I’ve noticed that the shield variants of Bardins 1h axe and hammer have a shorter reach than the same weapons without the shield. It’s apparent to me that the shield weapons are bugged and have a shorter reach/range than they should.
To be clear, the range of the 1h axe and 1h hammer on Bardin is longer than the 1h axe and shield or 1h hammer and shield. Given that they’re the exact same weapon but with a shield, they should have the same range, but oddly they don’t. Not sure how long this bug has been in the game, but it’s a problem, we’re not hitting enemies we otherwise should.
realism and gameplay are two different things, this feels like a deliberate choice to balance out 1handed varients as it is consistent among all shielded and onehaned variants if i get that right from your wording.
I don’t think it is intentional. From a certain distance, where the shielded weapon attacks start to miss (some basics/heavy hits will miss while others will land) making combat and use of then confusing and inconsistent, from that same distance the 1h axe or hammer will land every hit. Given the inconsistency of hits with the shield that tells me it is a bug. There’s no reason one hit in the chain should miss while the other hits.
As for balance the shield weapons already have drawbacks, smaller dodge count, slower attack speed, lower damage output, slower move speed when blocking. There are plenty of cons with a shield. Also the 1h hammer has 4.5 stamina whereas the shield has 5 stamina, and the 1h hammer has AP heavy attacks. You understand now why the inconsistent reach on the shielded counterpart is most likely a bug?
I never realized this. (and I am Bardin main) But maybe it’s because with a shield you just can’t spam a light attack like with an ax or a hammer without a shield. You have to make combos.
Nah, times where you can spam, or at least I do.
With hammer I’ll spam lights against trash hordes, and with axe I’ll spam lights against single targets, especially in armour for the ap damage.
You should never spam light attack with shielded weapons. For H&S you can use heavy attack chain for hordes and push attack-light attack combo against single target. For A&S you shoud use just heavies and push.