Weapon & Tool Swings, Shield Guard

A weapon drawn as a prop — one image held in the hand, such as an icon from an RPG Maker IconSet — can move in different ways when its wielder attacks: sweep an arc over the shoulder, thrust like a spear, draw like a bow, or play a small weapon sheet. The motions match what Falcao's Pearl ABS does in RPG Maker VX Ace, so a game imported from it looks the way it did there.

A shield in the off-hand can be raised with the Guard key. While the player holds the key, hits from the front do less damage, and hits from behind do full damage. Everyone nearby sees the shield held out.

Where to author it#

Setting up a swinging weapon#

1. Open Items and edit a weapon.
2. Open the Visuals tab. In Weapon Render, set Weapon Render Mode to Prop.
3. Pick a Prop Sprite. An icon from an IconSet works well.
4. Choose a Swing Style.
5. Optional: set a Swing Duration. Leave it blank to use the attack's own timing.
6. For the Sheet style, pick a Weapon Sheet.
7. Save, then Publish so the game server has the new fields.

The weapon appears only while it is being swung. It swings on every attack and ability use, including bow shots, area attacks and skills. Players, NPCs and mobs that wear the weapon all swing it.

Tools and gathering#

Tools — axes, pickaxes, sickles, fishing rods — are held the same way. A tool stays out of sight until the player gathers with it. Then every harvest plays as a run of blows instead of one long pose:

• The tool swings a few times per harvest, roughly every 0.8 seconds. The last blow lands the moment the item drops into the bag.
• The node reacts to every blow. A tree or rock sways and throws off chips (wood, stone or leaves, by the node's resource type), and each blow plays its sound: a chop for wood, a pick strike for ore and stone.
• A progress bar shows above the player's head, labelled with what they're gathering. It fills once per harvest and restarts for the next.
• Other players see it too. Anyone nearby sees the tool swing and the node shake.

To set up a tool:

1. Open Items and edit a tool.
2. Open the Visuals tab. In Tool Render, pick a Swing Style and, if you like, On the back under Between Uses.
3. Save, then Publish.

A tool with no Equipped Sprite Asset is held from its own icon, so an imported RPG Maker axe works with no extra setup. A tool with its own equipped sprite sheet is drawn from that sheet instead, and its swing settings don't apply.

The right tool is equipped for you. When a player starts gathering without a usable tool in their Tool slot, but has one in their bag, it is equipped automatically — an axe at a tree, a pickaxe at a rock — and the chat says Equipped Iron Axe. It picks the highest-tier working tool the node accepts (then the one with the most durability left), skips any tool the player's class, level or skill can't use, and swaps the old tool into the bag slot the new one left. When nothing fits, the message says what is missing. Switch it off for the whole world under Combat → Itemization → Auto-Equip Gathering Tools; players can switch it off for themselves in Settings → Gameplay. See Gathering Tools & Auto-Equip.

When a weapon and a tool are both carried on the back, they cross in an X instead of stacking.

Setting up a shield guard#

1. Open Items and edit an item of type Shield. Shields are worn in the off-hand.
2. Open the Visuals tab. In Shield Render & Guard, set Guard Rate (%). For example, 50 blocks half of every hit from the front.
3. To show the shield held out, set Weapon Render Mode to Prop and pick a Prop Sprite.
4. Save, then Publish.
5. In game, equip the shield and hold Guard. The default key is S. In the WASD and Keyboard Only presets it is the ` key (backquote).

How the guard works in game:

• Front means the half the player faces. A hit from the side or from behind is not reduced. The player has to turn to face the attacker.
• Blocked damage shows as a "Guard" number on the defender.
• Only direct hits are blocked: attacks, projectiles, beams, chains and pets. Damage over time, hazards and scripted damage go through the shield.
• Guarding and attacking are separate. Pressing an attack lowers the guard. Auto-attack waits while the guard is up.
• The server drops the guard on its own when the shield comes off or breaks, or when the player dies, is stunned or mounts.

Importing from RPG Maker (Pearl ABS)#

The RPG Maker import reads Pearl ABS tool tags from each weapon's and armor's note box:

Gotchas#

• Players need the new client. The swing styles and the held-out shield are drawn by the game client. Until the client update is deployed, players see the old arc and no shield.
• Publish after editing. The swing fields and guard rate reach a live world only after you Publish.
• The iconset tag wins. When a note has both User Iconset and User Graphic, Pearl ignores the graphic, and so does the import.
• Sheet names are matched case-insensitively. A note that says $spear finds $Spear.png, the same way RPG Maker does. Import the character sheets too: a Sheet weapon whose sheet wasn't imported swings its icon instead.
• Only the main-hand weapon swings on attacks. An off-hand item is drawn only while its guard is up, and a tool only while gathering.
• Gathering needs the new game server for everyone to see it. Your own blows, node shake and bar work as soon as the client update is live. Seeing other players' nodes shake, and the automatic tool equip, need the game-server update too.
• The gathering bar follows the player cast bar setting. Setting Cast bar to Hide for players hides it as well, and its color is always green so it never reads as a spell.
• Turning off Shield Guard (World → Features) stops the guard key from working. Shields then give only their stats.