So just like my thread about character archetypes, I wanted to consider the idea of new weapons - but not just “whatever cool idea/lore weapon doesn’t exist yet”. I wanted to consider carefully what new weapons might do that could be unique.
I’ve heard it said that the devs said they couldn’t think of many more weapon ideas (I’ve not seen this, myself), but it always struck me as odd.
So I put together a list of suggestions of melee and ranged for every character, at least one in each category that I think offers SOME kind of unique quality or gameplay style. I tried to be lore faithful, though for Kerillian’s melee . . . well, it’s a bit silly.
And yeah, I spent too much time thinking about this.
Bardin
Melee: Doomflail (Slayer)
A dual flail-like weapon with a cutting edge, Bardin would wield one in each hand, swinging them in broad spins angled in / and \ shapes in a repeating pattern. This would have a very broad attack pattern, and hit many targets, but would not have armor-piercing.
The charged attack would be a swinging both weapons down straight in front of him, then ripping them back. The initial swing down would do heavy AP, and the drag-back would also do minor damage, but heavily stagger targets towards Bardin.
Ranged: Throwing Axes (Ranger)
These thrown axes would have a sharp ballistic arc, but deal heavy damage - especially AP. They’d be one of the better ranged weapons for killing Chaos Warriors, having enough punch to pierce their armor. Their ammo would be somewhat limited, but if they could be picked back up, it would allow a good player to keep up some self-sufficiency. However, hitting at range would still require aiming extremely high - I imagine many players would GREATLY enjoy playing around with trying to nail the hit on that distant Stormvermin or Warpfire Thrower.
This weapon would make sense to tie specifically to the Ranger class, as that is not only an iconic weapon for Dwarf Rangers, but also because it will make the class more attractive.
Ranged: Trollhammer Torpedo (Ironbreaker)
A weapon aimed almost exclusively at boss-killing (and only available for the Ironbreaker), this weapon would have very little ammo (I’m thinking like 4-5 shots total), small splash, but huge damage. While it could be said this could trivialize bosses/lords, it’s at a steep trade-off, as you’d give up any reliable anti-special ranged. However, it would work well into certain team setups that don’t otherwise have boss-killing power (if you’re, say, lacking Shade, Bounty Hunter, or Huntsman). It also gives on-demand stun for when the Chaos Spawn grabs a friend. The relatively small area of the blast means it is less likely to do friendly fire.
Kerillian
Melee: Dryad’s Arm
Likely not too lore-friendly, though I don’t believe lore actually rules it out. Coming up with a unique melee weapon for Kerillian is pretty hard; she’s got a massive collection as it is.
Anyway, this is the disembodied arm of a Dryad . . . still alive, and seeking enemies. Even when held idle, it reachs and snaps around, and when used in melee, it slashes and clutches at them.
The most interesting attack would be its charged attack, where the magic of the Dryad summons sharp limbs to grow from the earth just in front of the user, creating a short-lived barrier that deals damage and heavy knockback, but also deals damage to enemies who touch it for its duration. Only one such wall could exist at a time.
Ranged: Averlorn Bow (Handmaiden)
A unique bow for the Handmaiden, this is based off those used by the Everqueen’s Court Guard. It is a magic bow that does not use ammunition, but instead would utilize the overcharge mechanic.
I imagine it as having nice damage and armor pen, but have very minimal pierce - so you can spam into a horde if you want, but you’re not going to clear a wave before you overheat.
Kruber
Melee: Awl Pike
A lot of people think Knight Kruber should have a lance, but I think this is a nice compromise, as an Awl Pike is not only a historic weapon, but one that was very common in the area of Germany. Basically a long stabbing blade on a pole with a circular guard just behind the blade, it would be a thrusting weapon akin to Kerillian’s spear, but with decent AP. It would be a good precision weapon, aiming for headshots for best effect, but also have good reach, allowing Kruber to strike enemies at range.
Despite mentioning Knight Kruber at the beginning, I wouldn’t actually make this exclusive to any career.
Ranged: Hochland Long Rifle
A very accurate rifle with a SCOPE - this is the ultimate long-range weapon. It would have a higher-than normal headshot multiplier, but also have a slower reload than even the standard handgun. This would give it a niche in not just picking off specials, but severely damaging Chaos Warriors at range (if you can land the headshots, that is). The slow reload, however, will mean it will have bad pace if you RELY on it. It would have almost no damage drop-off, making it very consistent if you build for bonus damage to be able to one-shot specials.
I wouldn’t tie this to any particular class.
EDIT: Perhaps it could be unique in having great penetration of even armored targets (and shield-piercing, of course), so that a well-lined up shot could kill multiple Stormvermin. I still don’t imagine it being able to one-shot Chaos Warriors (maaaaybe a crit headshot) without using something like Hunter’s Prowl or a Strength Potion.
Ranged: Carbine
A shorter version of the handgun, the carbine differs in that it is equipped with a bayonet. This means it cannot be aimed. To compensate, it will have a tight crosshairs, meaning that skilled players can hipfire approaching specials. It will have a more severe drop-off than the standard handgun.
The Bayonet is the most unique feature; it will be a single-target thrust attack that works similarly to dagger or rapiers; relatively low damage, but excellent headshot damage. This means the weapons is not useless when unloaded, and is perfect for hipfiring one approaching Stormvermin, then using a precise thrust to kill another. It cannot block, however, so it is inferior to a real melee weapon, but could be used to help compensate for lack of armor-piercing on your main weapon, to an extent.
This obviously can be compared to both the current handgun and the blunderbuss, but I feel does unique things from both, while remaining very lore-friendly. For one, unlike the blunderbuss, it cannot wipe a horde of a wave easily. Second, its melee attack is a precision one, instead of a sweep.
Saltzpyre
Melee: Comet Flail (Zealot)
Combining several ideas into one, the Comet Flail is a two-handed great flail (common to the Germanic/Slavic region in the time period WH reflects), but has TWO heads that are actually on fire to represent the Twin-Tailed Comet. This means it not only does damage, but can light enemies on fire with each swing. The light attack pattern would be basic diagonal slashes, which can again ignore shields, but either have none or minor AP. Where it gets really interesting would be in the charged attacks.
The first lets Saltzpyre swing the Comet Flail in a circle around him that hits all enemies in a 360-degree area. While the damage isn’t high, the stagger is good. The cooldown lag means it cannot be spammed forever to keep enemies permanently stunlocked, but can be used to buy a little time. This facilitates the nature of the Zealot in rushing into the fray, and deal with potentially getting surrounded. The second heavy attack is a lunging overhead that slams the flail heads into the ground, dealing heavy damage, including a lot of AP. If chained after basic attacks, this second attack can be utilized quicker, skipping the first charged attack, allowing it to more easily be used against armored enemies.
Melee: Sigmarite Hammer and Book
Kind of a Warhammer staple, not sure why it doesn’t appear in any form. Especially such a devout Sigmarite as Saltzpyre should get a hammer!
My thought is that in one hand Saltzy wields the hammer, and in the other an armored prayer book. The primary attacks would be sweeping attacks with the hammer - I’m not sure what pattern, but I think starting with an overhead and then going into sweeps would be useful, especially if continually swinging kept up the sweeps instead of just repeating the whole pattern.
The charged attack, however, would be unlike any other charged attack; instead of attacking, Saltzpyre would recite a prayer to Sigmar, imbuing his weapon with the Blessing of Sigmar. This buff would have a duration of 10-20 seconds, and make the weapon gain AP and improved sweeping (able to strike multiple armored targets without stopping). This means that to effectively use it, you’d have to dodge in and out of combat, pulling off prayers as needed to help you deal with armored enemies. I feel this could create a very unique dynamic for the weapon.
Melee: Plancon Cannon
This very unique and brutal historical weapon was a spiked club with a spear-like blade on top, and 1-4 tips at the tip that contained gunpowder and shot.
I imagine this as fitting well into Saltzpyre’s predilection for firearms and being a nice method of bashing.
Its basic melee combo would be bashing, ending in a heavy thrust with AP. Its charged attack would be a two-handed overhead, followed by a thrust that fires one of the barrels. Perhaps this could also be fired off with the third attack button. I imagine the burst as being a shotgun-like blast with very short effective range and wide spread, making it useful for staggering lots of enemies in front of you (or if pressed right up against an enemy as in the second charged attack, a very powerful single-target hit).
Ranged: Duckfoot Pistols
Functioning like the Brace of Pistols, the Duckfoot Pistols have a wide horizontal spread of shots with decent piercing to give Saltzpyre a nice horde-clearing ranged weapon. Of course, they can also be used to put five rounds directly into the face of a Stormvermin as well.
The secondary fire would not be the same as Brace, however, but involve an overhead bash with the metal-plated butt of the pistols, a single target attack, but one easy to headshot with.
Sienna
Melee: Dual Sickles (Unchained)
I feel like Sienna’s melee options really need to be better - especially for Unchained - and I think one thing she needs is a reliable fast weapon. Her solo dagger is very fast, but lacks much CC, so I feel that these dual sickles could be good slashing weapons with a relatively good attack speed and targets hit, to give her a way (appropriate to Unchained) of cutting through throngs of enemies.
When I describe these as sickles, I really mean more like Tomb King khopeshes. It may sound odd, but I just imagine that many Tomb King artifacts end up in the hands of Wizards (often being magical), and so this would give a unique look, while also fulfilling a role for Sienna.
Melee: Flame Scythe
The Flame Scythe would be Sienna’s heavy guns for melee. The blade would be made of flame, and attack with broad sweeps. Due to its magical nature, I imagine it to have innate armor-piercing, but attack relatively slowly.
I imagine the charged attack as being very slow, an upward sweep that is sort of the reverse of the Executioner’s Sword overhead (including a high charge). This attack wouldn’t get much out of headshotting, but be very slow and so hard to pull off, thus giving it high base damage should be okay.
Ranged: Sanguine Staff
Light Attack: Magma Bolt, a slow-moving heavy attack that deals high damage but also lots of stagger.
Charged Attack: Summons Sanguine Fire blades around Sienna, that can be shot out in rapid succession or saved for key moments. The longer you charge, the more blades appear, up to five. They last for a certain amount of time and could even be some kind of buff while retained, giving some kinda damage resistance or something. I imagine that fully charging creates a lot of heat, however, but maybe shooting off the blades actually reduces heat (by a small amount, not a ton). This means that you could prepare the blades in preparation for heavy combat, but you’ll also be filling up your overcharge meter, so you can’t just then spam light attacks.
