Combat system - Was able to play a bit of beta.

[Deleted]

Hey. So I just gone done playing about 2 hours of the beta after a long while of waiting through disconnects and crashes. The beta seems to be playing a bit better and the fps lag is slightly more tolerable, though still a pain. I've followed a little bit of guild wars 2 before I played and now that I have played some, I have a question. Where is the interesting combat? I get it, dodges and stuff. That's good, but I heard that there wasn't an auto attack and you had to aim spells. Perhaps I'm missing something and for that I apologies, but hearing TB talk about how he doesn't want another wow like MMO to play and how he was thrilled at how gw2 was handling combat, I'm left surprised. It's auto attack, use a CD and dodge. Wasn't gw2 supposed to be able aiming spells? I mean, I thought it was like AOC (From my knowledge of AoC) where each press of a button casts a spell and you have to aim it. For example, a warrior with an axe, you click the spell, aim it and he hacks in the direction you're facing. It's not like that, I'm just doing what I did in wow, the same old. Autoattack and auto target. That reminds me, an example TB gave was 'You can't just press 2 and arcane missles fly straight towards your target like heat seeking missles' but it seems my Necromancers axes never miss.

Enlighten me, please.

[Rawt]

Hey. So I just gone done playing about 2 hours of the beta after a long while of waiting through disconnects and crashes. The beta seems to be playing a bit better and the fps lag is slightly more tolerable, though still a pain. I've followed a little bit of guild wars 2 before I played and now that I have played some, I have a question. Where is the interesting combat? I get it, dodges and stuff. That's good, but I heard that there wasn't an auto attack and you had to aim spells. Perhaps I'm missing something and for that I apologies, but hearing TB talk about how he doesn't want another wow like MMO to play and how he was thrilled at how gw2 was handling combat, I'm left surprised. It's auto attack, use a CD and dodge. Wasn't gw2 supposed to be able aiming spells? I mean, I thought it was like AOC (From my knowledge of AoC) where each press of a button casts a spell and you have to aim it. For example, a warrior with an axe, you click the spell, aim it and he hacks in the direction you're facing. It's not like that, I'm just doing what I did in wow, the same old. Autoattack and auto target. That reminds me, an example TB gave was 'You can't just press 2 and arcane missles fly straight towards your target like heat seeking missles' but it seems my Necromancers axes never miss.

Enlighten me, please.

the aiming gimmick is Tera, iirc.

[Deleted]

the aiming gimmick is Tera, iirc.

So are you badly saying there is no aiming? Apart from dodging and combining attacks (fire wall + arrow) How is gw2 combat any different than wow? :/

[Ashnazg]

So are you badly saying there is no aiming? Apart from dodging and combining attacks (fire wall + arrow) How is gw2 combat any different than wow? :/

You can autoattack "air" and hit stuff around you (e.g. stealthed targets, etc).

Other than that, if you want a totally action oriented combat, the above poster was right, Tera has it handled much better than GW2.

[mafao]

So are you badly saying there is no aiming? Apart from dodging and combining attacks (fire wall + arrow) How is gw2 combat any different than wow? :/

IMHO, the difference is huge. Yes, it feels kind of like WoW, because you still target an enemy and use a hotkey to launch an ability. But this is just an interface (and a convenient one). The main point of the system is that you are not guaranteed to actually hit the enemy you are targeting. Another one could jump in front of it, or it could dodge or hide behind a tree etc. This is far more advanced than WoW. Its just the user interface which is the same.

[Zavri]

IMHO, the difference is huge. Yes, it feels kind of like WoW, because you still target an enemy and use a hotkey to launch an ability. But this is just an interface (and a convenient one). The main point of the system is that you are not guaranteed to actually hit the enemy you are targeting. Another one could jump in front of it, or it could dodge or hide behind a tree etc. This is far more advanced than WoW. Its just the user interface which is the same.

Which is strange because when I was pvping and running away from some necromancers, "Missle" abilities were flying in the air going thru terrain to hit me. Just like in WoW

[Tithonus]

Which is strange because when I was pvping and running away from some necromancers, "Missle" abilities were flying in the air going thru terrain to hit me. Just like in WoW

If you mean hills/ground I'd have to find a source to see if its consistent. Otherwise I recall watching greatsword wielding Mesmers in previous videos where the laser would track and appear to connect with the target, even though it appeared to go through objects it would not inflict damage with the message "Obstructed".

[Delias]

Tera has it handled much better than GW2.

Besides the whole 'rooted whenever you auto attack' in Tera. :P

But yes, there's a reason that 'super duper action combat' isn't GW2's main selling point, it's just an added bonus.
Just like how there is less voice acting while doing your personal story in GW2 than in SWTOR, because the voice acting is a feature not a main selling point.

(Also, not all attacks are homing missiles. Some are, but most travel in a straight line to where your target would be so if you're constantly moving side to side they can miss if the projectile is slow enough. Most of the projectiles are fast, though.)

[Deleted]

If you're standing behind something it will still hit the target but do no damage and say "obstructed"

[mafao]

Which is strange because when I was pvping and running away from some necromancers, "Missle" abilities were flying in the air going thru terrain to hit me. Just like in WoW

Well, my ranger arrows beg to differ Maybe the necro has some abilities which are indeed homing.

What really sets GW2 aside is that you can physically protect your mates from being hit. I can jump in with my guardian to take an arrow for a teammate.

[Valeron]

If you're standing behind something it will still hit the target but do no damage and say "obstructed"

Yep, it's how I avoid a lot of damage from the champion ranged mobs. works pretty well

[Deleted]

I was also thinking about the "no autoattack" my first ability was just that I hit it and it never stopped pumpin out axes, perhaps that's a bug? idk, like it so far anyway.

[Delias]

I was also thinking about the "no autoattack" my first ability was just that I hit it and it never stopped pumpin out axes, perhaps that's a bug? idk, like it so far anyway.

There is no auto white hit, but you can set any one skill on your bars to automatically cast off CD after you use it once.
Since 1 has no CD, if you hit 1 it will continue automatically using 1 every chance it gets.
Ctrl right click it if you would prefer to spam 1.

[Berethos08]

IMHO, the difference is huge. Yes, it feels kind of like WoW, because you still target an enemy and use a hotkey to launch an ability. But this is just an interface (and a convenient one). The main point of the system is that you are not guaranteed to actually hit the enemy you are targeting. Another one could jump in front of it, or it could dodge or hide behind a tree etc. This is far more advanced than WoW. Its just the user interface which is the same.

Sounds like how combat worked, to a degree, in GW1. I distinctly remember firing arrows with a Ranger there and missing because the mob moved out of the way.

[Malthurius]

Ctrl right click it if you would prefer to spam 1.

I wish that was clearer in game. I scanned the options for a while looking for a way to disable the auto cast on 1.

[rhandric]

I wish that was clearer in game. I scanned the options for a while looking for a way to disable the auto cast on 1.

There used to be a tooltip (see TB's videos) showing that, but I haven't seen it in my playtime...

[Zavri]

Another thing that was really annoying was the lack of "tells" in combat of what the enemy is using. Basically hard to see what spell people are using.

[Deleted]

OP here again. I have a question. Why on earth, when I set my 1 ability server artery to NOT autoattack and I spam 1, when I go up to a couple of mods I only hit the mob I'm targeting. This is a joke. The combat is barley different from wow. I'M WIELDING A MASSIVE SWORD and I hit only one NPC. I at least thought that it would work to where whichever direction you are facing in in combat is the person you attack. Say you are facing an NPC and attacking him and have him targeted and then got attack the npc behind you by turning in his direction, you can't hit him because you have your target on the other guy. This is a joke.

[Ishu]

OP here again. I have a question. Why on earth, when I set my 1 ability server artery to NOT autoattack and I spam 1, when I go up to a couple of mods I only hit the mob I'm targeting. This is a joke. The combat is barley different from wow. I'M WIELDING A MASSIVE SWORD and I hit only one NPC. I at least thought that it would work to where whichever direction you are facing in in combat is the person you attack. Say you are facing an NPC and attacking him and have him targeted and then got attack the npc behind you by turning in his direction, you can't hit him because you have your target on the other guy. This is a joke.

If you're only hitting one enemy then that's a bug, you're supposed to hit the enemies you're facing not just the one you target.

[Deleted]

If you're only hitting one enemy then that's a bug, you're supposed to hit the enemies you're facing not just the one you target.

Really? :O I've tested three characters and they all behave the same way. However I am targeting is the one I'm hitting, regardless of who I face.

Edit: I savage leaped onto 2 enemies, only 1 was damaged.