How do you play a Shadow with this awful interface?

[pakchooieunf]

For want of a suggestion forum, I will post here...

 

Does anyone else find playing their Shadow (or any other class/specialization for that matter), to be an exercise in frustration with the UI we are given?

 

My chief complaint is that I'm expected to monitor the occurrence of procs and the expiration of buffs on myself, along with the expiration of debuffs on the enemy, with utterly no visual or audio indications other than tiny icons with even more microscopic timers. At the same time, I am pressed to monitor the behavior (casting) of my enemy while simultaneously checking the cool downs on my own abilities - but I'm not even allowed the courtesy of having these UI elements grouped together, they are, instead, spread across the screen.

 

While I get along well-enough to make it 35 so far, it's a clumsy exercise in multitasking. Just something like a simple sound effect when, for example, Mind Crush becomes instant cast would do wonders.

 

To be honest, this isn't exactly a revolutionary idea. How things like this were missed is a mystery that eludes me.

 

So what's the solution? Anyone have workarounds? Or is everyone else just suffering this rudimentary attempt at a modern MMO interface?

[Dubblebass]

I am actually not having much of an issue with it. I am almost 42 sage and have pretty much just played by feel with the timers. I know where I am at in my rotation and go by feel. I agree that the buff/debuff icons could be bigger/clearer but I am getting alnog OK so far.

 

I also have a trooper Tank at 30 and I have even less issues on that char. Less to track.

Edited January 5, 2012 by Dubblebass

[Kitru]

To be honest, this isn't exactly a revolutionary idea. How things like this were missed is a mystery that eludes me.

 

Because EA rushed Bioware to release the game early to capitalize on the fact that WoW is hemorrhaging players before WoW releases the expansion pack (which, in MMO parlance, generally means that players generally come back in droves only to dwindle once again) and the more complex elements of a GUI (such as better buff/debuff visibility, proc notifications, easily seen placement of caster bars and group health information, etc) are one of the last things that the programming team (because not all of the developers are programmers and the GUI is designed almost exclusively by the programmers) works on once a basic, functional GUI has been developed.

 

I believe Bioware has stated that they plan on releasing the tools for the community to begin modding the UI of the game, which should drastically improve many of the issues you have. At worst, they'll start doing the things you recommend themselves simply because players expect it and they know the UI bothers many of them at the moment. I would wait a couple months before simply writing off the UI completely. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I've learned to deal with everything, including the difficultly of seeing who is attacking who as a tank.

[Longpaddle]

Yeah, this drives me a bit crazy. Playing a tank-specced Shadow I spend way too much time staring at the tiny icons to see if Particle Acceleration has procced, or if Kinetic Ward or Force Breach have worn off. You can check for procs by counting icons, or just spam your short-term buffs/debuffs as soon as they're off cooldown, but it's still rather annoying.

 

Something as simple as fly-text would instantly clean this up.

[ForceCowboy]

The UI would be fine if we didn't have 3 billion situational abilities. That's the real problem with all of the classes in the game.

 

Every stinking ability has some weird, pointless caveat that has to be in place before it will work. You can use this stun.. but not on droids. You can deal a crapton of damage in one shot... but only from behind. You can do a spinny kick to their head... but only if they're incapacitated. You can do a different spinny kick to their head... but only out of stealth. You can do a crapton of damage... but only if they're below 30% health.

 

If they would just consolidate half of this pointless caveated crap down to a few abilities so that we're fighting the NPC's instead of the UI and trying to remember two dozen ability limitations, then this class would be infinitely more enjoyable to play.

 

As it is, I'm starting to like my Guardian better as time goes by.

[Felioats]

I am actually not having much of an issue with it. I am almost 42 sage and have pretty much just played by feel with the timers. I know where I am at in my rotation and go by feel. I agree that the buff/debuff icons could be bigger/clearer but I am getting alnog OK so far.

 

I also have a trooper Tank at 30 and I have even less issues on that char. Less to track.

 

As others have said, the issue is the "reactive" abilities that only become available (or have special bonuses) when certain conditions are met. For a few seconds after a crit, for example.

 

Sage doesn't really have these, or at least fewer of them. The Shadow is knee-deep in them.

 

In Rift, you can make a list of abilities in a macro. When pressed, it casts the first one on the list that id available to be used. It saves a lot of trouble keeping track of procs and cooldowns and saves a lot of space on hotbars, though at the cost of making things seem a little more spammy.

[LeJay]

I have the same problem, but I'm a TK Sage. Maybe I just suck really, really hard, but I expend all the fight looking at everything except the battlefield, since some of our main abilities work with a "If X 50%= Y" mindset. This gets somewhat better when we go further on the TK tree and we start getting more "If X 100% = Y", so you KNOW that ability A will get more powerful when you use ability B.

 

Even then, it can be pretty frustrating.

[Rawr_Bomb]

I really think that an Auto attack would fix alot of these problems. It's probably #1 on my list of annoyances.

[Speno]

I dont think its too bad, I have all my keys mapped on my keyboard, with my main attack mouse 4 and 5. The icon thing is super super annoying but not a huge deal.

[Jeckll]

As already stated, there will be major UI improvements in the future.

 

As for now, I just have to check for Find Weakness since the 2 stacks of clairvoyant strike are easy to be just aware of. As Kinetic Shadow, it's a pain in the *** in some situations

 

I'm not the biggest fan of big visuals and audio help because it makes the game unnecessary easy. There should be a way to separate "the man from the boys". I don't like the idea of winning because I have better UI tools rather than just becaus I'm playing better.

[TheCynic]

Answer to the Title: by ignoring shadow strike like 25%+ of the time. But then I am kind of used to watching for proc icons for some skills with only a visual indicator from playing my Dirge in EQ2.

 

Now there ARE visual indicators, they are just the size of your pinky nail, at the bottom of the screen and cant be moved.

 

the UI has about 100 faults to it, this is a MAJOR one if you actually want to be able to play a proc based class effectively. As I've been just solo PvEing it hasn't been a major problem for me YET. But if you PvP or get to FPs/OPs its going to be a PITA!

[DRKdragon]

I'm a kinetic shadow and I agree 100%. Most of the time I am staring at my icons to check for ticks and procs. It's not right. 80% of the time I am staring at icons vs looking at the fight. Not cool.

[Tyrandaa]

I don't mind the lack of convenience to help me with my rotation. I probably only do 80-90% what I should be doing.

 

I can see how this can be frustrating for some people because it does require you to be as hyperactive as a chipmunk on crystal meth.

 

They don't want us to "pay to win", but a keyboard like a Logitech G13 or the Belkin gaming pad (I think Razer may have one now) would allow you to pretty much macro your entire "rotation" to a a few keys. You could set it up to where your reactive abilities/procs are bound to every "normal key" and you can also set it up to where you don't have to even think about when using Sabre Strike. The keyboard will do it for you.

 

 

I just do it the old fashioned way... for now.

[pakchooieunf]

I have thought about trying to make some macros with my neglected Naga mouse, but because Shadows (of all builds) have more than a couple abilities that are dependent on specific circumstances, I don't think macros would work out too well.

 

That said, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one feeling a bit put off by the interface. As it stands, playing this game is sort of like getting on the freeway with your eyes glued to the speedometer.

 

I'm getting along, no doubt, but there have been quite a few occasions when things would have gone better had I not missed an opportunity to interrupt a casting NPC, a result of my icon-monitoring duties. If I do stay vigilant for enemy casts, then I will invariably miss out on free, instant Mind Crushes. And you know how I do relish crushing minds.

 

Maybe it's all some kind of perverse balancing scheme on Bioware's part.

[grandmasterub]

I just wish I could have a specific location where I could choose what buffs would be displayed.

 

That way I could easily see if my temps have run out, or one of the "enhancement procs" are up.

 

All the buffs mashed together is annoying.

[-level-]

I have thought about trying to make some macros with my neglected Naga mouse, but because Shadows (of all builds) have more than a couple abilities that are dependent on specific circumstances, I don't think macros would work out too well.

 

That said, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one feeling a bit put off by the interface. As it stands, playing this game is sort of like getting on the freeway with your eyes glued to the speedometer.

 

I'm getting along, no doubt, but there have been quite a few occasions when things would have gone better had I not missed an opportunity to interrupt a casting NPC, a result of my icon-monitoring duties. If I do stay vigilant for enemy casts, then I will invariably miss out on free, instant Mind Crushes. And you know how I do relish crushing minds.

 

Maybe it's all some kind of perverse balancing scheme on Bioware's part.

 

I use a Razer Naga & Nostromo - and while you "can" macro abilities together this simply will not work with attack rotations. If you have, for arguments sake, 4 abilities set to fire with one button press should you get CC'd or if your target gets out of range....you are screwed. The macro program locks you into the macro until the macro string completes. Not an efficient way to play imho.

 

I just keybind everything and have each key auto-fire every .05 sec so long as that particular hot key is pressed. Do try this on your Naga - it will help you trendously.

[LagunaD]

Yeah, this drives me a bit crazy. Playing a tank-specced Shadow I spend way too much time staring at the tiny icons to see if Particle Acceleration has procced, or if Kinetic Ward or Force Breach have worn off. You can check for procs by counting icons, or just spam your short-term buffs/debuffs as soon as they're off cooldown, but it's still rather annoying.

 

This.

 

I also hate having only two ability bars near the area that I have to stare at constantly (since the designers apparently decided it was a good idea to put critical UI elements as far as possible from the player's field of vision, and then made them unmoveable just in case anybody disagrees).

 

The UI for this game is an embarrasment, but having played all classes to at least the mid-30's, Shadows/Assassins are victimized by it more than others.

[Varcan]

There are work arounds, and as a PvPer myself I limit the amount of time a spend looking for procs to as little as possible.

 

I play KC/Balance. My main proc is Particle Acceleration. This proc is yellow and blends in with freakin everything. Solution: The finger roll. If you're within the 6secs since your last Project cast, just finger roll(for me it's 4 and 3) Project to Double Strike. If it proc'd Project will fire, if not Double Strike will.

 

If its been 6secs I'll take a quick glance and see if I see the proc, and if I've already done 2 Double Strikes a lot of times I'll just take a chance that it's there, as it's rare that its not.

 

THe other proc is Force Strike(no longer in my current build, but did play with it awhile. The proc is freakin Purple! You can't friggin miss it. My peripheral vision has no problem seeing this even in micro size.

 

Same can be said for the dark green Infiltration Tactics proc. Easy to spot!

 

That's really about it.

 

Kinetic Ward is your main 20sec buff, and if rocks aren't circling you, then you need to press it. Not to hard.

 

As far as general ability cooldowns, for stuns, ccs, force breach, etc. You have 4 hotbars to place these where they are eaiest to monitor. If you're having trouble finding them, you need to create a system that's easier to manage. Don't be afraid to move keys around. Center hot bar doesn't need to always be keys 1-12 as its preset. The buttons on the ends are easiest to see. Leave a blanks in the middle to create 2 more end keys. Use your brain!

 

Edit: All that being said, I do wish they'd create a proc bar and let you selct which procs it will display, with it least 1/2 inch squares (visible to the naked eye:Djk). I'm not really in favor of full UI custimization, as it always gets taken too far imo.

Edited January 6, 2012 by Varcan

[DarthOvertone]

My chief complaint is that I'm expected to monitor the occurrence of procs and the expiration of buffs on myself, along with the expiration of debuffs on the enemy, with utterly no visual or audio indications other than tiny icons with even more microscopic timers. At the same time, I am pressed to monitor the behavior (casting) of my enemy while simultaneously checking the cool downs on my own abilities - but I'm not even allowed the courtesy of having these UI elements grouped together, they are, instead, spread across the screen.

 

I feel your pain. The UI is the worst element of this game. I recall peeps mentioning this repeatedly during beta, but nothing was changed. Will just have to grin and bear it for the time being. Hopefully, a more serviceable change is on the way.

 

Still having fun, but the UI definitely needs some love.