The problem with "Instant OFF GCD" abilities makes combat feel less rewarding.

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Originally Posted by Slickpig

I think I'm having the same issue as PLD, when I'm using my normal 3 WS rotation, but I want to throw in a rampart, or fight+flight in the middle, it just doesn't activate until the other GCD WS is finished. is that what this thread is about?

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Exactly. Some skills can be used instantly but not trigger a GCD. But all skills must wait until the current GCD is finished before they can be used. This is made more annoying by the fact that that GCD icon animation is not present on these skills, making it appear that they should be usable. At a minimum, the GCD wait icon effect should be placed on all skills/actions that cannot be used.

I don't see anything wrong with it :s As warrior it lets me use a GCD attack and before being able to use the next part of the combo I can use 1 of the various buffs then rinse/repeat and yes it flows nicely, not sure if you notice but yes you cannot use the instant ones in an instant but during them you can break the animation forcing the next move (if that makes sense). Idk im not arguing but thats how its been for marauder/warrior, also Ive been trying gladiator and having shield bash on GCD makes it harder to use than marauders Brutal swing during battle, you can really notice the usefulness of off-GCD there. But yeh trust me I do see what your saying that its not instant but you just need to click it a couple times like anything else.

I use off GCD skills on both BRD and DRG just fine. What I've noticed is you have to wait till half the GCD is done before they will activate. Watch your CD and try when it's half way. I think this is working as intended to prevent popping multiple skills off GCD while still keeping a perfect rotation. If you want more then one you will miss your next GCD. And sometimes it's worth doing that too. I think it's just fine how it is.

I haven't been having much trouble on DRG. Most of the time my off GCD abilities are triggerable about halfway thru GCD (Leg Sweep seems to be instant regardless) and they don't delay the next ability whether it's on GCD or not.

As a PLD I do not really have any issues with my off-GCD abilities sure I cant activate all my defensive buffs at once instantly but that is fine, you have to plan ahead and watch your health and use strategy more. No skills in the game are meant to be truly instant and I am not sure how you came to that impression instant cast time does not mean it carries no animation, even cast time abilities have a small animation after words in which you still can not activate a skill its just less noticeable.

Here is what I can tell, they have a very complex system in play here, during an animation there are key points in which the animation can change before it is actually fully completed, take circle of scorn for instance, when I jump up I can not activate any other skills but as soon as I start to rise after landing I can activate spirts within. This makes sense because I am not sure if you have every tried but it is impossible to jump up in the air stab something and then stab the ground all at the same time, however once I land the stab is fair game even though there is a little bit more to the animation of circle of scorn than this. This is all about realistic and possible motions, also it is about balance in terms of PVP down the line, having several instant cast abilities that can all be activated literally within the same nano-second could ruin pvp and make it a one-shot fest of off-gcd abilities as fast as you can macro them.

Anyway that is just my two cents on the subject I like the new system and equating it to XI is not a good comparison as they are not trying to replicate the combat in XI in any way at all here and they don't need too, this combat system can stand on its own, GCD makes sense in this kind of system simply because if it was not in place I could easily output over 400 damage in just 1 second or 2 depending on the animations for my fast blade, savage, rage combo, which is game breaking for the way the combat is currently set up they would have to re-work EVERYTHING.

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Originally Posted by Ruprect

Soooo.... really off GCD skills are on GCD skills. I have to hit it like 5 times to get it to go off, that usually takes most of the GCD.

What is the point of an off GCD skill then?

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This right here. Makes combat very sluggish and annoying. Until this is fixed I can't really seem combat ever being 'good'. Tie that to the latency issues and this game is still very lacking. Very sad to see the dev's aren't concerned with this.

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Originally Posted by Lithera

I haven't been having much trouble on DRG. Most of the time my off GCD abilities are triggerable about halfway thru GCD (Leg Sweep seems to be instant regardless) and they don't delay the next ability whether it's on GCD or not.

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This. I mean...even if I use an attack, Leg Sweep seems to be instant. And I can pull off Keen Flurry, Foresight (cause Marauder), and that one MRD skill that converts some damage you give out to HP in less than a second altogether for when I suddenly need to tank for a bit. So I can't say I really get what this thread is about.

Need to kill that internal global cooldown if it is that case, it feels like a cheap free to play game with it. It kills the purpose to make real macros, hopefully it improves.

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Originally Posted by Camate

Hello,

Based on the way the game was designed, and also taking into account the current level of difficulty, the development team has no plans to change the timing in which non-global cool down actions can be used, and would like players to take this into consideration when forming strategies.

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Give the devs feedback that the majority of players think that off GCD abilities should activate as soon as they are pressed and adjust content difficulty accordingly. Having to spam hit the buttons for off GCD abilities like 10-15 times before they go off is not good gameplay. It just makes it sluggish.

I know Yoshi told the dev team to play WoW and other MMOs. But take a look at WoWs Paladin for example they have many off GCD instant defensive abilities they can use, only in that game they activate as soon as you hit them. It feels much more smooth gameplay wise and not sluggish like how it currently is in FFXIV.

When I think about this the only instances where this really makes things clunky is instant cast emergency abilities, Benediction being a prime example. I have no issue managing my damage instant casts as one per GCD as a BRD however I have total control over when and how I need to use them. Healers often have issues where the tank is going to go down in the next .3 seconds and they need that instant emergency button but it is useless as the tank dies before the animation completes and they end up wasting the benediction cooldown on themselves.

I don't care if we have to sit on an animation delay for non emergency skills but forcing tanks and healers to consider the delay for abilities that must be used ASAP is regressive and a surprising move when considering what has been pitched to us in the design philosophy for ARR for years now.