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Guild Wars 2: Jon Peters On Combat
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
One of the more radical changes that Arena.Net is bringing to the MMOspace is the deconstruction of the traditional combat system. All character archetypes will have the ability to heal themselves and others. In fact, the ability is so important to creating a sustainable build that it's received a dedicated slot on the task bar. Peters goes on to discuss other combat related features including the (non)existence of ally targeting.
This is one of the big ones. There are no skills that specifically target allies. Everything must be done using positioning, ground targeting or other unconventional methods. This keeps every profession focused on their allies in the world, which adds a tactical complexity to the combat. Instead of watching red bars, we want you to watch your allies in the world. Making sure you are dropping ground-targeted spells effectively and moving into position to block attacks on allies is how we want players to defend each other.
The article definitely adds more to the idea of combat as compared to an earlier blog discussion when the Guardian archetype had to be left out of the mix. In fact, Peters declares, it was the developers' goal to remove the so-called Holy Trinity from the game and several other factors that can ruin a gaming experience:
That is why we want to eliminate things that we felt were burdens on the game such as:
Group LF Healer/Tank…
Party wipes when you lose the wrong person.
Watching the interface instead of the world.
Playing with people because you have to, not because you want to.
Being stuck in the same combat patterns over and over again.
Read more here.
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Comments
Of any interview or posting on Guild Wars 2 this one has gotten me the most excited about the game.
Great article. I love the new combat system.
You can bet your little mech heart that it is!
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In a first person shooter there can be a variety of weapons, from sniper rifles to rocket launchers to machine guns and shotguns. No one looks at these weapons and says, “They’re all the same, they all just do DPS.” Why should an MMO be any different?
Line that explains it greatly
I think I actually spent way more time reading and theorycrafting about MMOs than playing them
I honestly did not understand that. Could anyone please explain it to me? what are they refering to?
Personally, I am a great fun of GW1 and love everything about GW2.
"Being able to rotate roles and cover for other players is another piece in the puzzle to removing dependencies."
From what I understand this is not worded accurately. The game is removing the dependence on having certain classes/professions BUT people are still dependent on having players to interact with in order to have more roles available at one time. Just because I can heal with water attunement, nuke with fire, etc. does not mean that I can do all of them simultaneously so that when I am engaged in one active role I will need other people to contribute with other roles that synergize. In addition, the fact that every character can revive a downed player means that players will be dependent on others but just that it is a less narrowly defined category of what role/class/profession the other players should be!
M
A person with a sniper rifle may be more likely to be a stationary target and tend toward more precise headshots than somebody with a shotgun that goes for point-blank shots to the torso/head but due to the spray it is a less precise weapon but the person is able to move around more.
The end result is that both players are killing others with firearms but the way in which the different weapons are used make for different playstyles.
I hope that this helps!
I think what they mean isn't 'You never have to depend upon other people', but more 'You don't have to depend on a couple specific people doing specific roles'. Very narrow, very focused dependency.
I like what he said, least you don't have to wait for a tank, healer or CC to go defeat a boss when puging or on a last minute guild grouping.
I now know what race I am going to pick.
Sylvari it seems.
The no allied targeting sounds like a definite step forward. And I LOVE there goal to remove this: "Party wipes when you lose the wrong person." Keep up the good work A-Net.
I can has GW2 now?
any idea if we'll have heros at GW2 aswell?
try before buy, even if it's a game to avoid bad surprises.
Worst surprises for me: Aion, GW2
Heroes and henchies are dead in GW2, just like monks.
They said they are dead?? interesting...
They were all killed between the events of GW1 and the events of GW2.
Only if there is a Matrosexual class.
237 years! You lore-hater!
What's a Matrosexual?
Just to clarify:
1) Yes, it's awesome
2) Asuran, not Azuran.
3) Technically heroes are still in the game. You won't get to control them, choose their powers, or anything, so they function more like henchmen. Over the course of the game various NPCs such as the members of Edge of Destiny will join you for specific events/quests. They don't stick around though. I know of this happening at least in your storyline and in a few of the dungeons the first time through (first time through a dungeon is sort of like a separate quest/campaign, second time and onward it's just a regular dungeon), not sure if it happens in the world, though. Seems unlikely, since you could just not finish the quest and have the NPC with you indefinitely, but you never know.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
If this game ends up being more akin to a first person shooter than an MMO, it's gong to be the most creative MMO out there.
The system sounds a lot like what DCUO has in place, just, with a removed combo system and their more "card" based system instead.
I don't feel that by giving everyone the ability to control/support/DPS that they are minimizing the necessity of roles. Thats just not how group oriented games work.
If you aren't basing it off of a class and more based off of style or skill sets, people will just be calling for someone with that particular skill set to complete an ideal configuration. This is the point of synergizing classes and skills, and it will just get compounded on by "strategic" gameplay.
All it will take is a few groups to run their ideal configuration and have it do exceptionally well before people start to realize that in order to be "strategic" AND successful, certain classes with ideal skill sets will be necessary.