Fixed Reduced Blade Break Chance

@Grey Roger suggested adding an item in the game that would reduce the chance of your sword reducing in quality.
I did so as per the last modpack update, but I have NO clue if it works as intended.
The item is "bladekit" (=Blade Care Kit).

So I need to know a few things:
1. Do we even WANT this feature?
2. Does it actually do what it is intended to in its current form?
3. How should this be balanced? Right now it is intended as a 50% reduction, which might be a bit much.

1. Yes, sounds good.
2. ---
3. Depends on if it's a very rare item (higher %) or common (lower %) I think.

3. Good point. And that, I suppose, would depend on how annoying people find the blade damage functionality.
If they find it VERY annoying, we may have to make the effect quite pronounced.
But make the item fairly rare or only obtainable in some special way to avoid the functionality becoming useless.

There is another option here - just like in case of spyglasses and cuirasses: there could be 2 items, a common blade kit, which would be rather simple and pretty common and a master one, which should be an exclusive item in the game, producing a much higher effect. This one should be obtained from some unique NPC, not just some trader, for example, from the same Amerigo Vieira (the guy says he's the best swordsman, well, it could be smth more to him than just Cortez's sword

The only question remains, wheter Grey Roger would want to see it done this way

As I recall, someone else proposed the blade care kit. I commented on it, and said I'd have a go at modifying the blade damage code if I could figure out how it works.

Personally I've become used to deteriorating blades when I played Build 13. They're a nuisance but not a serious one, and I simply build up a stockpile, get a few polished up whenever I'm in a town with a blacksmith, and pull out a new sword when the current one wears out. I also check officers' swords periodically and replace them when they lose quality as well. So I'm not particularly concerned about the blade kit, but won't object to it being added.

As a suggestion, then: the common kit could either be used to restore a blade up to "average" quality, or prevent your current blade from deteriorating below "average". The super kit could restore or preserve a blade at "fine" quality. Whether the kits restore or preserve quality is up to whoever does the coding - whichever is easiest! But you should still need to take the sword to the blacksmith to get it polished up to "excellent" quality. I don't care how good a kit you have or whether someone fancies adding a new perk "weapon smith" or similar, you're just a captain with a part-time interest in weapon-making who is willing to take a few minutes to look after the sword. You can not possibly do as good a job as someone who has spent his whole working life at the forge and who takes a whole day to properly finish the sword. Besides, he has a complete forge and you don't.

Grey Roger said:

As I recall, someone else proposed the blade care kit.

Click to expand...

Huh, that would be me but that doesn't matter much the credits for this idea should certainly go to the one who initially introduced the kit into the game, Jason Maffettone, I believe. It was only then that I thought that the kit should better be used for its proper purpose rather than melee boost.

Yeah, that would be, perhaps, the best way to implement it - certainly omit the excellent stat, but to keep it up to fine in case of a superior kit and an average for a simple kit.

This sounds like a feature that I will not use as I keep changing swords as soon as they drop from excellent. I even keep the crew weapons at excellent.

So, to those that wants it go for it.

Well, the excellent stat would force the blacksmith out of the labor, unless an item would be extremely rare, so that it would be uselless to go hunting for it and rely on some extreme luck or hardcore quest to get it.

At the very least, keeping the sword in basic condition will save you some money at the blacksmith. If the kit preserves rather than restores the sword, it also means the sword can't drop below that level even in the middle of an intense fight which could quite easily take an "excellent" sword down to below "average". (Try going into a fort by the back door and fighting all the guards by yourself! I've done it, and gone through several swords in the process.)

Perhaps the San Juan blacksmith is less grumpy if he sees you've been making an effort to look after your sword. Or he might even be the one to give you the superior kit. After you've presented him with a large number of poor quality blades to be polished up to "excellent", he gets fed up, gives you the kit, tells you to get lost and thereafter refuses to take any sword from you unless it's "fine".

People are welcome to expand on this. But for now, I'd be quite interested to know if the current version of it even does what it should.
This is also pretty much the simplest way of handling it. Though preventing a blade from dropping below a certain level might be doable as well.

Hylie Pistof said:

This sounds like a feature that I will not use as I keep changing swords as soon as they drop from excellent. I even keep the crew weapons at excellent.

Click to expand...

As per its current coding, it is supposed to make the blades last longer before they deteriorate.

They do seem to last longer and are saving me money and time on repairs.

That is WITH the blade repair kit, is it? I'd like to know if it does get quicker again if you get rid of the item.
Note that the item works only for the character carrying it. So you might be able to test with an officer of equal(ish) level to yourself.

Hylie Pistof said:

This sounds like a feature that I will not use as I keep changing swords as soon as they drop from excellent. I even keep the crew weapons at excellent.

Click to expand...

A possible sollution would be to simply have a blacksmith on board, who could do the repair works up to excellent on some gun deck. I believe that would not be contradictory to real life, since there were blasksmiths on board of some vessels, for example, the same whalers (came across this just yesterday while reading Melville)

This leaves the question open, why the profession of a blacksmith is absent in the professions' list of persons who work on ships in New Horizons. Logically, such persons should also be available in the taverns for hiring, like surgeons, carpenters, etc. That, of course, would not make the kit useless, since the repair works performed by the blacksmith on board would require special equipment, which could not be just carried around, thus the kits would provide with fast repairs between fights on shore.

More features and ideas = more work, eh?

If people REALLY don't like the bladedamage, it can always be switched off.

As usual, blacksmiths, being neither military men, nor sailors, are discriminated. Witness Will Turner The New Horizons is no exception.

Dextr said:

A possible sollution would be to simply have a blacksmith on board, who could do the repair works up to excellent on some gun deck. I believe that would not be contradictory to real life, since there were blasksmiths on board of some vessels, for example, the same whalers (came across this just yesterday while reading Melville)

Click to expand...

There may have been blacksmiths on board peaceful whalers sailing in waters where they weren't likely to be attacked. Can any of the experts on the age of sail confirm that there were blacksmiths on board fighting ships of the 16th - 19th centuries? If so, did they have fully equipped forges, or were they just the guys who did routine sharpening and cleaning of blades so the rest of the crew didn't have to? (The same question also applies to the whaler blacksmiths.) Without a proper forge, all the blacksmith would be able to do is restore a weapon to "good" or perhaps "fine" quality - again, someone working within the limitations of a ship won't do as good a job as someone who spends a whole day on one sword in a fully equipped forge on land.

Most officer types do not have any special powers, other than their skill and ability contributions.
The exceptions are the Doctor who reduces casualties after a battle and the Gunner who automatically supplies the player with ammo upon boarding the ship.

Should this "blacksmith" officer be one you actively have to talk to for repairs or is it a passive bonus?
If passive, it would serve the same purpose as an item or an ability doing it.

As it is, I don't quite see the need of adding an extra officer type for this purpose.

Pieter Boelen said:

That is WITH the blade repair kit, is it? I'd like to know if it does get quicker again if you get rid of the item.
Note that the item works only for the character carrying it. So you might be able to test with an officer of equal(ish) level to yourself.

Click to expand...

That is without the blade repair kit. I have not seen the repair kit in this game.

I can't see a shipboard blacksmith being very good. On land he would have a larger customer base and an easier life. Then there is the matter of carrying coal for the forge.

Hylie Pistof said:

That is without the blade repair kit. I have not seen the repair kit in this game.

Click to expand...

Then either you are not really having any difference or I made a massive coding error.

Ah? Then the blades are the same without that kit? Well, I'm only up to level 22 and melee skill of 8 so maybe I'm not seeing that much wear and tear yet.

In the other install I did get the kit and it did make a difference.