Hello, dear Sea of Thieves community!
I am here to propose an alternative, deeper and more interesting gun and melee combat mechanics with actual counterplay to them while keeping them simple and true to actual SoT gameplay.
With the new ship damage arriving soon and The Arena with is I feel like player combat could use some changes.
For now, our combat feels more like a cheese fest with little to no room for counterplay and promotes a less cinematic type of combat full of running around and point-blank shots instead of the actual skillful use of weapons and game mechanics.
So prepare for a wall of text and let's start:
The main issue with the game right now is lack of counterplay and unspecialized weapons.
Cutlass should be a weapon of choice for duels and hectic boarding combat that rewards a player for being able to get close enough to use it. Right now it's simply a spam fest for people not feeling comfortable enough with the raw power and destruction of the Blunderbuss or an option when out of ammo. The thing to understand here is that Cutlass quirk of disabling player movement or attacking simply feels very unsatisfying and punishing players for its own mistakes like missing a swing (which is a penalty in itself and should be the enemy players role to punish it not game directly) makes it annoying. The player should be punished for being outplayed not for trying to attack an enemy player.
Blunderbuss should feel powerful but in a slightly different way than it's achieving it right now. At present, it's a point-blank miniature star destroyer without much counterplay other than running around in hopes that your opponent misses most of its pellets... Also, a loud "This is my ladder" statement.
Eye of Reach should give you options that none of the other weapons is able to grant. Right now it's basically a stronger pistol with more awkward aiming at close range.
Pistol should award the player for using it in the right moments and be the versatile duelist companion. Right now it's simply a backup weapon for the Blunderbuss or a tool to shot barrels around without the awkward aiming of Eye of Reach.
So how to make SoT great again? We don't need to as Sea of Thieves is a great game already. But we can always make it better!
(Also please make me walk the plank for this joke)
The main goal would be to avoid any movement/attacking restriction for melee combat except as an active counterplay and make weapons have an actual purpose and be more specialized.
Let's start with Blunderbuss.
Blunderbuss should shot in a relatively flat cone somewhere around 90° dealing moderate damage to many targets at once with high pushback capabilities.
Moderate reload speed with moderate equip speed.
This would allow the weapon to be useful for throwing boarding pirates out of ships if aimed well and fend waves of skeletons away from you or to push them into the desired direction like closer to a well-placed gunpowder barrel or a geyser.
Its damage should scale with distance but not exceed 60% of full HP player damage in a point-blank scenario.
Also, Blunderbuss should be able to throw people off ladders, cannons and other ship/environmental tools.
This type of change would mitigate 1shot kills situations and require 2 point-blank shots for a successful kill and allow the weapon to have a more specialized purpose as crowd control and supportive weapon.
Now Cutlass.
Cutlass should require 5 hits to kill a full a player from 100%hp to 0%hp (as it is right now in the game).
There should be no movement or attack penalty for missing an maybe even lunging but as a counterplay against this weapon, there should be a stun like effect (unable to attack and move for a second or less) for hitting a player that's blocking.
Blocking at the other hand would be countered by lunging attack or any of the guns to avoid players creating a turtle meta game.
Also, the delay between "combos" (3swings) should be either smaller or gone completely for a slightly slower attack speed in general if the latter would be true.
This would allow for true melee combat where random swing spam would be punished and skillful use of the block and dodge for a sneaky pistol shot would be rewarded.
The Pistol.
Pistol should be a versatile weapon that offers moderate damage at close to medium range but requires precision and usage in the right moments.
Around 50% HP damage with a distance damage falloff for longer ranges.
Slightly faster equip and reload speed.
Aim of this change would be to make it a solid medium to close range option with the ability to sneak a shot while in melee when an opportunity arises.
Last but not least Eye of Reach.
Eye of Reach should be a strong option for a ship to ship combat and a weapon with a specialized purpose of blowing up gunpowder barrels from a distance and targeting stationary players on cannons etc.
40%-80% HP damage that scales with distance (closer = less damage) with a slight pushback and ability to throw players off the ship/environmental elements except for ladders (this one is reserved for Blunderbuss).
With this kind of treatment, EoR would end up as a strong and rewarding weapon for players that seek to be the marksman on the sea but would leave them vulnerable at close range if without a good backup weapon.
As a bonus, it would mitigate any potential new shenanigans with using EoR at close range as we previously had the pleasure to witness with the instant weapon swap bug/meta.
How the game would look like with those changes?
- Less Hit&Run tactics full of point-blank shots.
- More Swordplay and proper use of weapons for specific purposes.
- Less cutlass swings spam.
- More counterplay with blocking.
- Less 1-second combat scenarios.
- More extended fights and room for epic moments to accompany crazy steals and sneaky gunpowder barrel deliveries.
Potential loadouts scenarios:
Cutlass & Pistol - Duelist combination. Versatile combo with strong close quarters combat and good enough medium range options. It would take '2 pistol shots', '1 pistol shot and 3 slashes' or '5 slashes' to kill an opponent.
Cutlass & Blunderbuss - Great defensive or offensive addon for a boarding party. Ability to push opponents off ships if aimed correctly or keep them away from yourself/teammates. It would take '3 shots', '2 point-blank shots' or 'point-blank shot and 2 sword slashes'.
Cutlass & Eye of Reach - Good from long to medium range with the ability to defend himself at the close with Cutlass. From up close '1 shot from EoR and 3 sword slashes' or '5 slashes' and '2 shots' from a longer range.
Blunderbuss & Pistol - Option for pirates avoiding melee combat. Pistol for general damage and blunderbuss for keeping enemies away. It would take '1 Blunderbuss shot and 2 Pistol shots' or '2 Pistol shots' alone but without the ability to push back opponents leaving you open for melee attacks or '2 point-blank Blunderbuss shots'.
Blunderbuss & Eye of Reach - Utility powerhouse. Each weapon with the ability to push people away and keep them away from important ship parts like captains wheel etc. Would require '2 point-blank Blunderbuss shots' or '2 long range Eye of Reach' shots. It's the weakest option when it comes to medium range as it would at least '3 shots' from either one.
Eye of Reach & Pistol - The choice of true gunslingers of the sea. Very strong at long range but very susceptible to melee pressure. '2 shots' from long range EoR, '2 shots' from medium range pistol or '1 EoR shot and 2 Pistol shots' from close up.
The main task of this is to allow either a counterplay with melee combat blocking, dodging or allowing for a fast (2 attacks) kill only in specified circumstances rewarding players for creating those.
It's also worth noting that with the new ability to cook and regenerating health from eating cooked food the perfect scenario of for example hitting an enemy player with 2 pistol shots would still not result in a kill. It would take 3 shots because in the meantime health would potentially regenerate over the 100%hp value of 2 50%hp pistol shots extending the combat scenario to an additional shot or a sword swing (which has a counterplay with blocks).
As a side effect Console/Gamepad players would also have slightly more breathing room in combat with more emphasis on melee/timing and tactics instead of only quick reactions and 1-second fights.
Aim for all those changes would be to create fun possibilities to witness actual slightly extended combat scenarios and crazy interactions like shooting multiple people of ships with Blunderbuss or long distance sniper shots to stop an enemy from lifting the anchor and prolonged cutlass fights containing blocks and sneaky dodge into a pistol shot to end the fight.
Personally, that's what I feel Rare was trying to accomplish looking at trailers and other before release gameplay material but for some reason, it didn't end up being like that.
With the arrival of Arena, I feel like a slightly more interesting but still not too complex Combat Overhaul will be highly needed.
