Critical Battle Improvement: Allow heroes to switch weapons mid-combat

from Elemental Forums

 

I'm not certain this applies to Beta 4, but a critical improvement that has to be implemented by the final releace would be to allow heroes to switch weapons during tactical combat - it makes no sense, either in terms of gameplay or in terms of realism, to force a hero to remain with his bow in hand when enemies close in for combat and not to allow him to draw a sword or dagger.

If this is too difficult to implement via the "EQUIP" screen, another way might be to allow each hero to have a Primary and a Secondary weapon, and to use a hotkey to switch between the 2 during combat.

I hope the mechanics / UI / graphical implications of this are not impossible to do, as IMHO it would add a very much needed element of roleplay and tactics to the game...

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Reply #1 from Elemental Forums Top

Oh, it makes perfect sense in terms of gameplay.  Being able to switch weapons adds the potential for too much cheese with the more powerful weapons late game and removes a significant portion of planning ahead.  The point is to have your units focus on their combat roles, and your weapon is a key part of this.

Being able to switch would in fact remove a large portion of roleplay and tactics.  It removes the need to choose.  An archer can still fight in melee if you choose, there isn't really a penalty.  You can get powerful ranged weapons.

The idea also is ranged weapons typically weigh less, the fact that they are ranged gives to the idea that they will require less armor and hence will fire faster and be able to move around the battlefield more freely.

I've sometimes wished I picked a different weapon for a battle but never really between ranged and melee though, mainly which top tier weapon I gave to whom.  This is one of those gameplay elements that just need time to work with.  Plan out your characters more, if they can't cut it in melee...do what you can to keep them out.

That said, there needs to be a better way to set up units (formations) especially if you are the attacker.

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

I think this is the sort of thing that could be "made to work". That is to say, it can be OP within the current system but if handled right it wouldn't be. I mean, we aren't just talking about being able to change weapons; it'd cost an action as well. And having multiple weapons equipped would also increase your threat rating proportionately, so you might get more than you bargained for when the AI attacks you thinking you are much stronger than you are. Or the AI might use it as well, pretend to have a bad dagger then switch to a Vetrar's Fist with 80+ attack. But all those things are really besides the point, because the game can be adapted to "make it work".

 

The REAL question is - why is this a game improvement? Is it going to make the game more fun to play? Better "immersion"? More depth to the mechanics? And I have to say, I don't really see any of that happening as a result of being able to switch weapons.

Star Control: Origins