Brainstorming some new item ideas. Please feel free to comment

• Throwing Stars - these would have more generous hitboxes than arrows, but they'd move slightly slower. Bonus idea: add curve (reverse curve on neutral throw)
• Daze Powder - really unsure what this'd do, I just like the idea of throwing up dust into the air and having it affect the battlefield
• Drop Goo - like the drop bomb except goo. I can see this going two ways: 1 it's on some kind of timed fire and you only get two or 2 you get a ton and it combos really well with fire skills (Fireaxe, Magic Brand, Fire Book, explosions of all kinds)
• Double Claws - berserker barrage
• Spiked Shield - has a Shield Bash attack, otherwise it's breakable
• Turtle Shell - it's a big backshield....
• Nunchaku - I'd want this to be an annoying item
• Sai - this could be the first 4 attack weapon. Weak. Neutral should be a long startup + short stun that combos into Tilt. Tilt is a fast startup short stun that hits 3x and moves forward. Air Neutral can arms split for wide coverage and Air Tilt would have lots of movement to cover distance
• Bo Staff/Sun Stick - lots of wide ranging/high stun/low low damage attacks on the ground, but air attack could be big damage. Also, possibly magic for magic stick style elongation
• Whip - long range high stun low damage. Could functionally be like a version of the chainhook with a shorter throw, more attack types (spin?). I'm unsure, but this is definitely part of the Belmont in-game cosplay gear
• Chain Whip - uhhhh... haha
• Magic Scepter - a simple weapon with a magic spell on it
• Lightning Javelin - Ground stab forward (like a shorter winged spear), Air to throw. When it lands it calls down lightning.
• Fire Bow - shoots a slower arrow than the regular shortbow, but that arrow sparks a flame on collision
• Mechanical Bow - 1 damage, mid range stun, relatively fast to repeat. Essentially a compromise between the short bow and the crossbow
• Tar Wheel - a weak shield that can be taken off, lit, and rolled for flame damage
• Smoke Bomb - covers a large area with smoke
• Hammersword - A sword sheathed inside a large hammer (Yooo bloodborne), e.g. a weaker Mountain paired with the stabbiness of a straight sword
• Gunblade/Bladeshot- this would function similarly to the Knights Sword with the Neutral acting as a pistol. It would share ammo with the pistol
• Rocks/Stones/Pebbles - no damage, high stun
• Fireworks - high stun rockets. I don't really know how they could be useful, but it'd definitely be pretty and a hilarious build to make
• Ball & Chain - this would be a weird one. I'm thinking this would have to be really weird in that you press it once start it spinning above your head, then you move very slowly until you press it again, in which case it'll shoot out very much like the Chainhook --- but do massive damage instead. Also, jump attack = overhead for massive damage too

Expanding on some ideas:

Hammersword

• Two modes - sheathed sword and unsheathed
• Starts sheathed
• Sheathed (Hammer mode)
  • Neutral = Unsheath
  • Everything else = Hammersmash
• Unsheathed (Sword mode)
• Tilt = Stab
• Air Tilt = Downstab
• Everything else = Sheath

Bostaff/Sun Stick

• Named after Sun Wukong
• Tilt = long stab attack (very much like winged spear), can consume magic to extend the length of the stick
• Neutral = fancy multispin attack (think rotating it around the body) that does high stun but low damage
• Air = overhead hammer attack, can consume magic to fatten stick and increase damage

I'm thinking for the next update it'll be Throwing Stars, Drop Goo, Lightning Javelin, Fire Bow, and one of these above. I'm up for suggestions.

The Sun Stick and Drop Goo have been implemented online already, and I also added a Broadsword that's all about swinging. You can check the devlog for more information regarding those guys.

I've reworked the Pistol and added a new gun called the Dragoon. Dragoons were short range guns that some French Cavalry used after dismounting their horses. The Dragoon does a ton of damage upclose, but also fires a 2 damage Big Bullet for range as well. The Pistol is getting a lot more bullets, both guns retained some of the Explorer's abilities (the Explorer is gone :().

Oh, I also added the Lightning Javelin. Space requirements made me name it the Bolt Javelin, but it's pretty rad. When you're in the air you can spend some FP to throw the Javelin and wherever it lands it casts Lightning. It combos pretty well with Mana Bottles. You can throw the Mana Bottles (for 1 damage) or pop a bottle for some quick FP to throw the Bolt Javelin. It also combos pretty well with Speed Potions (Rain Hat, Broadsword, Bolt Jav, Speed Potion, Shield is gonna be sick).

The next items on deck: still Throwing Stars (maybe pebbles/rocks? 99 pebbles would be funny...), Fire Bow. I'm thinking Turtle Shell, Sai, and Nunchaku to complete the Turtle set....

Bolt Javelin sounds sweet. Looking forward to trying it.

Whip -- awesome.

Kinda like the idea of fireworks  -- yeah, maybe high-stun and no or little damage. Maybe it just chaotically shoots around -- like 4 different missiles fly out simultaneously -- a bit of a dice roll as to whether it actually hits what you're aiming at (and may even hits yourself). Then because it's more of a dice roll as opposed to heavily skill-based, it'd allow beginners to wield it nearly as well as more-skilled players. So it'd look really impressive which would probably be fun for beginner players. But also it would have a low chance of causing much damage -- so it wouldn't annoy the better players too much.

Smoke Bomb would make some fun strategies, I think. I assume that a smoke bomb would occlude the characters and the environment underneath. I wonder about that versus something like "invisible potion" -- which would make the player who takes it nearly invisible.

One thing about throwables -- I do wonder if a hold-and-release-to-throw button mechanic would be worth trying for throw strength? Neutral, tilt, or air could then be used for some other throw-variation. (number of items thrown? curvature of the throw? etc)

For team-play especially, I wonder about something like trip-lines (which could be jumped over)

Oh, also -- would it be possible to assign the items to custom buttons on the controller? For example, I like having the shield on right-trigger -- but right now if I switch to a character with only 3 items then I'm out of luck. 

Shields!

There's always discussion about shields, so I'm gathering my thoughts about them here. For future shields, I am considering having Special Shields. These Shields would do double duty attacking, casting spells, or granting passive bonuses. But before I can discuss those shields, I have to discuss what I have right now:

Shields are key to a lot of winning strategies out here in The Moon Fields. Shields will block from your side or your back. They all have different sizes to block attacks with. In general the side shields are smaller and the back shields are larger. Also,  they have a ton of other, more hidden stats.

1) Durability: Shields take damage just like the Player Characters. Some shields are fragile while others are more durable, though they can all break. A broken shield can be recovered by activating it, though it takes time.

2) Turn: like Weapons, Shields have a Turn stat that determines how many degrees you can move when you first activate it. Some shields turn a lot whereas other shields are not very nimble.

3) Movement Percent: You can walk while using any Shield, but the speed at which you move is dependent on the Shield. Some Shields are heavy!

4) Strafing Shield vs. Advancing Shield: Strafing Shields lock your direction and you will continue blocking in that direction until you let your guard down. Advancing Shields add the ability to rotate by activating the shield while the Analog Stick is Neutral. This lets you quickly advance down on an opponent that is throwing projectiles or other types of attacks at you.

5) Weight Multiplier: Some shields let you dig your feet in and push, while others are more frail. Bigger, heavier shields can help you push your enemies to where you want them.

6) Power Block: The first 1/4 second of pulling out a shield lets you block an attack with extra force multiplying the stun returned to the originator of the attack

7) Recovery Speed: When a Shield's durability is broken, it takes a moment to repair the shield. Some shields repair quickly, while others do not.