I love the hammer
- Thread starter Bobob
- Start date
Bullethead
Member
Makes you feel like John Henry, don't it? 
.
But more often it makes me feel like Larry Storch in "The Great Race"....
.But more often it makes me feel like Larry Storch in "The Great Race"....
Don Kanaille
Insider
It is. It hits satisfyingly hard and needs a lot of finesse to overcome the faster weapons. I still consider beating expert with the maul one of my greater achievements, because darn that boss is shifty... but not shifty enough for my sledgehammer!
But I think the maul should be even deadlier. I´ve been able to one-shot people with overhand headshots of the one handed spiked- and flanged maces relatively frequently, but I cannot recall the last time I was a able to one hit anybody with the maul.
But I think the maul should be even deadlier. I´ve been able to one-shot people with overhand headshots of the one handed spiked- and flanged maces relatively frequently, but I cannot recall the last time I was a able to one hit anybody with the maul.
Don Kanaille
Insider
Given that it´s so slow, I usually try to guess what my opponent will do before he actually does it. I try to stay out of their range, and when I feel they´re going to commit to a forward lunge attack, I wind up and hit them while they´re open. The faster the enemy´s weapon, the harder it will be: Especially the 2h sword opponents can often get away with starting their attack noticeably after your own and still hit you with the sword before you hit them. Ontop of that the expert guys are pretty good at feinting their attacks, so you need to know when not to commit or else they´ll get you when you´re wide open. At least the maul is faster to switch from wind up to parry as the attack speed would make you think.
The good news are that the maul will likely get a bit better in future patches, at least for armor users: BM said they want to change armor behavior so that a light strike will not as easily interupt an armored fighter´s attack. That´s pretty much a buff especially to slow and hard hitting weapons, which the maul is the culmination of. Being able to just power through a light attack sounds pretty neat to me >: )
The good news are that the maul will likely get a bit better in future patches, at least for armor users: BM said they want to change armor behavior so that a light strike will not as easily interupt an armored fighter´s attack. That´s pretty much a buff especially to slow and hard hitting weapons, which the maul is the culmination of. Being able to just power through a light attack sounds pretty neat to me >: )
Don Kanaille
Insider
I also cannot wait to finally thrust with multi-purpose headed weapons. All shall fear the power of my halberd!
After that, give us hooking and were done
After that, give us hooking and were done
Iscandar
Member
Yes. As it stands, the most effective weapons I've found are all the 2handed swords. Perhaps with new features, other weapons will gain new niches and unique advantages. Getting stabbed by a halberd or poleaxe is a scary thought. The speed, reach, and damage ought to be huge.I also cannot wait to finally thrust with multi-purpose headed weapons. All shall fear the power of my halberd!
After that, give us hooking and were done
I do hope that with stabs and throws, polearms can differentiate themselves as weapons, and truly come into their own.
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Lyle "Chip" Chipperson
Member
the maul is my favorite also. there have been a couple times when I hit a downed opponent (overhead) in the gut and they kicked themselves in the head. another fun thing to do: if the hammer head winds up between an opponents legs, right-click to run. your character will lift the weapon straight upward. you can upend zombies easily.
one other thing, the hardest i have ever hit a zombie was when I did a huge backhand swing. the zombie lurched towards me and I stepped back and to the right.
one other thing, the hardest i have ever hit a zombie was when I did a huge backhand swing. the zombie lurched towards me and I stepped back and to the right.
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Bullethead
Member
We've already got hooking, thanks to physics. Many times I've been on both ends of that situation, pulling and being pulled off balance. However, due to the relative difficulty of doing LtR vs. RtL, hooks on the front edge are much more useful than hooks on the rear.After that, give us hooking and were done
All the axes (1H, 2H, and halberd) are very effective at hooking. So is the sickle-on-a-stick. The bill's hook, however, isn't big enough to do any real good. Also, the bearded axes are almost too good at hooking because once part of the enemy gets up under the beard, it's hard to get the axe free again, which can be helpful or harmful depending on the rest of the situation.
Don Kanaille
Insider
But I want proper hooking. Where I can extend my weapon out, get it behind an opponents limb and push/pull. If I could just hold the weapon out in front of me most of those tasks could be achieved by the body movement we already have.
Bullethead
Member
EDIT:
@Don Kanaille:
I think we can already do that. It's all fencing, taking into account time, distance, flow, and structure.
I should have added that the maul can also hook. Any weapon where part of it sticks out a significant distance out of line with the handle can hook, thanks to physics and the bounding boxes of weapons following the shape of the weapon instead of being straight-sided boxes. The head of the maul meets this criterion.
But to make the hooking action happen, you have to combine weapon motion with body motion, either your own or the enemies. This because the swing animations have the weapon moving edge-first and then it goes straight back the way it came. So, to hook the foe, you must initiate the strike from inside your normal effective range, so you hit him with the handle, and just as that happens, you need to step back. This makes the handle slide on the foe until the shoulder of the weapon's head catches him, at which point physics determines what happens. But you can pull foes around this way if you're bigger/heavier, have enough backwards momentum, and the foe's feet are placed so that he's less able to resist the pulling force.
The problem with the maul is that it's go so much momentum from the swing that it's hard to move and swing it at the same time. Thus, hooking with it largely depends on the foe stepping back instead of you, which isn't so effective. More likely, you'll get more of a sideways push on him from the impact of the handle swinging into him than you'll get a pull back toward you.
The easiest things to hook are shields---in fact, it frequently happens whether you intend it or not. This is because when you launch an attack from the proper distance to hit the foe's body, his shield rim must necessarily be at the shorter distance needed for hooking. I find it best to do this with the 2H axe, however, because 2 arms vs. 1 means you generally win the tug-of-war and pull the foe off balance, and the 2H axe isn't bearded so comes right away and you can swing again to take advantage of the opening thus created. Using a 1H bearded axe against a shield is normally a bad idea because the axe will get hung on the shield for a long time, keeping you in close to the foe where he can punish you with his free weapon.
@Don Kanaille:
I think we can already do that. It's all fencing, taking into account time, distance, flow, and structure.
I should have added that the maul can also hook. Any weapon where part of it sticks out a significant distance out of line with the handle can hook, thanks to physics and the bounding boxes of weapons following the shape of the weapon instead of being straight-sided boxes. The head of the maul meets this criterion.
But to make the hooking action happen, you have to combine weapon motion with body motion, either your own or the enemies. This because the swing animations have the weapon moving edge-first and then it goes straight back the way it came. So, to hook the foe, you must initiate the strike from inside your normal effective range, so you hit him with the handle, and just as that happens, you need to step back. This makes the handle slide on the foe until the shoulder of the weapon's head catches him, at which point physics determines what happens. But you can pull foes around this way if you're bigger/heavier, have enough backwards momentum, and the foe's feet are placed so that he's less able to resist the pulling force.
The problem with the maul is that it's go so much momentum from the swing that it's hard to move and swing it at the same time. Thus, hooking with it largely depends on the foe stepping back instead of you, which isn't so effective. More likely, you'll get more of a sideways push on him from the impact of the handle swinging into him than you'll get a pull back toward you.
The easiest things to hook are shields---in fact, it frequently happens whether you intend it or not. This is because when you launch an attack from the proper distance to hit the foe's body, his shield rim must necessarily be at the shorter distance needed for hooking. I find it best to do this with the 2H axe, however, because 2 arms vs. 1 means you generally win the tug-of-war and pull the foe off balance, and the 2H axe isn't bearded so comes right away and you can swing again to take advantage of the opening thus created. Using a 1H bearded axe against a shield is normally a bad idea because the axe will get hung on the shield for a long time, keeping you in close to the foe where he can punish you with his free weapon.
Greenbrog
Insider
While you're right bullethead. Pulling, drawing the weapon is a confirmed action and will be a key bind if I remember correctly. You'll be able to draw blades along people and pull trapping weapons towards you. Both of which are doable now but will be much more functional when you can demand it. Especially drawing bladed weapons, as of now much more often then not hooking someone I find a blade sliding on someone's non-metal protected areas doors no damage. And bare mettle gas already said they will have it in the stream forums somewhere.
Don Kanaille
Insider
Thank you, this is pretty much my point. I know it is already possible to do a lot with the flexibility of the physics system. I played this game since the first combat beta long before the steam release, so I know about quite some things that can be done. I still long for a more functional version of hooking.
Especially when combined with thrusting, hooking can be really powerful: If you thrust a halberd at somebody and he parries, guess what the hook is now behind him... :3
Bullethead
Member
That will make me treat potentially hooking foes with a lot more respect than I do now
Don Kanaille
Insider
Yeah, never trust a hooker...
Ba-dumm tss.
Ba-dumm tss.
