Are we satisfied with the state of combos?

[Shurrikhan]

Like, if we take our standard 3 skill combo we can have the following options:

123, 321, 213, 231, 312, & 132

I guess what I'd be most curious about, then, is how we define where a combo would end. Would it always just be by rule of three? Or is there some other condition baked into the system (and perhaps its individual skills) that allow for fewer or greater GCDs before resolving back to the pre-combo state?

Additionally, do you think there ought to be differences in name, icon, and/or animation to indicate the relative power of a pre-combo, mid-combo, and combo-ending variant of the same skill, i.e. 123 vs. 312 vs. 231?

[Kalise]

I guess what I'd be most curious about, then, is how we define where a combo would end. Would it always just be by rule of three? Or is there some other condition baked into the system (and perhaps its individual skills) that allow for fewer or greater GCDs before resolving back to the pre-combo state?

Well, 3 hit combo's seem to be the thing for SE. Given that only DRG utilizes more than that (I guess technically, SAM also has a combo that uses less with the 2 skill Yukikaze combo). It would also limit the possibilities to a more standard number that's easier to balance around rather than you know, having infinite possibilities that we have to memorize the arbitrary combinations that are picked...

Thus the most logical way to do things like DRG's 5 step combos or SAM's Yukikaze combo would be for them to utilize skills from outside of the 123 combo skills. I.e. DRG does some variant of the 3 step combo, then uses Wheeling Thrust/Fang and Claw as seperate skill(s). Or SAM having either a separate 1-2 combo for Yukikaze or having Yukikaze just be a stand alone skill (Or incorporated into a now 3 step combo?)

Then, if we stick to a rule of three, we can easily set up for making the combo's be clear by using the current shiny gold borders used to indicate combo actions. For example:

You use skill 1 and skills 2 and 3 will be lit up, showing that they can be combo'd.

Then you use skill 2 and only skill 3 remains lit up as that's the only progression available from the "1-2" combo.

Finally you use skill 3 and then you'd be back to the normal state.

Additionally, do you think there ought to be differences in name, icon, and/or animation to indicate the relative power of a pre-combo, mid-combo, and combo-ending variant of the same skill, i.e. 123 vs. 312 vs. 231?

Probably.

Not only would that be more intuitive - Since you can then also change some effects of skills within combos - But would also be more visually appealing, wherein you feel less like you're just spamming the same skills over and over again.

In addition, with different names and icons, it would also be possible to highlight them in the spellbook (Much like how you can find Machinists Heated versions of their combo skill or Red Mages Enchanted melee skills at the bottom of the page) so you can see what effect(s) they have and also look at what combo's access what skills.

So for example, using your reference to 123 vs 321 vs 231 on say, Warrior (What a surprise ):

Base Skills:
1 = Heavy Strike
2 = Crushing Strike
3 = Smash

123:

Heavy Strike > Maim > Storm's Path

312:

Smash > Fracture > Butcher's Block

231:

Crushing Strike > Skull Sunder > Storm's Eye

So, in your spellbook you'll learn Heavy Strike, Smash and Crushing Strike but at the bottom of your spellbook you'll have "This action cannot be put on your action bar" skills for the other skills but will have their tooltips and combos detailed.

The concern would be trying to make it clear how each combo progressed... Given that, in theory, each skill would have 4 different skills it would change into based on which combo is being used (123/132 + 321 + 213 + 231 + 312)

I suppose with Role Actions being addressed in ShB and rolled into standard skill progression, you could have a "Combo" page in your spellbook, which could show the combo's clearly and reference the base skill used.

I.e.

Heavy Strike > Maim > Storm's Path would be referred to as Heavy Strike > [Crushing Strike] Maim > [Smash] Storm's Path