*The idea of a weapon editor is interesting, but somewhat difficult to do (other than simple color change). If it were to be pursued, balance would be the first concern. Perhaps options such as sacrificing blocking defense and/or offensive power for added range? Intriquing as the concept may be, it may be best left for a much later installment...
Allow me to explain the idea in more detail;
With the weapon editor, you choose a character, which you can then select one of that character's existing weapons as a template, or design a new weapon for the character based on his/her weapon style. In the Weapon Editor screen, you can modify the weapon's appearance, including (among other things);
- The size of the weapon (you can make it larger or smaller; making the weapon larger could aid the use of Guard Impacts and Justs, but may slow the character down in terms of offense)
- The design of the blade, handle etc. (this may influence the overall attack power of the weapon)
- The weight of the weapon (may affect how much damage can be inflicted and attack speeds; making the weapon lighter can allow the character to move and strike faster but inflict less damage, while making the weapon heavier would mean the character may not attack or move around as fast but can inflict more damage)
- The length of the blade, handle, pole etc. (making the weapon longer may help attack opponents from further away, but could make the character vulnerable to counters and Guard Impacts)
- The colour or pattern that the weapon has
Once you are happy with the design of the weapon, you can then set the stats of the weapon. The default stats for new weapons are;
Attack: 100 (max limit 250)
Defence: 50 (max limit 200)
HP: 30 (max limit 100)
Power: 0 (max limit 100)
Impact: 0 (max limit 100)
Boost: 0 (max limit 100)
Guage: 0 (max limit 100)
Special: 0 (max limit 100)
You have a certain amount of points with which you can spend on increasing stats. Increasing a stat by 5 costs 1 point, while you gain back 1 point by decreasing a stat by 5. Initially, you have 25 points to spend on stats or abilities, but you can increase the number of points you can spend by clearing Story mode with a character, clearing Tower of Souls, obtaining Honours and other milestones. Once you are happy with the stats, you may choose to spend any remaining points on purchasing a native ability; the costs of each ability depend on effect grade (grade C would cost less than grade A) and how powerful the ability is in general. So Nullify Ring Out would probably cost more than, for example, Quick Feet to purchase and apply to the weapon. Once you are happy with your design, you can then store your design, which will become available as you play normally. Each character would have up to four slots with which to design and save your creations for use in normal play.
I hope I have explained this idea the best I can, and that you get the gist of how the weapon editor would work.