Stamina Damage Types

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I was just thinking it might be interesting to have two types of stamina damage. For the sake of simplicity, I'll call them Hard and Soft.

Hard dmg would take longer to recover. This could be done either by making it only recharge naturally, or lowering the amount it receives from recharging.

Soft dmg would bounce back more quickly and recharge without any penalty.

Hard dmg would come into play, say, after over-extending oneself in its use. Quickening beam attacks, charging Turbo, etc. It could also be incorporated into certain melee moves, like SAM bar moves, or throws/tackles. Certain KI attacks could deal Hard stamina damage, like Ki balls or Gen balls, which rely on direct hits.

Soft dmg would be from when a player consumes stamina regularly, like for Turbo and basic melee/ki attacks.

Consider the flexibility this allows to the Turbo system. If a player turns on Turbo, it could start out as Soft. As they charge Turbo, it slowly adds a Hard damage to it. Once Turbo is maxed, it could add anywhere from 20%-100% Hard damage to it. Again, completely subject to balancing. If a player uses their SAM to initiate Turbo, that could give them an incredible boost, such as Kaioken, but also add a higher Hard damage to it than a regularly maxed Turbo.

Quick Template of Hard damage:
Regular Turbo - 10%
Charged Turbo - 11%-25%
SAM Turbo - 40%

Percentage means that the stamina consumed would incorporate that amount of Hard damage to it until it replenished.

Melee combat, on the flip side, could also incorporate different types of stamina damage to be used strategically. Why throw a person instead of use a combination on them? Because throwing could deal a greater amount of Hard stamina damage. If the player already has some Hard stamina damage dealt, then it would add to it, widening the Attacker's advantage. However, if he throws a player that has no Hard damage to him, then there would be no consequence, as he would take take less damage from the throw as opposed to the combination, and he would regenerate his stamina easily enough afterwards. In this example, the best time to Throw would be against a player using Charged/SAM Turbo, or after he has used it. If you don't like the idea of players using Turbo being thrown, then add Hard damage resistance to a person using Charged and/or SAM Turbo, so it's best used afterward.

Instead of SSJ3 having a higher drain rate, or set of drain rates for his moves, you could have him incur a greater Hard stamina damage. This would make it so after he uses up all of his stamina, it would take him a great deal of time to recover. And it would also leave Goku ample KI and Stamina to use during that Transformation. Goku could even have a character bonus of replenishing Hard damage faster than others, making it more common for him to overextend himself. Buu and Cell could have an attribute which reduces the amount of Hard damage incurred by others, from things such as Throws and Blocking attacks.

Overall, to make a last simple statement, consider some of the more in-depth games that have been created in the past. Maybe World of Warcraft, obviously a different type of game. Though what would the game be like if there was no Fire, Ice, Shadow, Nature types of spell damage? What if it was all just Magic Attack and Magic Resistance? You'd have less leeway to give strengths and weaknesses to player builds and strategies. What's the difference between using Ki attacks and Melee? More or less damage, more or less fun, but I'd like you to consider that maybe in the long run, that isn't enough for the lasting appeal it deserves.

Hard and Soft stamina damages add an incredible flexibility to Turbo, SAM, and Transformation balances. It lessens the mechanics from having to rely mostly on KI/Stamina drain rates, allowing you to diversify the system with a greater variety of circumstances, outcomes, and strategies. I know I've mentioned a lot here, but all I really want you to agree on is that Hard and Soft damage types improve the game play in almost any area you mix it in, in ways the current setup can't compare to.

Addition:
I'd like to also add another setup on how Hard damage could work, in addition to what I mentioned above.

Hard damage would only begin to regenerate when it recharged up to the amount of damage incurred. In other word, Soft damage heals first, THEN Hard damage heals. Imagine Goku used SSJ3, and to what lengths he used it, took 90% Hard damage from it. Maybe he used it so long that it knocked him out of his state, and it left him vulnerable. This means that 10% of the bar is Soft, and that recharges first. Once the 10% Soft damage is recharged, only then will the Hard damage be replenished at a slower rate. If someone were to throw him and deal 5% Hard damage, he would only keep recovering the Soft damage, and more Hard damage would stack.

The reason this may be a viable setup is that, under a certain amount of stamina, a player incurs penalties. They vary from swoop speed, teleporting, turbo, transforming, etc. It puts the player in a position where they must play defensively. The idea is that the only way a player gets that much Hard damage to begin with is when a player takes knowing risks and pushes their limits, Kaioken and SSJ3 being two notable ones for Goku. Therefore if a player wants a steady combat experience and doesn't like the vulnerability of stamina loss, then they can either bounce between offense and defense naturally, or play consistently. Or they can use it, but not until it burns them completely. I'd assume smart players would know their limits. This allows variances in play styles and creates a skill curve for people to explore.

Consider that you've solved the problem of great explosion splashes by capping them and reducing their potential. But what about times when you feel a player deserves an incredible blast on the map? How much do you lose by never allowing a player to break past a certain potential? Instead, an option could be to allow attack explosions that DO have a great radius, but instead they deal a majority of stamina damage, not hurting a player's health, but reducing their ability to attack and defend effectively for a short period. If an explosion was not aimed at them and they were simply a victim of being near it, they aren't dead, but temporarily weakened. If both fighters are in melee, they are both weakened equally. I'm not saying it's fair, but it's better. One way or another, random spamming will happen, but you can determine whether that will ruin the game mechanics created to divert it or not, and what the consequences to all the players involved will be. If the spammer incurs Hard damage and the victim Soft damage, he could get what he deserves by a double team. The stamina loss delay would give them time to decide whether to ally up temporarily, or to continue. Friendly Fire wouldn't be as dramatic either.
 
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