4Game

TL;DR: thrown spears shouldn't be replaced in the inventory by random junk, they shouldn't be so easily picked up by other players, and I would love some kind of option to make them more visible at longer distances. And make the silver spear look cooler. And maybe have spirit damage?

I was working when the devs did the last AMA so I missed my chance to bring this up directly to them, so I figured I would post it now in the hopes that someone sees.

I've been loving the spears since H&H. To clarify, I use the spear almost exclusively as a ranged weapon. I only use the normal attack very sparingly, mostly throwing them instead, and I think they are my favorite weapon for both the Elder and Moder fights, for kiting large scary monsters that my armor level can't currently handle, for leaches, and two star berserkers, among others.

However, there are a few pretty major issues with using and specifically throwing the spears that I hope the devs solve in the future. Here's my list:

1. The full pack problem: by far my least favorite thing about the weapon type. The issue is that when you throw a spear, it opens up a slot in your inventory that can be filled with random junk before you pick your spear back up. I feel like we should either be able to toggle the 1-8 slots to only pick up equipables rather than what ever random junk is lying around, or we should have a "holster" item for spears that can hold the inventory space but still pick up the spear. Perhaps it could show up a little later in the game, and even hold 2 spears or something. Maybe also a quiver item to hold more arrows or something as well. This issue comes up a lot for me as the enemies I tend to fight with spears often cause terrain damage so there is always stone all over the place. Being temporarily locked out of your weapon in the middle of a boss fight sucks really bad.

2. The multiplayer problem: I wish there was a way to make it so others couldn't just walk over your spear and take it by accident after a throw. Perhaps it would be possible to make spears only auto pickup by the person who threw them. I don't know if that's possible with how the game is coded, but the way it works now is pretty frustrating even with just one other person. Spears are also goofy in that when you have PvP enabled and you chuck one right into someone's face, they just pick it up immediately as long as they have inventory space. I mean, i guess that's kind of realistic in a way… but not at all in another way ("Oh my goodness!, There is a spear sticking out of my chest! Nice! Free spear!")

3. Finding the tiny things after you throw them! This one I feel like the devs might not as concerned about due to realism, and the fact that game play choices can minimize the issue (I.e maybe don't use them to hunt down drakes on the mountain…), but i would really dig an item that I could combine with the spear to make it more visible after i throw it, like a small flare or or glowing light, because those item sparkles and the thin line that constitutes the spear model disappear pretty quickly at any kind of distance.

4. This is totally unrelated to the mechanics, but I think the silver fang spear should look cooler. The iron spear looks awesome, but the next upgrade looks pretty boring and a lot like the starter spear. Personally, I also kind of want there to be some spirit damage on there too, since it does use silver, and to make it a little more comparable with the other ranged weapon which gets poison damage at the silver tier. If they do that though, I expect the silver cost would go up, and one of the best things about the silver spear right now is how little silver you need to make it and fully upgrade it.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Edit: moved the TL;DR to the top.