Gram Vs. Galatine

[Teljaxx]

When I first checked out all my melee weapons after melee 2.0 came out, I was surprised to find that the Gram seemed to be the worst weapon in the game. But I have now come to realize that it is not just the weapon that matters, but the stances that you can put on it. So when I was comparing the Gram to the Ether Reaper, and seeing that the Gram was universally worse, it was an inaccurate comparison, because they use different stances with entirely different attributes.

 

But this also means that weapons of the same type, like the Gram and the Galatine, can be compared directly, because they share the same potential bonuses from the stances. So now the base stats of the weapon do matter, and you can much more easily see which one is better or worse..

 

In the case of the Gram and the Galatine, the Gram is definitely worse off. It deals a very, very slight bit more damage per hit, but it is slightly slower and has much less range. The very small damage bonus it has over the Galatine is nowhere near enough to compensate for its comparative shortcomings. The Galatine even has a starting polarity advantage over the Gram.

 

My suggestion would be to give the Gram a small speed boost, so that it is a slight bit faster than the Galatine, as well as a large damage boost. This would give each of the two weapons an advantage over the other. The Gram would have higher damage, and the Galatine would have longer reach. This would work well with their default stance polarities, too. The Galatine's longer range is perfect for the Cleaving Whirlwind spin attacks, and the Gram's higher damage would be great with the Rending Crane combos.

 

The Gram was my favorite Melee weapon prior to Melee 2.0, and I hate to see it overshadowed by its brethren like this.

 

The accessories need to be moved so they are not floating an inch away from the bottom of the Gram's handle, too.

[HoodyNynja]

The Gram's polarity matches the Rending Crane stance, so you would actually get more of a benefit from that stance than you would with Gelatine. Conversely, Galatine benefits more from Cleaving Whirlwind. Not a huge difference in either case, but without all base stats being the same, so weapons will just be "better" than others, depending on the load out, situation and player preferences.

[Teljaxx]

The Gram's polarity matches the Rending Crane stance, so you would actually get more of a benefit from that stance than you would with Gelatine. Conversely, Galatine benefits more from Cleaving Whirlwind. Not a huge difference in either case, but without all base stats being the same, so weapons will just be "better" than others, depending on the load out, situation and player preferences.

 

Yes, as I said, the stance polarities of the two weapons match those stances. But since you can re-polarize the stance slot if you want, that does not really matter in the end. And currently, the Galatine works better with both of the stances than the Gram does, thanks to its longer range and slight speed advantage.

 

So why bother using the Gram over the Galatine? Is that teeny tiny damage increase really worth it?

 

If the Gram had higher damage than the Galatine, each sword would have an advantage over the other. The forward lunging strikes of the Rending Crane stance would help make up for the shorter range of the Gram, so the higher damage would be easier to take advantage of. And the short range spin attacks of Cleaving Whirlwind would benefit more from the longer range of the Galatine than the higher damage of the Gram. So each stance would fit best with each weapon based on their stats and attack patterns, and not just their polarity.