Suggestion for Buff/Change to Woodies Weremoose form.

[inzecta]

This was an idea I had a while ago, it's not super fleshed out and I don't have a long technical explanation for it so just give me your thoughts in the replies if you'd like.

Firstly, I think having the slower attack speed is quite a useless drawback if the damage each individual punch does can be outdone by default non-cursed Woodie with a good weapon. My philosophy for character powers is that ideally they should all do something unique that cannot be outright worse than another method used by another character/tool/weapon. It should be a sidegrade if anything, a different way to play.

With that in mind, I want to put forward the idea of a "combo system". The idea is super basic like I mentioned earlier, but to briefly explain:
It would be a 3 attack chain. There is very very small delay between the attacks, but after each one there would be a visual/audio cue to indicate the timing you need to continue the combo, like the weremoose snorting or some other small animation. If timed successfully each successful attack in the chain deals more damage than the last, maybe ending the combo with a flashy uppercut and another satisfying audio cue to indicate the chain has been reset.

This way the weremoose form provides an interesting and unique sidegrade to standard weapon combat and rewards players for precise timing instead of just buffing the punches damage outright.

The second thing I would change is the moose charge. Currently, it has very niche uses that in my opinion don't really justify it's existence as a useful ability for combat. I think it should be replaced with something that is rewarding and more immediately useful for players, so here's my suggestion for that:

A parry of sorts. If timed correctly at the end of the enemies animation, right before it hits, Woodie can avoid damage and deal damage back to the attacker. To balance this so that he can't just be invincible all the time if you know how to time it, I think this ability should both be on a cooldown and have to be "charged" by landing successful combos. Landing a successful parry would provide another satisfying audio/visual cue and maybe the animation itself could be like a headbutt so he "catches" the attack in his antlers like real moose do when fighting eachother.

The timing on this would also be very strict and unforgiving, you really need to know your enemy and it's timing to pull this off and it must be precise.

I think this would be a very satisfying way to reward experienced players and do so in a way that is interesting and feels earned rather than just a buff to his damage or speed of his attacks.

Let me know what you think!