It seems basically everything is cooldown based, with no actual resource system. Is this true or am I missing something? I know that warriors have that mechanic where they built up a resource for a cooldown, but that seems about it.
It seems basically everything is cooldown based, with no actual resource system. Is this true or am I missing something? I know that warriors have that mechanic where they built up a resource for a cooldown, but that seems about it.
There used to be an energy system, but they scrapped it.
Many classes have a pseudo-resource system as their special class mechanic though.
The Thief has what pretty much amounts to an energy system all well. 10 points, each skill except the first costs a certain amount of points and you generate a point per second or something like that, because of that limitation none of their skills have a cd.
-Malgus playing the MesmerI haven't enjoyed myself this much since the sacking of Coruscant!
Quoting from the mass info thread (sticky):
Thief
While other professions rely on recharge rate for their weapon skills in combat, thieves rely on Initiative. Thieves have ten points of Initiative to use, and they gain back one point every second. Weapon skills cost Initiative points, but they have no recharge time, so thieves can use them back-to-back. This allows the thief to keep their options open at all times or unleash a rapid flurry of powerful attacks.
Warrior
Adrenaline makes the warrior more powerful, increasing his damage output with every attack while powering up his burst skill. Each weapon set has a single designated burst skill which a warrior can trigger by spending all his built-up adrenaline to unleash a powerful attack. The warrior can use his burst skill at any time, but the more adrenaline stages he has filled, the more devastating his attack will be. Some burst skills apply more and varying conditions while others simply do more damage.
Necromancer
Life Force
Life force is a special type of energy used by a necromancer. Once he reaches a certain life force threshold, a necromancer can activate Death Shroud (see below), entering a spirit form and leaving his body behind. Each of his weapon sets have skills that give a necromancer life force, and he gains an even larger amount of life force for kills that happen nearby. Finally, there are utility skills that build up life force, like Ghost Armor, a skill that improves a necromancer's armor and adds life force every time he takes damage.
Death Shroud
Death Shroud is a special ability--usable by a necromancer at any time--that utilizes his life force as a secondary health bar. With the ability to tap into Death Shroud, necromancers are certainly one of the most durable professions in Guild Wars 2.
And of course there's pets, attunements, virtues, kits...
You're correct, there really isn't traditional resource systems in GW2 you won't have to worry about mana or building rage, but their are cooldowns, and class mechanics, but class mechanics are more like extra abilities that rely on their own resource, but these are also more like cooldowns than anything, building up to a certain threshold and knowing when to use them.
-Armor is a resource.
-My "Chop" attack is a resource.
-Being able to throw a mug at someone's head in a bar brawl is a resource.
However, we're not talking about that. We're talking about resources akin to WoW's "Holy Power" or a Warrior's "Rage" bar. If you want to talk about utilities, then there are countless threads on them, but for the sake of this thread, we're talking about what pretty much every thread in GW2G has covered.
OnTopic: GW2 has a great resource system (only from what I've seen, it could actually be crap for all I know). I'm pretty glad they scrapped the whole energy thing too. I'm also glad they just replaced wit with a bar that pretty much tells you when your dodge ability is available to you. Resources in GW2 seems to be essential for some professions whereas for others it's more of a convenience. Take warriors; Adrenaline can really give you the upper hand in combat, but it doesn't dictate how your profession is played entirely, which makes me VERY happy. I hate to use WoW as an example, but I'm going to...because it's related: Paladins got their Holy Power resource system in Cataclysm, which IMO, was a terrible step in their design. If you've ever played retribution in 4.0 then you'd know what I mean. Everything you did as ret felt controlled by your resource. The amount of RNG it created was monstrous, and annoying. I have high hopes that ANet will not make the same mistake.
TL;DR: No dictating resource systems, plz. No one likes to feel controlled by them to a point where they're looking at their resource bar more than their abilities and utilities.
They said they were working on an attrition system for long battles though.
Wonder how that would work out. I could see a system of Battle Scars or maybe even call it Combat Fatigue where over time in combat damage taken slowly reduces your max HP till you either die or manage to stay out of combat for a bit. A quick and dirty approach would be 1% of the damage you take is this semiperminant damage. Over a protracted battle this slowly accumulates till you "Colapse from your wounds" AKA your max HP droped so low you got into burst range. If you manage to get out of combat for 10seconds or so your combat fatigue begins to rapidly regenerate, it also regenerates completely if you are defeated and forced to respawn but not if downd/rallied. Not perfect but it would force an eventual conclusion to a stalemate battle where neither side can quite finish the other off.
Who is John Galt?
most spells are CD based, But special spells use resources such as life force for necros, warriors have rage(duh) rogues have energy(duh),guardians have these special "virtues" which they can keep for themselves or use on allis.as far as i know elementalist, mesmers,engineers, and hunters dont have any special resources. this could change or i could be wrong.
If you're counting Guardian Virtues as a resource, then elementalists and engineers both have to manage cooldowns. Ele's have to manage their elemental selection and Engineers have to manage their special ability cooldown. Necros have to manage their Life Force bar as well, as it applies greatly to their survive-ability in any confrontation. Rangers have to manage their pets, although I wouldn't really call that a resource. Mesmers are the only ones I really can't comment on. I definitely fall on the side that managing cooldowns is enough, and makes a comfortable replacement to having to constantly manage a resource. I really enjoy that the Thief doesn't have to worry about CDs as well as a resource.
It is pretty glorious.
The question's been answered really. Initiative, Adrenaline, Life Force, Virtues etc. will be things you'll want to manage if you're playing at a high skill level, but they shouldn't be restrictive on your playstyle; that's why the Anet team got rid of energy (which became your dodge bar). They didn't want you to be staring at your energy bar to see if you can have fun. Managing resources isn't fun (I don't know how healers don't ragequit more often), interacting with the encounter and the environment is what's fun about an MMO, the less micromanaging the average player has to do the better for everyone.
Secondary resources should be fun mechanics, but they shouldn't restrict your playstyle. Initiative is probably the most restrictive, but it's counterbalanced by no cooldowns on your abilities, which means you probably have far greater burst potential with your attacks, which makes sense with a highly mobile, squishy profession. Get in, hurt them as bad as you can, and get out.
Last edited by GrodinLB; 2012-01-19 at 04:23 PM.
Resurrected Holy Priest
I just don't get the appeal, I played a druid and I actually thought being a tree would be the best spec for me, I went bear/cat/moonkin so fast my head spun. Staring at grid and my mana bar was mind numbing.
Aaaaanyway... enough bashing healers (and indirectly the trinity system). I like how the combat for GW2 looks, and taking resource management to a purely 'this is more fun' level than it is a necessity is good design. Fluidity is a major theme for this game, and not having to stop to wait for resources (or being really bursty if that's your playstyle!!!) is a welcome change to the genre.
A mana/energy bar is like saying you can only use a special move 3 times in a fighting button masher game. When some major mechanics are punitive by default it's hard to derive enjoyment from them. While some people might enjoy resource management, I think that GW2 is offering enough of a varied set of professions that anyone can find a niche. It's not like you're unable to heal/buff your compatriots, you'll just be doing it in an active manner, you'll have ro react to your environment and you'll have to multi-task. Choosing when to use a healing skill or cross-profession combo will be the choice; instead of choosing your class and just smashing your face on the keyboard.
Great design ideas from Anet. We just need to see if they follow-through with a great product (and I think with my enthusiasm I'm leaning towards guessing it'll be a great game).
Like I said, it takes a kind of person. I had loads of fun with it (Less on a Druid, but that's because Priests are so awesome. I'll also be making a Support-heavy Guardian.
I think you can get it here.
Resurrected Holy Priest