Faction(s) fought: All, including Corrupted

Mods equipped/Stance used:  No opinion yet, so not worth listing. Only 1 usable stance mod so far, which is for Dual Heat Swords.

Thoughts & Experiences:

My real biggest concern is simply that, on the controller, the default layout is *completely* intuitive, but not for the kb/mouse.

 

I agree with everyone complaining about using E as the primary means of attack when in melee mode; My finger started aching and I quit playing with the keyboard immediately. You are seriously asking for people to injure themselves by making those the default buttons. I know this sounds dramatic, but I'm dead serious.

 

I believe that the controller buttons should continue to work the same way that they do currently (as of 13.0.x) and a new default for the kb/mouse should be worked out to make both camps completely happy. This doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

Fixed these for you:

* Overall the damage output was about what I expected, but the combo counter needs another 1sec grace period, IMO.

* Channeling was very intuitive to execute but the value is still unknown to me; I will have to revisit melee mods.

* Stamina seems to factor in way more now, which is healthy/positive for this game.

* A very large concern is the PRNG of Stance mods, so I will have to use my Codex to figure out where to hunt look on wiki/forum to know where to farm them because scanning enemies all day is excruciatingly boring and detracts from the game. If it were 1 scan per enemy I'd do it. Carrier is almost a necessity so please don't even mention Helios. Maybe when I literally can't get rid of my resources fast enough I'll build Helios...

 

Approx. Time Spent: Hours

Supplementary info: Dualshock 3 (set to xbox 360 mode) using the same bindings as the PS4 (d-pad instead of touchpad swipes), Mouse and Keyboard, played Solo, 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, all mission types, all factions.

 

 

Thank you for your time reading this, DE. You guys did great!

 

 

PS: (off-topic) I'll send you my dualshock 3 + bluetooth dongle if you guys would promise to test and improve controller interaction in the Windows version of the game. Please implement the PS4 UI navigation via controller methods in the Windows version! I'd like to sit back on my couch, not hunched over a kb/mouse. I know I'm not alone here!

[Ttariel]

Thoughts & Experiences: The combo counter is not planned out yet.

One of the saving lights of Melee is the combo counter, giving them big numbers for damage. Sadly it has problems right now that limit it in big amounts.

 

The counter goes down to fast.

4 seconds are fine for medium level, but later on it is just not smart to jump face first into a crowd onlyto keep the damage in a decent rate.

2 ideas.

 

With a higher combo you get extra time. every 10 hits you get +2 seconds.

Or it counts down bit for bit instead of all at once. While you will still lose a simple 10 very fast higher combos of 50+ will stay for long enough so you can get back into it after getting safe.

[Casardis]

Weapon(s) used: Dragon Nikana

Faction(s) fought: Grineer + Stalker attack

Mods equipped/Stance used:  Corrosive and Speed build

Thoughts & Experiences:

One exciting thing I wanted to try is to fight in melee against Stalker and carefully blocking/counter and such. However, I couldn't even block his Despair, as if it was still Melee 1.0. I think he also bypassed my block with Hate strikes (it's not like it was taking out my stamina; it was straight bypass). I'm sure it's safe to assume that even his Dread can't be blocked.

 

Personally I think this is unintended, and more like an oversight, so I hope you guys fix this so we can fight him like a master of the blades, rather than kiting with guns. It would also be fitting that there's this one enemy which you can go full-fledge sword-duel against and you use your skills to overcome the stakes, not "who shoots first with their OP weapons). The fact that Stalker attacks one target at the time can also be a nice challenge to try as a team (letting the target fight him alone and such, if the target requests it to the team).

 

Approx. Time Spent: 3 min (Earth Exterminate)

Supplementary info: Played Solo.

[Aeriax]

Weapon(s) used: Amphis

Faction(s) fought: Grineer, Corpus

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: Clashing Forest, Pressure Point, Spoiled Strike

Thoughts & Experiences: Very well done. Battering Roots is tougher to pull off somehow than other combos (Burning Wasp and Fractured Wind are the only others I've had experience with thus far), so I actually have very little input on it. Uses a lot of stamina, and I tend to float out of my engagements while still wildly swinging the Amphis around, wasting possible hits. Not too big an issue, though- probably just something I can practice with. Smacking Grineer literally out of the map on Earth's defense tileset is hilarious. The fact that loot often seems to go with them, not so much.

Approximate Time Spent: Wasn't keeping track.

Supplementary Info: Mouse and keyboard, solo/group it's roughly the same.

[Shashu]

This is more of a feedback on the system and keybind i guess?

 

I dont find any of the combos fun as we're limited to amount of combos we can do or fluid enough into another combo, allot of combos seem useless v groups or teamplay such as the lunging types or pauses which seem to be out of sync or delay to much trying to input the attack.

 

What you should of done was:

 

F or 3 to change to melee

 

Left Click, Horizontal Attack

Right Click. Vertical Attack

 

E to Channal

 

R to Reflec

 

Add in the Roll and Jump into combos.

 

With Hori and Verti  attacks you open alot more combos with 2 buttons. Take Soul Calibur for example, its a game all about weapon fighting and good combos and mostly consest of just 2 bottons that can do at least 20 combos per weapon.

 

Fair enough Devil may cry would been abit to much but Soul calibur mixed with warframe should fit well.

[Zarozian]

Weapon(s) used:  Dragon Nikana, Dual Ichor, Hate, Scindo, Jat Kittag, Dakra Prime , Galatine, Glaive, Kogake, Orthos, and Nami Skyla.

Faction(s) fought: Grineer/Corpus/Infested/Corrupted.

 

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: Tranquil Cleave, Crossing Snakes, Reaping Spiral, Swirling Tiger, Fracturing Wind, Clashing Forest, Crushing Ruin, Iron Phoenix, and Crimson Dervish.

 

Thoughts & Experiences:

 

I felt that only a handful of combos were actually decent, Tranquil Cleave and Crossing Snakes were some of the more disappointing ones, but Swirling Tiger and Iron Phoenix were one of the more amazing ones, Reaping Spiral was somewhere in between with the others.

 

It felt like you guys were too afraid to go a little extreme and venture out and try things fearing it might not feel Warframe, which resulted in you guys playing it safe, but you guys really have nothing to fear, don't hold anything back out on us, we actually loved those extreme feelings/combos that the Swirling Tiger stance for example has, or the crazy staff one that the Orthos uses.

 

But I really disliked how disappointing and boring some of them were, most of them felt like cosmetics to animations rather than a boost in combo and utility. My biggest disappointment was probably Tranquil Cleave for the katana, I was expecting something with quick, strong powerful slashes, resulting in the sword to seem like it never leaves the sheathe, something like this almost:

 

But not that extreme though^ you can go a little further than what you did with Swirling Tiger with all the other mods though.

 

Also the issue with executing the combo.

 

It should not have things like "pause" or "hold" the "E" key, but maybe more with the Channeling and Blocking instead of pausing and holding. The way the combos are executed can be improved.

 

As for all the Stance mods, I feel like the combos should be improved since most of them except a handful feel very lackluster.

 

Don't be afraid to experiment and sorry if I kinda sound like a spoiled type of person, but this is what it really feels like to me.

 

If feels like you guys were holding back too much.

 

 

 

 

 

Approximate Time Spent: 7 hours or more a day since the release of Update 13.

 

Mostly trying to farm these stance mods to try out and test out all of them.

 

(Countless x Defense Waves 30-50)

(5 x 30-45 minute Survivals)

Edited April 14, 2014 by Zarozian

[ErickJatobA]

Weapon(s) used:  

 

Reaper Prime, Hate, Galatine, Dakra Prime, Skana, Kogake.

Faction(s) fought:

 

Grinneer, Corpus, Infested, Corrupted

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used:

 

Stances(Maxed) - Cleaving Whirlwind, Reaping Spiral, Iron pheonix, bleeding willow.

Shoking Touch (Maxed), Virulent Scourge (Maxed), Second Wind (Maxed), Killing blow (Maxed), Molten Impact (Maxed), Reflex Coil (Maxed),

Pressure Point (Maxed) Voltaic Strike (Maxed).
Thoughts & Experiences:
 

Overall new melee system is good , awesome addition to the game.

I think there maybe each weapon could get more combos per stance,

If you guys implement more combos per stance and not new staces mods

the general feedback would be positive.I already think that 2 stances per weapon is enough,

the only problem is the number of combos, which is small, probably because of the time that

you have had to make themBut the system is good, I have had tons of fun,

expecially with galatine spinning around.
 

Approximate Time Spent:

Around 10 hours (15 x 40 min survivals)
Supplementary Info:

Using the keyboard, playing Coop.

[Boxyninja]

Weapon(s) used:

ankyros prime, nikana and a few others

Faction(s) fought:
all

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used:
 fracturing wind and shimmering blight

Thoughts & Experiences:
had great potential. some of the combos are hard to pull off because of the animations(usually length of them). should add in a option to make empower a toggle rather than a hold.

Approximate Time Spent:

5-7hrs and counting

[ShardsSuperior]

Weapons Used: Dual Ichors, Orthos Prime, Scindo, Magistar, Fang, Dual Ethers,

Factions fought: all

Mods/Stances: A bunch. Also, Life Strike + Rage

Thoughts and Experience:

*The Channeling mods are patently useless. Except Life Strike, and that's crazy with Rage. It's like Valkyr, but on every frame. But the 5 other ones introduced in Update 13 have no use, except maybe in a niche build. :/

*Also, if you don't add any Channeling mods, and add Reflex Coil and Focus Energy, you can get channeling to 1 energy per strike. This ruins the feeling of skill - there's really no point NOT to channel every strike if that happens.

[Articunno]

Weapon(s) used: Dual Ether

Faction(s) fought: Grineer, Corpus, Infested

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: Assorted Elemental Mods, damage boosters, and that one mod that makes channeling use less stamina (I forget what its called)

Thoughts & Experiences: I love the new melee system just in general, maybe aside from the wierd binding, which I eventually got used to, melee just feels smoother and more exciting, the blocking system is insanely fun, and i love running up to guys to unleash some channeled blows in their face, like one time I was playing a capture mission, and the hostage I was chasing got stuck in a corner, and with enemys being stunned on hit, I stunlocked him in the corner and wiped the floor with him! this new system finally makes melee enjoyable, and not feel like a chore.

Approximate Time Spent: Unknown but probably a lot

Supplementary Info: Mouse/Keyboard Coop, melee only (most of the time)

Edited April 14, 2014 by Articunno

[MrMacaroli]

Weapons Used: Dragon Nikana, Dakra Prime, Ether Reaper, Dual Ether, Ankyros Prime, Galatine

Factions fought: Corpus, Infested, Grineer, Tenno (Dueling/Testing)

Mods equipped/Stances used: All weapons had faction-specific elemental damage mods equipped, and all of them had at least one stance. Dragon Nikana and Dakra Prime have been tested with both the Parry and the Life Strike mods. The stances used are:

-Crimson Dervish and Iron Phoenix for Dakra Prime

-Tranquil Cleave for Dragon Nikana

-Reaping Spiral for Ether Reaper

-Swirling Tiger and Crossing Snakes for Dual Ether

-Fracturing Wind for Ankyros Prime

-Cleaving Whirlwind for Galatine

Thoughts & Experiences: Overall, the system is a fantastic foundation for a lot of indepth melee combat, and truly making it a playstyle that can carry you through the game.

 

To be commended are the systems for blocking, parrying, and channeling-- all three of these add an element of skill, movement, and timing/resource conservation that I find to be  extremely engaging. Also things I approve of are the various themes and particularly powerful, weapon-changing stances. Stances like Iron Phoenix with its knockback or Cleaving Whirlwind with its massive, potent whirl you can do up to six times before it breaks you out of it feel FUN, like you can shake the earth and change the battlefield. Tranquil Cleave's dashes, stabs and slices feel nice and look great, and the same can be said of Crimson Dervish-- complimented with powerful weapons make for a lot of fun.

 

The combo system is good, the stance idea is awesome for customization even with similar weapons. But what could be improved/worked on from here on out:

 

-Some Stances feel woefully bereft of content. With Tranquil Cleave at a whopping 4 different combos, Iron Phoenix and others feel much more simplistic with only two. It's probably a high demand on animation to get so much customization in them-- but it feels like if you really, REALLY like a certain low-combo stance's theme, you're kind of screwed.

-There are not enough enemies or enemy types to provide a challenging environment where parrying and enemy combos are to be feared/dodged/blocked. The Infected, the melee-focused faction, get mopped up in seconds thanks to stagger mechanics and how susceptible they are to melee damage. Stalker has not (yet) been revamped for Melee 2.0, and Guardsmen do not last long enough and do not do enough damage to bring a threatening presence to the Grineer's arsenal. Corpus make sense as a completely melee-avoiding group-- with Prod Crewmen as their only soldiers who want to stand toe-to-toe with Tenno, they definitely seem designated range.

-There is, of course, the grind to get mods. Perhaps one for each weapon could ALSO be researched in the Dojo as an alternate means to get them? Some offered on stores? Or perhaps as a personal reward that players can set and work towards over a whole series of missions. Proxy War (or some barebones incarnation of it) could be an excellent distribution platform, but the backlash and outcry has made it CLEAR that people will be furious if made to wait too long.

-The benefit for certain Channeling mods does not outweigh or even balance the efficiency cost. In particular, Quickening comes to mind as the primary example. For 80% less efficiency, you get 20% attack speed. Where the mod, Fury, gives 30% outright with no drawback whatsoever. In conjunction, it's somewhat balanced-- a total of 50% attack speed while channeling, 30% bonus without. But when the channeling mod is taken alone, 20% does not feel rewarding enough to be worthy of the slot. If anything, Fury should be the lesser one and the Channeling (the one that is COSTING YOU) be the greater sum-- by twice, or more, than what you can get with its non-energy guzzling companion.

-Mechanics feel better to some (or many) if you're spamming the mouse as opposed to spamming the keyboard. The ability to have the binding for melee on the M1 and charging on the E when in melee mode has been made several times before, and hopefully it becomes an option in the near future.

 

There are plenty different gripes to be found with one thing or another, but it's overall an awesome addition to the game and I hope it takes off in a spectacular fashion. Bring on the epic swordfights!

 

Approximate Time Spent: Between 12-16 hours

[Oishii]

Weapon(s) used: Scoliac, Jat Kinnag

Faction(s) fought: All

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: Coiling Viper, Crushing Ruin

Thoughts & Experiences: I really like how parry was introduced into the game and helps make melee feel different from guns. Though I don not like how to optimally perform for melee you really have to dip into your warframe powers or health. Guns do not really dip into your warframe mods so I do not see why melee should. This is especially bad when I play with a Trinity or another person who consistently single handily shuts down enemies with CC I feel like there isn't even a point to parrying. Combos can feel frustrating to pull off sometimes, but they add a new layer to the melee combat, and I overall like the new addition. I noticed that melee weapons were rebalanced and their power level has logical sense to it now, so props to the devs for that.

Approximate Time Spent: 4 days on and off gaming sessions

Supplementary Info: Optional (Mouse/Keyboard? Controller? Coop/solo?)

[Demon093]

Dual Ichor; Combo moves Crossing Snakes

 

Does insufficient damage, request assistance as to damage increase on combo finisher or mods with finisher bonuses 

[Zicak]

Weapon(s) used:
Machete Wraith

Nami Skyla

 

Faction(s) fought:
Grineer, Infested

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used:
Machete: Lv. 25-30, General-purpose DPS build with damage tailored against faction (Pressure Point, Fury, Killing Blow, Reflex Coil, various elemental mods). Used both no stance and Sundering Weave.

Nami Skyla: No stance, Lv. 1-9, Used only Pressure Point of varying levels.

 

Thoughts & Experiences:
The system in general feels a lot more robust and usable than 1.0, and I find it a great deal of fun to simply run through weilding only a melee weapon. Additionally, its usability and viability in combat allowed me to take riskier loadouts, such as more ammo-inefficient guns and situationally-useful weapons (such as the Penta and Ogris, both useless in tight spaces) into a fight with me, knowing I have a good backup in the form of an ammoless beating stick. The new blocking system helps immensely in this regard, and gives the stamina bar a reason to exist once again, other than make my pinky hurt by using crouch to slide to avoid depleting the bar while sprinting through levels trying to keep up with teammates.

 

However, I cannot see the usefulness of stances, apart from the mathematical benefit of giving your melee weapon more points to play with. I played both with and without a stance for the Machete Wraith, and I must admit that in both cases, the easiest strategy fo 90% of all encounters, especially Infested, was to simply run up to them and mash the melee button until things die. the combos are nice to look at, yes, but what makes them better? I noticed very little damage output difference between simply mashing and deliberately using combos. I do not feel that a stance gives me any significant benefit other than more mod points, and even then, one will most likely not fill them all if a Catalyst is equipped. I feel similarly with the wall attacks. They are powerful, but they are extremeny difficult to pull off properly on a low-spec machine due to low FPS and are so situational that it is far easier to ignore them and simply keep mashing the button.

 

So, in closing, the base system and mechanics are ver solid and I do enjoy them immensely, but the stance system needs more work to differentiate stances from no stance and give some sort of practical incentive to use something other than the basic button mashing combos.

Approximate Time Spent:
~5 hours, on and off. Varying mission types and levels.

 

Supplementary Info: Used keyboard, low-spec machine (avg 20 FPS). Played mainly solo.

[PseudoExis]

Weapon(s) used:

Dragon Nikana,Orthos,Scoliac,Galatine,Dakra Prime,Ether Reaper,Duel ether,Glaive,Kama,Fang,Kogake,Nikana,Scindo,Obex,Skana prime.

Faction(s) fought:

All

 

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used:

Dragon Nikana- Tranquil cleave

Orthos- shimmering blight

Dakra Prime- crimson dervish

Can not remember the rest.

 

 

Thoughts & Experiences:

The time you have to continue your combo is kind of short;if you get knocked down,unless you have handspring,by the time you get up your combo is gone.Even casting some skills can also use up the time you have to keep your combos.

 

Approximate time spent: 20-25 hours

 

Supplementary Info:Keyboard/mouse,both solo and co-op

Edited April 14, 2014 by PseudoExis

[UrielColtan]

After having finally acquired 3 stances, maxing them and witnessing an exhibition of multiple other stances, I think I am within reason to conclude that Melee 2.0 combo system is pretty bad.

 

What this game refers to as a "combo" is the same basic default moves you already had, with some flashy finishers that are basically no better than multiple charge animations from the prior Melee, only they are activated by  time delay presses of the exact same button, instead of charging the button(Which had a more guaranteed rate of activation.). This is also basically the oppositie of a combination, you are presssing the same command, only some of the moves now require a time delay mid attack upon an enemy.

This is one of the most slipshod and uncumbersome forms of input for a "combo".

They could have just made these "stances" into charge attack mods and called it a day, as they sure hell aren't combos and they lack response as they are now.

I read some dev replies and tweets about how hard they worked on melee 2.0. I hear them, but you'd think they would want people to actualy experience their animations in action instead of having it relegated to this pitiful response input system and behind grindwalls. May I suggest even bothering to make use of the "r" key at all in Melee mode? Hell, the key that used to be for Parry is also sitting idle and useless. So many opportunities they could have and stlll can take advantage of.

 

As it stands now, combat has basically just been cut down and polarized.

Melee animations you could already do before Melee 2.0 like the complete melee moveset and parrying are now cut down in default mode or just completely relegated to Melee equip mode,

Charge attacks are gone completely and replaced with channelling, which is another drain on your energy bar, which is already lmited and vulnerable enough without this drain on it.

 

The only good thing to come out of this was that you guys added stagger back in(Weaker version of it but stll) but that should have never been taken out in the first place, and that consolation hardly makes up for the other problems.

Edited April 14, 2014 by UrielColtan

[FinnishHim]

Weapon(s) used: Ether Reaper

 

Faction(s) fought: Every Faction!

 

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: Various builds, emphasizing Reach and Pressure Point. Using the Reaping Spiral stance!

 

Thoughts & Experiences: Absolutely love it. So. Awesome. First stance mod I found and I actually didn't have a scythe, but by Friday night I had an Ether Reaper in my hands and was hacking away. At first I wasn't too overwhelmed by the Abyssal Automaton combo, but upon practice and over time it's become my favorite. By the end of the weekend I was cutting down enemies while tossing my scythe into another behind me, and then spinning the camera around on the spiral kick to have the scythe shred all enemies around me. Stuff like that is what I love in a game. The combo took time to master but now I'd consider myself very skilled with it and there's no greater feeling in-mission than when I pull off the perfect move. Though I do wish that mayyybe the final spinning-scythe move in the combo had a bit larger radius, I don't think it's a big deal. I'm perfectly happy with how it is (nothing quite like boomerang-ing your scythe to you through a shield lancer's back haha).

 

I really love how the new system works, with Reflection getting some real use (channeling while blocking a Scorch's Ignis? They make my life easy :P ) and all the Stamina mods being really worthwhile (ex. Quick Rest, Marathon). Channeling is cool but kinda energy heavy is you're not careful, I wish it had more detailing the cost and damage modifier in the Arsenal screen. The finishers off of parries are sick buuuut still have the "stealth kill" prompt... Should probably prompt for "Finisher!" or something that actually fits into the open combat.

 

Approximate Time Spent: This whole weekend XD

 

Supplementary Info: Primarily Solo, using Mouse and Keyboard.

 

 

I also have tried Homing Fang (very cool) and Burning Wasp (decent, will try out more) but didn't wanna write those reviews yet.

 

Honestly DE great job with Melee 2.0! I'm really really loving it so far, clearing missions with just a scythe in hand has never been so cool (or possible, for that matter :P ).

 

-FinnishHim

Edited April 14, 2014 by FinnishHim

[Techmarine]

Weapon(s) used: Nikana, Orthos, the electrostaff, Galatine, HYSTERIA!!!

Faction(s) fought: All factions

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: irrelevant

Thoughts & Experiences:

 

My feedback is divided into two:

1. Melee weapons: please swap charge and attack when the weapon is equipped. Otherwise it is totally awesome. Except the Nikana: all other weapons get extra attacks when equipped, even without stances. The nikana stays with the normal two attacks. It is kind of disappointing.

 

2. HYSTERIA makes me feel valkyr is stuck in 12.0. Her attacks are boring, and obviously there are no combos other than eee. Also, I can use channeling only if I equip a melee weapon before activating HYSTERIA. Shouldn't it count as an equipped melee weapon? I am not even sure it can be equipped after the skill is active, which removes a very important mechanic from this skill. Now I am not asking you to buff hysteria, but if melee mechanics are altered, this skill should be revamped.

Approximate Time Spent: A few hours

Supplementary: Keyboard, both solo and coop.

[Techmarine]

Edit: please delete previous post. Sorry!

 

Weapon(s) used: Nikana, Orthos, the electrostaff, Galatine, HYSTERIA!!!

 

Faction(s) fought: All factions

 

Mod(s) equipped/Stance used: irrelevant

 

Thoughts & Experiences:

 

My feedback is divided into two:

1. Melee weapons: please swap charge and attack when the weapon is equipped. Otherwise it is totally awesome. Except the Nikana: all other weapons get extra attacks when equipped, even without stances. The nikana stays with the normal two attacks. It is kind of disappointing.

 

Oh, and I am saying awesome because I am a sucker for nice animation. I will probaby never use the delay combo other than passing  time at extraction. It is probaby the most difficult way of activating melee combos.

 

2. HYSTERIA makes me feel valkyr is stuck in 12.0. Her attacks are boring, and obviously there are no combos other than eee. Also, I can use channeling only if I equip a melee weapon before activating HYSTERIA. Shouldn't it count as an equipped melee weapon? I am not even sure it can be equipped after the skill is active, which removes a very important mechanic from this skill. Now I am not asking you to buff hysteria, but if melee mechanics are altered, this skill should be revamped.

 

Approximate Time Spent: A few hours

 

Supplementary: Keyboard, both solo and coop.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Techmarine