[dev1022]Auto Attack and States

[Tempestmoon]

auto-attack has presented a catch 22 in regards to the use of incapacitations as an opener attack. since auto attack will trigger upon proximity when a weapon is unsheathed and a mob is targeted, you cannot sneak up behind an enemy without great difficulty.

in example: i frequently kill Doblyns, in which i use Trunksplitter II as my opening attack from the rear as an outer body incap. with patch 1.18 in affect, i now have to race my opening WS against the auto-attack, which will poke the mob, and cause them to turn around, thus making my fight more of a pain. so i am actually button mashing MORE as a result trying to navigate my action bar and smash my weapon skill before my strategy goes out the window. this is very, very frusterating.

having my weapon put away will allow for me to target the mob and be in close proximity, which will buy me enough time to queue up my WS, however TP degeneration is AWFUL in passive mode and the initiation of attack is always a race against time... auto-attack just added more junk to juggle to make killing with strategy even more complicated.

we need a way to toggle the initiation of auto-attack so it doesnt trigger upon proximity or targeting. also if any Devs read this a trait that slows the rate at which TP is lost would be AMAZING.

There is an easy way around that. There are different targeting modes, first you just select the enemy, you can walk right up to it in active mode and you won't attack, BUT you can use your weapon skill. If you hit enter again on the mob it locks on and you start auto-attack, and then if you want to keep facing it you press * to lock your camera. This works for me for this purpose, BUT is also pisses me off when I realize I am not attacking because I am not in locked mode.

[Pale]

There is an easy way around that. There are different targeting modes, first you just select the enemy, you can walk right up to it in active mode and you won't attack, BUT you can use your weapon skill.

let's stop here, the issue i am presenting does not concern the use of a keyboard; which, yes, is as simple as everyone keeps saying. if i had the ability to select any skill from the action bar without using the d-pad i would not have to lock-on to a target first, and i would have no issue with the auto-attack and could initiate a skill with no problems.

If you hit enter again on the mob it locks on and you start auto-attack

right, and locking onto a target* is a prerequisite to being able to select anything on the action bar with the d-pad. so there is no way of getting around auto-attack prior to using a skill. grab a controller and try it, if you can figure out a way and i'm just being grumpy, i'll more than gladly stop whining.

You can always run behind the mob while you're fighting it. I use pounce mid-battle while soloing all the time. All you do is run past the mob behind it right after you basic attack and smash the WS before the mob has enough time to turn around. On the devs part, they could at least set a longer timer before TP starts to degenerate if players really want to open up with WS.

oh i know, i'd just not like to have to worry about incaps mid battle. it's never as reliable once the target is engaged.

anyway, i hate to keep complaining about it, its just that i got too used to my method over the last 8 months, and now it feels clumsy and undependable. i do appreciate the comments. i have a feeling SE will fix this and i'll feel silly for making such a big stink over this for so long.

* i suppose 'locking' on in itself is a bit erroneous. you do not have to 'lockon' to use the d-pad to navigate the action bar but merely bring up the three yellow arrow icons. this stage of targeting presents the described problems, i just wasn't accurately using the terminology. since the d-pad cannot control both the cycling of targets and the action bar, you have to target a mob to be able to switch into a mode which allows access to control the action bar. the stage at which control toggles from normal cycling to targeting also is the same stage at which auto-attack is triggered, hence the inability to use skills while using a controller without auto-attack being in the way.