Mandatory Combos

[Ogulbuk]

Combo actions that enable based off various conditions are there for a reason. Its part of the way that most jobs function. And yes, they do require some THOUGHT on the part of the user, and they can be what makes one player differ from another. Not just in terms of dmg, but also in play styles.

You and I define thought very differently. 1-2-3 is not exactly thinking. The main reason they are still there is the game never got rid of them after actual-thought-requirement was introduced.

As Bard, I could apply Straight shot which lasts for 20 secs. If it procs right away and Straighter Shot becomes available, I could choose to toss it out right away to do the extra dmg or I could choose to wait until my buff is close to going down to refresh it when I need to rather than having to recast straight shot which takes more time. That's up to me to decide.

.... yes... that is for you to decide, but that is not a Combo Action.

My point is those combo-enabled actions & abilities exist for a purpose already. They have added benefits, you just have to think about what they are. If you cant figure out the right way to use them, then thats on you!

You are missing the point: those are not combo actions you seem to describe. Warriors, Dragoons, Paladins, those are combo actions, and they are not "added benefits". Using those actions without the combo is always a self-dps nerf. Repeating Heavy Swing over and over non stop will always be superior to ever using one of the Warrior combo "boosted" actions out of combo.

[Vespar]

You are missing the point: those are not combo actions you seem to describe. Warriors, Dragoons, Paladins, those are combo actions, and they are not "added benefits". Using those actions without the combo is always a self-dps nerf. Repeating Heavy Swing over and over non stop will always be superior to ever using one of the Warrior combo "boosted" actions out of combo.

So wait. you want for example WAR's 1-2-3 actions to be removed in favor of just mashing 1 button for Heavy Swing, etc? So... like what they are going to do with PvP in 4.0?

So you want the game to become a mindless button masher? I hope you have a mechanical keyboard because that poor '1' key is gonna need replacing alot.

And the combo actions weren't meant to be used solo. Thats how XIV has been since release. Why are we griping about that now? That being said, I dont think it needs to become mash 1 > 1 > 1 > 1 > 1 repeatedly until our eyes bleed from it. I like how the combos work. I already have seen plenty of people who dont read their tooltips or set up their bars properly, spamming actions out of order. Mashing 1 over and over may make it easier for some of them sure, but its still not going to make them a good player. All it will do is make the rest of us bored as all hell.

It sounds like to me the real issue here is players not READING and organizing their bars in a way that favors using their "combo".

[aesteval]

How do you go about defining which combos are mandatory? While you mention some actions that you don't think have a use outside of combo, there are others that do have selective use (but which should not be repeated endlessly.)

[Ogulbuk]

How do you go about defining which combos are mandatory? While you mention some actions that you don't think have a use outside of combo, there are others that do have selective use (but which should not be repeated endlessly.)

Repeating a combo over and over is another story. I used war as example, and it's a good one for your request too, because you should not be doing that combo over and over, only every time the self +dmg and -res expire (or are close enough to expire.)

I main DRG and War, both need to use at least two different combos to be effective, with various non-combo actions also mixed in.

My main issue is with using those abilities outside of combo action. Either they should not be usable, or there should be a point for them to be used. Maim could always land its damage buff (think that's changing to the -res in Stormblood) with the only combo action benefit being the added potency. At least then it would make sense to activate the thing outside a combo.

[RaijinSupreme]

ehh. i'm not 2 years old. the combos light up if im not mistaken. That's a suggestion enough that i should use that move next.

[Kaonis]

OP has it mostly right. Though what really needs addressing is the fundamental fact that the combo system really adds nothing t game play as it stands. Outside combo, abilities are worthless (and no, super highly niche situations don't count), and even some weapon skills only exist as part of the combos. For example on WAR, heavy swing exists purely to lead into the other 2 combo chains, and skull sunder only exists as a mid combo before butcher's block. There's no reason for this. It also puts lots of emphasis on needing to get that final combo in as it's the one that matters; which is beyond annoying when the boss jumps/goes invincible just long enough for you to lose combo, let alone when other abilities take away your combo status (looking at you PLD casting clemency). By comparison when I used to raid in SWTOR on my Juggernaut, I could have moments where I am not on the boss, then get right back in and pick up my rotation where I left off. In XIV you usually have to just restart completely from the beginning which is just annoying.

Outside MNK who is a bit of a unique case with combos, they could be deleted and reworked and the game wouldn't suffer. I'd argue it'd be better for it. I'd rather have 6 weapon skills in my rotation to use that each had some role by themselves, outside having 6 where 2-3 of them exist purely as button/ability slot filler for the ones I want to use.

[NolLacnala]

I have tiny pianist fingers and I still manage to fat finger a combo once per run. MNK locking all jobs' combos might be oversimplification, but it'd be a decent change.

[Hasrat]

I'm not really seeing any complaints here about how MNK does basically exactly this already, so, not sure why we can't somewhat agree to spreading it to other jobs.

All skills that start a combo always available for restarting any combo. All 2nd/3rd skills in combo unavailable.
After skill 1, any skills that are a part of a combo available after skill 1 can now be used. 3rd skills still unavailable.
After skill 2 of whatever chosen combo, any 3rd skills in that combo are available.

What's so bad about "turning off" any combo skills that aren't highlighted? You literally never use them anyway.

[XiXiQ]

I'm fine with the theory of this, however experiience with longer pings tells me this will hold people up in a similar way macros do. It's going to take too long to "activate" on the client side. An example that works like this already is enochian. fireIV doesn't light up until af+eno is there, and the longer ping you have, the longer you will wait until you can use it.