A Compromise between action and tab target combat systems. Getting only the best from both!
I want to adress the issue i believe the design team is facing in the coming weeks and months, wich is deciding the final form of combat we will have in the game. As you may already know, the goal with Ashes of Creation, is to have a mixed tab target and action combat system, with different skills implementing one or the other system. I believe that Intrepid has a very talented and ambitious team, and they will try their best to create something special in the MMORPG genre.
However, in my opinion this task is in and of itself a huge pill to swallow. In this short writing, i want to suggest an interesting idea, wich i believe would be best suited for the game Steven and the team is trying to make, and it would add a great deal of skill involved in pvp, while at the same time, maintaining the ease of design, and better performance wich tap target offers.
First of all, i want to adress why i think this is a main issue. One of the fundamental design choices Steven and the team made, is that when you swing your sword, you will hit multiple enemies at the same time. If you want to implement this type of swing, you have to implement some sort of action combat with hit boxes and such. But it also has a drawback in large scale action combat only mmos, wich is mainly lagg, ping and the amount of processing the servers have to go through to achive a well optimized and fair action combat system for players playing all around the world (Which will never happen becaouse of ping and lagg issues)
On the other side of the spectrum, we have tab target systems, wich are easier on the servers, and that is extremly important on 250 versus 250 pvp, and generally any scenario, where a large amount of playerbase are present at the same place fighting. The main issue with an only tap target system, is that its boring. Not because its old, but because its limiting the character in a way. For example among other things, you cant just swing your sword wherever you like (Wich gives you a great sense of freedom), but you need a target.
So where is the fine line between the two? I believe i have the answer for that, and i want you to hear me out.
- Intrepid should make all melee basic attacks with every weapon “action combat like”(you can press attack without the need of a target, and can hit multiple mobs at the same time)
- Intrepid should make and design all skills (Excluding aoe abilities and alike), and ranged basic attacks with tap target.
This would combine the best from both systems. Having a melee basic attack wich you can use freely will grant you the feeling of freedom of movement and attack, while the main damage source, the skills, and also ranged basic attacks would use tap target to ease server performance, and both the design and the balance of skills and fights (Excluding like area of effect skills).
This would theoretically make ranged archetypes better suited for single target damage burst, while melee arcehtypes would have better multi target damaging capabalities but Intrepid could of course easily balance this with granting more area of effect skills for ranged archetypes.
Regarding the state of basic melee attacks, i also have another idea wich could deepen the skill level, and would deepen the melee combat in a good way.
- Intrepid should keep the freedom of movement while using melee basic attacks (This would be a light attack type with less damage)
- Intrepid should also keep the locked animation variation with the following changes:
o Make the speed and attack pattern of the forward movement maintained and slowed throughout the whole animation
o Provide this type of attack with additional damage
o Give every 4th swing a knock back effect.
Also, every weapon type should have different attack speed, and different length of knock back.
Why is this important? The first reason, is that it will emphasize different style of melee combat use for different scenarios. If you want the highest damage possible for a stationary object, you will use the locked animation variation. But if the fighting emphasizes quick movement, you will use the “lighter variation” with free movement while attacking. Are you chasing a running enemy? use light basic attack. Are you pvp-ing, and want to knock back the enemy before it hits you with a skill? Use “heavy attack”. The variations are endless (Especially if you consider adding other effects to every 4th swing, for example cast cancellation or faint).
What are your thoughts on this? I would appreciate every feedback .
