Weapon Bonding
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The Combat Maneuver Weapon Bonding allows a Warrior to form a spiritual connection with a single weapon. This bond imbues the weapon with additional powers, and adds +2 to Attack Strength and Combat Maneuver skills, per rank. These bonuses stack with those granted by the prerequisite, Specialization.
How To Bond
To choose the weapon, you need to be holding your desired weapon type, visit a holy shrine, and CMAN BOND PRAY. After bonding to a new weapon, the Warrior's spirit is set to 1.
Bonding Messaging
>kneel You kneel down. >cman bond pray You have already bonded yourself to a weapon at some time in the past. If you form a new bond, the old bond will be lost. If you wish to form a new bond use CMAN BOND PRAY CONFIRM to proceed. >cman bond pray confirm You hold your eahnor-spiked maul up in offering and mutter some prayers to Kai. After a moment of silence, a steely silver shaft of light springs forth from your eahnor-spiked maul and bathes you in its glow. Images of the eahnor-spiked maul from its moment of creation to the present flash before your eyes in quick succession. As the images and shaft of light fade away, you feel heavily drained but somehow more spiritually attuned to the eahnor-spiked maul.
The Bonding Process
When a Warrior trains in the Weapon Bonding CMAN skill, there is no immediate benefit. The bonding process requires extensive use of the weapon; the effects do not appear immediately upon learning the skill. Instead, the number of ranks the warrior has gained in Bonding acts as a ceiling to the available benefits.
Bonding Experience Requirements
As a Warrior earns experience with the weapon, the bond periodically strengthens. Thanks to research by Brute [1] it has been determined that the amount of experience required to advance to the next rank is equal to the Rank# * 100 same-level critter kills. E.g., a level 50 character would need to kill the equivalent of one hundred level 50 critters to advance to Rank 1. Advancement to Rank 2 would require an additional 200 same-level kills, etc. The cumulative total required to advance to Rank 5 is 1500 SLKs worth of experience (see table).
Note: It is not necessary for the warrior to actually inflict the killing blow as long as they are credited with the experience.
Typing CMAN BOND INFO with the weapon in hand will report a message that corresponds with the current level of bonding.
Bonding Bonuses
A bonded weapon provides +2 to AS and CML skills for each level of bonding the Warrior has achieved. In addition to the AS and other bonuses, the skill also enables a series of special 'effect' abilities, one per level. A warrior that has achieved 5 levels of bonding is fully bonded to his or her weapon; the weapon will then return to the warriors hand in about 5 seconds if it is forcibly removed.
Rate of Bonding Flares
CMAN BOND SET allows the user to choose a specific bonding flare. According to research by Gnimble[2], special bonding 'flares' are not random, and happen on a regular basis. After a specific number of swings (increasing with bonding level), the weapon will flare.
Non-standard attacks, like those from the Combat Maneuver List, MSTRIKE, V'tull's Fury (1718), and as of right now, UAC, suppress bonding flares, but the attacks continue to add to this count. Suppose, for example, a warrior was set to rank 4 flares, which occur every 10 swings, and was 3 swings away from the next flare. If that warrior were to then berserk, and swing 15 times, the next two regular attacks would result in bonding flares.
Weapon Bonding Table
| Bonding Level | Effect | Combat Message | CMAN BOND INFO message | Swings between Bonding Flares | Same-Level Kills Required | Cumulative Same-Level Kill Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | N/A | N/A | The connection is largely untested. | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | An attack that cannot be outright blocked or parried. (Ignores Block/Parry - Evade is still possible) | As you attack, your {weapon} seems to tug at your hand, as if subtly guiding your strike! | The connection is still fresh and new. | 4 | 100 | 100 |
| 2 | An attack that does extra damage upon a successful hit. | You feel your {weapon} focus itself upon your foe, giving additional force to your strike! | You feel that your connection is strong. | 6 | 200 | 300 |
| 3 | An attack that is harder to defend against. (Lowers DS) | As you attack, your {weapon} shifts your strike slightly downward to take advantage of an opening in your foe's defenses! | It is a tried and true friend. | 8 | 300 | 600 |
| 4 | An attack that is quicker than normal. (Lowers RT by 1) | As you attack, you and your {weapon} seem to move together in perfect tandem, making your strike feel almost effortless! | It is almost an extension of your own body. | 10 | 400 | 1000 |
| 5 | An attack that strikes your opponent twice. | You feel your {weapon} straining back towards your foe! Taking advantage of this, you manage to effortlessly reverse your momentum and strike again! | There is no doubt of the pure spiritual connection you share with it. | 12 | 500 | 1500 |