It’s not a secret that Elven Gratesword is one of the most underappreciated weapons in the game.
It has a lot of bonuses though - it has high cleave and high dodge count and adds 25% crit to the push attack. And yet it’s slower than Glaive for example, deals less dmg and has no armor hit on light attacks. It also has only underhand strikes on light attacks. So Glaive is an obvious choice when thinking about high dmg anti-horde weapon.
There’re some ideas how to make Greatsword feel unique and viable, and make it one of the competitive options in the player’s arsenal:
(Note, that those are suggestions to pick from or take few into implementation. I am not saying you should add all of those)
- The most easy and obvious: Change the hit pattern so that 2nd light attack is a downright swing. It’s not great, but it’s a start
- Make it 4 hits light combo with two last attaks swings perfectly flat, as in ExSord, so it makes clear headshots, but only on 3rd and 4th attaks so it’s not unbalanced
- Slightly increase attack speed so it matches Glaive in speed
- Add stamina shield so we can make a better use of the push attack
Now, two bold suggestions that would not only balance Greatsword, but also make it feel so much unique:
- add a unique feature: the cleave dmg depleats significantly less than usual. i.e. swings has higher momentum or, in other words, each consequent target receives almost as many damage is the first one and it is not so reduced with each target like on other weapons. (honestly, it’d be great to add to all 2h Swords, such as Kruber’s and Salzpyre’s, so those are also more viable as weapon choices. You can see 2h swords so rarely these days)
- add a unique combo: As Glaive has high damage heavy combo we all love, let Greatswod has its own combo that feels unique and impactful: The second heavy attack, if done right after the 1st, goes 360. It deals small damage but has heavy linesman stagger and cleaves through armor. That way it goes as an important protective combo that can be used when surrounded. Kinda 360 push, wich is brutal. But to use it you have to charge it and make 1st heavy first so you can not spam it, and so it’s balanced
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