Blocking - Breathing Life Into A Dead Feature

[CarboniteIV]

Did you guys know that blocking, in it's current state, can deflect bullets?!?!  Seriously, I just tried it and, whoa, dude.  I used the Dual Heat Blades, and he twirls the blades like some awesome Jedi or something.  You have to remap the button, I put it on Ctrl. 

 

I now have a completely new way of playing!  Remember, tapping the block will help you stop volleys of bullets.

[wolfblade]

I think they could just buff the block but no shields cause the tenno are getting less space ninja like and I would not want to see that get worse

[Callback]

So, while up till now I have been using block as just an animation cancel, mostly for reloads, I recently found what seems to be a block stun effect, that keeps you blocking while being shot until the enemy stops.

[lstalri]

So, while up till now I have been using block as just an animation cancel, mostly for reloads, I recently found what seems to be a block stun effect, that keeps you blocking while being shot until the enemy stops.

Please clarify:

a) this stops you from being stunned (false; I've tried it myself on almost every known type of stun and it doesn't work)

b) this causes to to block while being stunned to take in less damage (unknown)

 

side note: blocking does not negate disruptor attacks, in case any of you were wondering.  Also, it doesn't not deflect bullets, it just causes you to take 50% damage from them. 

[LeoAtKnight]

Agreed with everything in the OP.

[fishworshipper]

+1 for all the blocking/counter-attacking etc ideas, they sound great! :D

As for the shield type melee weapon, just no - the Tenno are ninja, not knights

Last I checked ninjas never carried ROCKET LAUNCHERS.

[Paradoxbomb]

Personally, my issue with blocking is that my mouse doesnt have a 4th key, and binding block to any other key just makes it awkward to use since all the easily reachable keys are already taken up with movement and other useful functions. I think they should combine the blocking mechanic with the melee button. A well timed quick melee attack could parry an enemy's own melee strikes or even deflect larger projectiles like grenades or rockets. Holding down the melee button will both charge your attack and block some bullet damage (which makes sense since you'd be charging the enemy's position anyway). This would come with the added bonus of allowing you to manually release your charged attack rather than it happening automatically (though some people might argue that may remove some of the skill, but I'd personally prefer it).

[Orovo]

Please clarify:

a) this stops you from being stunned (false; I've tried it myself on almost every known type of stun and it doesn't work)

b) this causes to to block while being stunned to take in less damage (unknown)

 

side note: blocking does not negate disruptor attacks, in case any of you were wondering.  Also, it doesn't not deflect bullets, it just causes you to take 50% damage from them. 

 

By block stun he means that after starting to block, if an enemy is shooting at him, he will not be able to do anything except block for a while (until the shooting stops). 

 

I have read and seen a video that blocking actually does stop the disruptor draining attack if you remain still and face the disruptor while blocking.

The thing is, blocking has no effect against the disruptor's rushing, knockdown attack. If you try to block this, you will be knocked over and helpless against a subsequent draining attack. Ancients only use the knockdown attack if you are far away so you can test this by getting sneaking up to the disruptor and then try to block the draining attack.

[Sir.R.Tea]

Like the idea. I knew there was block then... i never used to after seeing how bad it is. with new mods that buffs block there might be more ways of play style.

[Throrface]

Personally, my issue with blocking is that my mouse doesnt have a 4th key, and binding block to any other key just makes it awkward to use since all the easily reachable keys are already taken up with movement and other useful functions. I think they should combine the blocking mechanic with the melee button.

A small suggestion here... in a few games with melee combat, blocking is, by default, bound to F. I bound it to F as well. Now, F originally serves for weapon switching, so we need to bind that somewhere now. I've gotta say, I am quite used to switching weapons with my mouse wheel. And what function is bound to the mouse wheel originally? Setting the "active" Warframe ability? I use buttons 1~4 to cast abilities. I do not need the function that is bound to mouse wheel originally. Problem solved. (Block on F, Weapon switch on Mouse Wheel, shuffling abilities unbound)

 

 

Did you guys know that blocking, in it's current state, can deflect bullets?!?!  Seriously, I just tried it and, whoa, dude.  I used the Dual Heat Blades, and he twirls the blades like some awesome Jedi or something.  You have to remap the button, I put it on Ctrl. 

 

I now have a completely new way of playing!  Remember, tapping the block will help you stop volleys of bullets.

As Istalri already said, blocking does not actually deflect bullets. It shows a fancy Jedi-parrying animation, and it gives you a damage reduction to the damage you take. Currently, the amount of damage blocked is the same for all weapons. If you go back and read my first post, I suggest that various weapons should have various block efficiencies. Basically, make it an extra way to differentiate/balance melee weapons. If Block had some sort of importance to players, the designers could use that to balance weapons. Say... you make these daggers that have fast and strong charged attacks, and you want to balance them so they are not OP in comparison to everything else. Currently, you can do that by, for instance, giving them a really low crit chance. If block mattered, you would have an extra balancing option... you could also make the daggers suck at blocking things. (note that this is a very simplified example that I just came up with on a whim, do not over-analyze it please.)

Edited June 27, 2013 by Throrface

[InsomniacOvrLrd]

 

Make it a little more interactive. In many games, you can either choose to hold the block button for a constant protection, but you can also try to hit the block button right before an enemy strikes you, which triggers a sort of a super block, that not only blocks the attack, but also staggers the enemy and opens him up for a counter attack.

 

the 'super block' is called a 'parry'. It's when you deflect an enemy's attack and set them off guard, as opposed to just absorbing it with your shield. The super followup is called a 'riposte'. It's generally a reward of huge damage for a high risk high reward maneuver. anyone can block, but the pros can time parries.

 

See : Dead or Alive series, Dark Souls.

 

and all this is great, but there's only a few melee enemies in the game (that use weapons. Chargers just ...charge.) so even if you add a parry/riposte system, it's good against who exactly? The prova prod guys?

[thecolin-]

I like the idea, blocking should be more useful

 

 

 

 

I agree, but i've got a question, whats up with MASTER? How'd you get it?

hahaha bro you have enough posts... should have found out already.

[zergla]

Bullet time,slicing bullets mid-air. I very much like the ideas that you came up with.

[gavdl13]

that would be a nice idea..!

[ThreeDogKnight]

It is easy to come across quotes like these whenever you mention blocking. It's usefulness is rather small, and the only way to find out it exists is when you play with your key bindings... or read topics such as this. By default, it is bound to a button that many mice do not even have. I think it is fairly safe to say that blocking, as of now, is way in the background, ignored by many players, and collecting dust.

 

I think this is quite a pity, considering how blocking enemy attacks can be a great way of introducing more dynamics to melee engagements, and can actually be a play style defining feature in some games. Blocking, if done right, is a fun thing to do, and by neglecting the block mechanic, you are missing out on that fun potential.

 

So what can you do to help block shine?

 

Make it a little more useful. Make some weapons worse at blocking, and some weapons better. For instance, a sword+dagger combo has been a favourite choice for blocking enemy attacks in real world history, why not give the sword+dagger weapons a bit better block? Also, if you hide behind the huge blade of Scindo, you are practically holding a shield in front of your face. Weapons that take up a lot of space are surely pretty reliable for blocking incoming attacks.

 

Make it a little more interactive. In many games, you can either choose to hold the block button for a constant protection, but you can also try to hit the block button right before an enemy strikes you, which triggers a sort of a super block, that not only blocks the attack, but also staggers the enemy and opens him up for a counter attack. Counter attacks are a whole new category. You would like something that could spice up melee play? Look at melee counter attacks. What if succesfully blocking an attack would actually create a short window of opportunity for a counterattack (it could even have a prompt similar to a STEALTH KILL) which would have it's own badass animation?

 

Give it a little bit of love. And by love, I mean mods. Here are some quick ideas for mods that I came up with:

- [shield Wall] - Increases damage reduction of blocking.

- [indomitable] - Chance to resist being knocked down while blocking.

- [Reflector] - Reflects a small percentage of bullets back at their source.

- [Hold the Line] - Reduces the Stamina cost of blocking.

- [Heavy Repercussions] - Increases damage of counter attacks by X%.

- [Opportunist] - Lengthens the window of opportunity for a counter attack by X%.

- [Wall of Ice] - Blocking a melee attack applies freeze slow to the enemy.

Obviously, all of these mods would go into a Melee weapon. I know you are probably afraid of oversaturating the drop table with various mods, and that you have millions of mod ideas already, but these would be really cool.

 

Perhaps give it even more love. And by even more love, I mean give us a shield type melee weapon. Grineer Shield Lancers are a walking proof that Shields can be used as an effective melee weapon. A shield type melee weapon should be able to block a fairly good amount of incoming damage, but its melee damage should be smaller (and you would deliver said melee damage by shield slamming, or cutting with the edge of the shield). It doesn't even have to be just a shield though. We have Sword+Dagger weapon combination, why couldn't there be Sword+Shield weapons?

(or Captain America shields whose Charge Attack would throw them? Okay, I am getting a bit out of hand here.)

 

So much for my Block suggestion, hope you guys like it. And let me plant a mental image into your head before I post this: Imagine a group of Tenno entering a room filled with Grineer, with an Ember in the front, bravely holding her shield raised, and her fellow Tenno crumpled behind her, protected by her shield, and shooting all around. Wooo!

I was just about to make a post saying that blocking should take little to no stamina, but this idea is much better/fleshed out. Nice work, I would love to see this implemented.

[Scar.Heart]

Wrote like, 3 paragraphs of junk on why I support this and tossed in my own suggestions.

Scrapped it all since I didn't like the way I worded it.

 

In short:

I'd love blocking to become useful.

[Ronyn]

OK.

Warframe has a block button but at this time, blocking doesn't stop much damage and is harder to aim properly than it needs to be. So many players either barely use it (if at all) or even don't know it's in the game.

 

So let us talk about it's potential.

It could add depth to the melee system by creating that ebb and flow of defensive and offensive actions that make help make melee compelling.

It could make melee combat more viable to use against ranged enemies by granting the capability to safely close the distance.

 

The question is how do we ensure that is the result of the mechanic?

To keep things simple I am going to cut to the chase.

 

1: Make blocking aim towards the crosshairs not where the character happens to be moving.

Warframe uses a shooter style control scheme where our shots and our slashes are all directed where we aim.

As such we are trained to aim toward the enemy while moving in whatever direction is best. Let us keep it all intuative and unify the block to work that same way.

 

2: Make blocking WAY more effective at actually blocking fire but make it cost MUCH more stamina to do so.

This would make it useful for those who employ and add a big use for slotting stamina mods. Those who slot for it would be more tank-like. They would be characters who can literally block incoming fire for team mates.

Those who don't slot for it would be able to get good use out of when necessary but it would cost too much stamina to rely on often, preventing it from being overpowered.

 

3: Well timed blocks should "unbalance" attackers who are trying to strike us in melee.

Everything from grineer with machetes to infested with claws would offer up an opportunity to use our timing skills to unbalance them.

Unbalanced is a temporary condition that essentially stuns an enemy and makes them take increased damage from melee attacks.

 

4: There should be melee weapon mods to slot in that increase the effect of blocking in some way. We currently can increase various offensive aspects of our melee weapons, if someone wants to increase the defensive aspects instead it should be a choice they can make. Moreover some of the choices may bridge the gap between the two-things like "Rejector" that allows a certain percentage of incoming fire to be send back to the enemy.

Or "Geo Guard" that allows a weapons elemental effects to trigger on enemies who try to melee you in a blocked position.

 

5: A clearer UI indicating how good or bad each weapon is at blocking damage.

 

 

Thank you for reading.

[ZyloWolfzan]

Anyone ever play E.Y.E.? No? Didn't think so. Well in that game, you can block bullets with your sword, BUT, doing so drains your stamina VERY fast. I think allowing this would not only make blocking more usable, but it would also make the stamina bar more important. It would let you block crucial attacks, like a shotgun blast from Vay Hek, or some Supra shots from a Corpus tech when you're low on health. Certain weapons could be better or worse at it, and have different stamina efficiency for it.

 

signed dunno, I thought it was hilariously fun in E.Y.E.

Zylo the Wolfbane

[BakaKami]

+1 The moment i learned of blocking, i wanted to try it out. It sounded like a cool mechanic just like Metal Gear Rising. Ended up in disappointment when i has to stare at my health and shield to notice the difference in damage reduction (almost none).

 

Another thing is to add sounds to blocks so we can get some kind of feed back that blocking does something and not just fancy animations.

 

Btw have you seen the awkwardness of blocking with a Scino or a Fraggor?

[Fundance]

I try to use blocking when I can, but most of the time, when I could block, I could also be doing a dash flip and getting up into an enemy's face with a jump attack. There's usually just better things you can be doing.

 

I'd like to see blocking reduce damage even more, considering it uses stamina. Maybe even negate the damage from bullets entirely. This would also reduce the concerns of new players who feel that the perfectly accurate enemy fire is overwhelming. Give an option to negate the fire while moving to a better location at the cost of stamina, and it rewards them for making use of all their options without having to run to cover and blindly guess where the enemy is shooting from.

 

Currently, when I block, it barely seems like I'm reducing much of the damage to my shields at all...

[AbathurX]

MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

 

Seriously, blocking is so badass yet so understimated, ive seen people that play games because you can block and it adds cool-ness to it

And some blocking animations can also be re-worked like Hate's blocking.. I dont even wanna talk about it... :-(

[HAR1MAU]

they should add that deflector shield from Dark Sector back in to use for blocking.

[Halofreakalex]

honestly I think they should completely remove block, but add a dash function (not simply that roll)

If they removed the block, they would also be removing the fastest reload cancel in the game...

[PaperHat]

Nobody's mentioned this, but adding the "counter" function would make normal-attack builds on weapons MUCH more viable.

Currently, charge attacks hold the highest DPS because you can spam the hell out of them with few repercussions; said attacks ignore armor and do a -lot- more damage than spamming your melee key.

Counters would allow for more tactical swordplay, and they would make melee an alternative to "shootin' stuff in the face and nukin' 'em with le 4".

On a side note, more melee enemies who would do the same would be nice.

[W4RM4CHIN3]

+1