Can we get a spear?


Doc Sithicus

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I know this have been mentioned before.

From a survival point of view, a spear is really nothing more than a knife with a very long handle. That long handle gives you both reach and stand off.

  1. As a stand off weapon from dangerous animals
  2. As a fishing tool
  3. With the right blade, you can harvest from trees that are out of reach
  4. If made from a proper shaft, your spear could double as a walking stick which is an invaluable aid in long term foot movement especially when carrying a rucksack and over rough terrain, and it would give you immediate access to a blade weapon

Here are 3 ways how to make a spear

First 2 are quite easy with existing resources in the game:

1) Get branch, sharpen using knife/hatchet, harden over fire.

2) Get branch, prepare using knife/hatchet, fix knife using line.

Third would be possible after making a spearhead in the forge.

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I gotta say, I've kinda umm'd and ahh'd about the spear concept. It was the OP's 4th point that really brought it home for me. While I've always believed that a spear would be an obvious thing to create, that fact is that most people would 'create' one simply by carrying a walking stick. It was this point that sorta clicked for me how the mechanics would work, which has always been an issue.

Since the game has no direct combat (crappy shooting mechanics aside) and melee is done away with a clicky-RNG event, there was never really a way that I could see a spear being brought into the game. Ideally a spear would be used BEFORE a melee started, meaning it would require ACTUAL combat mechanics, which I feel at this point of the games development is a big ask (and also kind outside the scope of the game).

Instead what I propose is that the spear would actually be primary a walking stick. It would give some kind of buff to either walking speed, over burden or injury reduction. The way that it would work in combat is that as the wolf charges, right before they lunge at you, you would get a small, easily miss-able, quicktime event in which the player would use the the walking stick/spear to blunt the attack. This could play out as as the same result as a successful struggle while completely bypassing the chance of injury or damage. Missing the quicktime even would play out the same as a normal attack (with the normal buff from a carried tool eg:knife), while FAILING the quicktime might result in a struggle WITHOUT the benefit of tools.

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Branches are not straight and flexible, they break easily. However there is another option, maple saplings. We can already make bows from them, so why not spears. Plus it will fit nicely in the game mechanic, not being too common. Branches on the other hand are common and making spears from them could be overpowered and game braking.

This topic has been suggested before many times  I hope that this time the devs. will consider giving us some spears, in the next update.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/27/2016 at 7:56 AM, Mikhail_Reign said:

I gotta say, I've kinda umm'd and ahh'd about the spear concept. It was the OP's 4th point that really brought it home for me. While I've always believed that a spear would be an obvious thing to create, that fact is that most people would 'create' one simply by carrying a walking stick. It was this point that sorta clicked for me how the mechanics would work, which has always been an issue.

Since the game has no direct combat (crappy shooting mechanics aside) and melee is done away with a clicky-RNG event, there was never really a way that I could see a spear being brought into the game. Ideally a spear would be used BEFORE a melee started, meaning it would require ACTUAL combat mechanics, which I feel at this point of the games development is a big ask (and also kind outside the scope of the game).

Instead what I propose is that the spear would actually be primary a walking stick. It would give some kind of buff to either walking speed, over burden or injury reduction. The way that it would work in combat is that as the wolf charges, right before they lunge at you, you would get a small, easily miss-able, quicktime event in which the player would use the the walking stick/spear to blunt the attack. This could play out as as the same result as a successful struggle while completely bypassing the chance of injury or damage. Missing the quicktime even would play out the same as a normal attack (with the normal buff from a carried tool eg:knife), while FAILING the quicktime might result in a struggle WITHOUT the benefit of tools.

I like the walking stick idea with the buffs to traveling. Maybe you can brandish it like the torch and if you time it right you scare the wolf away?

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How about a thrown spear? Same draw mechanics (save for the fire it from being to tired, instead forced back to carry view aka preaim) it would have less range and accuracy as the bow but more damage and a wider (2x due to size of sharp point if made of knife) damage area making close targets or charging targets more susceptible to hit.  Also it would carry a much longer bleed time if the spear stuck into a larger animal due to the fact it's a long pole with either a knife, stone, or arrow like end.  The draw back would be that it would be much more flimsy than the arrows and you'd be lucky to get more than 1 use out of it.

 

Not sure about the walking stick mechanics.  It would stand better reason that it would allow you to walk more swiftly only when over burdened by say 5 kilos and when not over burdened reduce the risk of sprain by say 75%.

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I feel that a Spear is something that the game is severely lacking. Which always made me kinda curious as to why it was like that. As a game that's supposed to be about survival and realism, the ability to craft a simple spear from cured branches would be a great idea both in terms of defense and hunting. It would be more of a hunting tool then anything, as combat with a spear is more likely to be a defensive weapon then anything. A bear would probably just get angry though so, as the old proverb goes, "poking a bear with a stick" probably wouldn't be the best idea. 

As a defensive weapon (if equipped) it could allow the player to stop an incoming attack and prevent the animal from biting the player, letting the spear take the hit instead. Of course this will degrade the spear quite a bit so use with caution.

The idea the OP had about doubling as a walking stick is a great idea as well, if its equipped it could do just that as in real life. Allowing the player to carry a bit more then with out and preventing most injuries from occurring or even helping to relieve some pains and pressures on a wound such as a sprained ankle. 

I would think the best way to make a spear would be to use the bench and crafting a shaft/pole first using; a Cured sapling, and a Hatchet /Knife (just like the Arrow shaft), then using an arrow head, Scrap metal, and Simple/Quality tools. This way its a process takes a bit of time and effort to make one so you cant just make a bunch at once. The saplings being rare to find would make it balanced out already as well as having to let them cure. So being able to make them would be as difficult as making bows and arrows combined, along with having to maintain them more. With all this time and effort put into a potentially lifesaving and versatile item it will make you want to think about how you employ the item and how much your willing to punish it in your endeavors and survival.

In a hunting perspective I think the ability to throw the spear would be a good idea as well, of course you would be throwing your weapon away (temporarily) but it would be good to use for hunting purposes. When used against rabbits I would imagine they would die instantly. Deers would most likely get hurt and begin bleeding as well as dragging the spear along with them and slowing them down significantly as it damages them over time. Wolves would most likely be effected the same way as a deer but would instead become aggressive and attack, which is also a bad thing cause now you have no weapon to fend yourself with, so chose carefully. Bears.... you don't want to throw a pointy stick at a bear, it wont end well for you... But it would most likely be the same as would with a Wolf making it bleed out a bit and causing it to become hostile towards. 

A spear has been the staple of humanity as a weapon of choice for defense as well as for hunting. Its a tool that's been around since man first began to use tools. The ability to make one for this game would be not just realistic but would defiantly benefit players in the long run.

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  • 1 year later...

Not sure about the spear, but BRING ON THE WALKING STICK!

I tend to gravitate to TM on all my runs and the sprains IMO are unbalanced. Whether it be a walking stick, or clothing items such as ski boots, there needs to be some way to buff against sprains.

I'd personally go for the walking stick as using it would mean you couldn't hold a weapon, forcing to you listen and retreat to swap out if a wolf etc. approaches. I feel that this would be in keeping with the philosophy of the game as it would encourage immersion, and force the player to balance risk (chance of attack when unarmed) vs. resource (health, painkillers).

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