A Niche for Knives

[Jotari]

Knives have in present in the series for a long time in terms of visuals for thieves but only in Path of Radiance did they get properly introduced as a weapon type and they were sort off...not great. Not really special in anyway from the rest of weapons aside from being weaker. Then they had a departure until Fates where they were lumped in with Shurikens and giving a stat reduction trait. Which is nice but I think if Ninjas are to remain in the series then Knives and Shurikens should be split. So here's a thread for suggesting ideas as to how Knives should function differently to other weapons.

Personally I want them to play like an actual hidden weapon. A surprise attack that catches an enemy unawares and doesn't allow them to counter attack. This would benefit thieves massively as they could actually contribute in combat without being placed at massive risk. It's a simple but I think elegant fix that not only makes sense but could lead to much more interesting gameplay.

[Dismissed]

This is a good idea. Most knives could be 1-range, and then there could be a throwing knife as a Hand Axe/Javelin equivalent.

[Enaluxeme]

I think this should be implemented more as a skill than in the weapons themselves.

For example, rogues can get a skill like stun and assassins can get a passive wich increases the chances to proc lethality (or maybe all skills that need to proc) when attacking an enemy with full health.

As for knives, I think they are perfect as they are in Radiant Dawn: they are meant to be weaker weapons, and that's fine.

[Interdimensional Observer]

A few ways to handle knives/daggers:

Get rid of Ninjas and leave Knives the sole stat-debuffing weapon type. (Honestly, I think that Ninjas much of the time would have to be shoehorned into future FE games, so I have nothing against them and their shurikens mostly disappearing.)

The idea of mitigating enemy counterattacks sounds interesting. Perhaps include a proc version of Vantage with % activation rate = Speed to make things a little more effective.

Berwick Saga gave Knives really low Might, and Thieves really low Strength, but made Knives completely bypass the enemy's Defense stat and tossed a little Critical on them (plus an increased rate of inflicting the "Injury" status on an enemy, which if it happened, would increase the chances inflicting the "Crippled" status, and then you could capture them and take their stuff).

Though if the point of buffing Knives is because we want to improve Thieves, then we could just expand the skills and utilities offered by Thieves instead. Though a combination of the two- weapon and class/character/skills could work as well.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[NekoKnight]

I say don't feel limited to make knives have one specific use. Do the opposite! Make knives (and their users by extension) a toolbox of skills. A knife to prevent counter attacks, a knife to debuff, a knife to hit people at range, a knife to negate defense, the list goes on. Fates had a good start in making ninja (aka thieves) a utility class but they goofed when they made knives too strong in a game where other 1-2 range weapons got hit with the nerf bat. If staff users are dedicated magical support units, then they can make knife users dedicated physical support units.

[Slumber]

I really don't think Ninjas will come back. They already effectively were just "Japanese flavored Thieves", and the only reason the Japanese flavor was even there was because of a narrative of "East vs. West" that was unique to Fates. I can see them rolling aspects of the Master Ninja(IE Swords on promotion) and rolling them into the next incarnation of the Assassin class.

I've said this before, but if knives return as their own class of weapons, I think giving knives an innate crit bonus, buff their strength a little, and make all of them 1-2 range would fix a lot. I really don't think we need the buff/debuff stuff from Fates, since the reason that existed was because of how Fates handled weapons. I don't think they'll bring the system back.

Edited May 15, 2017 by Slumber