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What a very insightful comment!

Well dang, I honestly didn't expect to get this much attention for this idea. I'd just thought it will be an interesting thing to share. But anyways this, or another similar weapon, if ever implemented would be an interesting change of pace for the player. I don't expect this to be an easy weapon to use, in fact I expect it to be one of the most; if not the most difficult to use. Which is what I kind of want out of this idea. But undeniably, this weapon will likely be far more complex than the rest and would take time to properly balance, like you mentioned.

Well to be fair, I did mention a movement penalty when charging the weapon and also a rather long charge-up time. So your basically making yourself vulnerable to archers and spidertons, since you can't block with the weapon in general. Also being unlocked in mid to late game may mean it will be rather easy for you to get swarmed and overwhelmed. Sure, massive damage, but your putting yourself at huge risk in the process and basically need to take a strategic approach.

Well, I did decide to reduce the movement penalty to 30%, with possibly upgrades to reduce it further. I'm quite sure I updated the main post about the staff for that. And since there seems to be a lot of medieval resemblance in the game, except it's mixed with future technology,SO WHY NOT MAKING EVER MORE MEDIEVAL!!!

Yes, this idea of a weapon is more meant to assist the player further in mid-late levels, killing a massive amount of enemies with one attack, then you can use your sword, bow, or hammer to finish off the any few that are left or for specific enemies. And that just made me think of something, "POWER"/"BOSS" weapons. A cool idea that involves unlocking these kinds of weapons after a certain point in the game or beating a certain boss. Only one of these weapons can be equipped by the player at a time, and they are specialized to promote their own playstyle and have their own unique drawbacks, like the energy staff we were talking about, and assist the player when he gets to certain situations and get pass the higher tier levels.

Thank you! And yes I think you can use the jetpack when charging, but without any movement penalty. This is because there is a sacrifice in the power of the weapon due to your jetpack using some of the energy as well, and you also won't be able to jetpack very far, so it will be fair to use this as a quick retreat when your plan fails, or are taken by surprise. However, I didn't think about losing a leg, so maybe the movement penalty won't apply in that situation or just significantly reduced, but that may make the upgrade to reduce the penalty obsolete until you die and respawn, but those are just my thoughts.

But yeah, this weapon is not meant be used to pick off a single enemy one at a time, no, its recommended that you charge the weapon to it's full potential and eliminate a massive group of enemies with one blow, which is why timing and position is important, so you land the attack at the perfect moment before the enemy gets close enough to kill you. A great risk, but with great reward! This is why I think this weapon will be very fun to use and very devastating in the right hands.

The basic attacks are not meant to very high and mighty, no offense, I thought of them only taking 1 sec to charge at defualt, with an upgrade the will charge in half a sec. I just thought to make the basic attacks a little underwhelming so the default sword/bow aren't obsolete. The reason I think this should be a mid to late game weapon is because is only really shines when fully charged. And no, I don't think I mentioned an energy reduction, I mentioned upgrades to reduce the charge up times, so lets say before you have to wait 4 seconds to use 4 bars of energy in a tier 4 attack, now it takes 2 seconds for the same attack. But maybe the movement penalty is a bet too much, 50% at default is probably extremely frustrating to deal with, so it may be tonned down a bit. I am just trying to think of some drawbacks to keep this weapon from being op, even though it's mid to late game.

How about this, a basic sword swing will, as mentioned around the same size and the default sword, not including the staff and is unblock-able. At tier 2, the sword is twice the size of the default sword at the cost of 2 bars of energy, tier 3, it is 3x the size at the cost of 3 bars of energy, and at tier 4 it is 4x the size at the cost of 4 bars of energy, there may some special abilities the are unlocked in higher tiers, but the basic idea is to deal massive damage with only one attack.

Honestly, I did'nt expect the hammer to look that cool and detailed, especially considering the simplistic design of the sword and bow, but we have nearly two weeks to go! I've also been eager for an expansion in the story, can't wait to see what happens next!

Yes, but I'm more referring to the long charging time of the weapon, and its movement penalty. Sure, you may be able to reduce them, but its still likely that the jetpack bots may just storm over and murder you before you have a chance to fully charge. Due to how long it takes just to perform a basic attack, this weapon will not very good in a panic situation.

I have to admit, it would be make sense to only unlock this weapon after you unlock certain weapons, or perhaps when you reach a certain level, like a mid to late game weapon, considering its only really good with high energy capacity. In addition, a problem I see with this is that would be very difficult to use on level with little cover and a lot of archers/jetpack bots, but if you only unlock this weapon later in the game, than you should have others in your arsenal to use in assitance.

Thank you, and yes I really like the risk/reward factor, instead of being able to spam attacks, you have to more take your approach into consideration.

Thank you for your feedback, I appreciate it. And yes, I have to admit that energy is becoming more and more vital for upgrades and such.

The basic idea of this weapon in mind would be similar to a wizard's staff in fantasy movies/stories, only that it uses the player's own energy in the form of damage. This idea can be executed in many ways, but I've gone and formed a idea based around this weapon myself, so I would appreciate feedback on this.

So this staff in mind will be unlock in mid-late game and has two attacks, a ranged energy spear/arrow to pierce through your enemies, and a long energy sword to slice your opponents. However, the staff itself needs to charge before it can attack, charging for 1 second will use one bar of energy, 2 seconds will use two bars, 3 seconds will use 3 bars, and 4 seconds will use 4 bars, I will rank these in tiers for better reference. The power of the staff's attack are proportional to the energy used.

ENERGY SWORD

A tier 1 energy sword attack from the staff will only be around the same length and width of the default sword you start with, not including the length of the staff itself. The length and width of the sword will dramatically increase proportional to its tier, the sword itself cannot be block by any means, and can go right through your enemies. The speed of the sword, no matter the tier, will be closer to that as the upcoming hammer.

ENERGY SPEAR

The energy spear attack can be similar to the bow, a tier 1 energy spear is only around the same width as a mk2 robot's arrow, only that it has a limited range, and travels at a lower velocity. Again, like the energy sword, the spear's size, and range will increase proportional to its tier, but the velocity stays the same so its easier to avoid. The spear is completely unblock-able and can go straight through your enemies.

PENALTY

Although this weapon may seem to be incredibly powerful, even though it is, there are still some drawbacks that come with it. During the charging phase, the player will expect a heavy movement speed penalty, perhaps by 30% or so. This will make the player extremely vulnerable. And since the player would not be able to block both swords or arrows, he will be an easy target for archers, swordbots, or spidertron. If the player were to cancel the charge or be knocked back, the charge will be interrupted, although half the energy used will be recovered. There is still a punishment, but the player will at least have the chance to retreat. So timing and positioning will be vital when using this weapon. On the other hand, the player can jetpack whiles charging without a speed penalty, but due to two separate actions sharing energy, the player will not be able to get a very powerful attack nor go very far with the jetpack. Also, the speed penalty may not apply or be significantly reduced when the player loses a leg.

UPGRADES

Now, I don't really think their should too much upgrades available for this weapon, considering the player will need to spend a lot points on energy capacity just to get the weapon it it's full potential. Nevertheless, there should be upgrades to at least reduce the charge time and speed penalty.

CONCLUSION

With all things considered, this idea of a weapon is based around a risk/reward factor, the player is putting himself in great danger just by charging the weapon, but a successful attack, especially one that outright kills 5 to 10 enemies, and possibly completing an entire level, will be very rewarding and satisfying. Even through its basically a combination of the default sword and bow, it's much more expensive to use and is not recommended to spam attacks and only kill one enemy at a time. To get the best bang for your buck, the player should try to go for the most kills as possible for a single attack, encouraging grouping the enemies and putting yourself at greater risk of getting surrounded rather then separating them.

FEEDBACK

So, if you have any thoughts of this weapon you would like to share, perhaps a better way to balance it, I will be grateful. Also, I would like for you to share any different ideas you may have based around a staff-like weapon. So thank you for taking the time to read through my massive wall of text.