so why did the empire give its troops some of the crappiest equipment in the game? how is it that a iron or steel axe barely hurts you but a daedric one will?

if you get hit by a big axe or warhammer it should hurt you alot unless its made out of marshmallows, which last time i checked none of them were. the damage values should be fairly close across the bored and other values like durability, enchantment ability, weight etc should be the differences between the weapons. mass is mass and there is no getting around it. for warhammers and axes damage should be calculated by the weight of the weapon. not on the material since it weighs the same its gonna do the same damage. daedric and ebony would probably be more durable and glass could have a higher enchantment level or be a bit lighter and thus faster. i ended up changing the values in my game which took along time. im hoping they have something more logical this time around.

edit: added from another post.

im just throwing numbers out here, your starting character would have armor with protection of 100 and a weapon that does 100 normal damage but since its iron or steel its enchantment is limited to a max of say 10 extra magic damage. same with the armor thus with full enchantments your amor is 110 and your weapon is 110. now we skip forward to a high level character using daedric and his default weapons do 110 and his armor is 110 so they are a little bit better right off the bat. however daedric armor and weapons have a much higher enchantment level say 40 for each. making your max armor 150 and your max weapons 150. which is significantly higher than the normal steel weapons but mostly because of the added enchantment instead of normal damage. we arent done yet either. your high level character is going to have perks such as extra 10% damage with swords or the already confirmed mace ignoring armor.

these numbers are just arbitrary and they could increase the enchantment of the daedric stuff or whatnot.

Video-games buddy...

But there is always some annoying balancing in Action RPG games, it's hard to make everything feel realistic while sticking to the RPG health pools and enemy sponges.

i think ill stick with the old system, gives me more of a reason to progress my character and find better gear. and silvade, you pic annoys me, no offense :3

Daedric is magically sharp...Iron and Steel aren't.

Daedric is magically delicious.

This. To be quite honest, there's no point in arguing realism when the subject of the argument is a fantasy RPG where you can shoot fire out of your fingertips.

Depending on what kind of character I play I will use one type of weapon exclusively no matter what damage it does.

It makes combat a bit challenging when I won't trade out my silver long sword for a deadric sword but man is it pretty. And it matches my armor!

lol I know right, it keeps staring me in the face.

But it is such a good movie. A Clockwork Orange if my memory serves. As to the OP while that does make sense this is a game so if all the damage for all weapon types were the same why bother finding better gear?

It's not so much about realism as about making the game more fun. It's not fun when one weapon does 3 damage and then the Unobtanium Sword of Leetness does 120. Unless the first item is a rusty fork, it just makes the game pointless.

There are quite a few mods that balance the weapons out. Daedric and the like still do more damage, can be enchanted a lot more, and are more durable. But they are also very heavy. So if you choose to use a steel or silver sword (mainly for role playing purposes - paladins probs wouldn't use daedric) you aren't going to be completely outclassed by every high level mob.

What you need is a linear progression, not an exponential increase in power. The difference between Daedric and steel should be the same as the difference between steel and iron (not exactly, but you get my point)

A Clockwork Orange is awesome, no doubt.

And I think what the OP says makes a lot of sense. Realism can have a place in videogames, as long as the end result is fun, I say. I would play a mod that realistically models the damage across all weapons, as long as it felt right. One thing that might change realistically on a weapon is how well it holds an edge. Steel would hold an edge better than iron, and Daedric might never go dull. Glass could have a razor edge, but have poor durability. This sharpness measure could be factored in to effect damage directly, as long as it's not blocked. This variable wouldn't matter in say, a warhammer. And different material bows could effect draw speed, velocity, and thus penetration/damage.

I have no doubt that Beth has balanced the weapons well, and then tests and tweaks them further to make sure it's all fun, but the tweaking can continue, and I hope someone decides to build such a mod. If they don't, I just might.

Now I want to see a warhammer made out of marshmallows. That would be so awesome.

Maybe one that instantly goes down to zero durability if you get hit by a fire spell? :teehee:

i think that damage should be kinda balanced, but other factors are changed, and the value is increased or decreased on quality of the variable

eg; glass short sword is lighter so it has a faster strike/slash/crush speed. that said, it is far less durable (because its glass) so breaks after a few uses
dwemer short sword is expertly crafted, so it is light-ish and durable, good value for money
daedric short sword is made using magical means, so it has a greater capacity for enchantment. this balances its slow attack/lower damage

in this example, the advantageous properties are
glass - speed/dwemer - durability/daedric - enchanting

now you would valuate the properties to find which ones are more advantageous

imo, it would be
-daedric
-glass
-dwemer

The swords all do around the same damage, but their properties are different and so the ideal situation for each ones use is the important factor.
also with this method, none are over powered because (presumably) enchanting powerfully can only be done at higher levels, meaning if there is an easy way to get daedric, it wont mean anything untill you get the means to use it at its full potential, and glass breaks within a few uses, so its an ideal assassins weapon

Yay so now i can go around 1 shotting everyone with a arrow and i die in 3 hits! or like 2 or 1 if im not wearing heavy armor

I agree with the OP. How could the Legion ever conquer Tamriel with rubbish like that. However this also asks for balancing them out, so having an upgraded daedric kit makes sense. Something like DrBondo and sentakai state.

It's not the damage that bugs me, it's the sword that cuts me even though I parried.

whats wrong with that?
short and sharp battles are better than elongated boring ones

same effect, more fun, less time wasted.

win win win?

why do the americans give m16 to their troops while they could invest tons of money in turning every of them into master-chief like super soldiers with super weapons?

I honestly don't like the idea of balancing weapon tiers. Having linear progression between the tiers gives you something to work toward as you level and get equipment. There's no point in clearing dungeons for better loot if your gear is already maxed out at level 5.

No, things like hardness and friction/sharpness matter.

Different materials will be able to take and hold a sharp blade more--that should matter. Different materials are stronger than others, and a harder blade would hack into things more effectively than a slightly softer one. Also, you can expect some materials to rust/oxidize/corrode faster than others.

I agree that the differences can be way exaggerated in the game, but I think you're oversimplifying it.

That's my attitude as well. What's been mentioned about combat so far seems promising but I'm expecting the weapon damage balance to go out the window as the player character gains levels.

I would like to see some elite guards holding superior weapons, even better than yours, but they broke easily.

america hasnt conquered the world using those weapons.
the empire has, and they fought against enemies that were (probably) better armed

Just like Lucky Charms? So the weapon IS made out of marshmellows!