Quote Originally Posted by Bourne_Endeavor View Post
Could be interesting. While far too complex for the devs to likely consider, I have always fancied a system where the order of our combos change the final result. An example would be: Full Thrust --> Vorpol Thrust --> Chaos Thrust. Instead of that being a broken combo, have Chaos Thrust become something else. It'd be a neat way to upgrade the combo abilities without taking up more hot bar space. Been ages since I played BnS and BDO but I believe they do something similar.
Oh, heck yeah. I've been pushing for that since 1.8, though in varying iterations, and heavily after ARR dropped. (Oddly enough, the Battle Regimen system that was abandoned when Yoshida took over was probably the closest we've gotten, though it was more for Skillchain-esque party variations thereof, replaced thereafter by wholly linear combos.)

I'm just not sure if I prefer arbitrary combo trees or simpler embedded effects that synergize with different 'paths'. Additionally, it may be difficult to get the most out of such a system while still using a fixed GCD, rather than animation-based uptime usage.

Aside/for others' reference: In BnS and BDO, "combos" are simply whatever abilities can animation-flow (animation-cancel from a shared anchor/return point) such that the time taken to complete a particular sequence of actions is less than the normal sum of the individual actions' time taken. BnS and BDO also to some degree allow for secondary effects to be applied by lower-cooldown skills, with that effect then going on a longer, separate cooldown. For instance, a sidestepping leg-chop could normally be there just to evade and deal damage, but its first use or first doubled use might apply a hamstring effect and superarmor (see Dysidia) over the animation as well. The skill itself would be spammable, but the effect would have about a 12-second cooldown.