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Mana Regen Ability problem (Possible fix?)

KesarakkKesarakk Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
Disclaimer: I have only tested the cleric and the mage. I have not tried the tank, but if they also have a mana regen skill then you can add them here.

First off, I want to say I like the direction of the combat. It is visually and audibly satisfying. When you're attacking you can feel yourself making a difference on the battlefield. When creatures are attacking you, you fear dying from them. Boss attacks are strong, forcing you to take evasive actions and consciously focus on where you should be standing at all times. This is the exact direction combat needs to take. With the love letter out of the way, here is what I've found involving Mana Regen.

Second disclaimer: I'm aware that these are the base 3 Archetypes with many changes ahead of them, especially once secondary Archetypes are introduced to create a class. However, this post is meant to be a warning of sorts for a potential issue I see.

I started on Mage to try something new (I've always been a healer). I found it interesting that they had a mana regen ability and it made sense to work it into a "rotation" to make sure you weren't just swinging your wand for five minutes. When I switched to cleric, I noticed that they also had a regen ability, but more powerful because it also offered healing.

While Mana Regen abilities can be useful for certain Archetypes, especially your glass cannons like a Mage, having "everyone" use a similar ability makes it not so special. If this game were a full release and not an Alpha, I would find this a flaw in not only class design, but also combat in general. If "all" classes have to use a mana regen ability, it begs the question of why is there a huge mana problem? For me, this is the polar opposite, but no less boring, of having a mana resource bar that doesn't deplete in a meaningful way (Such as Frost Mages in retail WoW).

My second problem with this, as I stated in the first paragraph, is an issue with combat. If "all" classes are losing mana faster than monster NPCs/players are dying, this tells me the combat is going too fast. Yes, this is an Alpha and yes balances will be coming in future tests, but I wanted to make this clear: Going OOM midway through every fight is a sign of poor design. Going OOM forces players to slow down their attacks to conserve that mana while at the same time putting stress on healers who are having to endure longer fights. This isn't good. DPS are aggravated that they can't do the damage they want and healers are rocking back and forth in their chairs in fear of getting blamed for not keeping a group alive.

In short, mana is the bread and butter of most, if not all, RPG-style games with a trinity system. It is a delicate balance, but an important one for any game to master. Give players too much mana, or abilities that don't drain the resource properly, and players lose a certain amount of fear in combat. Having all abilities take too much mana away and you run the risk of players not interested in combat because it isn't satisfying. Both spell death for a game, especially one as important and beautiful as Ashes of Creation.


So, how do we fix this? There are many solutions, but I'll offer mine based on what I've seen during recorded videos, streams, and discussions around combat in general.


Basic Attack Combos

A couple of years ago, during a development stream, we got our first look into the tab target/action combat hybrid system. In that video, we saw these attacks with skill checks. Since then, the game has been updated and the skill checks are no longer in the system. These skill checks are a point of controversy due to players arguing over too much attention to basic attacks v.s. ability CDs and rotations.

When I saw the mana issue, I thought about the basic attacks and the repeat abilities among the Archetypes. This is my suggested "fix" for both of these problems.

Remove ALL Mana Regen abilities and introduce the skill checks for weapons again and tie them into Mana Regen. You can still spam your "Q" or "LMB", depending on which mode you're in if you desire. You'll still regain mana, but at a slower pace. Landing skill checks for the combo will help you regen faster so you can use those satisfying abilities more often.

The skill checks will serve two purposes:

1. Combat will now have a natural flow to it. Players can still spam their abilities if they want, but the combat becomes awkward very fast when a raid leader yells for them to burn an add, or finish off the last 1% of the boss's health before the next phase starts. With skill checks, players can still be active in a fight while still having access to their abilities when they need them.
2. Players become incentivized to use basic attacks rather than making it the "Push this button when out of spells/mana". To me, this is the perfect way to avoid "damage meters" and focus on pure skill. Players will have to learn to balance their abilities, positioning, mana resource, and basic attacks while following boss/creature mechanics. Any raid leader worth their salt will pick up on this right away and know who is pulling their weight and who is playing one-handed.

Final Note: I love Ashes of Creation and so excited to continue testing this game. This post is meant only to share my observations. More than that, I want to offer a potential solution to those observations. I hope I've come across that way and have no desire to be harsh or cruel to Intrepid Studios. I support you guys and want to do my part as a tester to help you succeed in making one of the best MMORPGs we've seen in the last 15-20 years.

Cheers!
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