Please bring more action in combat :(

[Rowyne]

auto attack is just a means to build tp. If your not constantly using your real skills then your doing it wrong.

I used to think that before tonight, but... well, here...

I posted this bit of feedback in General, but I realize it's more appropriate in this section.

I got my husband to log on with me tonight to unlock achievement categories. This is the first time he has participated in combat since the implementation of auto-attack (since we had to run through Coerthas to the Owl's Nest and kill a few enemies).

I only play casters, and he only plays melee. I'm a 25 CNJ, he's a 25 PGL. So, I've been watching the battle system evolve as a caster and I like the changes. However, the last time my husband participated in combat, he had a stamina bar and an action bar full of active abilities.

We got into combat, and he was immediately frustrated. He said that he must need to set up his action bar, they must all be his old abilities, because almost all of them were greyed out. I told him no, all the abilities were overhauled in 1.20, they're his new abilities. When we got out of combat I came over to his computer and looked at them with him, we were both shocked to find that every single offensive combat ability was TP dependent. The only ones he could use off the bat were buffs. So, we tried combat again, and the fact that he had to stand still, watch, and do nothing while his character auto-attacked and built TP before he could take any action, completely sucked any fun he had out of combat for him.

He said before the battle system was actually fun. He went on to say that if the game had been released this way, he would have put it down after five minutes and never played it again.

Neither one of us is against auto-attack. Far from it. I hated that melee just spammed the 1 key all day. And I hated before that, as a CNJ, I was expected to spirit dart like a melee. I've actually been happy with the caster changes. I think casters were fixed. But the melee... well, lots of other games have auto-attack and still give you plenty of other active abilities to jump into combat with right off the bat. Making everything dependent upon TP use makes for a waiting game. :/

Why are there not at least a couple smaller melee abilities that can be used while you're building TP? I'm not asking for mindless button mashing, but to stand there and do nothing is boring. Casters don't wait on TP abilities, we can actively participate right off the bat. Like the OP has stated, melee have no feeling of action in combat.