Targeting System Needs to be Fixed

[MercedesAnnMaria]

I have been playing this game for a while using a keyboard and mouse. I am leveling a monk now and the targeting system for melee DPS is simply terrible. One annoying feature of the game's targeting system is that the game will use a weaponskill different from the one I selected. The other annoying thing is here I am staring into the face of an aggressive enemy right in front of me, but when I select the Tab key to select the enemy right in front of me, the targeting system targets about 5 other enemies in the distance before finally targeting the right enemy. Why would I want to attack an enemy some distance away from me when the enemy right in front of me is beating me up? Finally, when I do play Monk, the targeting system fails to target the really tall enemies (Lunar Golem for example or Ifrit in "Bowl of Embers" trial) if I get too close to them. I am also aware of the filter/targeting options which have been set to my liking, but to no avail. It would be nice if SE fixed the targeting system for melee DPS as it's so inconvenient in the open world and downright impossible at times in instances.

[Maeka]

I don't get what you mean by the game uses the wrong weaponskills.... I mean you hit the 1 hotkey, you get the ability you have bound to 1.

I will echo, though, the annoyance of tall mobs that go off screen, and the fact that Tab refuses to target them.

That *IS* annoying as crap and needs to be fixed. If the enemy's hitbox is on my screen, tab should target it, regardless of how tall the enemy is.

Either that, or make mobs shorter, and/or increase the max zoom distance so that I can get the enemy on screen and still see the floor for telepgraphs. I shouldn't have to constantly look up and down to see the floor And what the enemy is doing for those annoying attacks that don't have floor telegraphs.

EDIT: I also agree that tab-target should prioritize enemies you are currently in combat with, starting with the ones closest to you that are in your field of vision. I really don't need to target some enemy I'm not fighting that's 40 feet away while I'm fighting something that's bashing my face in. It's even more annoying when you're any ranged class and you're fighting an enemy and tab target goes through mobs you're not in combat with and your character decides to auto-attack one of those mobs and pull them in.... yaay, I get to fight unwanted mobs because the targeting key wouldn't grab the right enemy.

[WorstOne]

i am facing the issue with tab-target,
mostly it select mob that far from me, which keeps me tabbing or select with mouse,

[MaraD_]

Theres an option to make it based on camera direction, and nearest mob.
Theres another shortcut for "nearest mob"

But imo, you're better off using the original targeting system, and not their half hearted attempt at mimicing typical MMO targeting. (Which was introduced at a later date, and defaulted for mouse/keyboard users unfortunately)

The ideal way to target is to use the "target the nearest mob" shortcut, or to use the "confirm" button (which is defaulted to num pad 0) I suggest "confirm", since it can do a few other useful things for ya in combat.
This is based on your characters direction, NOT your camera direction! BUT is ALSO based on your cameras line of sight, mixed with your characters line of sight (leaving u with the smallest window in which to target things) partial obstruction is considered full obstruction. (such as being too tall, or being on stairs)

Next, there is an option to tab through monsters in 2 directions. "Left of your target", or "Right of your target".
(If you dont target the nearest enemy 1st, it will pick the enemy on the farthest side of the screen instead. (which sucks)

So in this case, lets say you see 3 enemies on screen. (Left to right, marked 1-3.)

1 2 3

You want to target 1. You can either face the enemy perfectly, and press confirm.
or
You can press confirm, and after u see which target is picked (usually 2) you press left, and it will tab over to the left by one monster. (in this case landing on 1)

With this method you ALWAYS know how many times u have to press the tab key, to target the exact mob you want.
IMO this is much more effective than the typical WoW tab targeting, which leaves u with a generalized guess of how many presses. I personally rather know how many, press it, and not even bother to check if its on the right mob, because i KNOW its on the right mob.

(As a side note, I do wish they would implement the FFXI system of targeting, as it would both save you a button press, and help speed up the process of cycling through monsters with its take on the "Left/Right" cycling. I absolutely loved this system, and was disappointed FFXIV was loosely based on it, but with far less polish)

[Maeka]

(such as being too tall, or being on stairs)

This is what I wish they would get rid of.

I am sick and tired of not being able to target an enemy that is on stairs/too tall without having to click the stupid thing.

They should count mobs BY HITBOX rather than the mobs' graphic. The hitbox is RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME but it won't target it because the mob's graphic is off-screen.

So it sounds like your solution of using confirm or 'target nearest' doesn't solve that problem whatsoever. It might fix the "stop targeting crap I'm not even in combat with", but the #1 problem I face by far is the tall mob/stairs problem.

Some mobs are just too darn big even if you max zoom out.

But yet, they DO have the tech to make it work because you can target the dragon in Steps of Faith using tab, despite the fact that most of its graphic is off-screen.

[MaraD_]

So it sounds like your solution of using confirm or 'target nearest' doesn't solve that problem whatsoever.

My main 2 solutions for this are;
(1) Keep the camera zoomed out. (EDIT: and max tilt upward) After doing savage long enough, Ive stopped zooming the camera in. Now the game seems "normal" with max zoomed out camera lol.
(2) If zoomed in, start with an AoE. some AoEs require a target, which this only works if u can target another mob. if u can target a different mob, and follow with an AoE, this will put the mob in ur threat list. now u can tab to it with another option. (I suggest using it or setting it up) An option to cycle through the enmity list. (I have it set to be my normal tab buttons, but while holding shift) While this isnt great, it works if u dont use a mouse, and back when tanking was more involved with enmity, it was useful. (Maybe in the future it will be useful again)

[Maeka]

My main 2 solutions for this are;
(1) Keep the camera zoomed out. After doing savage long enough, Ive stopped zooming the camera in. Now the game seems "normal" with max zoomed out camera lol.
(2) If zoomed in, start with an AoE. some AoEs require a target, which this only works if u can target another mob. if u can target a different mob, and follow with an AoE, this will put the mob in ur threat list. now u can tab to it with another option. (I suggest using it or setting it up) An option to cycle through the enmity list. (I have it set to be my normal tab buttons, but while holding shift) While this isnt great, it works if u dont use a mouse, and back when tanking was more involved with enmity, it was useful. (Maybe in the future it will be useful again)

My point is, there are bosses that even with max zoom out, I still can't target. So, the boss drops adds in, I go to the adds, and then I'm unable to grab the boss again unless I stop what I'm doing and click on the threat list, or click on the mob itself, either way I have to waste time clicking the boss to pick it up instead of grabbing it with the tab key.

It just seems like a pointless thing.

But then I have the same complaint about bosses who have visual cues high up on their graphics that you have to tilt the camera way up to even see. For example, Famfrit's Tsunami. I hate that freaking attack because you can never know where he's going to throw it unless you tilt the camera up to look at the upper part of his model which is usually off-screen if you have max zoom and are looking more at the ground so you can see the telegraphs on the ground.

It's just annoying and I wish they'd stop doing things like that.

[MaraD_]

It's just annoying and I wish they'd stop doing things like that.

I did mean to say max camera tilt as well ^^;
but that aside, I forgot I havent been in melee for years, so thats another reason why I probably havent needed to worry about it as much lately. Its far worse as a tank, I remember having that issue far more then.