Interesting Slingshot Band Idea

[Beetrice]

A "Slurper Pelter Band", which is made with 6 Slurper Pelts and a Steel Wool. This band does not increase your firing range, but instead increases your damage based on how close you are to the target, reaching maximum damage when you are just shy of being able to melee the target if it's a large enemy like a Treeguard.

This would not only allow for riskier and more compelling ranged combat (while hopefully being more rewarding), but it would encourage players to use it in tandem with a melee weapon, allowing for a more aggressive Walter that can attack at moments where other characters can't. It would also give a use to Slurper Pelts, which are currently only used for the Belt of Hunger, and Steel Wool, which is only used for War Saddles and Brushes. In the latter case, it encourages players to go out and actually fight the Ewecus, which Walter has a better time at thanks to his ranged combat giving him a chance to avoid getting snotballed.

It could also instead increase firing speed, to get more shots in while the boss does a quicker attack, but this might cause issues with the grips.

[_mylilsunshine_]

i love the idea of using slurp pelt and steel wool a lot. having a real third-stage slingshot band is welcome, but not sure about the effect. by being in melee range (or close) for a damage boost, you're either better off using melee weapons, or just use the slingshot instead if the boost is good. it;'s anti-synergy. since we're talking about slurpers, how about consuming an amount of hunger for a damage boost/any other effect? similar to how enlightened crown gives you 1 gestalt per sanity point. walter has a small hunger pool, so keeping his hunger up will be a chore, and using the band is a constant investment for the damage. i think it's a fair trade-off.

[MisterBilly]

I do think there should be another band, because there's effectively only one band that you would ever use so having another one that you can choose between would be good for choice and versatility.

I don't think I like scaling damage depending on distance, but maybe a band that decreases your range and gives you a flat damage increase instead?

5 hours ago, _mylilsunshine_ said:

i love the idea of using slurp pelt and steel wool a lot. having a real third-stage slingshot band is welcome, but not sure about the effect. by being in melee range (or close) for a damage boost, you're either better off using melee weapons, or just use the slingshot instead if the boost is good. it;'s anti-synergy. since we're talking about slurpers, how about consuming an amount of hunger for a damage boost/any other effect? similar to how enlightened crown gives you 1 gestalt per sanity point. walter has a small hunger pool, so keeping his hunger up will be a chore, and using the band is a constant investment for the damage. i think it's a fair trade-off.

I think it might be useful for people who like to mix between melee and slingshot too, because if someone's using melee and wants to use the slingshot, they typically don't move too far from the enemy before switching back to melee. I think there is some potential for synergy, but I could see someone arguing why not just use the slingshot if it became better~ but I think there could be another path. If Walter was given slingshot ammo's that buffed his melee, I.E. pure brilliance ammo buff, while swapping attacks it could give a little bit more damage to Walter when hes de-buffing the enemy, other then having increased range that he wouldn't use. It probably wouldn't be significant, but I think it could be neat.

[Mysterious box]

7 hours ago, _mylilsunshine_ said:

i love the idea of using slurp pelt and steel wool a lot. having a real third-stage slingshot band is welcome, but not sure about the effect. by being in melee range (or close) for a damage boost, you're either better off using melee weapons, or just use the slingshot instead if the boost is good. it;'s anti-synergy. since we're talking about slurpers, how about consuming an amount of hunger for a damage boost/any other effect? similar to how enlightened crown gives you 1 gestalt per sanity point. walter has a small hunger pool, so keeping his hunger up will be a chore, and using the band is a constant investment for the damage. i think it's a fair trade-off.

I like this idea alot it also plays on his lower than average hunger as well it could even be given a late game upgrade that further increases it's effectiveness at the cost of reducing his max hunger while holding it.

2 hours ago, MisterBilly said:

I do think there should be another band, because there's effectively only one band that you would ever use so having another one that you can choose between would be good for choice and versatility.

I don't think I like scaling damage depending on distance, but maybe a band that decreases your range and gives you a flat damage increase instead?

I think it might be useful for people who like to mix between melee and slingshot too, because if someone's using melee and wants to use the slingshot, they typically don't move too far from the enemy before switching back to melee. I think there is some potential for synergy, but I could see someone arguing why not just use the slingshot if it became better~ but I think there could be another path. If Walter was given slingshot ammo's that buffed his melee, I.E. pure brilliance ammo buff, while swapping attacks it could give a little bit more damage to Walter when hes de-buffing the enemy, other then having increased range that he wouldn't use. It probably wouldn't be significant, but I think it could be neat.

The issue kind of becomes you'd at bare minimum need the jelly grip if you were to attempt this style of play due to the windup as otherwise you'd still just preform better with just sticking to melee of the slingshot so rather than a band it would make the most sense as a grip.

[Beetrice]

I think both the hunger idea and the base range reduction idea are both great. The slurper pelter would definitely use the hunger one, perhaps something using volt goat horns could be the close-up slingshot (it adds electric damage, which also lets it combo with shockscrap rounds)