Fighting alone

[Chicktopus]

The grim ruins of The Dark Temple lay around him. Corpses of Jedi Knights litter the ground, in their midst a figure clad in tattered robes and imposing visage. This was it, the last and most elusive member of the Dark Council -- Darth Imperius. So many men and women, Jedi and not alike had died at this Sith's hands. What chance did he stand, barely even a full-fledged Knight?

 

But there was no time for this. With the screech of a lightsaber, the two opponents dove in to a game of happy-slaps that would shape the galaxy.

 

Does that sound right to you? It sure as hell doesn't to me. That's almost my only gripe with the Old Republic -- it's a combat-oriented MMO with boring combat.

 

Don't get me wrong, group content is quite good. Operations bosses are fine, Flashpoint bosses too are generally fine, but playing solo? It's all happy-slaps. You stand there, they stand there. Bigger numbers win. Rotations save resource? Great! So now we have only a handful of our vast quantity of abilities we're actually using... in the same order.

 

Would it not be more fun if we could dodge about our opponent, avoiding their sweeps and striking with our own when the opportunity presents itself? Would it not be more interesting to use our abilities not based on the pre-defined order of a rotation, but based on what we think we can get away with at any given moment? A 'dodge left from a heavy axe swing, dart in with a lightsaber to the kidneys' kind of deal? Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my fights to be more action-packed than something I could leave a drinking bird to do for me.

 

What do you people think? Would you prefer a more lively combat mechanic for when you're doing your dailies or levelling a new character?

[ImmortalLowlife]

I agree the combat could be better, but I'd be happy for a lightsaber that ACTUALLY CUTS! IJS

 

*Drops mic & repeatedly hits enemy boss with my shiny stick.

[Excise]

I was always disappointed that SWTOR didn't abstract its health into something like "being overwhelmed" instead of "took too much damage."

 

That way the generally fantastic but rarely seen lightsaber blocking animations would be used, and only the killing blow where the lightsaber finally hits would show.

 

Edit: Exceptions might be for heavily armoured dudes like certain raid bosses or droids.

Edited October 7, 2013 by Excise

[Chicktopus]

I was always disappointed that SWTOR didn't abstract its health into something like "being overwhelmed" instead of "took too much damage."

 

That way the generally fantastic but rarely seen lightsaber blocking animations would be used, and only the killing blow where the lightsaber finally hits would show.

 

Edit: Exceptions might be for heavily armoured dudes like certain raid bosses or droids.

 

That's pretty much how I've always run any D20 system game.

 

You've got to admit though, it'd be nice to have some control over your combat manoeuvres rather than some static animations -- actual control over the fights.

[Excise]

That's pretty much how I've always run any D20 system game.

 

You've got to admit though, it'd be nice to have some control over your combat manoeuvres rather than some static animations -- actual control over the fights.

 

Freely admitted :-) The combat system is not SWTOR's strong suit.

[ImpactHound]

That's pretty much how I've always run any D20 system game.

 

You've got to admit though, it'd be nice to have some control over your combat manoeuvres rather than some static animations -- actual control over the fights.

 

Yes and no. The Star Wars movie arcade game with the 1st person lightsaber duel feels better than this game, but it can't be repeatable in the same way and still be meaningful, what with the build-up to it.

[VitalityPrime]

Does that sound right to you? It sure as hell doesn't to me. That's almost my only gripe with the Old Republic -- it's a combat-oriented MMO with boring combat.

 

Don't get me wrong, group content is quite good. Operations bosses are fine, Flashpoint bosses too are generally fine, but playing solo? It's all happy-slaps. You stand there, they stand there. Bigger numbers win. Rotations save resource? Great! So now we have only a handful of our vast quantity of abilities we're actually using... in the same order.

 

I don't know how you play...but my Guardian is never "just standing there".

 

I'm constantly moving...making sure I'm always in the perfect spot for force sweep and cyclone slash. Leaping around with force leap and zealous leap. Lifting enemies with force stasis. Sending them flying with force push, and subsequently tossing my saber and leaping at the enemy I just sent flying...

 

Even if I'm fighting an enemy who is stasis and push immune...I still never just stand in one spot.

[Chicktopus]

Yes and no. The Star Wars movie arcade game with the 1st person lightsaber duel feels better than this game, but it can't be repeatable in the same way and still be meaningful, what with the build-up to it.

 

I'm not saying we should have a flail-like-you're-covered-in-bees kind of hack n' slash mechanic, a targeting system works well, but I would like the freedom to control my combat actions rather than have everything determined entirely by a set of statistics. I just feel that removes almost all of the skill from the game, operations bosses notwithstanding.

[DOHboy]

see QWOP for why static animation works well.

[Chicktopus]

I don't know how you play...but my Guardian is never "just standing there".

 

I'm constantly moving...making sure I'm always in the perfect spot for force sweep and cyclone slash. Leaping around with force leap and zealous leap. Lifting enemies with force stasis. Sending them flying with force push, and subsequently tossing my saber and leaping at the enemy I just sent flying...

 

Even if I'm fighting an enemy who is stasis and push immune...I still never just stand in one spot.

 

What, even when facing off against a single champion or group of mêlée mobs? Yes, when you're fighting a mix of mêlée and ranged you'll try and group them to maximise damage, but from there it's simply a case of tab-targeting and using your aoe abilities. Moving about affects combat performance. Circling an opponent has no benefit and makes your rotation more difficult to pull off.

Edited October 7, 2013 by Chicktopus