Fallen Earth: QotW #24: Equipment and You!

Cynagin posted today another update answering questions concerning equipments in Fallen Earth:

This week we hit a few questions about equipment.

1. Will there be any kind of special or rare melee weapons? Craft maybe? Yeah, choppas, bats and knives are nice, but maybe more? I've read that Lightbearers will be able to learn some kind of martial arts, so maybe there will be some swords? Katanas, maybe? Or staffs? I don't want this game to be fantasy but the sword is the best melee weapon ever invented by humans.

Initially in Fallen Earth characters are equipped with whatever they can find, such as pipes, sticks, and old tools. In the early stages of the game there are few "real" weapons. Instead people are armed with repurposed pick axes, homemade shivs, and whatever bits of scrap metal they can find. Real weapons will be a rarity.

As players progress through Fallen Earth, this generally gives way to better scavenged or scratch-built weapons, such as golf clubs, barbells, pool cues, spiked baseball bats, and knives. Towards the later stages of the game players will be using a mixture of high-quality weapons that are actually supposed to be weapons, like swords and kukris, and salvaged weapons with undeniable power, like a barbell with fifty pounds of weights on one end.

All the weapons of import are craftable by players. The more powerful weapons are obviously more difficult and expensive (it takes a lot more scrap iron to make a barbell and weights than it does to make a pipe).

2. Will there be Faction-specific armor for top-level players, or just in-general pieces that can only be worn by a certain alignment?

Each faction has numerous pieces of clothing and armor that are specific to their faction, from Lightbearer robes to CHOTA bone armor to Enforcer ballistic plate. Some of these outfits will simply function as armor, such as the aforementioned Enforcer ballistic plate, while others may have different functions. Each Faction has pieces for a variety slots, with each Faction having at least its own chest, foot, glove, belt, and head pieces. Most of these slots have 3-5 different pieces for each Faction, denoting different ranks or membership in subfactions. Faction-specific clothing and armor can only be worn by members of the appropriate faction, so if you're a Traveler trying to disguise yourself as a Vista, best not wear your Traveler-specific gear into a Vista town. Players can learn to make Faction-specific clothing and armor if they have the appropriate Armorcraft skill and a really high Faction rating.

3. How about some info on equip? Like what will we see when we "examine" an item? Price, durability stats, DPS/damage range/actual range, that kind of thing. Do weapons do a set amount or a range that is then modified?

Currently the following information is displayed when you click on an item. This is not a final list, and there are some notable things missing, such as range, but it gives some idea of what sort of information will be available.

Slots: The primary slot taken up by the item, such as "head" for a hat or "hand" for a gun.

Required Slots: Other slots the item occupies beyond the primary slot, such as a helmet taking up the ears slot or a two-handed weapon taking up two slots.

Weight: Weight of the item, measured in grams.

Resists: What sort of resistance to damage the item gives the wearer. Obviously this is primarily used for armor.

Ammo Type: What type of ammunition a weapon uses, if any.

Ammo: Number of shots a weapon may fire before reloading.

Damage: The type and amount of damage the weapon does with each hit. The type is the damage category, such as Slashing, Piercing, Radiation, or Fire. The amount is the numerical base damage of the weapon before it is modified by skill, armor, etc.

Attack Skills: What skill is used when attacking with the weapon. This skill determines any damage modifiers due to skill levels.

Defensive Skills: What skill is used when defending against the weapon. This skill determines any damage modifiers due to skill levels.

Requirements: Any requirements to use the item. This is almost always a skill requirement, but some items may have an attribute, tradeskill, mutation path, or Faction requirement. This is never a level requirement.

Modifiers: Any modifiers to attributes, skills, mutation paths, tradeskills, or Faction ratings that equipping the item imposes on the user.

Delay: The delay between attacks when using a weapon, measured in seconds.

Reload: The time it takes to reload a ranged weapon such as a zip gun or a rifle, measured in seconds.

Description: A text description of the item, such as what it is made of or where the item comes from.

Effect: Any special effects the item creates if used, such as the healing effect of a first aid kit or the damage effect of a poison.