Suggestion type: FGunZ In-Game (Balance)
Suggestion description: Once upon a time I was a Large sword enjoyer. And I believe they're in need of a buff. Katanas are obviously meta, Kodachis have upsides and downsides, and daggers are strong when used well. Large swords' downsides do not balance their upsides, and as a result they're by far the weakest melee weapon. Unless you ran into me or someone who installed the game 10 minutes ago, when is the last time you saw someone ACTUALLY use an L-Sword in-game? No, I don't mean the Dual L-Swords since they're strictly better than singles (besides the weight) and they STILL don't get used much.
Compared to a Katana... L-Swords:
Are heavy, slow (to slash and switch), can't block, and can't flip.
But, they deal more damage per swing and have more range.
What does this mean?
The slow swing/switch speed means you deal less DPS and have worse mobility than a Katana.
You have less defense than a Katana, since you need a weight ring and cannot block.
You have less kill confirm options, since you can't flip and can't force a recoil.
The range is good though...!
Overall, L-swords give you less offense, less defense, and slower movement compared to a Katana and come with a benefit of more range. Not worth it.
I have a few suggestions that I think will buff Large swords in a way that makes them fun to use and fill a currently non-existent niche without being stronger than the Katana's "golden standard".
1) Increase top end Large Sword damage from 36 -> 40 damage
This is a slight damage bump to keep L-Swords relevant in the damage department (TBF Katana = 84 damage, Double FS LSword = 80 damage and doesn't stun lock)
2) Blocking can be used but only while on the ground. Blocking a slash doesn't cause attacker to recoil?
BFing/DBFing/TBFing with a L-Sword would be dumb strong. But blocking while on the ground gives more defense and allows for a ground slash cancel. Note the second slash of the L-Sword ground chain is SUPER SLOW, so this is only useful for a single ground slash cancel (Katana double ground slash = 56 damage, L-Sword single ground slash = 40 damage). This may be over-tuned, so it might be better to allow for a tap block, not a held block, while on the ground that doesn't cause recoil but still gets a massive.
3) Slashing a block does not cause recoil.
Block tapping for free is strong on paper but this can already be accomplished with all of the other melee weapons pretty easily.
The goal behind these suggestions is to cover some weaknesses of L-Swords while filling a new niche of countering turtling and recoil fishing. Now, at the cost of mobility and damage per second, you gain the ability the block tap at a longer range, can actually combo from ground -> air, and are less prone to insta-dying from a recoil (which you get a lot of, thanks to the increased range).
Yes? No? Better ideas?
