Before this post, I just want to say that I consider the first version of the game finished now and I plan to release it on June 20th, 2014.
Melee Weapons
One major design goal from the beginning was that the different melee weapons should be significantly different from each other, and the choice of weapon should make the gameplay experience different. To achieve this, each weapon category has a special characteristic. There are many weapons in each category, but they all have their base characteristic in common.
Some of the weapon categories are explained below:
Weapon Categories
Swords
Swords are good for fighting and parrying, so each sword has a bonus to your ‘block’ attribute (a high ‘block’ attribute increases your chances of blocking all effects from a melee attack). To get a really high ‘block’ attribute you should equip a sword and a shield, and you will remain unharmed in most melee fights.
Clubs
Clubs are good for keeping enemies at a distance since they knock your enemies backwards on a hit. This means that if they are not quicker than you, they won’t get a chance to hit back. In addition, you can use this to smash enemies into walls for additional damage.
Daggers
Daggers are small and quick. While they don’t deal much damage, they give you an opportunity to counter-attack (automatically) whenever an enemy misses a melee attack against you. You will counter attack for any missed melee attack, so you can make many attacks per turn if you are being surrounded or if enemies are quicker than you.
Spears
Spears works best in small spaces and corridors. Your ‘melee’ will increased while in corridors when you wield a spear, and it will decrease when you are in the middle of a room. For best results with a spear, you need to lure enemies into corridors to fight them.
Weapon Materials and Sizes
In addition to the weapon classes, weapons can also be made out of different materials.
Iron
Weapons made out of iron usually deal quite some damage if they are large. However, they incur a penalty to your mana, making it harder to use magic.
Wood
Weapons made out of wood can be used without restrictions on magic, but they incur a penalty to your fire resistance (simulating that they easily catch fire).
Large Weapons
Large weapons deal a lot of damage, but are usually difficult to use in corridors and small places, so they incur a penalty to your ‘melee’ attribute in such places. To fight with a large weapon efficiently, you should be in the middle of a room.
There are other weapon classes and materials as well, this is just a sample.