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Additional damage from empty offhand

I've been around a rather... enthusiastic crowd encouraging more weapons to be added and I can't help but see it as a bit of a stretch for an extensive list of weaponry to exist within the base game. Regardless, it's made me think to see how additional utility in base items could be implemented to increase diversity in combat. 

I think it could be interesting to see a sword deal additional damage when there's nothing in the offhand. If you think about it, sword is a vague term with several subcategories. For example, a long sword can be used with one or two hands. Obviously the presence of a shield, for example, would hinder one from having that extra level of force with a two handed attack. Just an idea, I've made some data packs testing this functionality and it yielded interesting results. I could see potential functionality with standard swords and maybe axes, but keep in mind:

A. I'm unsure of specific, balanced values. Is an extra point of damage too much? Too little? I'm not wasting any more free time to test these extensively because I'm not an expert, just curious.

B. I will not attempt to pretend I know pvp very well. I don't. However, I found the concept interesting and thought I'd leave it here.

The major pro that I've seen from testing:

-diversity; shields before testing the data pack were a no brainer, but I've noted there was some semblance of a reason to consider this alternative when my brother play tested

Cons:

-could be confusing, to implement and play

Registered User shared this idea

• September 07, 2020 16:56
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  • September 15, 2020 21:36
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  I believe making it an advantage to play without a shield will be very good for PvP, as people now will favor being aggresive rather than defensive, a flaw in 1.9+. In 1.9+, as Technoblade points out, PvP favors the defender, and this might counter that.

  Instead, I think holding only a weapon should do the weapons damage, but holding a shield in your offhand would bring down the damage you do normally (and critically) by a lot. That way shields are nerfed.

   

  After all, it takes 6 wood and 1 iron to stop a creeper explosion that would've killed you in 1 hit if you were in full iron???

  Overpowered if you ask me...

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  • September 18, 2020 15:27
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  Hmm, perhaps having nothing in your offhand could increase your damage by 15%? I would say 10%, but that's too little of a difference. 20% is just a little too high, so I think a 15% damage increase would be about right.