Melee - Needs Better (Faster) Attack Animations And Introduce Attack Delay

[matrixEXO]

Seeing the cinematic trailer (and playing the game from start again because of reset) reawakened me to how slow melee-ing is in-game. Now, I know many of you are already shaking heads or asking me to slap a Fury mod onto my melee weapon but in all seriousness, it's quite slow. And because it's slow, it doesn't have that feeling of power when you slice an enemy in half with an attack (charged Skana attack definitely is faster than normal melee but could be better).

 

What I would want changed is the animation speeds. They ought to be sped up a bit more. Right now, swinging my Skana feels as if I was swinging a hammer of the same size. Sure, matching up the timing for the next swing would be a b**** since you want the swings to flow into the next one seemlessly but I feel that it could be better. Slapping Fury mod should actually reduce the time interval between attacks, not the animation itself.

 

TL;DR: Make melee weapons feel stronger and better by increasing attack animation speeds.

 

 

EDIT: Since people think increasing attack animations would yield super attack speeds, I would like to add a new mechanic in conjunction to my suggestion, Attack Delay.

 

Attack delay works by having a delay between each next attack. The idea is to give the attack some weight. Attack delay on a Heavy weapon should be greater than a Longsword weapon. In addition to that, remaining stamina percentage would increase attack delay by a bit (and make stamina costs on every swing actually mean something, rather than "Oh, I cannot run much now or block much now" which is totally breaking immersion). Fury mod will then decrease the attack delay and additional delay gained from stamina loss by a set percentage.

Edited June 5, 2013 by matrixEXO

[trasha]

... slap a Fury mod ....

 

 

slap a Fury mod

Edited June 5, 2013 by trasha

[Vorpalstryke]

Is your Fury mod maxed? Makes a huge difference for all weapons especially 2H weapons, at least for me. And get Reflex Coil for increasing charge speed. You'll be slicing and dicing your way through the levels with ease as long as you have a fast weapon like the Dual Ether or Fang and can click fast enough to take advantage of the speed mods.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Vorpalstryke

[matrixEXO]

Is your Fury mod maxed? Makes a huge difference for all weapons especially 2H weapons, at least for me. And get Reflex Coil for increasing charge speed. You'll be slicing and dicing your way through the levels with ease as long as you have a fast weapon like the Dual Ether and can click fast enough to take advantage of the speed mods.

I played with maxed Fury mod prior to resetting. The reason why I posted this is mainly because without Fury mod, even the Skana feels sluggish. The idea of having attack animations independent to attack delay would greatly improve both longsword and dagger. Duals are obviously fast but the fact remains that they are... duals. Not singles.

 

And first impression from a beginner weapon does count. That feel when using it for the first time means everything. If melee-ing feels slow, it would turn some people off, like me. I actually slapped a maxed Fury mod on my Hate prior to resetting because it just feels so slow. It's not a *light* weapon as it looks like (and seriously, a Fragor looks 2x heavier than a Hate). More like a weapon with 1 ton on it that a seasoned warrior cannot even lift easily.

Edited June 5, 2013 by matrixEXO

[Vorpalstryke]

I played with maxed Fury mod prior to resetting. The reason why I posted this is mainly because without Fury mod, even the Skana feels sluggish. The idea of having attack animations independent to attack delay would greatly improve both longsword and dagger. Duals are obviously fast but the fact remains that they are... duals. Not singles. And first impression from a beginner weapon DOES count. That feel, that impression given, everything. If melee-ing feels slow, it would turn some people off.

I hear you but the big weapons need slower swing times to balance out the damage dealt and their larger ranges, especially the 2H weapons. Plus they are theoretically heavier in weight so take more time and strength to swing. Personally, the 2H weapons I've tried feel just right with maxed out mods. And Hate is a 2H weapon and does swing faster than a Fragor. The 1H single target weapons could indeed use a slight buff to make them more effective. Perhaps what you suggest, increased speed, or allow them to hit more than one target which would be limited by their short range anyway.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Vorpalstryke

[matrixEXO]

I hear you but the big weapons need slower swing times to balance out the damage dealt and their larger ranges. Plus they are theoretically heavier in weight so take more time and strength to swing. Personally, the 2H weapons I've tried feel just right with maxed out mods. The 1H single target weapons could indeed use a slight buff to make them more effective. Perhaps what you suggest, speed, or allow them to hit more than one target which would be limited by their short range anyway.

Big weapons can have longer attack delays between swings but slightly faster attack animations. I'm not asking for all the animations to be like mach-speed but to at least resemble their weapon types. A longsword of the size of the Skana should not feel like you added some weights at the end of it. Neither should a Fragor feel like a stick when you swing it.

 

And no, I'm not asking for multi-hits. It's not feasible for those kinds of weapons anyway, given that they are not meant to be multi-hit weapons.

 

Finally, for those who would come here and post about slapping Fury onto my weapons, don't. I know what Fury does and how it is but it shouldn't be what makes a weapon's speed fast. Maybe delay between swings but the weapon itself should have it's own attack animation speed be tied to the weapon itself. This is also another way to promote weapon-type uniqueness.

Edited June 5, 2013 by matrixEXO

[Vorpalstryke]

Big weapons can have longer attack delays between swings but slightly faster attack animations. I'm not asking for all the animations to be like mach-speed but to at least resemble their weapon types. A longsword of the size of the Skana should not feel like you added some weights at the end of it. Neither should a Fragor feel like a stick when you swing it.

 

And no, I'm not asking for multi-hits. It's not feasible for those kinds of weapons anyway, given that they are not meant to be multi-hit weapons.

I dunno, I guess it's a difference in opinion then. The Fragor feels just right to me. I definitely feel the power with each slow swing, especially with the screen shake aesthetic. I do see the frustration of having it slow as molasses initially but weapons in this game are meant to be modded.

And beginners are meant to swap out the Skana after they've earned the Cronus BP which is a really nice upgrade to speed and damage. The Skana is meant to be an introductory weapon and not meant to be taken to the high level areas unless you're a pro.

[matrixEXO]

I dunno, I guess it's a difference in opinion then. The Fragor feels just right to me. I definitely feel the power with each slow swing, especially with the screen shake aesthetic. I do see the frustration of having it slow as molasses initially but weapons in this game are meant to be modded.

And beginners are meant to swap out the Skana after they've earned the Cronus BP which is a really nice upgrade to speed and damage. The Skana is meant to be an introductory weapon and not meant to be taken to the high level areas unless you're a pro.

I see no reason to justify the meagerness of a starting weapon. It should be something that promotes the aspect of the weapon itself (and melee combat if it is a melee weapon). Like I said, using a slow melee weapon when starting a game new would detract some people from even touching melee because it's the first impression they get, "melee is slow".

Edited June 5, 2013 by matrixEXO

[holdenagincourt]

And first impression from a beginner weapon does count. That feel when using it for the first time means everything. If melee-ing feels slow, it would turn some people off, like me.

If that were really much of an issue I don't think anyone who plays Warframe would bother crafting any of the melee weapons or using melee attacks ever, since the Skana sucks royally.

I like the current variation in attack refire rate among the melee weapons. What I don't like is how irrelevant normal melee is when compared to charge melee, however.

[Vorpalstryke]

I see no reason to justify the meagerness of a starting weapon. It should be something that promotes the aspect of the weapon itself (and melee combat if it is a melee weapon). Like I said, using a slow melee weapon when starting a game new would detract some people from even touching melee because it's the first impression they get, "melee is slow".

I really do see your point. And when I started playing, the Skana was indeed very meh. But when I swapped to the Cronus and stuck in some mods I found, I was like, "Woah! Melee can be pretty good!" And it opened my eyes to the beauty of mastering melee weapons. I think that is what the developers intended. Of course not everyone will see it that way because everyone has different wants and desires but I appreciate the intention. It's not that I don't mind the Skana being tweaked, I'd love it if all weapons got sped up a little. But in the grand scheme of things, people who experiment and stick with the game will get rewarded with more powerful options just as in every other game out there.

But I'm all about supporting buffs too. Buffing the melee speeds of all the weapons is a fine thing to petition for cuz I do love the melee aspect of the game.

[matrixEXO]

If that were really much of an issue I don't think anyone who plays Warframe would bother crafting any of the melee weapons or using melee attacks ever, since the Skana sucks royally.

I like the current variation in attack refire rate among the melee weapons. What I don't like is how irrelevant normal melee is when compared to charge melee, however.

I also do feel that the irrelevance of the normal melee in comparison to charged melee should be addressed. Maybe if charged melee had a cooldown in it's usage? Might turn 80% of the playerbase off but does fix the issue. Still needs a lot of looking into though.

 

I really do see your point. And when I started playing, the Skana was indeed very meh. But when I swapped to the Cronus and stuck in some mods I found, I was like, "Woah! Melee can be pretty good!" And it opened my eyes to the beauty of mastering melee weapons. I think that is what the developers intended. Of course not everyone will see it that way because everyone has different wants and desires but I appreciate the intention. It's not that I don't mind the Skana being tweaked, I'd love it if all weapons got sped up a little. But in the grand scheme of things, people who experiment and stick with the game will get rewarded with more powerful options just as in every other game out there.

But I'm all about supporting buffs too. Buffing the melee speeds of all the weapons is a fine thing to petition for cuz I do love the melee aspect of the game.

Thanks. I do want to buff the speeds but at the same time, I don't want them to be so speedy and strong. Shifting the increase of attack animations onto an attack delay would achieve both the speed increase as well as keeping the actions per second in place.