Your weapon and you

[jamela]

A trip attack, which if it succeeds, makes your opponent 'sit'.

Not to be used having snuck up behind Muncham

[jamela]

I think introducing combo attacks would make melee an interactive experience again, maybe allowing a chain of cumulative bonuses so long as each action is successful. Make the aim stanza relevant so that perhaps you could feint to the head and then strike at the feet with an increased chance to hit.

Back on topic, though; my weapon : pike

As a pike wielder with a very long reach I am constantly dismayed at how easily enemies penetrate my 10m ring of spiky death. Pikees ought to be able to keep enemies with more versatile, but shorter, weapons at bay. This could be in the form of damage inflicted every time the opponent tries to move in to attack, including the chance to critical.

[vinnyq]

I luv my 2h Stavon.

*snuggles with 2h Stavon*

If they make the aim attack more effective, things can be a lot more fun for melee already! I tried using the aim for head to stun, aim for chest to burn stams, aim for feet to malus etc, and it doesn't do squat!

Apparently, or so I heard, it only do an effect like stun if you do a aim head hit, and it was a critical hit. Like I am going to waste MY stam constantly aiming for HIS head and hoping that eventually I'll get a CRIT hit! HA!

Plus, you cant stam damage a mob, a mob has no stam.

[sidusar]

Apparently, or so I heard, it only do an effect like stun if you do a aim head hit, and it was a critical hit. Like I am going to waste MY stam constantly aiming for HIS head and hoping that eventually I'll get a CRIT hit! HA!

Plus, you cant stam damage a mob, a mob has no stam.

You can do stam damage to a mob, so it definitely has stam. The problem is more than it has unlimited stam and it's attacks don't cost any stam

Anyways, I agree that just improving the aim stanzas would already make melee (and ranged for that matter) a lot more interesting. Right now aiming for the head, for example, will cost the same credit as doubling your damage, only for the small chance to maybe get a critical hit and stun the mob for... what is it, 1 second?

Now to how to improve the aim stanzas... A very simple fix would be dramatically decreasing the credit cost. Make them almost free next to their equivalent level of accurate attack and increase damage stanzas. This would make them usefull, but not fun, as you'd still only get a critical maybe once in ten hits. For them to really be used strategically they have to be reliable. So ideally what I'd like to see is that using an aim stanza significantly increases the chance of getting a critical hit. It'd make sense that you're more likely to hit hard when you're aiming carefully, no?

EDIT: As for my weapon of choice, I use a 1-handed sword with a shield. Personally I'd prefer having some more actions with my shield than with my sword. There's the shielding power, but it only lasts 10 seconds and takes 120 seconds to recharge, so if I want to protect someone I'm better of taunting to mob off them. I think shielding should not have a limit time or recharge, you should just be able to turn it on and be protecting the player until you die or you turn it off again.
Some other actions I'd like to be able to do with a shield could include bashing mobs over the head with it to do smashing damage (usefull for slash-resistant mobs) or taking a more defensive stand which increases the shield's damage absorption and parry bonus, but decreases the damage and accuracy of my attacks. Maybe for the smaller mobs an ability to push them back with it (away from the healers, for example) at a cost to my own health.

[calel]

Plus, you cant stam damage a mob, a mob has no stam.

He is right, it was explained in one of the latest Q&A' s. Mobs have no stam pool but rather select an offensive move out of list of possible attacks.

[thebax]

Fer maces, I'd kinda like a better stun possibility den de currently near useless "aim head", or de completely random head-hit crit.

Also fer crushin' weaps: Crushing blow, whar ya smacks dem so hard, dey gits thar muskals squished a lil, an canna hit near as hard. Plus de ability to "Daze" yer opponent, makin dem discombobulated sos dey wander aroun a lil, confuzzeled. Not as good as stun (as dey be movin) but might be funnier

[grimjim]

Melee Changes I'd Like to See....
-------------------------------

Lighter Weapons = Less Stamina Cost
A dagger should be much cheaper to use in combat, much more effectively than large weapons which are less controllable. Daggers then, for example, could be effectively more nimble, allowing you more effective targetted melee attacks.

Two-Weapon Combat
Allow any 1h weapon to be duel wielded, but give daggers an automatic parry bonus for being the offhand weapon.

More Effective Spell Disruption
When I'm clouting a mage around the head with a sword, it would be nice if he would miscast more often than he currently does.

Living Weapons Actually Doing Something
Extra fire, poison, wave or electric bonus damage.

Craftable Weapon bonuses
The ability to give extra damage/parry/durability or other statistics in the same fashion we can currently give HP boosts etc. Other special weapon effects or damage types could also be accessed with ency missions.

Weapon/Culture Specific Abilities
Backstab/throatslit dagger attacks
Disarm/Thrust for swords
Heavy cleave for axes, clubs and two handed swords (An all out, lower defence, raise damage attack).

Impale for pikes and lances (ongoing damage similar to a spell lock)

[thebax]

One bit dat deffinite-wise needs fixin rather den merely improvin be unarmed combat. Whilst I'd likes to live inna werld whar ya culd do de fancy-bit Martial arts niftyness wot we've all seen in other dimensions, dat mebbe not fit wit Atys (tho I be keepin me fingers crossed )

It be true dat yer damage (sans karate, kung-fu, ickitty-thump, or wot-all) makes sense as lower den wit a weap, but I gotta wonders why ya hits so slow. Shuldna yer attack rate without ANY wheight/mass in yer hand be betterer den wit e'en de best dags? 'Nother words takin yer hits per minute frem 15 (current) to at least 60, prolly 75.

An' I ain sher 'bout dis, but iffin ya hads no weaps, not e'en Amps, didna ya used to be able to slow yer opponent, like wit other crushin' weaps?

[xenofur]

More Effective Spell Disruption
When I'm clouting a mage around the head with a sword, it would be nice if he would miscast more often than he currently does.

i think that already happens (at least it did back in last november)

[iwojimmy]

Melee Changes I'd Like to See....
-------------------------------
/snip
Impale for pikes and lances (ongoing damage similar to a spell lock)

the ability to 'harpoon'..leave the weopon in the opponent, giving them bleeding type damage AND the weopons malus penalty, in addition to their own equipment..if weight penalties worked, you might even be able to immobilise a weak foe..

You would have to equip another weopon yourself, potentially even another lance to repeat the harpooning, and recovering your gear could be tricky, especially if you lose
maybe carry half a dozen 'javelins'.. low q/grade spears for sticking foes with, before the main fight

would require a LOT of work to implement, but wouldn't it be fun