Charge-Up/Early Release Abilities
So I loved the charge up/early release abilities showcased in the most recent dev discussion with the cleric. The gameplay aspect looked very fluid and overall had a great feel so far, and the whole concept of reactive options actually made me consider wanting to try out healing, and I HATE healing. Now I have a few questions for the community.
Feel free to answer these questions in a way to provide feedback for devs. And dont be afraid to add more.
-What is your opinion of charge up/early release abilities?
-Do you think these sorts of abilities should only be made for caster archetypes? Or do you enjoy physical/melee charge up's as well?
-What sort of "charge-up range" in regards of time-charged and power do you think abilities should have? Should there be a minimum time spent for an effect? For example, Is 1s-5s a good range? should you be able to go from 0 to 10s for miniscule to massive effects?
-Do you think these sorts of spells should generally require you to stay immobile while casting them?
-Should you be able to change targets while charging these abilities?
-Should you be able to cancel the charge up?
-I think these are an awesome ability mechanic that aren't nearly utilized enough in MMORPG's. They add a solid form of gameplay requiring players to consider how to use the ability, and allows them more control in tight combat situations.
-I do think these sorts of abilities would be better suited for caster types or even ranged types such as ranger, but I think there should be a few sprinkled in with the melee classes as well. Just imagine a rogue charging up their backstab for a coup de grace at the expense of their mobility and risking everything with their timing. You could even have other melee charge ups for defenses, knockbacks, etc.
-"Charge-up Range" to me depends on the ability itself, but generally, I believe most magical charge ups should have a minimum requirement of time before actually providing an effect. Generally .5 to 1 second minimum. And while I enjoy the idea of being able to power up like a super saiyan for 3 episodes straight, I feel like maybe 5 or 6 seconds should be the cap for charge up abilities. So generally maybe .5s-4s seconds for typical charge ups and 1s-6s for more heavy hitting ones, but this is still subjective to what the abilities do.
-I believe that almost anything that requires a charge up, a channel, or a cast time should make you immobile, or at the very least, barely move. My only exception would be that if you were to allow movement, it drastically reduces your casting/charging speed or breaks/reduces the channel time. Steven did mention there will be some spells you can cast on the move, some with movement reduction, and others that make you immobile, so I am not overly concerned about this.
-I do believe you should be able to switch targets with most spells mid charge, but with obvious exceptions such as if the spell has a requirement of the target to be cast, otherwise you may be able to start the charge on a qualified target and switch to one that doesn't have the prerequisites of the spell.
-As far as canceling a charge up goes, generally I believe you should be able to, it will likely just feel better for gameplay.
