New weapon skills?

[Rhawkas]

I've already seen axe mentioned as an upcoming weapon skill, but I'm wondering if there are any others planned. Stuff like polearms (yes, I know there are already some spears and halberds in game, but they're just staffs that do piercing or slashing damage instead of crushing damage), two-handed weapons (greatswords, battleaxes, mauls, etc.), and maybe some more exotic stuff like whips.

On a somewhat related note, will we ever be able to pick which hand we want to equip a weapon or something in? It'd open up a lot more options for builds that aren't currently possible because of skill-enabling items needing the same slot. I realize it's a lot of work for whoever is doing the animations (who likely already has a ton of work on their plate), but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

[Tagamogi]

Citan recently mentioned that animations for offhand knife use are in the works:



We've also begun fleshing out our animation list, adding missing ones that we didn't have budget for in the past. I've just ordered a batch of animations from our animator Vincent, and I expect those will show up in a month or so. This first new batch of animations includes combat animations for two skills: hammer (right now, hammer uses sword animations and it's kinda disappointing-looking) and off-hand knife (right now, knife can only be in the main hand due to animation limitations). We'll order more animations after that, although we'll need to go slowly at first while we work out the kinks in the new code system.


So, definitely knife, and I think it's likely that we'll eventually have fancier slot options for other skills as well.

I haven't heard anything specific about new weapon combat skills but I'd expect to see more as the game progresses. There was a post by Citan a year or so ago stating that there will always be new skills in the game (sorry, I'm too lazy to search for it). The context was primarily crafting skills, but really, I see no reason this wouldn't apply to combat skills, too.

[Murk]

...
On a somewhat related note, will we ever be able to pick which hand we want to equip a weapon or something in? It'd open up a lot more options for builds that aren't currently possible because of skill-enabling items needing the same slot. I realize it's a lot of work for whoever is doing the animations (who likely already has a ton of work on their plate), but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

I expect this is by design. It provides a way to balance skills easier for one thing, and to force some variety, too.