Hi,
Today I came with an idea to balance weapons. I was wondering if anyone would enjoy a FE 8 mod with swords draining hp, 1 range axes ignoring def, and what you would give to lances and bows.
The idea is that most sword users aren't very tanky but very fast. If they could drain hp, be they tanky or not, they would be much more usable and wouldn't need access to 1-2 range weapons to be useful. Fast units would drain 2x per fight but take damage if they don't dodge, while slow units would heal back some damage but only once per fight. I intend on balancing the classes and making the ennemies more of what they should be (like in Awakening I guess, they fit much more their roles than in TSS IMHO, especially knights, axemen and mages/dark mages).
Maybe I could also give 15 or 20 weight to 1-2 range physical weapons so you only use them situationally (if I give them a speed penalty it would affect more the already slow units than the fast ones, + negative stats tend to bug and show max stat instead so it's the opposite of what I want). I'll try to give like 30 weight to see if it's possible so general Gilliam is as fast as Paladin Franz with a javelin (0-5 spd hoho).
Would it be funny to play? Would axes having a real utility make you use axemen?
What effects should I give to lances, bows, magic types?
It's up to you, make your game from what I suggest and tell me if something would be funnier than what I wrote.