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Bard buff/debuff UI clarity needs some love

trajdltrajdl Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
edited November 18 in Bard Archetype
After the resonant change I found myself focusing on my buff / debuff UI bar even more. To the point I was losing track of what is happening around me which is the entire basis for using dances 🙂

Weaving melodies is fun but sucks when you cant see the duration remaining because the melody is hidden in the "+x buffs" icon. Resonant stack count is extremely hard to see. This is in addition to keeping track of whether a Story is off CD / if you can use saga.

Overall I am happy with resonant change but I would like to focus more on what is happening around me.

And please, for the love of everythibg that is holy, change the ESC cancelling the melody 😃

Comments

  • ShivaFangShivaFang Member, Alpha Two
    edited November 19
    The cast bar for the melody is the duration of the other one. There's a little progress line that triggers when you use a melody. In Crescendo that's the time it takes for it to reach full strength, in Counterpoint that's the timer for the other one. You don't need to rely on the buff bar for it.

    But yes - resonant stacks and themes absolutely need their own UI Widget. The buff bar currently doesn't display them in the order cast and so it's unclear which will fall off when you use your next Story. current active melodies (and the receeding melody for Counterpoint) would be useful so you can easily tell when your melody has been accidentally cancelled.

    I'd like to see buffs and debuffs get an overhaul in general. I'd like there to be a panel that shows statuses you can combo off of (context dependant based on the skills you have specced). I remember a ranger getting excited when he found out that Clever Retort silenced targets (I was using it for Humiliated on cooldown at the time) and it took several rotations for him to learn which icon to look for.

    Instead I'd like it to show these relevant debuffs larger and in a separate section - for combo hints. It'd be nice if there'd also be an icon on the relevant skill (an exclamation point or something) to show the combo is available - but that's less needed than simply being able to easily see the relevant status conditions. Remember - the target audience for this game is in our 40s+ and our eyesights are going. lol.
  • ThevoicestHeVoIcEsThevoicestHeVoIcEs Member, Alpha Two
    edited November 19
    Kind of related: I find the current amount of VFX on my screen as a bard blinding, especially in enclosed spaces. Due to amount of effects and numbers flying around my screen I often do NOT see how much I would like. Really distracting.
    My lungs taste the air of Time,
    Blown past falling sands…
  • ShivaFangShivaFang Member, Alpha Two
    Carphin on Ultra gave me anxiety with the fog and all the spell effects. I had to drop it to medium for my own sanity.
  • ThevoicestHeVoIcEsThevoicestHeVoIcEs Member, Alpha Two
    edited November 19
    ShivaFang wrote: »
    Carphin on Ultra gave me anxiety with the fog and all the spell effects. I had to drop it to medium for my own sanity.
    Which settings have you lowered to decrease spell effects? Now if only I could disable info about hp and mp regen from all the song spam :D
    My lungs taste the air of Time,
    Blown past falling sands…
  • ShivaFangShivaFang Member, Alpha Two
    ThevoicestHeVoIcEs wrote: »
    ShivaFang wrote: »
    Carphin on Ultra gave me anxiety with the fog and all the spell effects. I had to drop it to medium for my own sanity.
    Which settings have you lowered to decrease spell effects? Now if only I could disable info about hp and mp regen from all the song spam :D

    I literally just set the master dropdown to 'medium' (from 'ultra')
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