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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Comments
I'm not saying it is a bad thing, I'm just pointing it out with the confusion people may have about this game and how common it is in other games across the genre.
yes. They have empowered(charge) abilties that are "skill" based too. They have their own version of a " hybrid" system. Ashes has a slight step forward on universal "action" side of things.
That is not how they are approaching it, they already showed this in the first ranger teaser. They are just giving people the option to pick what they want, though some will be more tab oriented and action with that 25% (IE the new ranger skill where you hold it im sure will be counted.)
It's unfortunately just a semantics discussion but in general, I would say it depends on the size of the AoE.
If an AoE is massive then there's really not much skill discrepancy in the execution of it.
Example - 95% of players are likely going to use Raining Death and the aoe Scatter Shot correctly almost every time. Hard to call them 'skill' shots in that sense.
What the game needs more of imo is thin linear templates, similar to what scatter's charge has, but also for some single target abilities and without a charge needed.
It would be really cool if headshot could be augmented (or just changed) to being a thin template with more damage instead of auto aiming to the target.
Consistent mouse control is obviously not the only way to express skill but it's certainly a big way.
And in general, a lot of players love having something to work towards progressing mechanically, instead of simply grinding out their gear math.
It's unfortunately a semantics discussion but I really think it depends on the size of the AoE.
Example - 95% of players are going to use Raining Death and the wide Scatter shot properly almost every single time. It's hard to call that a 'skill' shot.
The game really does need more thin lined templates imo, especially if they're actually wanting a hybrid approach, and particularly on precision based moves. Headshot implies that you are being extremely accurate, and I would love if you could augment it (or simply change the base move) to be a thin lined template similar to the Scatter Shot focus. Increase the damage to compensate for the inconsistency.
Obviously consistent mouse control is not the only way to express skill but its certainly a really big one;
And a lot of players really enjoy having something to mechanically progress... instead of simply focusing on grinding their gear math.
Yes, and there have been a few other moves such as Divine Star.
I really don't think its something you would make as a primary focus for healers, but having 1-2 that are impactful mixes up the gameplay and seems cool.
League of Legends, Smite and even Dota 2 have all kinds of shapes (T shaped, rectangle, rectangle that ends in circle, arcs, circle, vector-based etc) and mechanics like (delayed, have 2-3 mechanics in one, continuous, ticking, totem based etc)
The 'hybrid' shines with these types of abilities.
Abilities that can be manipulated to suit the situation, definitely. If that's what you mean, like the example above, then absolutely. Loved that showcase.
If you mean more power because you used shooter like skills and its a reward for handicaping yourself, then I would say no.
I think it's whatever can get tested and be fun. So far the Scatter Shot is more damage when it's a beam, because it requires more time.
I can only hope.
In that case, though, it's easy to balance for PvE, even against large single targets.
There's a lot of stuff that Ashes 'can't use' because of their commitment to the PvX ethos they have.
The perception of commitment can be quite multi directional when it comes to reasons.