Hatchets as a secondary weapon (pistol slot)

[Ozast 22]

thanks for all the support like i said its a simple fix to an item stat that im sure everyone would agree makes sense.

Id always carry a melee weapon in my belt but adding a new slot that people keep mentioning is going to take time so having it in the pistol slot is the best solution for now and cant be that time consuming as a hatchet is already a hacked in weapon so rocket and the team already know the location of the hatchet in the game files.

[entelin 13]

*sigh* Do you really think you'd get on with trying to hold a rifle in one hand and a whacking great 20Kg+ axe in the other? Axes are heavy, and requires a two-arm swing to use.

Man.. there's people out there that defend every random thing out there isn't there... As other people have pointed out, its a hatchet, not a battleaxe. Need both hand? like for example when your firing a pistol? That's what the weapon strap is for, put it on your back. Even if you say that even then it would be too cumbersome consider the following points:

1: In real life its easy to just set the weapon down against a wall, far quicker than you can accomplish the same task in arma.

2: In real life you could attack physically with the but of the weapon if need be

3: In real life it takes no time at all to drop a weapon in an emergency, you don't even need to stop or be squatting, you don't need to dig through your pack and drop all the clips for it, you just let go.

In light of this, I ask you very simply, which is more "realistic" in actual gameplay, just allowing you to use the hatchet as an offhand, or the current system.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Covert Kitty

[entelin 13]

HUH??? no one would use a pistol if the hachet became more useful? have you ever played this game? pretty sure you cant fight/hold off 4 zombies at close range with just a hachet. .....

Actually you can easily kill numerous zombies with a hatchet, especially indoors. I'm sure i've killed 10+ that way with little trouble, and yes, I would probably never bother with a pistol if I could use the hatchet as my sidearm. The loss of some blood is probably a worthwhile tradeoff for not alerting other players to your presence.

This, depending on your feeling of the mater I think would be the only valid argument for not making it a sidearm. Personally I do think it should be a sidearm however.

[RapturJesus 90]

An axe is too big. Using the hunting knife seems more realistic.

[SHOWTIME! 21]

Melee slot would be an excellent idea, but it would help survivors too much. Rocket HATES that.

[Wiesn69 4]

although arma2 isnt built for meele weapons (what is kinda strange for a military simulation, but thats another point) i like that idea

[NFK 102]

Does anyone know if this change would be difficult to implement? Does changing the hatchet "remove from toolbelt" destination from primary to secondary mean rewriting the entire hatchet hack, or are we talking about just changing a few lines?

Edited July 24, 2012 by NFK

[Cheroro 0]

Yes yes yes. YES.

Yes.

While I admit I know absolutely nothing about the code, I don't THINK this would be too hard to change. I mean, if impossible to move from toolbelt to secondary, then I'd just rather it BE a secondary arm and not a tool at all. It's a pain that you have to choose between a good PVP weapon or silent zombie killing.

[WhiteTigerShiro 25]

HUH??? no one would use a pistol if the hachet became more useful? have you ever played this game? pretty sure you cant fight/hold off 4 zombies at close range with just a hachet. pistols are useful for that, as are other guns. hachet needs to be a sidearm or at least easier to carry alongside other guns.

if i run out of ammo, what do i do now?! cant hachet anything cause i dont have a hachet cause i cant carry it.

so its either play with HACHET only, or use a gun and run out of ammo and instantly die. makes it less fun in the long run

If you fuck-up so badly that you have more than a couple of zeds running at you, you run. You are NOT going to be able to drop 4 zeds before they do significant damage to you; worse yet, if there's a chance of them knocking you out, holding your ground against 4 zeds will get you killed. So yeah, if I'm fighting one or two zeds, Axe is an amazing (and quiet) way to kill them without any problem; if I'm fighting 3 or more zeds? Fuck it, I'm legging it to that hill or building to ditch them; or at least whittle their numbers down so that I can axe the one or two that I don't lose.

And let's just say that I'm a dumbass who does try and hold his ground against 4 zeds instead of running; now that I'm done killing them with the axe, I'm done. Bandage up, chomp-down some meat, and I'm good to go. Meanwhile, you have fun with the 4 or 5 extra zeds that your gunfire drew-in; oh and btw you're still bleeding from the first group, so you can either start running (while bleeding), or hold your ground and pray to whatever god you pray to that they don't get a knock-out.

So yeah, Axe as a secondary would trump all pistols, because handling zeds is the only reason anyone would use a pistol.

[Nick8478 166]

Agree with this. A melee slot to carry a hatchet would be even better.

[jackrc11 15]

Random Idea, add duct tape to the game so you can attach the axe to your rifle (among other things with duct tape)! Like a bayonet! You can use F to switch modes and sneak up on people!