Why are all the sword hilts so huge?

[Blocki.4931]

Looking at a few weapon models in more detail.. they are pretty much appropriate for a huge majority of them.

 

Yes, this is fantasy and weapons are far larger than practical in the real world, but that means that having a bit more realism in other parts makes this fantasy so much better, believable if you want.

 

The hilt is not only a grip for the weapon, it and the pommel that most weapons have on the end of it are used for balance. A weapon that is extremely frontloaded in weight is good for one thing: smashing. Not very practical in combat. A large weapon must have a larger/heavier hilt and pommel to be as usable as possible.

[Blimm.5028]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> All weapons in the game are foci for magical energies. Even mostly physical classes have magic in their weapon attacks. Accordingly, the weapons needn't look like their RPG-trope namesakes. It's fine to ask ANet for smaller hilts or larger pommels or whatever you like. However, there's no point in justifying it in terrestrial physics: none of our weapon skills would work on Earth, not even a little.

 

Even if my weapon is a magical focus, I'd rather be able to beat someone on the head with it if my magic for some reason doesn't cut it. There is no disadvantage to having your weapon be practical, besides the idea that all weapons are "purely" magical foci isn't supported by canon afaik. It certainly doesn't add up with the abilities attached to those weapons.

 

Heck, if shape is arbitrary, wouldn't you optimize for usability at the expense of physical threat anyways? It's still human(oid-ish) hands weilding those things, and they look incredibly uncomfortable and awkward to hold.

[Rhyse.8179]

Almost nothing in the game is practical looking. There are easily fewer then 6 good looking 1h swords. Even the ones that look right - like the Gallant set - Anet still decided to mess up by scaling it to ridiculous proportions. I swear that entire set would be perfect if it wasn't Anime Hero sized. Grrargh. I don't know why Anet is so determined to make eye-bleeding gear and then have the nerve to charge for it.

 

The 1h Swords That Aren't Ridiculous: A Comprehensive List

1. Infinite Light (#1 realistic sword, hands down, classic Medieval Arming Sword type, classy as heck glowing runes indicate power without making eyes bleed)

2. Shimmering/Tenebrous Sword (Arming Sword Type, with just a hint of bling)

3. Aureate Rinblade (Viking type blade - It seems large, but that's accurate to the type. Hilt is meh.)

4. Royal Ascalonian Sword. (Almost but not quite Viking type. Glow is elegant and not overdone.)

5. Honor of Humanity / Firebringer. (Gladius type)

 

Good "Themed" Swords: They are a bit too flashy on their own or don't match the combat animations, but still work great with certain costume themes.

Bonetti's Rapier / Spectral Sword (great for swashbucklers or mesmers)

Tribal Blade (Dark or Primitive warrior theme. The 2h version is amazing for Reapers)

Whisperblade

Holosmith's Sword

Fiery Dragon Sword

Glyphic / Dark Asuran Sword (scales badly on non-asuran characters)

Bloodstone Sword

Luminous Saber

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Blimm.5028" said:

> > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > All weapons in the game are foci for magical energies. Even mostly physical classes have magic in their weapon attacks. Accordingly, the weapons needn't look like their RPG-trope namesakes. It's fine to ask ANet for smaller hilts or larger pommels or whatever you like. However, there's no point in justifying it in terrestrial physics: none of our weapon skills would work on Earth, not even a little.

>

> Even if my weapon is a magical focus, I'd rather be able to beat someone on the head with it if my magic for some reason doesn't cut it. There is no disadvantage to having your weapon be practical,

> Heck, if shape is arbitrary, wouldn't you optimize for usability at the expense of physical threat anyways? It's still human(oid-ish) hands weilding those things, and they look incredibly uncomfortable and awkward to hold.

 

Again, I'm pleased that ANet might choose to cater to this preference. For myself, no, "practical" for a weapon in Tyria is whatever channels magic energies most efficiently. If it comes to purely physical combat, well, that doesn't exist.

 

> besides the idea that all weapons are "purely" magical foci isn't supported by canon afaik. It certainly doesn't add up with the abilities attached to those weapons.

>

What Earthly sword causes bleed with every hit, regardless of armor or location it strikes? (Warrior auto-attacks do) What Earthly sword always cripples foes on hit (as both Warrior a-a#3 and Ranger a-a#2 do)?

[ZNICK.8537]

What earthly rabbit is big enough that you can ride on and leap 300 feet in the air? :cough:

 

What always bugs me are the greatswords. I HATE the way they carry them in combat with the blade way behind them. That's as goofy as anything else.

 

Z

[Blimm.5028]

> @"ZNICK.8537" said:

> What earthly rabbit is big enough that you can ride on and leap 300 feet in the air? :cough:

>

> What always bugs me are the greatswords. I HATE the way they carry them in combat with the blade way behind them. That's as goofy as anything else.

>

> Z

 

Especially on Mesmers. I mean, they don't strike and therefore don't benefit from a longer draw, so you would want to hold that thing pointed at your opponent at all times.

[Cuddy.6247]

> @"IndigoSundown.5419" said:

> At a guess... Hand sizes vary depending on how the player scales the character. The bigger the character, the bigger the hands -- which is to maintain proportions. Making the handles large may also facilitate their use across all races, due to possible differences between hand size and body size. Asura and Charr hands are larger in proportion to their bodies than humans, Norn and Sylvari.

>

> That said, weapons tend to be bigger in relation to bodies than they might be anywhere but in Anime.

>

> A side effect of handle size is that characters tend to grip some weapons "wrong." Balance points on swords, for instance, tend to be closer to the guard, so a character gripping a sword closer to the pommel would, irl, find using the weapon awkward.

 

The weapons scale too though.

[Curunen.8729]

> @"Rhyse.8179" said:

> Almost nothing in the game is practical looking. There are easily fewer then 6 good looking 1h swords. Even the ones that look right - like the Gallant set - Anet still decided to mess up by scaling it to ridiculous proportions. I swear that entire set would be perfect if it wasn't Anime Hero sized. Grrargh. I don't know why Anet is so determined to make eye-bleeding gear and then have the nerve to charge for it.

>

> The 1h Swords That Aren't Ridiculous: A Comprehensive List

> 1. Infinite Light (#1 realistic sword, hands down, classic Medieval Arming Sword type, classy as heck glowing runes indicate power without making eyes bleed)

> 2. Shimmering/Tenebrous Sword (Arming Sword Type, with just a hint of bling)

> 3. Aureate Rinblade (Viking type blade - It seems large, but that's accurate to the type. Hilt is meh.)

> 4. Royal Ascalonian Sword. (Almost but not quite Viking type. Glow is elegant and not overdone.)

> 5. Honor of Humanity / Firebringer. (Gladius type)

>

> Good "Themed" Swords: They are a bit too flashy on their own or don't match the combat animations, but still work great with certain costume themes.

> Bonetti's Rapier / Spectral Sword (great for swashbucklers or mesmers)

> Tribal Blade (Dark or Primitive warrior theme. The 2h version is amazing for Reapers)

> Whisperblade

> Holosmith's Sword

> Fiery Dragon Sword

> Glyphic / Dark Asuran Sword (scales badly on non-asuran characters)

> Bloodstone Sword

> Luminous Saber

 

I would add the fractal/gold fractal sword to that list - sure it's a little oversized in some proportions and flashy, but at least the model looks more "useable" than many other skins.

 

I agree with the OP that there's too many ridiculous looking skins (including most black lion skins) and would like to see a few more "normal" weapon skins.

[Laila Lightness.8742]

The shining blade pre t1 and 2 is nice

[Khisanth.2948]

Weapon size scales with character height but there is also body size.

 

norn vs sylvari

 


 

Same gauntlet and sword(well more or less, gold and normal fractal sword should be the same). Handle is about the right size for the norn but twice as large as it needs to be for the sylvari.

[Sojourner.4621]

> @"Khisanth.2948" said:

> Weapon size scales with character height but there is also body size.

>

> norn vs sylvari

>

> 

>

> Same gauntlet and sword(well more or less, gold and normal fractal sword should be the same). Handle is about the right size for the norn but twice as large as it needs to be for the sylvari.

 

That's roughly the proportions of the hilt to blade of my very real longsword. As someone else stated, most "One handed" swords actually are hand-and-a-half or even two-handed in grip length, largely because of balance reasons, but also because you can lend more power to a swing by adding an extra hand. Anyone who has taken any traditional medieval sword lessons knows that you have better power but ALSO better control with a second hand. One handers were often made for use with shields, but since shields would often/almost always break in pitched battle, you would toss the shield aside after and then adopt a two handed stance.