Katana vs. other swords

[Ninja_Khorin]

Bastard Sword:

weight 1.8
requirement 9
spd rtng 99
weapon length 101
swing damage 35, cut
thrust damage 23 pierce
1,886 gold

Katana:

weight 2
requirement 9
spd rtng 101
weapon length 95
swing damage 36, cut
thrust damage 18 pierce

9212 gold

One of these weapons must be poorly balanced. If katana gets broken you pay something like 1800 gold, when bastard sword breaks it's 330 gold. And Bastard sword is atleast equal to the Katana. there might be similar weirdness going on with other items, this I just noticed for obvious reasons.

EDIT: Oh, and Bastard Sword also allows half-swording.

[Paul]

I made some adjustments and lowered the price.

[Banok]

do you mean for next patch? cause its the same

[Paul]

Yes, next patch. 2013

[Joseph_the_Mighty]

I wish there was a like button..

[Kalam]

The key is in the speed rating. Though, with the speed nerf, there really is no arguement between a katana and a longsword- the longsword is the superior weapon. The only reason to use a katana before the patch was to spam the shit out of 1handers.

[Shigeru]

Hopefully the next patch will sort out this sort of issue.

I love the style of the Katana, but I'll probably end up changing to another sword if it's not adjusted to be a viable choice again.

[MadMac]

A katana's production cost is MUCH higher and more labourious than a simple Bastard sword. Plus the katana is much faster to swing, I use the bastard sword and when i encounter someone with a katana i usually take a more defensive posture.

its balanced i say, and realistic

[Dunecat]

A katana's production cost is MUCH higher and more labourious than a simple Bastard sword. Plus the katana is much faster to swing, I use the bastard sword and when i encounter someone with a katana i usually take a more defensive posture.

its balanced i say, and realistic

One can use complex and time-consuming technologies while forging a bastard/longsword, to achive superior (to good katana) price and quality.
But on the matter, I agree.

[Jetsam]

Well the Katana shouldn't be the heavier weapon, first of all. Secondly, the two speed isn't enough to say it's faster, it's just people who use the Katana are generally agility heavy; so it seems faster.

[Ninja_Khorin]

Katana isn't much faster. It's 2 points. That's not much. Katana wielders just tend to have more agility.

And to that whole "production cost" argument you got going there I could start bringing up tons of weapons that should be MUCH cheaper in upkeep than a bastard sword but are in fact more expensive.
To name a few:
Goedendag(a stick with a metallic point) - 2884 gold
Basically every axe that costs more than the bastard, like Long War Axe - 7622 gold
Same with maces.
There's no rason why Two Handed War Axe(1386 gold) should cost that much less less than Long War Axe(7622)
Or why a Heavy Bastard Sword(4200 gold) which is only slightly longer than the Bastard Sword(1886 gold) would cost double gold to maintain.

The price is determined by game balance, not any sort of realistic prices, and if you're trying to claim anything else then have a good day, sir.

[_JoG_]

Since Urist was here, I hope he would have a look here again.
What I want you guys to pay attention to is the new balance between hand-and-a-half swords, or, I should say, the balance between their price-to-value ratio (considering the weapon upkeep prices). Pre-patch longsword (the best 1 1/2 sword) was, methinks, 6 points longer than a bastard sword, had better cut (37 vs 35) and thrust (I don't remember exactly, but I think there was a 2-point difference too). Price did not matter much, since both weapons were affordable. That made longsword, on par with an uber-spamming katana, a very popular choice for fighting.

Now the weapon stats were modified:

(click to show/hide)

Bastard Sword   1886
weight 1.8
requirement 9
spd rtng 99
weapon length 101
swing damage 35, cut
thrust damage 23 pierce
Secondary Mode

Heavy Bastard Sword   4200
weight 2
requirement 9
spd rtng 98
weapon length 105
swing damage 36, cut
thrust damage 24 pierce
Secondary Mode

Longsword   5123
weight 1.8
requirement 9
spd rtng 98
weapon length 106
swing damage 36, cut
thrust damage 25 pierce
Secondary Mode

So, currently, the only significant advantage of a longsword is its length. Still, 5 cm is not that much of a difference. I'm not speaking about nerfed stab here, this is quite a different story. However, I don't understand the reasoning why the thrust using a two-hand grip and a thrusting blade (such as a bastard sword or a longsword) should be weaker than using only one hand and a thrusting blade (such as in-game long schiavona or an arming sword). But that's the topic for a separate thread.

It is the upkeed price that makes the longsword completely useless as compared to the bastard sword. Indeed, the price of the longsword is 2.7 times higher than that of a bastard sword, while both weapons have very similar characteristics. The heavy bastard sword 20% more expensive than a longsword while having the same stats.

IMHO, considering the price-to-value ratio, bastard sword is the only viable choice among all hand-and-a-half swords at this moment. Wielding a heavy bastard sword or a longsword just makes no sense, since you have to pay MUCH more for a negligible improvement in stats.

[_JoG_]

How can I delete this message? Messed up the options.

[_JoG_]

CARP, delete this one too.

[Kalam]

Looks like we're back to viability. I should note that I continued using the katana due to the curvature. We've got a lot of newer players, and they seem to have a hard time blocking curved weapons.