@galactic-geek
ME: If they removed the 1 shot capability it would still be useful, just not in the same way.
YOU:
Useful doesn't necessarily mean it can still kill.
So we agree. It doesn't need to be able to kill in order to be useful.
ME: You could easily say that pistol is completely useless because you can outheal with just a banana, making your next shot all but impossible,
YOU:
That's why the flintlock is the fastest to reload, aim, and shoot.
You can still heal with a banana in most situations, if they reload and do an animation cancel, then immediately shoot with scoping in then you won't be able to eat. But most people aren't using every advantage to 2tap with a pistol, so it rarely happens that you are able to get 2 hits with the pistol against someone as you have the risk of missing if you shoot too fast, and they can go behind cover while healing before you reload.
ME: If they made the blunderbuss do 95 damage instead of 100, it could still be used effectively.
ME: Most of the time when going Sniper/Blunder you are going to use the sniper shot first and follow it up with the blunder meaning that the -5 damage is irrelevant.
YOU:
Not if it's your opening weapon.
It's never irrelevant - you're also forcing a specific method of playstyle here unnecessarily.
I'm using a very common example of how you use Sniper/Blunder. Most people will start off with the sniper shot first, then use the blunderbuss after. In that specific scenario the -5 damage doesn't matter which is the point I'm trying to make. You're taking it as I'm saying something like, "If you are trying to 1 shot someone then the -5 damage won't matter." Which I'm not saying. Obviously if they reduce the damage from 100 down to 95 then you can't 1 shot people, I'm not arguing that.
ME: And the Blunderbuss is still useful for knocking sword users back, there are plenty of times that I didn't kill a sword user that was right next to me, but because of the knockback I was still able to get them away so that I could pull out my sniper and shoot them, or reload my blunder and finish them off.
YOU:
They weren't smart sword users then, because if they were they'd be bounding right back into you.
When I use the blunderbuss I make a plan in case it doesn't 1 shot them, so that in case they don't die instantly I am still safe. Once I shoot them with the blunder the knockback gives me enough distance to start running away while healing, not only that but most of the time I shoot them before their 3rd slice, so they are also stunned for a split second allowing me to gain even more distance. I am able to eat up and get full health, then reload my sniper and kill them because they've been chasing me instead of eating food.
So like I said, blunderbuss would still be useful for it's knockback powers and not for it's 1 shot capabilities.
ME: You could make that same argument with the sword. I slash someone 3 times and it knocks them back, allowing them the distance they need to escape by jumping into the water, healing, blunderbombing, or just running away.
YOU:
It bounces both pirates back - but did you know that you could prevent that from happening? There's actually 2 ways to do it. One is to simply hold forward during the knockback itself, which reduces its effectiveness and keeps you close to the enemy (the reverse is also true if you want more space); the 2nd method is simply not to combo - no combo, no knockback. If I'm using sword, I'm going to go for a 2-hit combo so that the knockback doesn't occur. Furthermore, you'll likely be stunned allowing for an easy follow-up 2-hit combo to kill you.
When you are swording someone and get the 3 hit combo, you don't get knocked back. They do, but not you. And in this example that I've given, I'm arguing the point that if they use 3 slashes it will give the other player room to run away and heal. I'd say at least 95% of people don't use the 2 slash, bunny hop, 2 slash strategy in killing someone. And I wasn't arguing that there were different ways to combat the knockback, I was saying that because most people use the sword in a 3 hit combo way, that you can easily run away and get out of it's range. So I'm not arguing the fact that there are different ways to get around the knockback, I was saying that in this specific situation (that happens 95% of the time) They can run away if though there is knockback.
You said: It gives your opponent free breathing room even on a successful hit, which is simply bad game design - you should be rewarded for a successful offense, not punished for it.
So I was responding by saying that the argument is not a good one because you can easily use that same argument about knockback being a bad thing since the sword has knockback. And you flipped it around and was acting like I said, "The knockback is unpreventable," Which I wasn't, I was using your example that you gave and used the logic on something else to show you that the logic you used in this argument was wrong.
ME: First of all, you're not useless with sword because you can swap to pistol / sniper and get the kill,
...with plenty of time for them to run away, find cover, etc. before you get the shot off.
and with the blunderbuss you can still swap to a sniper / pistol and get the kill just like the sword.
YOU:
The trick is in cancelling the moment you fire the 1st shot or get enough hits in with the sword.
What is your argument? Can you rephrase it so that I can understand?
ME: It seems like, "bad game design," that there is a weapon that can one shot everyone in the game, but with every other weapon you would need to hit them again, or swap to something else to finish them off.
YOU:
Except it's incredibly situational and perfectly suited to its role. It's also easy to avoid if you're paying attention, with up to 28 different ways to not get 1-shot.
I was again using your logic to show you that it is faulty. You were saying that it's bad game design to allow a weapon which deals knockback to not be a 1 shot kill, and I was saying that the sword does just that, knockback without a kill. I wasn't saying that it wasn't situational or that it isn't easy to avoid, I was using your logic to help in my argument to show you that it's not completely valid.
ME: If your argument is, "It's bad game design," It seems even worse to have a weapon that can 1 shot people while every other weapon in the game can't do that.
YOU:
Again, very situational. Besides, you're discounting the very real possibility of multiple pirates. After that 1-shot, you're still potentially facing up to 3 more pirates. Furthermore, any surprise you had is officially blown.
Like I said, "If they removed the 1 shot capability it would still be useful, just not in the same way."
And like you said: Useful doesn't necessarily mean it can still kill.
Obviously if they removed the 1 shot capability then you couldn't 1 shot someone with it, and you would have to use 2 shots in order to kill someone. You can still use your element of surprise, sniper them first and then use the blunder and finish them off. If you truly have the element of surprise then an extra second of delay wouldn't be a problem to kill someone. The only difference between a 1 shot and now, is that you would have to reload both weapons before fighting again. But that already happens with Sniper/Pistol and people use that to a great extent.
You wouldn't be able to keep reloading your blunder and 1 shotting people anymore, and you would have to play differently. It still does a lot of damage at 95, and it would still be very useful at 2 shotting people with both of your weapons, plus the knockback it gives.
ME: If they change it, cool, nothing really changes except for the fact that I have to wait 1 second longer before shooting someone who boards me, because I need to knock them back into the water rather than try and kill them with 1 shot.
YOU:
If it doesn't kil them and only knocks them into the water, that's potentially dangerous for you because they can heal or try the ladder again.
This already happens sometimes when I will supposedly 1 shot someone but because of hitreg they don't die and go flying off of the ship. I just swap to my second weapon to finish them off. I'm saying that the blunderbuss is pretty OP because you can 1 shot someone off of the ladder, but no other weapon can be used that greatly. Even if you use sword, as long as you time your board right you can tank the 3 hits and be on their boat running around healing. So they would have to pull out their Sniper/Pistol in order to finish you off, making it a 2 hit kill.
ME: Another problem is that you can still 1 shot people even if you aren't in point blank range. I've 1 shot people when I was a couple feet away and they couldn't hit me with their sword, and I still killed them in 1 shot.
ME: I think they should increase the spread to prevent this from happening, so that it still does the same damage, but you just need to get closer for all the pellets to hit.
YOU:
This is lag. The blunderbuss can't kill in 1-shot unless it's inside sword-hit range.
Very possible that it is lag, but even if I'm inside the sword hit range I don't have to be able to lick their neck to 1 shot kill them, I can be a pretty good distance away and still 1 shot them.