Taking a leaf out of Shadow Warrior to improve charge mechanics

[RS219]

Part of the reason why I feel charge attacks are fairly underused even with recent weapons like the Zenistar and Causcacyst advertising that it still exists are:

1) charge attacks require equipping melee, this is understandable.
2) unless you sacrifice a mod slot, swapping to melee is slow and a potentially risky move to do in the face of enemies. And this is an especially bad idea if you're a squishy frame.

I've played the Shadow Warrior remake before, and now I've been playing Shadow Warrior 2. I've noticed something really awesome in the sequel; yes, weapon swapping speed is far faster compared to Warframe but not only that; swapping to a melee weapon mid-combat causes you to aggressively swing your swords out with a wide attack that damages enemies in your face even as you enter melee, ensuring a smooth and seamless transition of combat from gunfights to swordplay.

And that's in Shadow Warrior 2 alone. In both games they have an excellent melee charge attack system that supplements and reinforces melee combat very well. Hold RMB while moving forward or standing still to charge up for a powerful frontward stab. Strafe left or right while holding RMB to charge a 360 degree spin attack. Walk backwards while holding RMB to charge up a ranged energy wave that pierces through all enemies in its way. And just because you're focusing on charging your melee doesn't mean you're a sitting duck, when you can still jump and dash all over the place and be impossible to hit.

I'd probably be asking too much for DE to completely overhaul melee to accommodate a better charge attack system but please, PLEASE, can we at least have faster gun-to-melee swap speed?

What would be really awesome but hard to pull off would be SW2's gun-to-melee attack animation; this would take A LOT of work of course given that Warframe has hundreds of weapon styles but imagine it. Holstering a primary to longsword: both hands reach up, one puts the gun back in its place and the other grabs the sword, the holstering hand grabs the sword too then the warframe brings it down in one swing.

Maybe it's a bit too much to suggest for those different charge attacks determined by WASD but here's my idea of an improved charge attack system:

1)Hold down E to begin charging. Reload circle begins filling.
2) Some freedom of movement should still be allowed: Sprinting,rolling and jumping shouldn't cancel the charge. Releasing E prematurely either cancels the charge attack or performs it with lesser magnitude.
3) Once circle is filled it stays filled. Release E whenever to do the full charge attack instead of being forced to discharge it on completion Opticor-style.

And idea for mods to affect charge attacks: faster charge, guaranteed proc on full charge, damage resistance or sliding/movement speed while charging...

Perhaps some of these make it in one day for Melee 3.0, I hope.

Edited December 4, 2016 by RS219
Forgot some charge attack mod ideas

[spacerocks]

Just make charge attacks like the Gunblade series, the tech and code (probably) already exists

[DeMonkey]

12 minutes ago, spacerocks said:

Just make charge attacks like the Gunblade series, the tech and code (probably) already exists

Not such a fan of these ''Just do x'' comments.

Like, why settle for less?

I'm liking your ideas OP, been thinking about potentially buying Shadow Warrior 2 so I'm looking forward to seeing this gameplay in person.

[Xekrin]

26 minutes ago, RS219 said:

I'd probably be asking too much for DE to completely overhaul melee to accommodate a better charge attack system

Don't care, they need to do this.  I want everything you mentioned.  E V E R Y T H I N G

[Hixlysss]

Or DE could just implement charge attacks as their own separate stat, along with mods to modify such stats. One of the biggest issues is simply how long it takes for some charge attacks, and honestly...the lack of information on them.

To this day, I have 0 idea how much damage a charge attack does. I just know it does more damage than a normal swing, just not sure by how much. 

[RS219]

7 hours ago, DeMonkey said:

Not such a fan of these ''Just do x'' comments.

Like, why settle for less?

I'm liking your ideas OP, been thinking about potentially buying Shadow Warrior 2 so I'm looking forward to seeing this gameplay in person.

You won't regret Shadow Warrior 2. It has some minor plot holes here and there as well as a few missed features and it's pretty much medium/short length in the runthrough of FPS games plotwise, but the action is obscenely fluid and just non-stop adrenaline rushing. Blood and gore effects are really great (imagine blowing a hole through a demon's chest while it continues to attack away at you), slicing enemies into literal ribbons, and constant explosions as barrels go off everywhere.