Polearms RESPECted - Spears Halberds Glaives and More

Polearms

RESPEC

ted

In vanilla Morrowind, spears are divided into two subcategories, spears and halberds. However, this distinction is in name only, as halberds are just slightly better spears with no difference in chop to reflect their axe head. Additionally, some halberd models don't even appear to be halberds at all, for example the glass halberd which lacks a spike at the end and the Dwemer halberd whose head looks more like a sword than an axe. Polearms RESPECted changes all that, giving non-spear polearms stats which reflect their unique design, and changing the name of obvious non-halberds to something more fitting. Additionally, the 'spear' skill has been changed to the 'polearm' skill, and all mentions of it in dialogue have been changed to reflect this.

The Details

Functionally I have separated spears into five categories:

The spear (high thrust, poor slash and chop) a long thrusting weapon with a spike at the end

The halberd (good thrust and chop, decent slash) a long thrusting weapon with an axe head and spike at the end

The voulge (high chop and good slash, poor  thrust) a long chopping weapon with an axe head at the end and no spike

The glaive (good slash, decent chop and thrust) a long slashing weapon with a single-edged blade at the end similar to a sword

The long spear (high thrust, poor slash and chop, extended reach) a long thrusting weapon with a spike at the end and a longer shaft than usual

The formula I used to determine the stats of these weapons is based on Hollaajith's formulas in Weapons Overhaul, with good damage equating to 0. 8 of high(Hollaajith's default spear thrust values), decent 0. 8 of that, and poor Hollaajith's default spear slash/chop values. Speed is 1 + (6 / weight of the weapon), and reach is 2. 0 for long spears and 1. 8 for everything else. Weapons Overhaul is not required, but recommended for consistency.

I'm no expert on polearms, but I tried to make these classifications as realistic as possible, while also balancing the types so that none is entirely better than any other. Which is best for you should depend on your style of gameplay and what attack types you prefer.

In the main file I have also provided an OAAB_Data compatible replacer plugin which rebalances OAAB's polearms according to these standards.