Dont Nerf Khopesh, Boost Exotic Weapons!

[KKDragonLord]

It has been acknowledged and suggested that the Kopesh is imbalanced and as such it should be nerfed to correct that problem.

Given the impossibility to revert a very poor decision that has been a part of the game for as long as it has been active, considering how the player base has become adapted to that reality and invested Heavily on that premise.

My suggestion is different.

Allowing weapons such as the bastard sword and the dwarven axe to produce Glancing blows when used One-Handed has been a worthwile Effort in making those weapons more desireable for a limited number of builds reliant on using Shields.

It is unfortunately insufficient and does not address the use of such weapons for any other builds, especially in the late game, where twf becomes the Dominant weapon style for DPS with those weapons, one of the most important factors for success in content where mobs have ludicrous amounts of HP and are utterly impervious to instakill effects.

It came to me after running a series of calculations to discern exactly by which margin the Khopesh was superior to a Racial specifc weapon choice With the extra racial enhancements to improve their damage, that if the khopeh cannot be nerfed into a balanced state, then the other Exotic weapons can be improved to reach a similar state.

My idea is simple.

Improve the damage die of the Bastard sword and the dwarven Axe to 1d12. That much base damage, especially when turned into 3d6s for Greensteel, would certainly tip the scale back into place regarding the exotic weapons. An advantage justified by the extra requirement of a Feat to use such weapons. A New feat to improve scimitars/falchions in a similar way could also be made available specifically for Elves, allowing them to succeed in the use of their Racial weapon choices, same for drow and their weapons, Same for the Bladesworn and the Greatsword.

And if that comes to pass, its also a good idea to allow damage die improvements for monk weapons such as Kamas and quarterstaves relative to monk levels for as long as the characters remain centered. If it cant be added to the current weapons, then Add the Ki Weapon magical property to the list of special effects, with those same results.

Shurikens should be improved to be more like in PnP, where they work as ammunition and therfore have improved throwing speeds, that can be adapted to ddo by allowing them to make two simultaneous attacks per throw or even three in the hands of a centered monk, as per the ability to use Flurry of blows with such weapons. A drow monk with a greensteel shuriken with its damage improved by a racial feat would be a Terrible sight to behold

[Natashaelle]

We simply need *more* exotic weapons --

AD&D 1st Edition Glaive-Guisarmes FTW !!!

[KKDragonLord]

We simply need *more* exotic weapons --

AD&D 1st Edition Glaive-Guisarmes FTW !!!

As much fun as that would be, i dont think its happening

making new weapons and new animations is something really hard for the Devs it seems

[Gunga]

I'm for making ****** stuff better over nerfing the cool stuff.

/signed and +1

[Natashaelle]

As much fun as that would be, i dont think its happening

Weeeeelllll to be fair the 1st-Edition-exploitative equivalent of Khopesh was the Halberd anyway, not the Glaive-Guisarme...

2-handed sword did more damage, but Halberd basically being a large axe on the end of a stick allowed all kinds of funky exploitative nonsense .... and IIRC its AC-type modifiers were just *screwy* hehehe

[Deathseeker]

I like a couple of the premises of your post...

1. Improve other instead of nerfing Kopesh. While Im not as opposed to nerfing as most, the Kopesh has been like this since day 1, and it's too engrained into the game to nerf. It isnt worth the drama that would ensue.

2. Buffing other weapons would not really increase overall player power, as they aren't really used much anyways. Give them a bump that would lead to more choices. Choices are good!

3. I like the Elf suggestion. Combining multiple problems into one solution is always nice (as Elves need some dps love).

Im sure there are several ways to go, but in general I like the approach you suggest...

[freelove]

Nerfing things is in general a bad practice for gaming as it turns people off.

It is way better (and easier really) to balance the game by improving other classes and adjusting content as the game matures (the end game advances in DDO's case add levels, they could even be bonus enchancements and not hp, etc).

The problem that DDO has is the hard level cap. Every successful MMORPG has to advance the characters either by level or by adding ability levels. This helps to adjust the game instead of nerfing.

Nerfing is usually only really needed when a game is PvP based and players have figured out a tactic with a class that oponents have a very hard time dealing with (stealth in DAOC, certain spells in WoW, etc)

Sorry DDO but to nerf in a quest based game is lazy or you have no plans to be able to adjust the game by adding content to balance the end game. When you nerfed twf for example my paladin took the biggest hit of any of my fighters and now I can spend months farming new gear for him or just stop playing him, you get the hint right stop playing?

If you continue to "adjust" things people have spent alot of time acquiring you will see more players leave, it is simple. DDO has a large farm based element in the game, doing the same quests over and over for needed gear to advance in other quests to then grind again. Imagine if they nerf kopesh and now your dwarf ranger has a better benefit from dwarven axes yet you have made two Min2Lightning kopeshes? You cannot run all epic content with some of the classes already (to hit, damage output, survivability of monk, paladin, ranger and none TR'd casters come to mind) and nerfing will not make this easier.

Conclusion: Stop trying to make the end game harder to participate in by nerfing and create more end game content that you can make these needed adjustments with, ie stop being lazy.