Core combat fantasy

ichihaifu

I've been following Ashes since early kickstarter, and even pledged support at one point during 2017.

Mostly I've been content on sitting on the sideline and simply waiting for the day when idea is realized and released for us players, without spending too much time thinking about it.
However, as the game has become a very hot topic again and the team have more and more to show for their efforts, I've wanted to raise my voice as well (sorry if it has been discussed and thrown around a million times already): I'm hoping that you guys in Intrepid have studied every aspect of every possible MMO that has been before you in terms of combat. Steven already pointed out during AMA's and streamer interviews that he is aware that getting combat correct is extremely important.

I just wanted to stress this more than anything in the game. I've seen and heard a lot of "fluidity" and "responsiveness" thrown around in regards to combat, and that has raised some concern for me as I've also played games where both are good, but the overall fantasy had not supported the combat:
- Sounds, feedback from impacts, elemental effects from gathering powers during cast, screeches and echoes of undead and elementals brought forth by the player.
- Visuals must be balanced to match the outcome of any spell cast or attack thrown at enemies.

I think one of my biggest gripes out of dev streams and presentation videos must have been the fireball spell cast. The animation (that kind of an air pirouette) does not look like something a caster would do in middle of combat, just to throw a small fireball projectile at an enemy. The fireball simply feels weak because of it. Now if we imagine the element of fire being focused and shaped in the form of a ball by the caster, that would lend so much more credibility to the outcome of said action.
Another example to give would be handling, impacts and speed of two handed hammer to demonstrate the stopping power of a large mass of an object being thrown around. A warrior bringing down hammer on a smaller enemy should be a subject of making said enemy fumble, stun or otherwise feel the impact. Now this brings up concerns about game balance, but I wont get in to that as I believe you guys have a good grasp on that already.

Each of the above aspects has to support the others without overthrowing them. Holy trinity of sorts, or a three legged chair.

I'm personally a fan of combat in World of Warcraft the most out of several MMO's I've tried, meaning tab target game style is my preferred one. However I also find tons of enjoyment in Guild Wars 2 combat, which is a bit of an intermediate between tab target and action combat. In both games, I can thoroughly immerse myself in the combat as the experience has been crafted in such a great detail, and you can really feel the passion behind people creating both. Admittedly there are problems in both games that manage to create flaws the immersion, but that's another topic.

Again, apologies for the somewhat lengthy post and in case the topic has been brought up before. Thanks for all the effort so far Intrepid, I hope you can deliver on the vision!

Xrael

That was pre alpha combat, essentially the very very bare bones version of it. If you want to see how fluid the action combat part of the game is, there are several videos of apoc on youtube that showcases it.

Also, combat will most likely be fully fledged out by beta 1 and 2. So we are still a solid 1.5 years away from seeing the complete combat system.