I was talking with a few people about how, although Spiral Knights is fun, an area it could use some improvement in is more diversity - specifically, more weapon archetypes. These are a few examples that were discussed.

One of the weapon archetype ideas we came up with was a spear. It'd function as a jack of all trades weapon, having both a melee and a ranged function.

Although individual weapons might vary on this, the standard spear would be a straight attack forward (as opposed to the sword's sweeping strike), generally only hitting one enemy unless they're lined up. It would have less overall area than the sword, but would have a bit more range, allowing someone to use it defensively, or perhaps over obstacles such as spikes.

The standard charge attack would throw the spear. I can imagine heavier variants of the weapon being too heavy to throw, and having a melee charge attack as well. Meanwhile, lighter spears (such as javelins) might have significantly reduced charge times, but might also deal less damage in melee combat.

Another weapon archetype idea is the thrown weapon, which might include anything from shuriken and darts to grenades.

These would more or less work like guns in basic principle (a ranged attack), but there would be more emphasis on gameplay variation within the archetype. For example, darts or shuriken might involve a charged attack releasing a set of weapons, while grenades might explode on contact or drop bombs. Other things like holy water might exist as a mostly anti-undead/fiend weapon, or caltrops, providing the wielder with a method of creating an obstacle.

A final weapon archetype idea is the bow, which, like the thrown weapon idea, is very similar to the gun. The major distinction is that bows would emphasize charged attacks, much like bombs, either having a weak basic attack, or simply not having one and requiring all attacks to be charged. In return, their charged attacks would emphasize damage and range. As an idea (either for specific types of bows, or for the archetype in general), the projectiles may even pierce through enemies, having the potential to hit multiple enemies with a single shot.