Hello everyone, this topic as suggested will be about Enchanted Weaponry the basics of how it's played and how it's seen.
For me enchanted weapons looked and played very akward. So I've thought of some things that might make it more tasteful in my opinion in my opinion.

[Visuals]
I'd like enchantments to look truely enchanted for example a weapon that does fire damage? Well depending on the level of ferocity the weapon should look appropriate.
a.) weak fire fire dmg (the weapon should look as if it's been sitting in the coal forge for a bit) [http://i55.tinypic.com/2dkiy69.png]
b.) medium fire dmg (now the entire weapon is heated as if it's been sitting in the coal forge for awhile) [http://www.raregiftsforever.com/byayws/sword2.jpg]
c.) heavy fire dmg (light the weapon on fire) [http://thirdage.uffsite.net/images/screens/ps2/PelWitchKingFlamingSword2.jpg]
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62iHEaE8uzI&feature=related) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgcdSk4QpyU&feature=fvw) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-VMhNNpjE0&feature=channel) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFAxqcigF7s&feature=related)

Another visual would be glowing effects, or once you have a weapon that can light on fire it should act like a torch and light up an area around you.


[Gameplay]
One thing I'd love to change is how you control your enchantments. I don't want to have to switch inbetween weapons so I can reserve my charges. I'd like to be in full control of my weapon, and I'd like to be able to turn my weapons enchantment on and off at will.
Imagine fighting an enemy with your weapon, but your weapon is doing very little damage, the enemy is taunting you and pushing you back, almost to the corner of a wall.. You then decide this is a good time to use your weapons potential, you block the enemies next attack and with a single thought or motion you activate your weapons enchantment. Your weapon begins to glow molten red, heat starts to spill out of it, and the enemy is about to be put in a world of burning agony.

Another option would be able to control the intensity of your weapon, if your weapon is capable of doing maximum fire damage then you should be able to use less intense attacks, and in doing so will decrease the cost in charge. Example the battle you had earlier fighting that enemy say the weapon was only using some of it's power, but just enough to defeat that enemy.. Now you're up against a much more fearsome opponent, time to use your weapons maximum potential. Your weapon lights on fire and the area around you glows as if you're holding a torch, and now it's time to feed your opponent his demise.

So I'd like to Control my enchantment on and off and I'd like to be able to control the amount of echanted damage my weapon does.





Note: This is a started Topic I'll revise and add more to it tomorrow it's late now. I'll add a poll and what not later on.

I like option C from your choices above, the full fire effect. That's a cool pic, BTW. And you certainly wouldn't need to bother with torches in the dungeon since the flames on your sword would do the same thing for you.

There is no way anyone who COULD use the fire effects would ever start combat with them off. Since by nature every action we do in the game is aimed at improving our skills so we have a better chance in all that we do. So I don't see anyone turning weapon enchantments on or off. But now, what would be interesting, is if the enemy had some arcane spells magic that could do that to your weapon, which would be against your will obviously.

I proposed in a different post that you could receive spirit poison, which are negative enchantments that you then have to journey to the Soul Shrine to get removed, a graveyard placed at a Magic Well by accident that transormed into the black-hole of soul svcking. It'd be a creepy place and you wouldn't want to go there, but if you had a cool weapon that can't do it's job anymore due to some arcane spell poison affecting it, then you'd go here to get that negative energy removed and restore its full powers.

This was IN Morrowind =D Trueflame did light up the area. (Was one of the 3 particle effect weapons)


And I really like your ideas.Especially the power control feature.However,I think that should require a certain enchant skill level,for a mage or someone familiar with enchanting/conjuration (enchanting has to do with souls) should be able to do this much much better than a pure warrior.

Also,I'd like the levels

Weak -> Redhot blade
Medium -> Flames surrounding the blade (default)
Heavy -> Flames roaring and exceeding the blade in thickness and length.

better.

I personally would like a berserk option as well,where the power increases even more,maybe consuming half of the full charge with a chance of burning the wielder as well,but cutting through multiple enemies.Dreaming is free,right =D

I agree on giving weapons visual effects

But no thanks to the enchantment controls, I wan′t combat to be as little about micro management and as much about just getting stuck in combat, slashing away and having fun.

I doubt you'd change the power level in action.At least that's how I imagined it.

See a little mob? Completely hold back the magic not to waste it.(That'd be nice as well!)

Saw Alduin? Now's the time to let the magicka flow through your blade as fierce as it can.

It's like deciding wheter you'll use your bow to down your enemy from a distance our just run through them with your axe...

I don't want any of those visual effects. Swords enchanted with fire should not look constantly hot/flaming imo, it just looks silly. Rather the effect, be it embers or full fledged flames, should only briefly appear as you hit or narrowly miss your opponent. If swinging at thin air the effect shouldn't even happen, I think.

I do like the idea of controlling the enchantments though, definately being able to enable/disable the enchantment at will. Controlling intensity sounds nice on paper but would need even more buttons/keys in use to use it appropiately which is fine for PC users, not so much for the consoles where buttons are limited enough as it is. It would be a nice addition at least if the enchantment "decides" for itself how much power is needed to slay the enemy. So its full power during most of the fight, then going to half power as you almost kill the foe. Enchantment the switches itself off or uses the lowest amount of power when the opponent is at one-hit-kill status.

and why can′t I simply not make the same call by changing between a none magic weapon or the magic weapon?

You can.This is just another way.Choices make the game a RPG.


Now I'm not saying this idea is a must nor should be the top priority,but a forums is for ideas and discussions.

True, but to many choices is like using to little butter on your toast, spreads the gameplay thin


And again if just taking the precaution of having a none magic weapon in backup does about the same, why throw another weight on the scale and make it harder for Beth to balance the game by adding a power gauge on your magic stuff?

This effect should be central in every enchanted weapon.

@ X_Myth and others who contributed to the idea

I do like most of your ideas. Generating special effects on the weapons of varying intensity, relative to the power and type of the enchantment would be cool, but unfortunately, I find it unlikely we would see this in Skyrim. Its easy to single out one spell effect(fire) enchanted to one weapon(sword) and say they should add this, but beyond that, they would have to come up with varying visual effects for dozens of spell effects; each potentially enchantable to dozens of different types of weapons and armor. Again...don't get me wrong...it would be cool to see, but if it wasn't planned for in the initial design phase of the game, then I doubt we'll see it.

However, being able to control the state(on/off) of an enchanted weapon is a great idea and could pretty easily be implemented even now.

@ Serella

I don't understand why you would say that you don't want the visual effects, and then go ahead and praise the idea of being able to enable/disable the enchantment. If you had the ability to turn it on/off, then it wouldn't always be a flaming sword, and you could effectively douse the flames any time you wanted, by disabling the enchantment and keeping it from looking 'silly', then turning it on again, only when you needed to use its power.

However, I do like your alternative. Having the effect of the enchantment appear visually when contact is made during an attack, seems more likely to be in the game at this point, than X_Myth's idea. (As long as its not some standard, generic, cheesy glow type of effect---I hate that)

I would not like to run around with a burning weapon, yes it saves torches but would be annoying, a fire hazard and ruin sneak. Something like A would be nice, glow or low level surface effect, then you strike you get something between b and c, don’t bother to differentiate between hit and miss.

I would love a dial to change enchantment power, typically issue in Oblivion, where you did not want to waste charges on minor enemies.

Two seperate things really. A sword completely covered in flame will always look silly to me, regardless if its something I can switch on and off. So visuals are one thing. The other is that, for example, I might be exploring an come across an enemy type that I, due to my playstyle, can very easily dispatch. So without needing to switch weapons I could simply turn the enchantment on my sword off and not waste its charge (assuming Skyrim will have that) for an enemy I will easily beat regardless.

Well I completely agree with your second point.

The first one...simply a matter of personal taste, I suppose.

By the way I wasn't trying to give you hard time. It just seemed contradictory to me when I read it.

How about the old familiar cliche of sparks flying off the blades when two metal weapons connect? Not every time, but only when you have some especially good strike to indicate to you a high level of success? That's an effect I always enjoy and it would be informative, and thus produce excitement when you saw it.

*Facelicks* No worries. ^_^

As for being contradictory, I probably do that fairly often without me realizing. Things make sense and are clear in my head, getting those ideas across to others I find challenging quite often though. Oh wells. The graphics thing are of course preference, I just feel like every fantasy game ever has such "magical" effects and it just becomes dull and boring when its in every game, I think. So I guess, for me anyway, its partly because I simply think it looks silly and partly that its just overused - like slow mo in films, I think that looks silly most of the time and it annoys me that so many films are using it. :S

By the way, a fire sword needn't be emolating to produce the same effect. It could have a rune on it that glows, which is much more subtle and as you strike your foe with this rune-infused blade, the rune could flash and the enemy's body could ignite briefly and then go out, leaving a puff of smoke wafting up. This would much less pronounced but also just as effective, and I think the runes would look cool on your sword, rather than a continously flaming sword that doesn't make sense. What, you never burn yourself with it, or when you put in the sheath, why does it stop burning suddenly? But a rune would make more sense and reduce overhead on framerate for the console versions for which a quick flash of fire here and there wouldn't effect anything.

Just my 2 cents.

I'm okay with visuals on strike, but not while passive. Optional in gfx setting as it can be problematic for some, especially if it has a cost with it (wrt fps). We should have to use magic to detect beforehand if an enemy weapon is enchanted, i.e. Detect Magic, which will cause magical items to have a weak glow for the duration of the spell. To not make it too powerful, only a generic glow, not something specific that tells what the weapon is enchanted with.

I wouldn't want my weapon to look like option B.

If the enchanted weapons have this kind of effects, I would want the NPCs to react to their appearance.

What game is the pic from option c from?

I'm all for this only if my gauntlets are enchantable. Forget swords, seeing my fists on fire, or haveing lightning dance around my fists while I punch stuff sounds like a great idea.

I was thinking about those things also.
I always wanted my sword that I enchanted with fire to actually have some flames on it and I always wanted to control charges since it is really annoying to switch weapons for different opponents.
I'm person who keeps a certain item/weapon close to it's heart and wishes to use only it.

I'd like if lets say i have a weapon enchanted with fire damage, then when i unsheath ( or take out or whatever) my weapon it bursts into flames, and if i put it back at my side/ back it goes out.

For me, effects only on strike and on use. Constant effects are generally weak and not visible at all. To "see" magic you'd have to use some kind of "magic detection", which would reveal with it's own glow where magical items (including magical floor traps, the runes) are located. If you're hit by a weapon, then you'll see the effect that is governed by the spell, but unless you're good enough in recognition you won't see the magical effects in list form until you have it examined. By effect on hit, you'll know that it's tied to fire elemental, but you have to get it examined to see the power of it. Iirc this is how it worked in Daggerfall. You can still use it though. Recognition could be a fairly low level perk in a magic skill. Detection would be a spell. And I don't want no silenced gun with a volume control...

Edit: Oh lol, I already answered this above. Sorry about that...