New weapons are always a good thing apart from the harder time balancing, I have some suggestions for Saltzpyres melee.
First and foremost, I know the characters personality, style and lore is a huge factor.
When I think of Saltzpyre the image that comes to my head is a rampant man, doing the orders work as a swift, duellist, Witch Hunter slaying anything he considers evil with style.
Not the type familiar with slow, heavy weapons.
A variant of the rapier would be perfect, offering different properties and play styles. Similar to how the elf has Dual Swords, Dual Daggers and Sword and Dagger.
We currently have Rapier and the individual Brace of Pistol.
A Rapier + Buckler and/or Rapier + Dagger is my idea/suggestion.
Sacrificing the medium range of the pistol for a close range Shove/stagger (Buckler) or a devastating lunge/stab (Dagger)
Increasing the push/block angle would also make sense for the rapier + buckler/dagger variants, he now has an offhand to block with.
This would also synergies with Witch Hunter Captain’s overlooked passive “Eternal Guard” that relies on push/block angle.
I have thoroughly enjoyed Saltzpyre, particularly Witch Hunter Captain, since the start of the game and this suggestion has been in my head since the very beginning.
Historically, a rapier + shield combo would not work as the main idea behind fencing sword is that they “moved” the shield over the hilt of the sword, which allowed for a way longer reach as the stance could be inverted.
However, a rapier + “main gauche” (litterally meaning left hand, it’s a fencing dagger) would totally fit both the lore and the fighting style, it would be awesome to have this implemented . Great idea there !
In the WarHammer Fantasy lore, Witch Hunters are often (though not always) very close to the cult of Sigmar, our friend Saltzpyre is explicitly among that lot. The cult of Sigmar being fond of warhammers (Sigmar’s sacred weapon is a dwarven rune-hammer), it would make sense for Saltz to wield one as well.
Finally, witch hunters can also be tied to vampire hunters, especially in Sylvania. If Saltz has ever been there, he could have brought back a blessed stake or maybe a blessed / silver sword (with specific moves like Sienna’s flamesword) .
In our history, rapier and buckler wouldn´t be really used, as rapier was a duelling weapon and like you say, it assumed a stance where the whole body would be behind the sword arm and the rapier itself (as highlighted by WHC having fully plate-armored sword arm and no other part of his body). But then why the hell does he mainly swing the rapier around? It was 95% a stab-oriented weapon, and isn´t really effective at cutting at all, although it can cut to an extent of course. But decapitations? Hahahaha, no. Also, Saltzpyre´s fighting animations don´t really show him in the traditional fencing stance, although it isn´t too far from it, and he already uses an off-hand weapon (to be fair, he does switch his stance when firing the pistol though). So I think him wielding a rapier along with a buckler isn´t so ridiculous at all, especially in the context of facing lots of enemies who do not have rapier-like weapons, against which a rapier would often be at a severe disadvantage for various reasons, one of which being its very limited stopping power.
You know that is one of the most INTERESTING… ideas for a weapon I have seen in a long time.
Basically a Rapier with a Stiletto or other blocking dagger as a new weapon. Instead of the Pistol shot it would have an increased Block/Push radius and an extra shield.
Basically same as Rapier but perhaps a stronger charged attack (not that the Rapier needs that).
The push/attack for this might be something even nastier than the current Rapier + Pistol.
I would also like to remind everyone that rapier + rapier was also a thing historically, although it was a very niche thing that mostly Spanish fencing masters practiced after they picked up the dual wielding idea from the Filipinos they had conquered, who practice Escrima which is largely built around dual wielding two knives, two sticks, or two swords. Could be a cool idea for a seasoned witch hunter.
. Great idea there !