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Visibility of secondary weapon sets and magic

WestergardWestergard Member, Braver of Worlds, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
One of the things I dearly miss from old MMORPGs is the visibility of weaponry and spells.

Warrior in WoW were/are able of using a variety of melee weapons AND a bow for pulling or other purposes. And you could see that the warrior HAD A BOW equipped on their back. Same went for rogues with a bow or thrown weapon or hunters with their "statstick" clearly visible on their backs.

If you attacked a warrior you could immediately spot that the person would probably try to shoot you if you tried to run away, or a hunter would try to bash your face in with his melee abilities if you got into their ranged dead zone.
Removing those visuals was one of the worst crimes against visual recognition ever made.
(Of course that came with the total removal of related skills, dumbing down of the combat specs and removal of the secondary weapons in many cases...)

Since Ashes is going to work with multiple weapon sets as shown in the recent combat progress video where Steven shows off a greatsword wielding, dagger toting Py'rai I want to ask for the secondary weaponset to be visible. Please.
If I see an enemy charging at me I want to know if they have a shield or a bow or a wand or daggers. Changes a lot for my reaction and use of cooldowns and spells when fighting that person. I don't want to guess what else they have available to them until they magically pull a twohanded axe out of the void.

This is what I want, manly, (sweaty?), eptitome of visual recognition. Longsword, bow, quiver. Any orc would know they were screwed when they went up against Aragorn both from toe stepping range to arrow flight range.

Aragorn-lotr-lord-of-the-rings-37618609-2430-3591.jpg

If I see a mage running at me with a massive shield on his back and a wand I'll be able to make some educated guess to their playstyle. If I see a ranger pelting me with arrows while lugging daggers around I'm probably going to want to root them when I get close as I dodge arrows so they don't run away. Don't keep me guessing about the weapons other people carry, let me guess and strategize about what they'll do with the kit they have equipped! Plus the visuals are nice. Major/easy win for roleplay purposes and fashion wars.

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My second wish is for casters/classes with magical options to be able to pre-cast. And not in the "Cast your fireball 3 seconds before the pull" way but the Allods way.

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I know its tiny as hell but you can see the Priden mage here prepare his firebolt and have a VISIBLE red glowing orb on their wand (left hand) while running around. THIS IS AMAZING. Ice spells in that game would glow blue with crystals, lightning spells would be white with crackling energy, nature/poison spells were green, etc. Great recognition value and since every class only had 1-3 schools of magic you could sort of guess which spell that class had prepared from their list.
Warden coming at you with a blue sparkly orb? Probably lightning storm. Green orb? Definitely grasping roots.

This allowed mages to store a spell before combat or during combat when not targeting an enemy. It made you guess exactly WHAT firespell they prepared when fighting in pvp. Is it firewall? Is it meteor? Is it conflagrate? And then the mage would obliterate you with ice or lightning spells because you thought he was a fire mage. Or a firemage would prepare a cc like frost tomb beforehand so they could use it during a clutch moment. This also combats the incredible downside to playing a squishie clothie in PvP that drops to <20% HP the moment they get jumped or ambushed. Having the option to immediately cast a spell allows them to strike back immediately instead of fighting the kickback mechanic / immediate incoming interrupt while trying not to slam your keyboard and rain little plastic buttons around in your room.

I'd also like to advocate for magical visibility being uniform for elemental spells.
People should know when they are going to get their face melted by a fire spell or frozen by a water spell by the color and effects. Though for deity derived magic (clerics / spells derived from the religion systems) or arcane magics it could be cool if you could alter the color.

It doesn't matter if you get healed by leafy green light or glowy holy light. It makes the cleric stand out and shows what kind of deity they serve. It's cool. It's roleplay value. And if a bladecaller slices you up with bright teal magic swords or sugary pink swords? You still die. And they are still swords. Allowing people to customize these would add a lot of fashion value to the game.

Comments

  • ElderElder Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited July 2022
    Back slots include:

    Ranged weapon.
    Shield.
    Cloak.
    Accessory (backpack etc).

    Belt (hip) slots include:

    Melee weapon (2 slots - one on each side).
    Potion, pouch, scroll.

    There'll be a priority system behind that that'll determine... do I show the Bow if the Greatsword is unequipped or do I show the Polearm if the Greatsword is unequipped. – Jeffrey Bard

    https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Items_on_back_and_belt
    Which is the greater folly, summoning the demon or expecting gratitude from it?
  • Night WingsNight Wings Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Elder wrote: »
    Back slots include:

    Ranged weapon.
    Shield.
    Cloak.
    Accessory (backpack etc).

    Belt (hip) slots include:

    Melee weapon (2 slots - one on each side).
    Potion, pouch, scroll.

    There'll be a priority system behind that that'll determine... do I show the Bow if the Greatsword is unequipped or do I show the Polearm if the Greatsword is unequipped. – Jeffrey Bard

    https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Items_on_back_and_belt

    Basically what he said you can find more info here your going have to scroll down the area where it says gear slots.
    My second wish is for casters/classes with magical options to be able to pre-cast. And not in the "Cast your fireball 3 seconds before the pull" way but the Allods way.

    I think the idea is cool, but I also think the idea is bad. Mainly because I play wow for 15 years and what your implying to how I'm receiving is pretty much a instant "Chaos bolt" from a warlock or a instant Pyroblast from a mage that you can stack or "pre-cast" and then also have the movability such as "blink" by the time someone engages or the "mage" with "pre-cast ability's" they would of been hit like 3 different times before the fight even really started. At least that's how I'm perceiving this.

    Allods never played this game.
  • George_BlackGeorge_Black Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    I agree with weapons being visible at all times. Drawn or on their holsters/sheathes.

    The drawing animations would be slower than BDOs and ESOs. Something like the witcher speed (two swords and crossbow... It can be done). I think I would make for a much better mmo than crafting minigames.
  • CROW3CROW3 Member, Alpha Two
    edited July 2022
    The latest Pathfinder game allowed players to show 4 weapon sets on their toon. It’s extreme, but it was cool to see the option available.

    I’d rather have clipping issues with a cloak and weapon than having to choose carrying a weapon on my back or wearing a cloak.
    AoC+Dwarf+750v3.png
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