This is a usability suggestion for the Arc Maul. Currently, the special action enables the powered attack mode on this weapon and has an activation animation. However, this weapon has limited charges for its empowered attacks, much like the Mechanicus Power Sword. Having an animation to enable the powered mode makes sense as a balancing factor for weapons that allow spamming the empowered attacks, like the Veteran’s Power Sword. For a weapon that only has ~6 charges for empowered attacks, I don’t think that mode-swap animation is needed for balance.
Mechanicus Power Sword special action performs one empowered attack without an activation delay, and works seamlessly in the attack chain with unpowered attacks. This makes it easier to ration out your power charges and doesn’t penalize players for switching frequently between powered and unpowered attacks. It seems natural to extend this same design to the Arc Maul, which uses power charges that are very similar to the MPS. I would enjoy using the Arc Maul a lot more if its special action worked like the MPS special.
Counterpoint: The arc effect is very strong and the activation/deactivation time makes that extra damage less free. The mars power sword also has a bit of give and take with its charges. It gains extra melee strength for each charge it currently has. The arc maul lacks this mechanic and means optimally you just want to vomit out a bunch of charges back to back to really maximize the arc damage.
That’s a fair point. The power charges aren’t entirely equivalent between the two weapons. I’m not convinced that it would imbalanced to do what I suggested above, but it’s something to watch out for. Probably needs playtesting to say for sure.
I make this suggestion because I just don’t really enjoy using the Arc Maul in its current form, and most of that is due to the special action. These power-activation mechanics don’t really feel good on any weapon, but they’re usually tolerable for the increased effectiveness they bring (e.g. Relic Blade, Vet Power Sword, Force Greatsword, etc.). It feels bad on the Arc Maul because I already have very limited power charges (moreso than any other activated weapon besides the Mech Power Sword, I believe) and I’m trying to combo it with electrocution status, which only lasts ~2 seconds (varying somewhat by source). The special toggle animation breaks up the flow too much for my liking.
I don’t really find the arc maul to be that fun either. Not compared to the transonics or the mars power sword. But the arc maul is also pretty arguably the strongest melee weapon on the class so I also wouldn’t ask for buffs to it. I think it’s more reasonable to ask for a new mark of arc maul that has the easier activation in exchange for some trade off. Such as reduced arc damage or fewer arc targets total.
Although, having said that, it occurs to me that simply pressing the button to get a shock effect would make the weapon basically just a reskin of the arbites shock maul. Which seems a bit dull.
I would be fine with the charge generation rate on the Arc Maul getting nerfed a bit in exchange for the special action being reworked. Basically, trading some average DPS for more convenience. The peak DPS would stay the same assuming they don’t change the max charges.
The arc maul does not perform up to my standards with ungabunga lightspam, so it must be simplified to a point where I am not required braincells to use it.
As a customer who spent his hard earned money to acquire said DLC weapon, I find this unacceptable.
Ah yes, the big-brain gameplay of pressing special action once for multiple powered attacks, rather than pressing it for individual attacks as I suggested. We should all marvel at the stable geniuses among us that can handle this extreme complexity.