Suggested Improvements for Combat

[Fendred]

The issue from which all other issues stem in this game currently is the combat. Because its so oversimplified, he cannot create any depth to encounters, resulting in everything being formulaic. It completely messes up the social aspect of end game by stratifying the community into those that have done the encounter and those that have not. These two groups eventually have conflicting interests and it turns the entire community against itself.

If there is more than one way to tackle an encounter (as in entirely different strategies), then the hard core community would get its replayability and depth its been asking for, while at the same time discouraging the current farm group mentality.

Yoshi was asked about this in the last live letter, if we could get more support style roles, and his answer was no, he felt adding in a fourth archetype would make it difficult for new players to comprehend, and we all know that we can't have complex now, because someone that starts to play two years from now will need it to be simple.

Seriously? He's not going to do anything to increase the depth of combat? That's been numero uno on the complaints list from the hard core community. He simply can't address that concern without changing how combat works.

Also, he is basically insulting the intelligence of the people paying for his product and making a self fulfilling prophecy.

Yoshida, if you make a game that panders to the lowest common denominator, you get the lowest denominator. You make a game that respects a persons intelligence, you get intelligent people. Gamers are more than sufficiently intelligent to handle a system with more depth to it. We play games like that all the time. I'm playing Divinity: Original Sin, and I've played both Dragon's Age games; I've also played Path of Exile which has one hell of a customization tree for any given class; And I've played every Final Fantasy to date. If you are not interested in listening to players on the matter, make that clear so we can go someplace else.

[Deusteele]

I Don't really understand the point of these.

#1. Just sounds like normal heals with shorter ranges, enemies already have cleaves and AoE's so standing near others to heal already
has a cost.

#2. So a normal boss fight? Many fights have add spawns that must be picked up before they devour your healers. And tanking properly is far more then being a meat shield. Many strategies are tuned toward reducing the need for this. I.e solo Titan-Ex strat.

#3. Kinda like running behind some mobs can keep them from targeting you? Or just crank it to eleven on existing mobs and prevent speedruns?

#4. And what would they do, other then encourage players to camp them and gather better materials for crafting? There are guides to HQ crafting using NQ materials. So players already have a work around for that idea.

#5. Why? A jousting lance is nothing like a spear used by footmen. WTF is a greatbow? We have huge bows already in game. The Bow of Crags and several late game bows are already near player height. Axes -> Hammers is possible, but what would it do, other then take a weapon that could be used by another Job.

What is the point of making enmity so important?
Guess what? IT"S NOT!

Holding aggro is a completely binary mechanic . Either the tank has it, or they don't.

Even if we combined 2 of your ideas. Which no doubt was your intention. 1 and 3. Would just cause a complete drop of melee classes. Why would you want to run to melee to heal targets, risk dying and wiping? When you can just stand in the back and heal ranged safely and smoothly.

[Jubez187]

What is the point of making enmity so important?
Guess what? IT"S NOT!

I disagree. I don't like the way enmity was handled in this game. Very uninteresting, and very boring and very forgiving. I would rather have to use other ways to protect allies: Cover, Holmgang, CC, ETC rather than flash spam every mob that comes around. Enmity does have its moments of mastery seeing as the enemy list doesn't tell you when you're losing only when you're gaining aggro, so cycling through targets and split rotations is important. But those instances are very few and far between.

[Anapingofness]

I really hope they add lvl50+ mobs to the overworld... It may ease up on the people who SB in dungeons. =\

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I really hope they add lvl50+ mobs to the overworld... It may ease up on the people who SB in dungeons. =\

Until you start getting dungeons that also have mobs over level 50.

[Deusteele]

You seemed to have skipped a part of that quote.

Enmity has been, and will always be boring and uninteresting. Where and how it's displayed is immaterial. There could be a dozen chocobo's dancing across the screen tell you how much hate you have. And while that would be an interesting sight, it still wouldn't change the fact that enmity is wholly binary and dull, and one of the worst systems to build a trinity around. All it does is punish players for having tanks with L2P problems or tanks that have had poor loot luck.

[Barimu]

They also said comes 3.0(expansion) they are revamping the whole class/job system etc. so we'll have to see how that turns out

[Fendred]

They also said comes 3.0(expansion) they are revamping the whole class/job system etc. so we'll have to see how that turns out

I'm actually looking forward to it. Even if I kind of exploded like crazy here (and why wouldn't I after I spent some time trying to give suggestions only for someone to quote mine Yoshida purposely to have me explode... gj on that btw...) I actually do like a lot of the game and I want to see it succeed. Hopefully in the coming patches some of the factors contributing to end game hostilities will get fixed and things will become more accessible.

[Marxam]

I think adding a new class "Support" will obviously need some combat overhaul so it's understandable that they are still debating it, but adding a class that plays similar to a bard is not that hard I would think. I imagine a Time Mage would be easy to implement since they can dps using skills like Demi or Umbra while buffing the party with Haste, Reflect, etc.