New CNJ Spell animations

so i was of ideas that would make the spell animations more varied and look a lot better for cnj. but for these ideas to work, we wont be able to move while castin because of the animation which i feel is a very huge tradeoff....

adding a proc of some sort that causes immoblization to the mob would also add a lil more "umph" to the spells.

Stone
while your casting, there is a ring of light below you and pieces of rock breaks off the ground and rises, then as the spell is finishing, the small rocks are hurled at the mob. the rocks increase in size each tier. chance of knocking mob on its back

Wind
a ring of light circles the player while casting, a gust of wind slowly blows from behind, then as the spell finishes, a huge burst of wind blows towards the mob. chance of knocking the mob on its back

Ice
circle of light below player, mob becomes frozen for a split second, chance of freezing the mob for a short amount of time

Thunder
circle of light, sparks begin to rise from the ground, as spell finishes, the sparks engulfs the mobs, chance of stunning the mob for a short amount of time

Fire
circle of light, a ball of flame grows in front of the player, as spell finishes, the fireball hurls at the mob with the chance of a fire dot

Water
circle of light, a small wave starts to grow in front of the player, as spell finishes, a larger wave rushes towards the mob with a chance to drown the mob for a short amount of time

what do you guys think?

Not being able to move may be a little annoying (especially when bombs are ready to explode), though i would like some better animations when casting/or when the spell hits the mob.

On the other side, we're still capped lvl 50. Idk when it will be raised, but, maybe they'll wait for higher lvl spells to make it look big O-o?

To be able to move or to have casting animations is a hard choice. We should technically be able to have casting effects though while moving right (which your description is technically effects). Actually I'm pretty sure animations can occur during movement as well so I'm all for animation/effects while casting/better spell animation/effects especially for Raise.

I think they shouldn't just readdress spell animations, but also their effect in battle. For example, as you mentioned, stone could be used as a way to knock back the enemy, and not just a way to deal earth damage. Or perhaps it could be used as a way to petrify the mob in a layer of stone.

I think there should also be spells which can create barriers, for example, a wall of ice... or a spell which creates a slippery area of ice around the player where mobs movement speed is decreased. Things like this would help make the battles more situational rather than systematic: buff, debuff, tank, spank.

Making something look big, as minidrax said, isn't going to resolve the issue of combat. They need to be more inventive about possible strategies. For example, maybe the wall of ice could prevent a line-of-sight between the mob and the player, thereby rendering the mob unable to cast ranged attacks/magic.

Animations are only half the issue.

i dont know how SE has their particle system and effects setup in ffxiv. in some games, spells or projectiles are actually objects that can be triggered if it hits something. i dont think it works that way in ffxiv. if you cast a spell, its only a particle effect on the mob so if something was to be in the way, the object isn't going to block it, the spell would still hit the mob.

i really like the idea of giving spells a lot more modifiers other than dmg. being able to use spells defensively like a wall of ice or a wall of stone to block projectile can add a whole another dimension to NM/Boss fights. right now, the only defensive thing you can do is move out of range of the mobs spell. i think if they stay away from that mechanic, stationary spell casting wont be that big of a deal. instead of running out of range, we can cast a spell that can block projectiles or effect LoS of mobs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GabbaGabba

i dont know how SE has their particle system and effects setup in ffxiv. in some games, spells or projectiles are actually objects that can be triggered if it hits something. i dont think it works that way in ffxiv. if you cast a spell, its only a particle effect on the mob so if something was to be in the way, the object isn't going to block it, the spell would still hit the mob.

i really like the idea of giving spells a lot more modifiers other than dmg. being able to use spells defensively like a wall of ice or a wall of stone to block projectile can add a whole another dimension to NM/Boss fights. right now, the only defensive thing you can do is move out of range of the mobs spell. i think if they stay away from that mechanic, stationary spell casting wont be that big of a deal. instead of running out of range, we can cast a spell that can block projectiles or effect LoS of mobs.

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Well line-of-sight doesn't really require anything more than some coding which can tell if the mob if the mob and you are connected by a line of sight, or you were hiding behind the aforementioned wall of ice.

BUt yeah, there's lots of more interesting ways to handle magic system than just adding buffs and nukes. I mean, seriously, boring much?

That would be awesome gabba. I'd love to see some effects like this that are imaginative and graphically rich. Right now there's just this mist that you can barely see. Although for ice I think it should be like your fire, and appear in front of the player before shooting toward the enemies. Maybe it could even freeze the air in a line of sight from the caster to the enemies, freezing them on contact. That's the whole reason I started playing conjurer: to get my hands on some cool elemental magic. GabbaGabba for assistant lead artist!

EDIT: I'm also for your situational magic use. Stuns, walls of ice, maybe wind could blow them back for a time; using magic to move the enemies around on the battlefield and change positioning. Great addition. Would make FFXIV one of the coolest caster games and bring more strategy to caster roles.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GabbaGabba

so i was of ideas that would make the spell animations more varied and look a lot better for cnj. but for these ideas to work, we wont be able to move while castin because of the animation which i feel is a very huge tradeoff....

adding a proc of some sort that causes immoblization to the mob would also add a lil more "umph" to the spells.

Stone
while your casting, there is a ring of light below you and pieces of rock breaks off the ground and rises, then as the spell is finishing, the small rocks are hurled at the mob. the rocks increase in size each tier. chance of knocking mob on its back

Wind
a ring of light circles the player while casting, a gust of wind slowly blows from behind, then as the spell finishes, a huge burst of wind blows towards the mob. chance of knocking the mob on its back

Ice
circle of light below player, mob becomes frozen for a split second, chance of freezing the mob for a short amount of time

Thunder
circle of light, sparks begin to rise from the ground, as spell finishes, the sparks engulfs the mobs, chance of stunning the mob for a short amount of time

Fire
circle of light, a ball of flame grows in front of the player, as spell finishes, the fireball hurls at the mob with the chance of a fire dot

Water
circle of light, a small wave starts to grow in front of the player, as spell finishes, a larger wave rushes towards the mob with a chance to drown the mob for a short amount of time

what do you guys think?

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I'd rather the cast be canceled when moving so if the need arises you could change position mid cast and begin casting all over, kinda like in XI but not with the annoying interruption penalty time that was involved.

I do like the sound of water, earth and fire,

lightning should be more of a static like aura around you and a big discharge effect on cast.

Wind would probly look cooler if the wind either shows a squall(sp?) effect near mob's location and on cast some slicing wind blade animations strike the mob, slowly building to a tornado at higher ranks.

Ice should just keep the old school FF traditional ice spikes/shards bursting out of the ground around mob, maybe add a chilling glow to player's hands/body while casting.

All the elements should get a element specific glow/aura around player during cast for pure show.

Oh and the after effects of spells I agree with 100%.

Oh man, totally on board with this Gadda. I would love to see much better animations than the ones we currently have, and I would rather see the spells have a slight chance of landing a DoT like Water - Drown, Fire - Burn etc. Not many CONs right now use those DOT spells cuz they rather equip Paralyze, Poison etc. I also like to be running while casting, but I think it should be at a much slower rate (the running) as well as not having the weapon out to have to cast something, know what I mean?

But really like the idea of having casting animation just like in your post, great idea =D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by babycakin

Oh man, totally on board with this Gadda. I would love to see much better animations than the ones we currently have, and I would rather see the spells have a slight chance of landing a DoT like Water - Drown, Fire - Burn etc. Not many CONs right now use those DOT spells cuz they rather equip Paralyze, Poison etc. I also like to be running while casting, but I think it should be at a much slower rate (the running) as well as not having the weapon out to have to cast something, know what I mean?

But really like the idea of having casting animation just like in your post, great idea =D

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Maybe you could charge up while stationary, and then move while firing. The more you charge up, the more times you can fire off your spell. Like reloading and then firing ammo.

Right now, I think the tier-1 magics are fine in looking. But the bloody ANCIENT magic looks like a weaker version of all the tier 1 spells. They honestly need to re-vamp the ancient magic animations....perhaps incorporate Gabba's suggestions into how they operate.

We definitely need more defensive spells; the only one I can think of right now is Stoneskin, which, while useful, seems a bit lonely in the elemental defensive category. Poor earth...

stonewall could look something like this. the wall could remain there until something hits it hard enough to break it down

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../StoneWall.jpg