Subscribe to download
Vanilla Weapon Overhaul (v3.4)

Tweaks vanilla weapons with the goal of improving balance, variety, and realism, making more out of the same classic set of weapons.

If you’re interested in the math behind all these numbers or prefer to look at a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet I use to calculate attack momentum and momentum/contact area can be found in the change notes (Steam automatically removes the link if I put it in the description).

Summary:
1. Nerfed whips and scourges
2. Removed flat slaps from all weapons, as they had no useful purpose (when deflected by armor, the slash behaves the same way a flat slap would)
3. Made pommel strikes and shaft bashes more useful and consistent
4. Added new attacks to some weapons
5. Reworked large weapons to require multigrasp (unless you’re an ogre) but they now have actual benefits over their smaller counterparts
6. Made blunt weapons more lethal
7. Reduced nearly all slash contact areas by 25%: this only affects the dagger against normal-sized targets, but against giant targets it allows the difference between the various slashing attacks to be more relevant
8. Many piercing attacks are more capable of piercing armor of equal material: depending on creature size, strength, skill, and weapon quality.
10. Differentiated scimitars and short swords, and turned “long swords” into longswords
11. Utilized attack prep / recovery times to simulate weapon reach - longer weapons are more likely to attack first, while the shortest weapons get a slight increase in overall attack speed to compensate.
12. Made weapon and ammo weight more realistic
13. Standardized weapon equip requirements such that smaller creatures aren't excluded from certain weapon types

Prep / Recovery Times:
4:1 - large daggers, short swords, & pommel strikes
3:3 - all weapons not listed elsewhere as well as longsword hilt bashes
3:4 - picks, two-handed sword hilt bashes
2:2 - spear’s shaft bash
2:3 - longswords, other shaft bashes
2:4 - two-handed swords, great axes
1:5 - pikes, spears, & halberds
1:6 + bad multiattack tag - whips & scourges

Ranged weapon and ammo changes:
Bow - Faster reload than crossbows, but shot time is slightly higher and achieving its full shot force requires considerable strength and skill.
Bow size from 300 to 200, arrow size from 150 to 10, contact area from 5 to 3, penetration depth from 1000 to 500, shot force from 1000 to 1500, max velocity from 200 to 1500, strength requirement for maximum shot force from 1,500 to 2,000, reload time from 20:7 to 20:10, shot time from 1 to 4.

Crossbow - Slow reload but is highly accurate and has instant shot time.
Bolt size from 150 to 10, contact area from 5 to 3, penetration depth from 1000 to 500, shot force from 1000 to 1500, max velocity from 200 to 1500, max:min reload time from 30:7 to 40:20

Blowgun - Capable of inflicting a large amount of superficial injuries quickly with its high fire rate, but requires exceptional endurance and skill to be properly lethal.
Blowgun size from 150 to 100, blowdart size from 20 to 5, blowdart contact area from 1 to 3, shooting force from 100 to 1000, endurance requirement for maximum shot force from 1,500 to 2,500, reload time from 10:5 to 16:8, shot time from 5 to 3.

One-handed weapons:
Whip - No longer resembles a sci-fi laser weapon, but still hits very hard and has reach.
Lash contact area from 1(!) to 25, velocity from 5x to 4x.

Large Dagger - Fast attack rate and the stab has impressive armor penetration.
Size from 200 to 100, slash velocity from 1.25 to 1.1, stab velocity from 1 to 0.85, stab contact area from 5 to 7

Scourge - In a sort of gray area between conventional slashing and piercing, has reach.
Lash contact area increased from 10 to 40

Short Sword - Benefits from a faster attack rate than other slashing weapons.
Size from 300 to 200, slash velocity from 1.25 to 1.15, stab velocity from 1 to 0.95, stab contact area from 50 to 10

Scimitar - Slashing-focused 1h sword, can still stab but not as well as other swords.
Size from 300 to 200, stab velocity from 1 to 0.95, stab contact area from 50 to 12

War Hammer - Has both efficient armor penetration and a pick-like attack for lethality.
Added striking with the claw: a piercing attack with low penetration depth but higher velocity since it is being swung rather than thrust.
Made bash a pseudo-blunt (edge attack with 1 penetration) attack so that it will still be selected by the AI a reasonable amount, bash velocity from 2 to 3

Morningstar - Hybrid piercing/blunt weapon excellent at armor penetration.
Size from 500 to 400, bash contact area from 10 to 12, velocity from 2 to 1.75

Mace - Specialized anti-armor weapon with very high momentum.
Size from 500 to 400, velocity from 2 to 3.5, contact area from 20 to 15

Spear - Piercing weapon with reach, and has better shaft-bashes than other polearms.
Size from 400 to 350, shaft bash velocity from 1.25 to 2.5, shaft bash contact area from 10,000 to 25, stab contact area from 20 to 10

Pick - Hits hard for an edged weapon, but is unwieldy. The strike is now more pick-like.
Added chopping with the adze-blade of the pickaxe: this is similar to what the Strike used to be, a hard-hitting slash with relatively low contact area.
Strike contact area from 100 to 20, velocity from 2 to 1.75

Flail - Less efficient at armor penetration than maces, but hits with more momentum.
Size from 500 to 400, bash contact area from 200 to 50, velocity from 2.5x to 4.5x

Battle Axe - Slashes with high momentum and doubles as a club.
Added clubbing with the poll: passable blunt attack
Size from 800 to 400

Two-Handed Weapons:
Longsword - Less power but faster attacks compared to other two-handed weapons.
Added bashing with the hilt (mordhau technique): passable blunt attack but is slower to execute than the weapon’s other attacks.
Size from 700 to 350, slash velocity from 1.25 to 1.625, stab velocity from 1 to 1.3, stab contact area from 50 to 13

Pike - Combines dagger-level stabby with the almighty power of a very long stick.
Size from 800 to 600, stab contact area from 20 to 14, stab velocity from 1 to 1.6, shaft bash contact area from 10,000 to 25

Two-Handed Sword - Is like wielding a slashing, piercing, and blunt weapon all at once.
Added bashing with the hilt: is a stronger version of the long sword’s.
Size from 900 to 450, slash velocity from 1.25 to 2.4, stab velocity from 1 to 1.55, stab contact area from 50 to 15

Halberd - Effective in both slashing and piercing attacks.
Added striking with the beak: an anti-armor attack which combines piercing attributes with decent blunt force but has low penetration depth.
Size from 1300 to 450, slash velocity from 1.25 to 2.2, stab velocity from 1 to 1.5, stab contact area from 50 to 14, shaft bash contact area from 20,000 to 25

Maul - Produces devastating indirect (“the force pulls/twists/bends”) damage.
Size from 1300 to 800, bash velocity from 2 to 6.5, contact area from 100 to 50

Great Axe - Slashes hard enough to bludgeon what it can’t cut.
Size from 1300 to 600, slash velocity from 1.25 to 2.5

This mod does not change which weapons are craftable by the dwarf civilization. My version of a mod making all vanilla weapons craftable by dwarves can be found in the MVO collection.