Best MMORPG Combat?

ragz45 · April 2021

Curious, what is everyone's opinion of the best MMORPG combat to date? If you feel so inclined, leave a comment as to why you feel the way you feel as well so that the community can tell you why you are wrong.

ragz45 · April 2021

Personally I feel like BDO has the best combat to date of any MMO i've ever played. The rest of the game I hate and can't stand, don't get me wrong. But the combat is glorious. If ESO had BDO's combat, I wouldn't ever play anything else.

Morgenes83 · April 2021

Guild Wars 1
Vanguard

Mortal Online

Age of Conan

Mendel · April 2021

I thought the basic melee combat functionality in DAoC was done particularly well, especially shields. The other portions of the combat system were more problematic for me (stealth, mez, stun), particularly in RvR.

TwistedSister77 · April 2021

It's weird, because I enjoy tab targeted, action, and hybrids... so it's hard to compare those games directly for me.

If the game executes it well, it's good. For me:

Age of Conan combo system was really unique tab targeted, definitely enjoyed fatalities (why every future game hasn't copied fatalities is beyond me).

Tab targeted... so many

Action... ESO is the only one I'm currently playing... I know everyone says it's crap. I would try BDO, but the P2W and grind to be competitive (for PvP) is a turn off. Mortal Online 2 is clunky IMO right now.

Honorable mention for Wildstar trying something new with their telegraph system, but it gets messy in large fights. I kinda liked it though.

Liksy · April 2021

I think Tera - is one of the best) Some p2w but combat is really fun)))

Scorchien · April 2021

Well if you want Action Combat its BDO and its not even close any other game including ESO and Tera are light years behind it ..

If you want Tab Target WoW is most impactful with nice feel

If you want Tab Target with a lot of skills situational/specialized EQ2 is really well done and fun

TwistedSister77 · April 2021

Liksy said:

I think Tera - is one of the best) Some p2w but combat is really fun)))

Welcome to the forums Liksy!

Yes, Tera was one of the first major Western released Action MMORPGs if I recall.

Scorchien · April 2021

TwistedSister77 said:

It's weird, because I enjoy tab targeted, action, and hybrids... so it's hard to compare those games directly for me.

If the game executes it well, it's good. For me:

Age of Conan combo system was really unique tab targeted, definitely enjoyed fatalities (why every future game hasn't copied fatalities is beyond me).

Tab targeted... so many

Action... ESO is the only one I'm currently playing... I know everyone says it's crap. I would try BDO, but the P2W and grind to be competitive (for PvP) is a turn off. Mortal Online 2 is clunky IMO right now.

Honorable mention for Wildstar trying something new with their telegraph system, but it gets messy in large fights. I kinda liked it though.

You should probably give BDO a try particularly when they launch a new season server like the one that just ended( another coming in JUne ibelieve ) There is an awful lotta fun without having to pay a cent or have to worry about competitive PvP

Wizardry · April 2021

Wow just ...wow.
Yet again the html code is horribly messed up,post justdisappears when doing a preview and can't see the top of the post after you type several lines.

This has ALWAYS been the worst platform for internet chat/code i have ever seen in my 35 years on the internet.I actually NEVER run into problem except here,i bet i have seen an issue with html maybe 1-2 x in all my life buy on this site alone,at least 50+x.
I don't know who to blame the site management or the actual platform code,idk but it has ALWAYS been messed up even during the few times this site changed the platform so i have to lean on the person people in charge.

TwistedSister77 · April 2021

Scorchien said:

TwistedSister77 said:

It's weird, because I enjoy tab targeted, action, and hybrids... so it's hard to compare those games directly for me.

If the game executes it well, it's good. For me:

Age of Conan combo system was really unique tab targeted, definitely enjoyed fatalities (why every future game hasn't copied fatalities is beyond me).

Tab targeted... so many

Action... ESO is the only one I'm currently playing... I know everyone says it's crap. I would try BDO, but the P2W and grind to be competitive (for PvP) is a turn off. Mortal Online 2 is clunky IMO right now.

Honorable mention for Wildstar trying something new with their telegraph system, but it gets messy in large fights. I kinda liked it though.

You should probably give BDO a try particularly when they launch a new season server like the one that just ended( another coming in JUne ibelieve ) There is an awful lotta fun without having to pay a cent or have to worry about competitive PvP

Alright, maybe I will. I like to try all MMORPGs.

olepi · April 2021

I like the combat in City of Heroes. I also always liked the ship combat in Pirates of the Burning Seas.

YashaX · April 2021

I like combat in ESO and GW2. I love the active movement options ESO gives you - sprinting, crouching/stealth, dodging/blocking - and how this and the combat skills are tied to a stat pool. It gives me a sense of control and engagement that I haven't felt in other games.

AlBQuirky · April 2021

I doubt I'll surprise anyone here, but I enjoy turn based combat. I do like many kinds of combat, though turn based is preferred. Unfortunately, I have yet to find it implemented in an MMORPG setting.

Pirate101 (Wizard101's sibling) tried to do this, but I found their implementation awful. They made little distinction between a move then an attack, or a range attack. I may have misread the "instructions" and just plain messed up on my part

Wizard101 did this best, but their whole game was based on spell use only. That's easy to do with spells. I tried Atlantica Online(?) and was not impressed with its implementation.

I understand that turn based combat in a massively multiplayer online game is not easy to accomplish. Call it my personal pipe dream

Second place goes to EQ1 style combat where your skills determine if you block, dodge, or riposte instead of a button mash. It's not nearly as pretty or exciting as action style combat where players get to "see" their button pushes as an animation, but it is more immersive to me.

My biggest disparity comes between action combat and more character skill based combat. You rarely "miss" a button press, unless you miss your keystroke. Your blocks, dodges, ripostes only miss because of player action, not an avatar's ability or skill. That breaks my immersion the most.

PS: I want to clarify that I don't play MMORPGs for their combat alone. I think combat is the weakest aspect of MMOs. Many other genres do combat much, much better

francis_baud · April 2021

One of my favorite MMO PvP battles was this one in TERA:

So I'd say a combat that allows this kind of tactical plays.

Quizzical · April 2021

1) Spiral Knights
2) En Masse version of Kritika Online

I'm not sure what game deserves third place, but it's not close to the top two.

Theocritus · April 2021

Not sure I can name one in a MMO....I like Shooters and Survival combat much more.... I think I liked MMOs more for the social play than for the combat. Probably why I have had trouble finding a good MMO in over a decade.

Rungar · April 2021

all these games have these fancy attack moves and graphics and such but to be honest I don't like it. I like Valheim combat best. It could use a couple more skills to use but that's all i really need out of a combat system.

most games kill their combat system by trying too hard.

Rungar · April 2021

tzervo said:

Rungar said:

all these games have these fancy attack moves and graphics and such but to be honest I don't like it. I like Valheim combat best. It could use a couple more skills to use but that's all i really need out of a combat system.

most games kill their combat system by trying too hard.

Err, EVE, Wizard101, PotBS, Spiral Knights and EQ1 were mentioned...

ok I like action combat as long as they don't fuck it up. In general. Still looking so ill tell you what i want.

I dont need the world to blow up every time i hit a monster. I just want to feel like i hit them.
i dont need 10 skills going at a time but i would like the use of my skills to be meaningful/tide turning.
i want my regular/secondary attacks to be meaningful but i dont need 500 different skills to attack with.
I want each mob type to have unique behavior.

Po_gg · April 2021

With Al's opening words, "I doubt I'll surprise anyone here", but

[takes out the broken record, puts on the Party Pooper hat]

best MMORPG combat? None for me

I don't play MMORPGs for the combat, just as tabletop RPG wasn't about combat either. MMORPGs are for the world, story, community, etc., and I tolerate whatever combat there is, if those more important elements are good enough.

With that said, and to not dodging the question entirely, there are some differences of course. I tolerate tab target much easily than flashy action combat for example.

Turn-based gives also bonus points in my eyes, the already cited KingIsle games (W101/P101), or the @tzervo mentioned Dofus / Wakfu from Ankama.

If I had to pick something for the "top", it'd be AoC's combo system and/or warden's gambit system from LotRO. They're pretty much the same, just one is front-loaded while the other is back.

Those two give something extra to the otherwise brainless and boring combat of MMORPGs in general.

Theocritus · April 2021

Atlantica Online had good turn based combat and it was pretty fast paced too....It's been under a new company for a few years so I have no idea what state the game is in now.

AlBQuirky · April 2021

Theocritus said:

Atlantica Online had good turn based combat and it was pretty fast paced too....It's been under a new company for a few years so I have no idea what state the game is in now.

I did play it a long time ago

TwistedSister77 · April 2021

Theocritus said:

Not sure I can name one in a MMO....I like Shooters and Survival combat much more.... I think I liked MMOs more for the social play than for the combat. Probably why I have had trouble finding a good MMO in over a decade.

Give me a Starcraft shooter/action MMORPG... it wouldn't compete straightforward with tab targeted WoW.

How sick would that be... a zealot with shield and blades, space marine with rife, hydra spitting acid, a zergling superfast with deadly claws that can bury. Etc. Not to mention vehicles.

Maybe as you level you get to command npc companions by your side up to a squad/ platoon.

cameltosis · April 2021

I can't talk about the best: I would need to be given criteria about what you criteria to judge the combat by in order to make that judgement.

So, what I'll say is that my favourite was LotRO (first 2-3 years anyway).

Why? DEPTH!

LotROs combat mechanics were all about decision making, in the moment. Sure, every single class had a rotation for the easy stuff, just like all tab-target games, but the combat really came alive when things got difficult.

In all other tab-target games I've played, you had a rotation, then you had maybe 2-5 skills to choose from when things went wrong. So, when things went wrong, it was pretty damn easy to decide what to do next, mostly it was a straight up reaction, not a decision.

"Oh, I've been hurt? Better use my avoidance buff".

LotRO was soooo much better than that. Instead of 2-5 abilities when things went wrong, you had 10-20 abilities. You were not just reacting, you were making decisions, and those decisions greatly affected the outcome of the fight. You were successful because you made the right decisions during the fight, not because you memorised the tactics or because you had the best gear. Turbine was also great at designing PvE content that constantly introduced these decision making moments, whether that be through unexpected crits, unexpected avoidances, power running out or whatever.

The reason I loved LotRO and its depth so much is that im a relatively intellectual and intelligent person, and I absolutely love thinking my way through problems. LotROs depth forced me to pay close attention during every fight and kept me mentally engaged for long periods. It was constant problem solving whilst under pressure: you get 1-3 seconds to assess the situation, make a decision, then execute your solution. Get it right, you win, get it wrong, you lose.

I've never experienced any other game with the same amount of depth in the combat mechanics. Like, not even remotely close. I'm told WoW used to come close, but I never got to endgame in WoW so can't compare directly.

For other types of combat mechanics, I can enjoy them, just not for that long.

For some RPGs, the focus is on the meta-game, that is where the depth is at. I do enjoy such deep meta-games, I love theory-crafting and coming up with exciting and powerful builds. However, the meta-game is not combat. So, I find that in games that rely heavily on the meta, actual combat time is boring. Its like being a QA tester - the hard work was done in the meta, now im just testing whether it worked or not. Its interesting and useful, but quickly gets boring if your actions during combat don't really mean much.

Likewise, with action combat, decision making isn't that important. It's all about training your body to perform better. Its a completely different skill and different approach to deep combat mechanics. You put in the time, you put in the training, and you'll definitely get better. The problem I have is that intellectually, I understand what I need to do within the first few hours, so from then on my brain doesn't have much to do and I get bored. For a single player game with 30 hours of content, that's fine, but for an MMO that I want to play for 100s of hours, thats a deal breaker. I have real respect for the gamers out there that are willing to put in that training and get good with action combat, I just personally find it really boring.

Cryomatrix · April 2021

TwistedSister77 said:

Theocritus said:

Not sure I can name one in a MMO....I like Shooters and Survival combat much more.... I think I liked MMOs more for the social play than for the combat. Probably why I have had trouble finding a good MMO in over a decade.

Give me a Starcraft shooter/action MMORPG... it wouldn't compete straightforward with tab targeted WoW.

How sick would that be... a zealot with shield and blades, space marine with rife, hydra spitting acid, a zergling superfast with deadly claws that can bury. Etc. Not to mention vehicles.

Maybe as you level you get to command npc companions by your side up to a squad/ platoon.

I was thinking the exact same thing about starcraft. I think it would kind of be like war thunder in a sense.

enmasblade · September 2021

No clue why ppl are so arrogant to say that BDO is best by far combat... Like i would put it probably on 5th place or something. And yeah tera have better combat than BDO not all classes are good some are crap... But that thing ppl call good combat in BDO cos its flashy and cool looking attacking 10m away from enemy in oposite direction and still hitting and killing enemy... Yep good combat XD So far think skyforge have best combat and well that combat got butchered and crippled by by change of devs. Still its way better combat than any of ppl would list even in this bad state. Like i did play lots of fighting games like mortal combat, streed fighter, soul calibur, teken... After thous what most ppl consider good combat i dont even see as combat. Did play lots of hand and slash for almost 30 years... Dont have proper list so its more like guessing without actually playing some games like soul and blade or connan... If i did maybe would change list 1) nothing 2) Skyforge 3) nothing 4) nothing 5) vindictus 6) tera 7) London hell gate 8) BDO Want good combat its Godfall crap game really good combat... Dont get me wrong Skyforge is in shitty state only thing that keep ppl playing it is good combat and friends

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