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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.
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.
Bard Buff Priority, Target Lines and Stopcast
Futuere
Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
First I would like to say Bard has been an extremely fun class to play and it feels really great in its current state, the kit provided keeps you busy and engaged the entire time while also feeling useful to a group.
Stopcast
Pretty obvious and no need to explain it, I either haven't figured it out or it needs to be added/will be added. I tend to fat finger spells and overwriting songs kind of sucks, but a stopcast would solve this. I have faith it will be added eventually, I am guessing this a desired feature for all casters.
Buff priority, better control, and target lines
The current way it works for AOE spells are targets who are in front of you gain benefits of the buff up to a total of 4 with yourself being a priority. This already feels good with not having to micro manage your spells but I feel it could be improved for players who do wish to micro manage them. Adding a mouseover targeting system by default and combining it with target lines could make this and several other archetype feel ever better.
My suggestion would be a toggle feature within the Action Camera mode, but leave the skill how it is when in tab target mode.
You would do this by clicking to prime the skill for target selection, then hover over your target which adds target lines to illuminate briefly and highlight the target which then applies the target line. Followed by finishing the cast with either a mouse click or the same shortcut key. If you do not select the max targets the skill could go off as normal and continue to prioritize the remainder of unselected targets as they currently work. These target lines should be one color (e.g. blue) for precast and then (e.g. red) another color for midcast to quickly respond to mistakes or identifying if you selected the proper target.
The downside I can see would be over crowded visuals if the target lines block the already existing animations on skills like Hymn of Mind. To solve this would need testing and experimentation if it is a problem. My thoughts would be target lines should only be visible to the single player receiving the buff during midcast and precast should only be visible to the caster to minimize this?
The best examples I can give would be FF12 and FF14 as well as an unofficial mod for FF11 (ashita target lines plugin based on FF12) and Tera Online healers Mystic for target selection.
Target lines are also a great way to add a visually appealing method for an accessibility feature that could be completely optional and very useful for everyone by customizing colors or other visual effects like a pulsing line.
Stopcast
Pretty obvious and no need to explain it, I either haven't figured it out or it needs to be added/will be added. I tend to fat finger spells and overwriting songs kind of sucks, but a stopcast would solve this. I have faith it will be added eventually, I am guessing this a desired feature for all casters.
Buff priority, better control, and target lines
The current way it works for AOE spells are targets who are in front of you gain benefits of the buff up to a total of 4 with yourself being a priority. This already feels good with not having to micro manage your spells but I feel it could be improved for players who do wish to micro manage them. Adding a mouseover targeting system by default and combining it with target lines could make this and several other archetype feel ever better.
My suggestion would be a toggle feature within the Action Camera mode, but leave the skill how it is when in tab target mode.
You would do this by clicking to prime the skill for target selection, then hover over your target which adds target lines to illuminate briefly and highlight the target which then applies the target line. Followed by finishing the cast with either a mouse click or the same shortcut key. If you do not select the max targets the skill could go off as normal and continue to prioritize the remainder of unselected targets as they currently work. These target lines should be one color (e.g. blue) for precast and then (e.g. red) another color for midcast to quickly respond to mistakes or identifying if you selected the proper target.
The downside I can see would be over crowded visuals if the target lines block the already existing animations on skills like Hymn of Mind. To solve this would need testing and experimentation if it is a problem. My thoughts would be target lines should only be visible to the single player receiving the buff during midcast and precast should only be visible to the caster to minimize this?
The best examples I can give would be FF12 and FF14 as well as an unofficial mod for FF11 (ashita target lines plugin based on FF12) and Tera Online healers Mystic for target selection.
Target lines are also a great way to add a visually appealing method for an accessibility feature that could be completely optional and very useful for everyone by customizing colors or other visual effects like a pulsing line.
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