To preface, I’d like to say I’m not one of those players that are ultra-elite murder-machines who play on 0 Item Spawn and 50 Zombie spawn and claim it’s too easy. In fact, I usually don’t survive past the first season. However, one thing I’m noticing is that melee skills (Melee, Bashing, Cutting, Piercing) level quickly. In fact, they tend to level very quickly if you’re pushed into fighting a lot (or find a way to take on a lot of enemies at once without getting overwhelmed; I tend to do this at FEMA camps a lot).
With Unarmed, it seems to get seriously ridiculous. I just started a new game with no melee combat whatsoever, and wound up having to punch out a regular zombie and a fat zombie that spawned in my house. Both my Unarmed and Melee skill skyrocketed as a result from 0 (0%) to 1 (80%) and 1 (82%) respectively. That’s almost a level per kill. And I tend to find it particularly easy to shove a melee skill to 7 or 8 without even particularly trying. Skills like Dodging or Ranged Combat skills don’t seem to level nearly as quickly, and it makes investing in melee almost a waste, since you can grind them so quickly.
So I guess what I’m suggesting is, maybe reduce the rate at which melee skills level? Perhaps, just as Ranged Combat depends on factors in addition to simply shooting, have the learning rate adjusted by, say, how hard the enemy is to hit (or pierce the armor of), or simply making it so that misses and ineffective hits don’t boost skill? As it is, finding a fat zombie to bash away at seems to turn you into Bruce Lee in a remarkably short time.
I’ve always looked at it from a risk/reward point of view. Yeah. Your melee skyrockets. But what happens when you screw up and bite off more than you can chew? Unless you happen to be packing smoke grenades (and some times even if), getting out of a tight melee situation can be iffy. And once those hits start landing and the pain building, running away… can be difficult.
If you play aggressively you can get combat skills to 7-9 in a season.What I propose is to make combat skill xp requirements increment more so survivors could easily get heir combat skills to 2-3 easily but getting bashing to 10 would take more time. Even if you fight every day I doubt that you could master the quarterstaff in half a year.
So what skill lvl represents having mastered a weapon?[/quote]
Ideally–we need to rebalance a few Whales-era things, chiefly Mechanics/engine installs:
0: No significant experience. Probably has seen examples, maybe done it once before.
1-3: Beginner/amateur level. You know enough to get into trouble; sometimes enough to get yourself back out.
4-5: Talented amateur or graduating student. You can pass for competent.
6-8: Increasingly competent professional. You could make a living doing it. (For combat skills, you’re capable of teaching the skill, doing well in tournaments, etc)
9: If your work is public, your name is probably known within your field. Could enter Olympic competition, etc.
10: Your name is likely known worldwide, even if the work isn’t public. (As in, foreign intelligence agencies probably have some sort of file on you.)
With that in mind, top-level recipes should probably balance around skill 8-9. Things that require 10 skill should be seriously arcane, or be things that become more difficult because of Cataclysm-associated circumstances. (No computer-assisted tools, no support staff, etc.)
So what skill lvl represents having mastered a weapon?[/quote]
This
Ideally–we need to rebalance a few Whales-era things, chiefly Mechanics/engine installs:
0: No significant experience. Probably has seen examples, maybe done it once before.
1-3: Beginner/amateur level. You know enough to get into trouble; sometimes enough to get yourself back out.
4-5: Talented amateur or graduating student. You can pass for competent.
6-8: Increasingly competent professional. You could make a living doing it. (For combat skills, you’re capable of teaching the skill, doing well in tournaments, etc)
9: If your work is public, your name is probably known within your field. Could enter Olympic competition, etc.
10: Your name is likely known worldwide, even if the work isn’t public. (As in, foreign intelligence agencies probably have some sort of file on you.)
With that in mind, top-level recipes should probably balance around skill 8-9. Things that require 10 skill should be seriously arcane, or be things that become more difficult because of Cataclysm-associated circumstances. (No computer-assisted tools, no support staff, etc.)[/quote]