You know what we desperately need? More variety of buffs. And new shields. Namely shields for the two under-loved weapon classes.
Well obviously we need more than just that, but that's all I'll be touching on today. Using the unique more aspects of the three weapon classes, I'll be pitching new ideas for a shield that goes along with their playstyle.
Gunner Shield- Slinger's Cross
A small buckler resembling a crosshair, with bullet casings adorning it's sides. It could even have the crosshair line up in front of the Knight's eyes as they're blocking so it looks as though they're aiming.
It would have Shadow defense, since the majority of projectile attacks in the game are Shadow element based. Also Fiends and Kats tend to close distance VERY fast, making Shadow defense an even greater asset to ranged Knights. Granted it's overall defense would have to be on level with that of the Swiftstrike Buckler to compensate for some of the power that this shield might afford.
Shield Buff: Magazine Clip Increase
Low: 2*, 3*, and 4* - One shot increase
Medium: 5* - Two shot increase
Aside from its range, one of the more unique aspects of the guns in SK is their clip. While not a tremendous game-changer, having these breaks in firing helps to balance the guns against each other. It could even be used to make certain guns viable with this shield and a Gunslinger set-up.
The biggest balance change that I want to go along with this is to change a few of the gun's clip sizes to help balance them more. Pulsar and Autogun lines should have only a ONE bullet clip, necessitating the need to reload without this shield. Doing so would reduce their spammibility or outright overpoweredness. It would stop other weapon specialists from carrying these weapons around for their "ease of use." Plus, less Pulsar spam means less flashy, party-blinding lights and less lag!
Problems, however, are that the Magnus lines wouldn't see much benefit from this unless they could fire faster overall. And the Antigua and Alchemer lines may become OP with such a large clip with their current power, so nerfs of some sort may be needed for them (not that they didn't need a tweak of some kind anyway).
Catalyzer could see some benefit from this if it's normal shot and charge shot were reversed. Normal shots would build explosive charges onto an enemy, while the charge shot detonates these charges. With a bigger clip, more charges could be planted more quickly.
Demo Shield- Blast Plate
An average sized buckler with lit fuses running along it's sides. Its face would resemble that of an angry Bombhead Mask. Could also have small bombs from the bomb bandolier accessory decorating it.
This shield would have Elemental defense and Shock resistance to help negate one of the more dangerous status effects to bombers. It also gives them a bit of protection against Gremlins (who also love their explosives) and MechaKnights, who can be pretty aggressive at times. Similar to the Slinger's Cross, it would have to have reduced defense, but not to the same extent since Bombers have to close distance more and defense is pretty important up close.
Shield Buff: Explosion Radius Increase or Fuse Time Reduction
Low: 2*, 3*, and 4* - 1 block radius increase or 15% time reduction
Medium: 5* - 2 block radius increase or 33% time reduction
Not being a bomber, I can't say I have the firmest grasp of the best new buff to give to a shield oriented for that style. Still, from going through the forums and running with bombers a lot, I think either of these would be pretty beneficial.
Bombs' most unique aspect would have to be their AoE effect. Increasing it to catch more enemies would be great, especially with the status inflicting mist bombs. Plus, it makes bombs that have a smaller blast radius more viable.
The fuse buff may be a bit more tricky, since most bombers know their bombs and how to set them up for optimal explosions. Plus it makes it harder for allies to bump enemies into the blast range if there's an even shorter amount of time. Then again, it could bring use to bombs that have an absurdly long fuse time.
P.S. And for Vog's sake, fix the broken Shard bombs already, OOO! The Bombers are really running out of patience with that matter.
Swordsman Shield- Blader's Lantern
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_shield
While sword users already have the Snarby shield, I don't like how much that thing stands out like a sore thumb against nearly every other shield in the game. Keep it in the game, even let it keep it's effect (just make a Gunner and Demo equivalent PLEASE), just don't make that the only shield for dedicated sword users.
Like the Snarby shield, it would have Pierce defense, since these enemy types are supposed to be more of a threat up close... emphasis on "supposed to be." You could run at most Tier 3 Pierce enemies with Proto armor and still come out unscratched with how "difficult" they are. :|
You could give the shield no defense at all, and it wouldn't make much a difference at this point.
Shield Buff: Combo Damage Increase
Low: 2*,3*, and 4* - Final hit damage increase 15%
Medium: 5* - Final hit damage increase 33%
The most unique aspect of the sword (that too many people make no use of anymore) is that of the final stroke of the combo. That hit packs such a wallop on most swords that it usually interrupts most enemies. It seems to already carry a multiplier of some sort on it's damage output, but I can't be certain if it's a multiplier or a set number without tearing the game apart or extensive testing. Anyways, giving a boost to that final hit would really make some swords more useful and also make swordies more careful about carelessly swinging away. They'd want to make use of that powerful final hit more.
Hopefully this would bring more people to the Troika line, so they can make use of that simple, powerful 2-hit combo with the shield's added damage bonus. Plus if the Spur line were made to have an extremely powerful third-hit, it could finally have its place with the other swords (and maybe even a 5* version!).
Though, the Sealed and Brandish line would still probably see more use due to their ridiculous charge attacks and damage types. /sigh
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That's my idea on bringing more shields and unique buffs into the game. The numbers could use some adjusting, but they're not the important bit here. Let me know what you think of the shields and their buffs. Do they work or not? Got a buff idea of your own? Post it!
Sure, weapon-type shields could do with just an Damage Bonus buff for their weapon, but that's BORING. Add new life to the game and add in new options! I'm tired of the same old stuff, day in and day out! Bring in more varied content! Give us stuff to mess around with while we wait for the Battle Sprites!
I wish I could write a review for this but I have seen all of these done many times and they taste like twenty consecutive Neapolitan ice cream bars in one sitting. I guess one more should be alri- Why am I eating ice cream in the middle of the night?
"Gunner Shield- Slinger's Cross
Low: 2*, 3*, and 4* - One shot increase
Medium: 5* - Two shot increase"
Increasing clip sizes is easily a huge problem in this game when it stands as a pillar to a stable weapon. Antiguas have a six shot clip, Autoguns have a two shot clip. Pulsars and Valiance line both have a three shot clip but one will obviously have a problem even with one more shot per round while the other is just alright. I can see you trying to make the clip bonus situational to give more or less depending on the gun which should have been a dead giveaway how imbalanced this kind of bonus can be. If it becomes a generic clip size increase then Autoguns, Pulsars, and Alchemers become even more overpowered with Antiguas not far behind. If it becomes a situational bonus that only gives +2 clip to certain guns then it becomes a balance compensation when the real problem is with the guns themselves.
"Demo Shield- Blast Plate
Low: 2*, 3*, and 4* - 1 block radius increase or 15% time reduction
Medium: 5* - 2 block radius increase or 33% time reduction"
It took me four minutes to figure out what I want to say about this before getting into what would be wrong with it since people ask for this so often. People ask for it a lot, I appreciate asking for something that helps bombers, but in the end the fuse time reduction is like attack speed for bombs (not particularly noticeable since fuses go down in a second or two) and increasing blast radii is unnecessary for 4*+ bombs which already cover a big area. The problem with bombs is not enough bang for the buck or sweet for the sweat. We can already cover big areas. What good does that do us? Those smaller radii bombs you saw were probably 3*- which are supposed to be small for lower tiers where things move around less and move slower which makes luring them into placed bombs easier. Nick and friends have a bitter resentment for bombers which may root in beta when bombs worked very differently than they do now but old habits die hard and Nick likes to see a Venom Veiler stroking his big throbbing Blitz. He said this game was spawned from games he grew up with which probably involved bombs being rare superpower items or difficult to use, which would mean getting frustrated at them often.
"Swordsman Shield- Blader's Lantern
Low: 2*,3*, and 4* - Final hit damage increase 15%
Medium: 5* - Final hit damage increase 33%"
You know, this reminds me of a thread I think I remember and am not imagining about forcing swords to use combos or lose both damage and the ability to use actions. I could just be imagining this but I remember seeing something to combat shield canceling which people have learned to rely on when they realized fighting with a melee weapon involves being in melee range of enemies. Nick and friends admitted shield canceling was not intentional and though I rarely used it since first finding out what it was a couple months after I started this game it always seemed like a crutch to me. Too incompetent to figure out how to time swing combos? Just alternate spamming attack and shield with a sword, it gets the job done without any intelligent gameplay even if it makes Luguiru add you to his ignore list which he never removes names from. Ever.
By the way, lantern shields are dumb and cheap. Flashing light to blind your opponent during swordplay is dirty fighting. Just put the lantern down before stabbing at each other. Swiftstrike is already all the buckler we need in this game if you know how to use one, even if all the fun parts of using a buckler shield would be too overpowered.