Blunderbuss
 

Here is my suggestions for abilities for a blunderbuss. A blunderbuss was shorter than a musket but longr than a pistol. They were commonly used by pirates. Although I doubt that they will be put into the game do to the fact that they arn't very well known, I can always dream.
Lv1
Shoot
Lead Shot
Lv2
Scatter Shot (like a shotgun)
Lv4
Bash (mele attack)
Lv6
Blind (cooldown attack that works like throw dirt or smoke grenade)
Lv 8
Shrapnel Shot (hit enemy and damages those nearby)
Lv10
Incendiary Shot (burns enemy)
Lv12
Hardieness (ranged attacks do less damage to you)
Lv14
Precise Aim (Your ranged attacks do less damage)
Lv17
Point Blank (cooldown attack that does alot of damage but at close range)
Lv20
Magnum Shot (does mre damage but is more easily doged)

The blunderbuss invented by the Dutch, was an early form of the shotgun, it was designed for military, and defensive use. It as described above was about 1/3 the size of a musket (approximately 16"), and a little bigger than a pistol. The barrel flares out at the muzzle, which is one of the defining features of the blunderbuss, the flare was designed to ease the task of loading. We often see pilgrim pictures with these firearms although this is not very factual as records show that the pilgrims had very few of these firearms at thier disposal. It only used for "Scattershot" as a matter of fact, which consisted of multiple pieces of leadshot. The spread of leadshot made this one of the more devasting weapons of the era, as long as the battle was close range.

If anything it would likely need to be another pistol upgrade.

There are many weapons of the era not in the game to be sure, and some that are in the game that were not such voodoo dolls/staffs which are added to support the movie magic storyline.

I would like the idea of adding choices for example, "You have earned a firearm, which type do you prefer?" and offer choices to pirates. I dont think we need more than one firearm in the game, pistol for me is actually one of the hardest (aside from grenades) to master.

Definately an interesting choice of weapons :)

wow zep.very uhhh....educational

Pardon my ignorance. I had a couple books with short descriptions of a blunderbuss some said they were like shotguns some didn't. I like the idea about choosing your firearm, because I think the in-game pistols are unrealistic and I would prefer something with a bit more... kick.

Yep, the pistol is hard for me to level too, at least in the various early levels. Like grenades, I make a point to get ahead when leveling it, though I don't just head straight for 25.

As is, I think the weapon scape is balanced in multiple ways: for one, I think the point is to have two voodoo weapons, two melee, two gunpowder, etc. For another, it'd be hard to implement a new weapon into the game without upsetting current blance as relates to damage and all.

I think a better idea is to implement the idea that someone else had: to introduce various builds of the weapons (passives matching). Since no enemy out there has a pistol, I suppose the trainer for a build could be one of the gunpowder shop owners.

Kitfisto, was not my intention to indicate any ignorance. Not at all, just to further identify what you'd referred to for better understanding by all. The pistols in the game (Appearance wise) are actually quite accurate for the era, and to the movie script. Pirates were marooned with a flintlock pistol, and 1 shot (in theory to put themselves out of thier own misery).

As for something with a bit more kick, the quested pistols raise the fire power bar for sure. Purchase the double barrel pistol to make it even more effective (until you can quest for the upgraded tri-barrels)

The blunderbuss definately was a weapon of this era, and likely pirates did carry them, as they dealt a devasting blow to anyone in front of them.

To level your pistol easier.......charge up take aim and let go as soon as you can (don't fully charge). This should get you close to 100 rep depending on the enemy.

To level you grenades easier.......I prefer going to the catacombs and glitching into the wall. By doing this you can earn over 400 rep for every round of enemies depending on the grenades that you use (lvl of nades doesn't matter as long as your not spending skill points). I went from lvl 20-25 in an hour to 2 hours of this. This is one of the reasons I just laugh when people think the KH fence was so important....or that tormenta is the only place to lvl after lvl 20.

edit: the nade trick works for staff too. I also know they fixed the old way but......theres more than 1 approach to most situations.

When I said the pistols were inacurate, I did not make myself clear. The pirates in the game reload their pistols impossibly fast. They would have to clean the barrel, pour in the powder, put in the shot, ram the shot in, prime the pistol and fire. I probubly left a step or two out, if I did feel free to correct me. Pirates of that era would usually carry multiple pistols, load them before a battle, then not reload them until after the battle. Muskets and blunderbusses, on the other hand, would be reloaded multiple times during a battle. They took the same ammount of time, but were more powerful and had more range. As for my comment about ignorance, I did not think you were trying to correct me, I was just saying I hadn't looked it up in a while. I am sorry for any lapses in my communication.

It's mostly "hard" because of the enmies I can't use it on. And I had great fun leveling the grenades at Kingshead--no complaints there. But thanks anyway!