Request to ease conditions for combos

[Buddhsie]

The idea that particular weapon skills have added effects from positioning yourself around an enemy is a wonderful idea and it should remain in the game. It keeps the character moving around in order to utilise the full range of effects from their class, and in turn keeps the battle interesting.

The only problem I've seen is missing combos due to lag and/or enemies moving around. One of the reasons melee classes aren't being considered for the Good King Moggle Mog fight is the fact that it's diffuclt to tell which way small enemies are facing, hard to coordinate around moving enemies, and difficult to deal with lag issues. Combos by melee classes are regularly missed and thus their damage potential is dropped off a lot compared to Archer, whos conditions for combos are far easier.

My request to the dev team is that combos be able to be performed from any side, however the effects of the weapon skills, such as increased crit rate, increased damage etc., remain optional to moving around and positioning yourself at a particular side. This will allow combos to always be completed - and really, during the implementation was it not expected that people would combo successfully each attempt. I don't believe the dev. team expected players to miss say an average of ~10% of combos, thus regulating damage somewhat.

I hope people can see this the same way I do, a simple change to this system will remove the irritation of missing a combo, and increase the fluidity of battle.

[BlaiseLallaise]

The OP is absolutely correct. Although positioning for additional effects on weapon skills is a great mechanic, the same positioning should have never been a requirement for progression through a combo. Combos are already restrictive enough, removing almost all choice in execution. The positioning requirements took it beyond too far. Now not only are we forced into a very limited set of combos, we also have to be lucky enough that we are in the correct position, and what we think is the correct position may be something completely different to the server.

Last I checked removing choice is one of those things that really pisses off the playerbase.

[NoctisUmbra]

No, you GTFO. The OP is absolutely correct. Although positioning for additional effects on weapon skills is a great mechanic, the same positioning should have never been a requirement for progression through a combo. Combos are already restrictive enough, removing almost all choice in execution. The positioning requirements took it beyond too far. Now not only are we forced into a very limited set of combos, we also have to be lucky enough that we are in the correct position, and what we think is the correct position may be something completely different to the server.

Last I checked removing choice is one of those things that really pisses off the playerbase.

Hold your horses, good sir. The sarcasm on that post went right over your head.

As for Mr Buddhsie, valid point. I agree that combos should go through with only combo bonuses having to be fulfilled, while positioning bonuses remain as just that: extra bonuses. As such, performing combos from the right directions will still be encouraged, however every DoW besides ARC won't constantly be wasting TP and losing DPS due to lag, small monsters whose rears cannot be told apart from their faces, and retarded movement patterns.

Hey, I'd be fine if even the combo bonuses did not activate unless you got the positioning right - so long as we can actually still combo and not waste TP.

[syntaxlies]

combos arnt meant to work 100% the time. I haven't had a prob using combos and rarely miss one. Dont see the need in making it easier.

the only thing i think they should do is increase damage a little bit, i think they nerfed it too much to try and balance for combos.

[NoctisUmbra]

combos arnt meant to work 100% the time. I haven't had a prob using combos and rarely miss one. Dont see the need in making it easier.

the only thing i think they should do is increase damage a little bit, i think they nerfed it too much to try and balance for combos.

TP gain and cost were balanced to account for combos - so they were meant to work 100% of the time. The conditions were put there for more dynamic fighting and bonuses to strategic positioning to further divert from gameplay that involves simply staying still and hitting.

Either they should ease up on TP costs for non-ARC DoW, increase the damage output of non-ARC DoW, or preferably keep the classes balanced and allow for a tad less restriction on combos. The incentive to combo in position will still be there for pretty much all Weaponskills due to their bonuses anyway, but it will make more content accessible by other DoWs. Biggest reason ARC is preferred for Moogle right now is because they are the only DoW that can combo without fail despite the unpredictable movements of the Moogles.

[syntaxlies]

TP gain and cost were balanced to account for combos - so they were meant to work 100% of the time. The conditions were put there for more dynamic fighting and bonuses to strategic positioning to further divert from gameplay that involves simply staying still and hitting.

Either they should ease up on TP costs for non-ARC DoW, increase the damage output of non-ARC DoW, or preferably keep the classes balanced and allow for a tad less restriction on combos. The incentive to combo in position will still be there for pretty much all Weaponskills due to their bonuses anyway, but it will make more content accessible by other DoWs. Biggest reason ARC is preferred for Moogle right now is because they are the only DoW that can combo without fail despite the unpredictable movements of the Moogles.

nobody can execute a combo 100% of the time, so your wrong. that is all.

except classes that dont have positioning.

since archers can execute without fail i think that DD classes should get an increase in damage to make up for missing combos. This will allow the better player DD more then average by executing more then average amount of combos. this is my opinion, i really dont care what they do, its a new system that obviously needs balancing.

[NoctisUmbra]

nobody can execute a combo 100% of the time, so your wrong. that is all.

lol... Do you understand what I'm saying? Anybody can execute a combo 100% of the time. It is theoretically possible by design. Combos don't have a proc chance or something. If you hit from the designated positions, they work. Simple as that. There is also ample time between each WS to re-position.

The reason they don't work 100% of the time in practice is mainly due to lag causing you to end up hitting from one position whereas on screen it looked like another.

If you read my post, I did actually bring up buffing GLA, PGL, MRD and LNC damage as a possible way to balance this so that combos become a big bonus rather than something expected of you to keep up. However, I feel that would encourage reverting to the old stand in one spot and spam attacks playstyle for most fights.

Making it so DoW can string combos strictly based on the Weaponskills connecting, however so that they only receive the combo bonuses when executed from the right positions as well would not only maintain the current DPS balance between classes, but still encourage the dynamic playstyle combos are so obviously promoting.

[syntaxlies]

lol... Do you understand what I'm saying? Anybody can execute a combo 100% of the time. It is theoretically possible by design. Combos don't have a proc chance or something. If you hit from the designated positions, they work. Simple as that. There is also ample time between each WS to re-position.

The reason they don't work 100% of the time in practice is mainly due to lag causing you to end up hitting from one position whereas on screen it looked like another.

If you read my post, I did actually bring up buffing GLA, PGL, MRD and LNC damage as a possible way to balance this so that combos become a big bonus more so that something expected of you to keep up. However, I feel that would encourage reverting to the old stand in one spot and spam attacks playstyle for most fights.

Making it so DoW can string combos strictly based on the Weaponskills connecting, however so that they only receive the combo bonuses when executed from the right positions as well would not only maintain the current DPS balance between classes, but still encourage the dynamic playstyle combos are so obviously promoting.

honestly i wouldn't mind either way. It needs to be balanced. DD needs to be able to do more damage, and pug needs something to make them more useful(perhaps a ranged attack that stuns)

pre 1.20 my riot blade hit ifrit for 450, now it hits for 125. 2 of the glad combos are real easy since they are from the front. The one that increases defense requires you to strike to the rear.

and the reason i say now one can execute combos 100% of the time is 2 reasons 1, user error, 2 if you have hate and are required to attack from the side unless, you successfully stun the enemy some how there is a high chance of failure.

[NoctisUmbra]

honestly i wouldn't mind either way. It needs to be balanced. DD needs to be able to do more damage, and pug needs something to make them more useful(perhaps a ranged attack that stuns)

pre 1.20 my riot blade hit ifrit for 450, now it hits for 125. 2 of the glad combos are real easy since they are from the front. The one that increases defense requires you to strike to the rear.

and the reason i say now one can execute combos 100% of the time is 2 reasons 1, user error, 2 if you have hate and are required to attack from the side unless, you successfully stun the enemy some how there is a high chance of failure.

User error is something that is always there, and is beside the point.

I regularly do all my combos when solo on any class - front, rear, side. They are all very much possible. It simply requires that you are not locked on to your enemy, simply have them targeted. You can then easily dash to either of their sides or dash right through them to get to their rear and quickly hit the next WS before they have time to react. Timing it between their auto attacks and skills helps, as they stand still during those times.

The problem is during hectic content, like the Moogle, and the restrictive content like the NMs before the Moogle being among those sensitive trees. In one, the mob is unpredictable and difficult to maneuver around, and in the other you aren't even allowed to move when your weapon is out or you get an apple to the head for 9999.

It wouldn't be so much of an issue if there didn't exist a class that gets to do combos without positioning requirements for the same DPS ceiling, but considering giving ARC combos positioning requirements would be very counter-productive to the nature of the class what's left is to preferably remove the positioning requirement for combos and leave them as simply bonuses. Just for TP efficiency. A lot of the close-range DoW have bonuses like increased damage, or increased crit rate for combo AND position bonuses - so there will still be very good reason to be doing combos in position every single time you can. It will just prevent ARCs from becoming the DD that gets stacked in every content where positioning is made difficult.

Besides, like I said the DPS ceilings of all the classes are quite balanced right now. I rather they didn't mess with damage output values of the classes any further and risk screwing that up again.

[Buddhsie]

nobody can execute a combo 100% of the time, so your wrong. that is all.

except classes that dont have positioning.

since archers can execute without fail i think that DD classes should get an increase in damage to make up for missing combos. This will allow the better player DD more then average by executing more then average amount of combos. this is my opinion, i really dont care what they do, its a new system that obviously needs balancing.

I covered that in the OP; the fact that during party play ARC is able to combo every single time successfully and melee classes regularly miss is not balanced. In a perfect server with no lag in theory it should be possible to land your combos every time, however we don't have that luxury here.

Again I don't think the combo system was implemented with the idea that missing a percentage of them would balance the classes.

Edit: I'm simply offering a nice, easy solution to the problem.