Ranking and balance discussion of low-level weapons.

Skill	Weapon	Skills required	Bash dmg	Cut/Prc dmg	Tot Dmg	Moves	Dp100m	To hit	Techniques	Other	Points	Sum of skills required	Balance	Verdict	Comment	Balance Suggestion
Bash	Quarterstaff	Fabrication(2), Bash(2)	19		19	136	13.97	3	High block, Sweep, Rapid Strike	Martial art	25.97	4	21.97	Far too good	Deceptively good considering low base damage output	Set to hit to 2, remove 3 bash damage
Piercing	Forked Spear	Fabrication(2), Survival(1)	6	17	23	116	19.83	1	High block, Disarm, Reach	Martial art, Flimsy	23.83	3	20.83	Far too good	Even if it’s flimsy it’s far too good	Set to 2 bash damage, remove -1 pierce damage
Piercing	Copper Spear	Fabrication(3)	5	16	21	113	18.58	1	Medium block, Reach	Martial art	23.58	3	20.58	Far too good		Set to 2 bash damage, remove -1 pierce damage
Piercing	Wooden Spear	Fabrication(2), Survival(1)	5	13	18	99	18.18	1	Medium block, Reach	Martial art	23.18	3	20.18	Far too good		Set to 2 bash damage, remove -1 pierce damage
Bash	Makeshift crowbar	Fabrication(0)	12	1	13	101	12.87	2	Medium block	Tool	18.37	0	18.37	A bit too good		Set to hit to 1
Bash/Unarmed	Nail knuckles	Fabrication(0)	4	6	10	76	13.16	0		Unarmed	18.16	0	18.16	A bit too good		Remove -1 bash damage
Cutting	Makeshift macuahuitl	Fabrication(1)	7	14	21	116	18.10	1	Medium block		21.10	3	18.10	A bit too good	Made with superglue which requires cooking(2) so it’s effectively higher skill requirements	Remove -1 bash damage and -1 cut damage
Piercing	Copper knife	Fabrication(0)	2	12	14	79	17.72	0		Martial art	17.72	0	17.72	A bit too good		Remove -1 cut damage
Piercing	Homemade Halfpike	Fabrication(3), Survival(1), Piercing(1)	2	19	21	119	17.65	1	Reach	Martial art	22.15	5	17.15	Balanced	Underpowered compared to the other spears, why no block?	Give medium block remove -1 pierce damage
Bash	Cudgel	Fabrication(0)	8		8	111	7.21	2	High block, Precise, Rapid Strike	Martial art	16.71	0	16.71	Balanced	Middle of the pack, used as a base for balance suggestions
Bash	2-by-sword	Fabrication(0)	12	1	13	95	13.68	1	Medium block	Martial art	16.68	0	16.68	Balanced
Bash/Unarmed	Cestus	Fabrication(2), Bash(1)	12		12	89	13.48	0		Unarmed	18.48	3	15.48	Underpowered	Not enough of an upgrade from nail knuckles	Give +1 bash damage
Bash	Long Pole	Fabrication(5)	25		25	162	15.43	1	Medium block, Reach	Martial art	20.43	5	15.43	Underpowered		Give +1 bash damage and sweep attack like quarterstaff
Bash	Nail board	Fabrication(0)	10	3	13	108	12.04	1	Medium block		15.04	0	15.04	Underpowered	Used to make traps	Give +1 cut damage
Bash	Wooden Tonfa	Fabrication(4), Bash(3)	14		14	112	12.50	2	High block, Rapid Strike	Martial art	21.50	7	14.50	Underpowered		Reduce move points to 100 and give precise strike
Bash	Nord	Fabrication(2)	12	4	16	103	15.53	0	Medium block	Martial art	16.03	2	14.03	Severely underpowered		Give +1 bash damage and +1 cut damage
Cutting	Crude sword	Fabrication(2)	6	14	20	115	17.39	-1	Medium block	Martial art	15.39	2	13.39	Severely underpowered		Remove to hit penalty
Bash/Unarmed	Pair of Steel knuckles	Fabrication(2), Bash(1)	8		8	76	10.53	0		Unarmed	15.53	3	12.53	Severely underpowered	No reason to ever use these. Worse than cestus and nail knuckles.	Give +3 bash damage
Bash	Peasant Flail	Fabrication(3), Bash(2)	19		19	153	12.42	0	Medium block, Reach		14.92	5	9.92	Trash		Give +8 damage and sweep attack and brutal strike

Legend:

"Dp100m" is damage per 100 game moves.

"Points" are calculated as:

Dp100m +2.5x +hit value +3 for rapid strike +1 for high block +0.5 for any other technique +2 for reach +5 for unarmed -2 for flimsy

"Balance" is "Points" - "Sum of skills required".

Comments about the ranking:

• I tried to use the CDDA github wiki as much as I would for balance point calculation.
• I've skipped weapons which require special materials, such as baseball bat and blades or special tools such as welder.
• As most enemies in the early game will be unarmored regular zombies I've not taken into account damage type.
• I've not accounted for how encumbrance and strength affects the damage.

Discussion points.

1. I'd be happy to take suggestions for improvement regarding the "points" and "balance" values.
2. I think +2 balance points for reach might be too little for early game weapons, especially now after the healing change, but spears seems overpowered in general.
3. Should weapon skills be rated higher as those can't be grinded as easily?
4. Is it better to adjust damage or change skill requirements when balancing things?
5. Quarterstaff. Is it as good as the stats suggests or did I overvalue it?
6. What are your favourite early game weapons?
7. I would like to hear from devs on how low-level weapons are balanced and if the wiki on weapons balance is still current.

Submitted July 23, 2019 at 07:56PM by Ampersand55 https://ift.tt/32OwyT4