All items are made of one of two material types but materials only affect items in a small way. I think it would be cool if we could choose what materials to use in the crafting of weapons, armor and tools. Materials could affect the stats of an item and could also give them certain properties.
- My first idea is to have some basic crafting items with the material type. The material could be shown as a prefix in the item name like “[Material Name] Item” so for instance:
Iron Scrap
Cooper Scrap
Steel Scrap
This could also apply to other items, but if an item is made of two materials, only the main one should be mentioned in the name:
Iron Hammer
Steel Machete
Bronze Arrows
- As I mentioned before, Material Type should affect the stats of an item. Damage, Attack Speed, Armor Rating, Resistances, Special Properties, etc. For instance:
Iron
-It rusts when wet for a while, decreasing some stats.
-Offers more protection against cuts but less protection against blunt damage.
-Stronger than Bronze = More Protection and Durability in Armor, more damage in Weapons, less crafting time in Tools, etc.
-Heavier than Bronze = Slower attack speed but more chances to stun in Weapons, more encumbrance in Armor, etc.
-Increased resistance against acid but being a metal, it adds some weakness to electricity.
Fur
-Increased wet penalties when under the rain, swimming, etc.
-Offers better warmth than Leather.
-It offers less protection against damage in comparison to Leather.
-It’s weak against acid and and adds some weakness to fire.
- Items made of 2 materials should also get stats depending on where you used the materials:
Steel Spear (Plastic Pole and Steel Head)
-Fast attack speed
-Can be damaged easily
-Negates the damage to wielder when hitting electric monsters.
Steel Spear (Made entirely of Steel)
-Heavier = Slower attack speed, increased weight but more chances to stun.
-Really hard to damage
-Increased damage to wielder when hitting electric monsters.
- Also, instead of making them separated items made of each material, they could be like templates and their stats could be dictated mostly on the materials used in their construction. For instance:
Shovel
-Main Materials allowed: Bronze, Iron, Steel, Super Alloy, etc.
-Secondary Materials allowed: Wood, Plastic or the same material used as Main.
-Uses Material prefix (Cooper Shovel, etc)
-Digging speed of 5 plus material bonus (Coz there are other digging tools)
-Damage, item health, and remaining fixed stats that will be affected by the materials used.
I know it sounds complicated to implement but it would hopefully make things a lot more interesting, specially later in the game when you get your hands on an anvil and metalcrafting tools.