The Tavern

(Yet Another Riposte Suggestion)

Currently riposte has a few problems:
* Having better SH actually makes you riposte less often
* While nice-to-have, it doesn't have all that much of an impact
* Real-world ripostes are made after parrying an attack, not while jumping out of the way

My suggestion is:
When wielding a long blade(or wearing fencer's gloves), instead of dodging melee attacks you attempt to parry them.
* The parry check is performed *before* trying to block
* The chance to parry an attack is exactly the same as dodging it
* If you parry an attack, you get a 1/3 chance to riposte (2/3 for Long blade+Fencer's gloves)

I think this would make the gimmick more interesting in several ways:
* Instead of just some more damage it buffs your defense (when combined with SH)
* Non-Formicids get to to choose between upgrading to a two-handed blade, or fully profiting from the parry-before-block mechanic

The problem with defensively oriented weapons in DCSS is that DCSS has turns where you don't want to hit anything with weapons (you're running away or waiting for a teleport or just a pure caster). This sort of suggestion makes an entire weapon type into stat sticks, leading to more tedious weapon swapping and inventory clutter. Yes, riposte already has this problem to an extent, but that's not an excuse to make it even worse.

And taking a step back from that, your suggestion is pretty much just "mitigate the multi-hit SH penalty when the player is wielding this weapon type". Do you realize how obscure that SH penalty is in the first place? No unspoiled player is going to have a hope of figuring out how parrying differs from dodging. And some guy on the wiki is going to tell people to avoid long blades because they make reflection worse now.

I've seen many circumstances where players are saddened when they learn that shielding reduces chance to riposte. It's certainly a matter of perception because the actual impact is minimal and not worth worrying about, but people worry anyways because it's an aspect of the game that feels like a punish instead of a bonus. Can we please just eliminate that feeling, that potential misunderstanding (and balance around it if deemed necessary), by making both dodges AND blocks give a chance to riposte? Or something similar like checking both every attack and riposting if you would have dodged (re: the other thread - why are there two again?).