What are your thoughts on weapon switching in RPGs?So many RPGs feature it, almost every single CRPG and ARPG, but the use case just isn't there.Ranger with bow and longsword are very cool but I find most representation of it, or other multiweapon characters, extremely disappointing. In almost any game it's only marginally benefitial to switch to a bow to chip damage enemies when walking in is too dangerous.All too often level up systems tie bonuses to weapon types and, due to exponential growth, investing even a little into a second weapon is plain stupid.The most common reason to switch weapons is to simply target enemy weaknesses or to proc on-hit effects, and both cases work better the more similar the weapons are, rather than each weapon set filling a strategic niche.Some actually good or at least halfway decent examples:>Dragon's DogmaBasically the perfect game when it comes to the ranger archetype, albeit you need to play as assassin to be able to use sword and bow instead of the ranger class, but daggers are cool too.It is also more designed as an action game than an rpg and the ability to make your own build is extremely limited.>Dark SoulsThe ranged options are ass but switching weapons and shields is a strategic choice where the different movesets make the difference moreso than the damage type of weapons>Pillars Of EternityWeapon perks benefits a group of weapons rather than individual ones and may include one handed weapons, two handed weapons, pikes, bows and guns.I still found it underwhelming to switch between melee and bows but guns with the burst damage balanced by long reloads are actually useful to initiate a battle with, a tactic which is even more useful with the cipher class.
Other than what you mentioned, the only game I can think of that really encourages frequent weapon swaps is Black Souls 2
>What are your thoughts on weapon switching in RPGs?Big fan. But it's basically not a thing outside of games that lean more into action. I actually had this whole wall of text written about it, but then I realized it's just rehashing what everyone knows. Or should know, at least. The short of it is, unless a game cares to deepen its combat in a way that makes weapons into something beyond barely distinct vessels for delivering damage, variety is meaningless, and switching around even more so.There are very good reasons two out of three of your examples are action-focused. Without actual 'feel' to the weapons, in terms of movesets and/or varying utility against specific enemies (also in the form of possible counterplays in PvP, for instance), it's just a choice between what makes your number go up higher.Well that or like in what >>4021925 mentioned, which makes every single weapon its own separate moveset and lets you swap between them on the fly just to access different ones and set up wack-ass combos. Cool idea, but no one beyond an autistic solo dev would bother doing that normally.
>>4021923Love Dragon's Dogma, but wish its Rangers had swords as melee weapon. I get that melee isn't supposed to be their strength, but that has nothing to do with the weapon itself. Give them a limited range of sword skills just like they have a limited range of dagger skills. Sword just feels more rangery (thanks LotR), and I hate how so many other games box the lightly armored bow class into only using daggers as melee option.Grouping weapons into categories is smart, like so many other things PoE does. Avoids this D&D retardation in which a character is only allowed to be really good at the weapon type they wasted feats on. There are still ways to specialize yourself, but I wish PoE had a bit more going on with its weapons. A tiny bit. Like daggers in the second hand giving a deflection bonus, spears attacking from longer range (like pikes) and pikes having some other bonus (or extreme range).In Kingdoms of Amalur, you naturally equip two weapons at the same time. There are several per "archetype" (heavy, light, magic) and mixing them together depending on your class is great fun. Like greatswords + daggers for the warrior-thief hybrid. They have different combo potential and moves to make it really worthwhile checking different weapons out.
>>4021923>Dark SoulsThis is a common case where RPGs shoot themselves in the foot with "RPG elements">blunt weapons do more damage against armored foes!>nevermind you haven't grinded and committed and upgraded a blunt weapon sorryyyy better to stick with that sword you've upgraded hahaTldr commitment design needs to be re-evaluatedOn the topic of weapon switching, Dead Island came to my mind with the weapon throwing expert character. I enjoyed the "improvisational" feel for the combat. Few hacks, see a zombie charging at ya, nail them with a throw, continue with another weapon.But a thing to consider is that a portion of gamers are autistic who crave some sort of stability and permanence, which is the death of exciting gameplay. Check /v/ and you'll see someone bitching about the durability of weapons in Zelda.
>>4021948In a just world, DD would have been iterated on in multiple real sequels by now, or at the very least spawned copycats.
>>4021923Makes a lot of sense. What if an enemy is invul to a damage type?In RPGs with tactical components, approaching an enemy may not be very good and bows may deal far more than just 'chip damage'.
maybe you could have an evergrace-like system where you could only upgrade/fuse gear + real-time combat where movesets matterusing different weapons you carry gets you proficiency in said weapon "style" unlocking more moves across weapon arts, encouraging switching more weapons overall
This happens because many RPGs focus on level and skill modifiers to hit chance and damage which limit weapon switching, and often eliminate weapon switching entirely. And then on top of this these same games will limit the weapon types available as well with skills and class. Throw in very large differences in item stats as the game progresses and the skill and level modifiers are even more drastic over time.As for if I like switching weapons, sometimes I do sometimes I don't. One thing totally lacking from games is using a single weapon as a melee weapon or a throwing weapon depending on the situation.
>>4022045>One thing totally lacking from games is using a single weapon as a melee weapon or a throwing weapon depending on the situation.Tyranny
>>4021923Weapon switching is good in games where the weapons have unique abilities and arent just "do damage". Romancing Saga for example, If you want to aoe all the enemies you can switch to a bow and use and aoe attack. A claymore might have a really strong single target attack so you can use that on a boss. A more modern and a non turn based example would be that Vampire base building game I forgot the name of. That basically uses the same "skills tied to weapon type" system and you are switching all the time because this weapon might have an aoe attack and this other weapon might have a support ability that could benefit you.
