G0dsend

So I guess part of the issue here is that other melee weapons can reliably chain these staggers on a zombie until it is dead. Spear cannot because it is unreliable with regular attacks, and power attacks remove the weapon from your inventory. (Not to mention less accurate as a projectile)

Go power attack a zombie in the head with a bone knife. They will stagger.

Background to inform my point of view for feedback: I have played consistently with 1-2 Friends since alpha 13 about. I am typically the perception looter role, while my other friend that I consistently play with takes the builder role. We play on insane difficulty. First suggestion: While it may seem weird to buff lucky looter after it got nerfed, the suggestion I am making doesn't buff the power of the skill (the area it was nerfed it) it more has to do with buffing the player role that this skill is so pivotal in playing. As the looter I typically fall behind in experience to the players that build or farm materials for building. Upgrading blocks and eating rocks gives far more experience that killing zombies, and usually players will have exp share turned on for the overall cooperative experience. This is such a drastic difference that I often have 1000 zombies kills they have 300 and they are still twice my level. Additionally, when you play video games cooperatively, everyone still wants a piece of that serotonin you get from opening loot containers. So, having a player that should be opening all the containers to get the better loot for the group deprives their teammates of some of the fun innate to playing videogames. (The same issue plagued a similar skill in the game Divinity 2) So, I suggest two changes the lucky looter skill... one is the same fix that divinity made to their version of the skill... make the loot quality increase an aura for yourself and nearby party members. This makes it so while you are solo you are fulfilling your role, but when you are looting a poi with your team, you never deprive them of that joy of looting containers. (This does not need to apply to loot speed) The second change, is to make the skill provide a small boost to the experience gained for opening containers. (Again should not be part of the aura) This is to help the experience gain of looters fall more in line with those who spend their time hammering walls or smashing rocks. Second suggestion: Make The Huntsman Perk require less investment in fortitude or move it to agility and give fortitude a new harvesting perk, Rationale: no other harvesting perk (Miner 69er, Mother Load, Living off the Land, Salvage Operations) requires as much investment in their attribute as The Huntsman. To make that more perplexing, harvesting animals is made more efficient by using bladed weapons, which fall under the agility attribute for scaling, and tracking animals falls under perception..... Getting the most use and skill in hunting animals for your party requires a pretty steep attribute investment that results in a significant overlap in the skillsets of said party members.... Just doesn't make much sense. Thematically, I think the skills are all where they belong. But mechanically, it is too many points to create the animal hunter role. Realistically, I think this can be fixed by making the Huntsman only requiring 5 points in Fortitude or moving it to Agility with a 7 point requirement in Agility. That said, if moved to agility fortitude would need a replacement skill to maintain fortitudes civil role. Maybe the new water purification system that I am hearing about?

I think this showcases that spears are lacking compared to other melee weapons. I was creating an account to offer this feedback among a few other things. Keep in mind this feedback comes from a place where me and 1-2 other friends have consistently played on insane difficulty servers since alpha 13? I am typically the looter role, while my other friend that I consistently play with takes the builder role. Spears are lackluster compared to the other melee weapons. I mean lackluster in the way that I keep trying to give them a chance because I am a heavy perception build and it makes the most sense to try and make them work, but I always inevitably discard them in favor of knives. This in my opinion has less to do with damage and more to do with two factors... 1: The weakness of throwing that has been mentioned. Throwing a spear 100% is a risk and puts you at a disadvantage especially on insane difficulty where you will not one shot the zombie. Even more so when the movements can be erratic and the hitboxes questionable. You can have perfect aim and will still occasionally miss. Not even considering when there are multiple zombies. I was thinking like the OP a mod that allowed you to return the spear to your inventory would be flavorful and balanced. Again only as a mod not as a base weapon mechanic. Though game mechanics wise. The multiple charges would probably feel the best as the spear is supposed to be a melee weapon with ranged capabilities, and this would make it feel in line with the bow which it has the most similarities with. (Perception and agility already have a strong synergy) In response to the response of just don't throw the spear in those situations.... why give a weapon an ability that generally speaking skilled players won't choose to use? It only serves as a trap for newer players, and those skilled players will probably choose to use a better weapon... 2: The second reason the spear is lack luster is showcased in the weapons that I think are generally the best melee weapons.... Sledgehammers, Knives, Clubs, Fists, Batons, and then Spears... in that order. On Insane difficulty where zombies will take multiple hits, the enrage is inevitable. When a zombie enrages the increased range of a spear means nothing unless your using structures to cheese them. Furthermore spears have a higher stamina cost then and least fists and knives. The thing that all of those weapons have that spears do not, the thing that helps against an enraged zombie.... Reliable crowd control. Sledgehammers knock down (if they don't outright kill), knives have a guaranteed stagger on power attacks, a snare, and a damage over time. Clubs and fists have a high chance of stagger, knockdown, and dismemberment with fast attack speeds and manageable stamina. Spear might stagger briefly every few hits. I think the throw needs to have a high chance to knockdown or a 100% snare. Especially since you need to retrieve your spear. 3. (Additional thought) My latest attempt to give spears a chance came from the fact that I might be able to use it as an alternative to the bow for sneak attacks and clearing POIs quietly solo.... So maybe buff the sneak damage multiplier on the spear since as previously mentioned there is already a high degree of synergy between perception and agility. I would say the multiplier should not be the same as a knife. Maybe closer to that of a bow. (Might be balanced since bow has higher base damage than a spear? . . . Not sure with power attack)