I know Telegraphs are supposed to encourage tactical gameplay but in practice all the bright flashing colours and the complete abandonment of tab-targetting just made it completely impossible for me to see what was going on. Ten tons of telegraphs overlap in fights bigger then 1v1's, and its impossible to see which belongs to who and what kind of attack it is, and also moot because you cant dodge all of them. I also had no good way of seeing my target's health bar. Indeed my usual tactic was to just throw tactics and targetting away completely and fire wildly at the nearest shape that looked like an enemy and pray I am doing good.
And while ive no doubt some people can use a lot of tactics in this system (With enough practice you can get good at literally anything, after all) the average joe didnt seem to have much more of a clue then I did.
My opinion: The combat system was CLEARLY designed for raiding, not PvP, and thus doesnt work well at all for it.
Turn off all friendly telegraphs as they are unnecessary for casual PvP. It's in the escape menu options. You have now cut the amount of telegraphs on screen in half.
You can then decipher enemy classes by either the shape of their telegraphs or the weapons they use. Health bars were functioning during open beta so I guess this comment stems from an earlier iteration of the game when they were not. If health bars are still a problem, you can download add-ons to assist in that matter.
If you are being assaulted by more telegraphs than you can manage, you are overrun and I suggest you don't stand there and take it in the face but tuck tail and run like hell. Don't stand in a pack with your teammates as the enemy wants to see this, and if you see your enemy bunched up for God's sake unleash hell. Spread out from the others to avoid needless damage and pick your target from the flanks.
With the telegraph system this game has in place, combat is pretty rewarding IMO. Hitting your opponent more than they're hitting you is a great indication of skill if I am not mistaken. You have no excuse, the attacks are not homed in on you, it is within your power to avoid their damage, but you still have to hit them with yours. Not all telegraphs are huge boxes, the big damage ability I was using is just a long rectangle beam and required you to guess where your opponent was going to be to land a hit if he was on the move. The heal debuff also was a small width to hit, but could be skillfully used to daze runners at a distance.
The PvP only got better as my level increased and I donned crafted PvP gear. I stopped exploding and TTK on myself and my enemies increased.
In short....I agree that showing everyone's telegraphs is a bit overwhelming for a new player but it can be adjusted, even down to opacity. As for the telegraphs not working in PvP....I found it quite a challenge to play against people that knew what they were doing, and catching someone on the run with a 40m shot that ends his life was effing sweet.
I know Telegraphs are supposed to encourage tactical gameplay but in practice all the bright flashing colours and the complete abandonment of tab-targetting just made it completely impossible for me to see what was going on. Ten tons of telegraphs overlap in fights bigger then 1v1's, and its impossible to see which belongs to who and what kind of attack it is, and also moot because you cant dodge all of them. I also had no good way of seeing my target's health bar. Indeed my usual tactic was to just throw tactics and targetting away completely and fire wildly at the nearest shape that looked like an enemy and pray I am doing good.
And while ive no doubt some people can use a lot of tactics in this system (With enough practice you can get good at literally anything, after all) the average joe didnt seem to have much more of a clue then I did.
My opinion: The combat system was CLEARLY designed for raiding, not PvP, and thus doesnt work well at all for it.
Turn off all friendly telegraphs as they are unnecessary for casual PvP. It's in the escape menu options. You have now cut the amount of telegraphs on screen in half.
You can then decipher enemy classes by either the shape of their telegraphs or the weapons they use. Health bars were functioning during open beta so I guess this comment stems from an earlier iteration of the game when they were not. If health bars are still a problem, you can download add-ons to assist in that matter.
If you are being assaulted by more telegraphs than you can manage, you are overrun and I suggest you don't stand there and take it in the face but tuck tail and run like hell. Don't stand in a pack with your teammates as the enemy wants to see this, and if you see your enemy bunched up for God's sake unleash hell. Spread out from the others to avoid needless damage and pick your target from the flanks.
With the telegraph system this game has in place, combat is pretty rewarding IMO. Hitting your opponent more than they're hitting you is a great indication of skill if I am not mistaken. You have no excuse, the attacks are not homed in on you, it is within your power to avoid their damage, but you still have to hit them with yours. Not all telegraphs are huge boxes, the big damage ability I was using is just a long rectangle beam and required you to guess where your opponent was going to be to land a hit if he was on the move. The heal debuff also was a small width to hit, but could be skillfully used to daze runners at a distance.
The PvP only got better as my level increased and I donned crafted PvP gear. I stopped exploding and TTK on myself and my enemies increased.
In short....I agree that showing everyone's telegraphs is a bit overwhelming for a new player but it can be adjusted, even down to opacity. As for the telegraphs not working in PvP....I found it quite a challenge to play against people that knew what they were doing, and catching someone on the run with a 40m shot that ends his life was effing sweet.
This is a fantastically informative post, thank you very much for putting this up.
I also didnt like PVP too much and I am huge fan of PVP.
I hoped for something like it will be some large scaled Hi-Rez SMITE game with more objectives and own characters with items and so but I was little bit disappointed.
PvP in this game seems to come down to who has the bigger more organized swarm... not tactical at all, Just fire ant mentality.
People can hate on ESO all they want however there is nothing better than chilling with my friend heading into the vast open area of cyrodil and breaking off of the zerg to engage in small ambush squads or kill off feeders heading to reinforce their position.
I'll take organized and tactical over this any day of the week.
Except that wildstar also has actual open world pvp, battlegrounds, and arenas so you get what you're describing ten times over in wildstar.
I know Telegraphs are supposed to encourage tactical gameplay but in practice all the bright flashing colours and the complete abandonment of tab-targetting just made it completely impossible for me to see what was going on. Ten tons of telegraphs overlap in fights bigger then 1v1's, and its impossible to see which belongs to who and what kind of attack it is, and also moot because you cant dodge all of them. I also had no good way of seeing my target's health bar. Indeed my usual tactic was to just throw tactics and targetting away completely and fire wildly at the nearest shape that looked like an enemy and pray I am doing good.
And while ive no doubt some people can use a lot of tactics in this system (With enough practice you can get good at literally anything, after all) the average joe didnt seem to have much more of a clue then I did.
My opinion: The combat system was CLEARLY designed for raiding, not PvP, and thus doesnt work well at all for it.
Turn off all friendly telegraphs as they are unnecessary for casual PvP. It's in the escape menu options. You have now cut the amount of telegraphs on screen in half.
You can then decipher enemy classes by either the shape of their telegraphs or the weapons they use. Health bars were functioning during open beta so I guess this comment stems from an earlier iteration of the game when they were not. If health bars are still a problem, you can download add-ons to assist in that matter.
If you are being assaulted by more telegraphs than you can manage, you are overrun and I suggest you don't stand there and take it in the face but tuck tail and run like hell. Don't stand in a pack with your teammates as the enemy wants to see this, and if you see your enemy bunched up for God's sake unleash hell. Spread out from the others to avoid needless damage and pick your target from the flanks.
With the telegraph system this game has in place, combat is pretty rewarding IMO. Hitting your opponent more than they're hitting you is a great indication of skill if I am not mistaken. You have no excuse, the attacks are not homed in on you, it is within your power to avoid their damage, but you still have to hit them with yours. Not all telegraphs are huge boxes, the big damage ability I was using is just a long rectangle beam and required you to guess where your opponent was going to be to land a hit if he was on the move. The heal debuff also was a small width to hit, but could be skillfully used to daze runners at a distance.
The PvP only got better as my level increased and I donned crafted PvP gear. I stopped exploding and TTK on myself and my enemies increased.
In short....I agree that showing everyone's telegraphs is a bit overwhelming for a new player but it can be adjusted, even down to opacity. As for the telegraphs not working in PvP....I found it quite a challenge to play against people that knew what they were doing, and catching someone on the run with a 40m shot that ends his life was effing sweet.
This to be honest, the system is always going to be a clusterfuck in warplots when both sides don't have a clue what they're doing and just charge at one another, but then that's the same with any mmo once you get two groups that size. The devs have already said that the most effective way to win a warplot fight is tactics and split-grouping, not zerging.
The PvP in WS is better shown off in arenas and BG's. I've not had an mmo experience yet as satisfying as going 1v3 in a battleground and winning because I actually paid attention to what was going on dodged and weaved people just spamming abilities at me. If you actually watch carefully, are willing to cancel spells if you're going to get hit, and time your biggest hitters correctly then the PvP is extremely rewarding. But hey, that would be tactical and we know WS PvP isn't tactical so ho hum...
Comments
I'm torn.
On one hand, the frenetic action is fun and, at times, pulse pounding.
On the other, I can't shake the feeling I'm playing a giant game of cyberpunk Dance Dance Revolution.
Playing: FFXIV, EVE
Turn off all friendly telegraphs as they are unnecessary for casual PvP. It's in the escape menu options. You have now cut the amount of telegraphs on screen in half.
You can then decipher enemy classes by either the shape of their telegraphs or the weapons they use. Health bars were functioning during open beta so I guess this comment stems from an earlier iteration of the game when they were not. If health bars are still a problem, you can download add-ons to assist in that matter.
If you are being assaulted by more telegraphs than you can manage, you are overrun and I suggest you don't stand there and take it in the face but tuck tail and run like hell.
Don't stand in a pack with your teammates as the enemy wants to see this, and if you see your enemy bunched up for God's sake unleash hell. Spread out from the others to avoid needless damage and pick your target from the flanks.
With the telegraph system this game has in place, combat is pretty rewarding IMO. Hitting your opponent more than they're hitting you is a great indication of skill if I am not mistaken. You have no excuse, the attacks are not homed in on you, it is within your power to avoid their damage, but you still have to hit them with yours. Not all telegraphs are huge boxes, the big damage ability I was using is just a long rectangle beam and required you to guess where your opponent was going to be to land a hit if he was on the move. The heal debuff also was a small width to hit, but could be skillfully used to daze runners at a distance.
The PvP only got better as my level increased and I donned crafted PvP gear. I stopped exploding and TTK on myself and my enemies increased.
In short....I agree that showing everyone's telegraphs is a bit overwhelming for a new player but it can be adjusted, even down to opacity. As for the telegraphs not working in PvP....I found it quite a challenge to play against people that knew what they were doing, and catching someone on the run with a 40m shot that ends his life was effing sweet.
This is a fantastically informative post, thank you very much for putting this up.
I also didnt like PVP too much and I am huge fan of PVP.
I hoped for something like it will be some large scaled Hi-Rez SMITE game with more objectives and own characters with items and so but I was little bit disappointed.
Except that wildstar also has actual open world pvp, battlegrounds, and arenas so you get what you're describing ten times over in wildstar.
This to be honest, the system is always going to be a clusterfuck in warplots when both sides don't have a clue what they're doing and just charge at one another, but then that's the same with any mmo once you get two groups that size. The devs have already said that the most effective way to win a warplot fight is tactics and split-grouping, not zerging.
The PvP in WS is better shown off in arenas and BG's. I've not had an mmo experience yet as satisfying as going 1v3 in a battleground and winning because I actually paid attention to what was going on dodged and weaved people just spamming abilities at me. If you actually watch carefully, are willing to cancel spells if you're going to get hit, and time your biggest hitters correctly then the PvP is extremely rewarding. But hey, that would be tactical and we know WS PvP isn't tactical so ho hum...
After reading some articles and watching some movies, i will give the game a shot.
Proof that at least this guy knows what he is doing