Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Combat Style
MightyUnclean
Member EpicPosts: 3,531
I've been thinking of giving AoC a try. This site touts "Innovative Combat | Based on player interaction and skill, much more than simply mashing buttons." Is this true? What's combat really like?
Thanks!
Oh, also: Is PvP voluntary or involuntary?
Comments
combat is a combo directional system so either you will think its great or hate like I personally did finding it very slow and sluggish when you get into the large directional combos to do one move etc. But basically your hotbar skills all require either a single directional attack first then the skill will trigger or in the upper levels multiple directional attacks first before the skill will trigger. I find GW2 combat and Tera much better though I play neither game now.
Last I checked in on AOC there was a pve server and a pvp server though I think they might of merged down to the last pve server. PVP server is full pvp except in the cities , pve is just battlegrounds and guild siege battles I think.
Pvp is what cronius77 said, you choose from the 3 servers (until the final merge at least), on the PvE one (Crom) pvp is totally voluntary, and there's a pvp and a "closer to full-loot" pvp one as well.
Combat, if you're familiar with the warden in LotRO, it's similar, just in reversed order - you first click on the combo, and then "fill it up", so it has a bit less freedom compared to the wardens. You can't switch from one combo to an another on the fly, only if you ditch the first one and start the second.
It doesn't have that much combos as warden's gambits (at least before HD, I didn't dare to check my warden since the launch), but they have an additional flavor in the form of directions, what cronius mentioned above. In AoC every attack has a direction, and you can set your defence in directions as well - just like the mobs.
So basically the combat is like playing with your warden, but with more focus on positioning yourself, and keep watching the enemy's defense, choosing combos which hurting his less defended side. (or hitting a smaller combo to one side, and when he refocus his defense there, launch a bigger one to the opened side
)
That's all for the melees only, the casters have the usual mmo mechanic.
Nope, they have the usual "spells on the toolbar to cast, with cooldown" like in any other regular mmo. They all have a melee weapon and with it the directional attacks but it has only basic damage, and a caster is squishy enough to avoid getting into melee range for some minor damage
But, just because the combo system is one of AoC's strength, there are mixed classes for those who want magic and combos both. Soldiers have the Templar (a caster tank / offtank), priests have the Shammy (a melee fighter healer) and magic folks have the Herald (a 2handed sword swinging mage). They have spells and combos too, with the task of managing both mana and stamina at the same time.
give it a try! i played it a long time and combat and pvp were most fun in this game. my main was a herold of xotli but i played all. dark templar was also nice. the first 20 levels are in tortage, the starter quest hub, its like a long tutorial with a single player campaign.
then you come to one of the main cities, depending on your race, so khemi for a stygian.
graphics are still very good and the animations are great. fatalities ftw.
its a much more dynamic game than any other and player skill can change a lot. its about directional attacks, shielding (most have it at 1/1/1 and never change, but when you face a class where you know their heaviest hitter are middle attacks you can set it 0/3/0
caster have spellweaving, some kind of combo system. you start casting, hit spellweaving and every some seconds there are choices how you want to add to your spell, i remember for example, automatic crits and so on. the longer you are spellweaving, the more you get damage yourself. i didnt play caster so much but i remember pulling 10 mobs hit spellweaving with my necro, hit auto crit and they were dead in 3 seconds :-) ... got nerfed later, so you have to press spellweaving and then wit some seconds to activate your first thing.
i stopped only because nobody of my friends was playing anymore.
Maybe it's easier this way
http://youtu.be/wQ2LCkM8DuI
it's old, sprinting doesn't drain from stamina now (and the quality is not top-notch either) but a well-done video, covering both aspects.
better watch that
http://youtu.be/T2X_SbZCHpc
Lol, he's interested in the combat mechanics, and not the fatality visuals
edit: an another explaining vid: http://youtu.be/dAzH5gmlJF4
but you see the game in good quality and fatalities are funny :-)
tortage lv 1 video is booorrrinnnggg :-)