Assassin's Slash is icky!

OK, let me preface this with a disclaimer. I enjoy Broadsword for Stalkers. I think it was the most appropriate melee set that could have been proliferated to them. And I LOVE the (mis-named) Assassin's Slash. It's a really cool animation, finally giving a much-needed stabbing attack to the Broadsword set.

However, something has been gnawing at me about it ever since I first tried it out for real. It seems to me the attack just stabs WAY too far forward. Look, most of the old Broadsword attacks are picture-perfect for the old melee range of 5 feet. In fact, they're a little short. Granted, it looks a little odd when you use Broadsword at the upper end of the new 7-foot melee range, but it's not actually bad. However, Assassin's Slash has the character real so far forward and stab so far ahead that he actually looks like he overshoots even the new 7-foot melee range. The results of this can be quite odd, therefore, given how the AI seems to disregard the melee range changes and insists on closing in to within 5 feet, even though their attacks CAN fire from as far as 7 feet away.

What's so odd about it? Well, to put it simply, unless I make it a point to stab from as far away as the attack will animate, I constantly end up stabbing so hard I bury my whole hand past the sword's hilt into the enemy. Trying to demonstrate that, in fact, I managed to punch my whole arm past the elbow through a Capo Gunner's chest. At this point, what do I need a sword for? But this isn't even the most extreme example. Look at what I did to Bloody Vicious. Yes, folks, it's true, I shoved my entire torso down to my waist through Bloody Vicious' chest, Assassinating him for a good 3/4 of his hit points. That's actually kind of gruesome, now that I think about it.

Now, granted, I'm not exactly complaining. This is far from unique, and if I recall correctly, Ninja Blade's Assassin's Blade has sort of the same problem, and I do know larger models using things like Stone Mallet or Head Splitter can actually step PAST what they are attacking and hit somewhere behind. I don't even mind how the attack itself looks. Hell, I love it! It's just a little... Icky when you think about what you're actually doing.

*note*

Why is this called Assassin's Slash? It's not a slash, it's a stab. Shouldn't it be called that, then? Assassin's Stab? How about Backstab?

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The disparities of character sizes and the vagueness of the collision boxes have often led to amusing unintended screen presentations in melee. For instance, the Flurry/Shadow Maul/Sands of Mu animation, when applied by a reasonably-but-not-ridiculously short character to a biggish NPC (say a member of the Council Vortex Cor Leonis), becomes "one hundred furious punches to the gentleman's region", which is, to be fair, something all members of the Council deserve.

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The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.

My City Was Gone

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They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!

If I became a red name, I would be all "and what would you mere mortals like to entertain me with today, mu hu ha ha ha!" ~Arcanaville

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http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36641/My-Little-Exalt

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