What is wrong with cone aoe?

[Shurrikhan]

Cone hater here, I hated war's cone because the combo from it was a circle. Swapping between them every gcd was what was so annoying to me.

"Swapping between," though, was just a matter of standing still and hitting button B after button A.

Anything the circle could reach, the 60% greater radius of the cone could reach without moving....

[Saraide]

"Swapping between," though, was just a matter of standing still and hitting button B after button A.

Anything the circle could reach, the 60% greater radius of the cone could reach without moving....

Yes, I found that positioning very not enjoyable. So I started playing another tank.

[Shurrikhan]

Yes, I found that positioning very not enjoyable. So I started playing another tank.

It's... the exact same positioning... as on every tank with all circular AoEs.

You do not have to move to optimize a cone beyond the point at which you'd have gathered mobs anyways if you have one or more casters in your party.



Unless you were routinely screwing over your casters by standing in the middle of the mobs despite even the circular AoEs reaching all mobs from the pack's edge, nothing was changed.

[Saraide]

It's... the exact same positioning... as on every tank with all circular AoEs.

You do not have to move to optimize a cone beyond the point at which you'd have gathered mobs anyways if you have one or more casters in your party.



Unless you were routinely screwing over your casters by standing in the middle of the mobs despite even the circular AoEs reaching all mobs from the pack's edge, nothing was changed.

Seeing how I enjoy every other tank a lot more I would say it feels different enough for me to care. Someone else put it well, needing a target for the cone is probably what made it so awkward to use for me.

[Shurrikhan]

Many times it wasn't the tank moving the mobs, but the mobs deciding they were going to move on their own to a tanks flank.

Except there'd have to be not even an infinitesimally small portion of their massive hitbox rings within your 140-some-degree cone for that to matter. Even well off to the flanks, unless the mob was very, very small, you'd still hit it.

Just due to sheer hit-ring size, a mid-size mob could be a few feet behind you and you you'd still hit it with your conal AoE. The mob's body itself, especially on mobs that are longer than they are wide, is a very poor indicator of where your AoEs have to hit.

needing a target for the cone is probably what made it so awkward to use for me.

That at least makes sense. Though, that seems more a problem of SE forcing certain geometries to have targets than an issue of some geometries being inherently inferior to others (despite spending their near-equal total area on a space more optimal to positioning mobs).

[Mikey_R]

Seeing how I enjoy every other tank a lot more I would say it feels different enough for me to care. Someone else put it well, needing a target for the cone is probably what made it so awkward to use for me.

I would say a cone without a target would be even more awkward.

[Shurrikhan]

I would say a cone without a target would be even more awkward.

On M&KB, I'd generally prefer targeted over un-targeted, as I'm free to look and move about however I may wish despite having my cone pre-aimed, but I see no harm in allowing people the option to follow character facing without said facing being snapped towards a particular target (auto-faced) upon skill actuation.

[hagare]

"Swapping between," though, was just a matter of standing still and hitting button B after button A.

Anything the circle could reach, the 60% greater radius of the cone could reach without moving....

assuming there are no mobs behind you. Which usually happens when you're still setting up

[Shurrikhan]

assuming there are no mobs behind you. Which usually happens when you're still setting up.

No, no it really doesn't.

You start with all mobs to one side of you. When you run through them, since you lead mobs to the final gather, they remain to one side of you. The only way for them to end up truly behind you is to intentionally run into the center of the pack.

Yes, they can crowd toward your flanks, but your cone need only intersect any part of their hit-rings, which are far larger than the mob's models themselves. So long as you don't aim the cone off to the side, you'd still hit all of them while staying in place, just as you would with a circle.

The only difference is that the cone offers 60% more reach, which is pretty damn handy during the gather itself.

[Colt47]

No, no it really doesn't.

You start with all mobs to one side of you. When you run through them, since you lead mobs to the final gather, they remain to one side of you. The only way for them to end up truly behind you is to intentionally run into the center of the pack.

Yes, they can crowd toward your flanks, but your cone need only intersect any part of their hit-rings, which are far larger than the mob's models themselves. So long as you don't aim the cone off to the side, you'd still hit all of them while staying in place, just as you would with a circle.

The only difference is that the cone offers 60% more reach, which is pretty damn handy during the gather itself.

This is why I regarded the overpower change as a nerf and not really just a different way of doing things. I so dislike that Xeno video...