New WAR Combat System Podcast

In this months newsletter we get a new podcast. This one goes into detail about how combat works, the differences between Actions, Tactics, & Morale abilities.

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Bout time for a podcast like that! Good stuff

oh good podcast.

i like that there are more abilities than points to spend on abilities. should mean a lot more diversity in gameplay.

Cool beans, I like all the chariot metaphors.

sounds in depth and somewhat confusing.

That. Was. So. AWESOME!

I have totally been looking forward to a Podcast like that. WAR is definitely setting itself up as a game that takes the ideas we are familiar with, and then adds a twist to them.

Awesome, awesome stuff.

I like it, it seems that combat will be very involved, as will character progression. With all those choices, though, I wonder how respecs will work, if they are allowed at all. I always see good arguments for and against the respec system. I think not allowing them is a mistake, as people may find they put points into something they really don't enjoy, but I think there is enough on the fly customization with tactics that respecs should be few and far between. Have they talked about this at all?

I would say no to respecs for tactics/morale abilities. You can see every single one your class can and will get access to, so there's no "hindsight is 20/20" arguement. Considering they both can be changed in and out, I also think they will give us more than enough slots to have full tactic and morale bars for each of the three categories they listed (Offensive, Defensive, Support). The only time they should allow respecs imo is when they change how specific tactics/morales function. Or if they do put respecs in, make them relatively difficult to obtain.

@Chi: I'd have to disagree there, as I know with other games (like WoW, to use an example), I never really got a feel for how a specific talent (or talent combination) would work in a combat situation until I tested it out.

I think that there is plenty of merit in what you are saying, but for those of us who like to experiment and swap our builds around to see what kinds of combinations work well together (I like to put things into practice as opposed to running through theory), not being able to respec in any way shape or form will be annoying. Of course, that all depends on how clear the descriptions of the tactics and so on are.

I guess I just spend entirely way too much time building my specs, I'm a bit of a theorycrafter. I'd rather respecs don't consist of handing gold to an NPC if they're going to be implemented. Make them like the DAoC respec stones, and drop off end-game PvE bosses, or maybe attainable through RvR (low % chance to drop off any realm enemy, or rewards from city sieges, or other RvR objectives). The fact that they show every tactic and morale ability your class can get through his progression right off the bat leaves people little excuse for picking the wrong one imho.

But the same could be said for WoW; you can see all the possible talents. Yet with my shaman, there came a day when I said, "Enhancement is boring. I wanna vomit lightning!" and I was glad I could do so. PF's point is also valid, in that theory != reality. Reading how to climb Everest and actually doing so are different things entirely.

All that being said, I do agree with you Chi that they should be difficult to obtain, and not consist of forking over money. In CoH, you could only respec at certain levels, and to do it you had to go through an epic quest chain to earn it. That made the number of times you could respec finite while at the same time allowing you to do it a few times throughout your career so you could play around with abilities, get a feel for them, and decide if they fit in with your play style.

Elem > Enhance, by like a million times, too bad the 35 and 40 talents suck horribly.

That's the difference between WAR's tactics and WoW's talents though, talents confine you to a single playstyle of the class, tactics can be interchanged on the fly to work with how your gameplay changes. DAoC allowed a respec at 20 and 40 I believe, which would be fine by me, maybe 15 and 30 for WAR, and after that you'd have to get items to do it. I actually like my idea of them coming from RvR (low % droprate from any enemy player and/or city siege loots), since that's the focus of the game, it would be a little silly for such a valuable object to come from PvE.

Vomit lightning is the best thing I've heard all day.

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

/// But I digress. I like the idea of having a low drop rate for a sort of stones that will allow respecs. It sounds to me like we could have up to 24 (21?) tactics to use and combine into three sets. Are there eight spots or just seven? Bah, anyways. I think it would be one of those at the most. However, respec rocks dropping off of RvR/PvE endgame targets would be a good idea. Then if you wanted to change you'd simply have to participate a good amount till you got one. Maybe even make them able to sell in the Auction house (will there be an AH for that matter?). I'd suggest an even droprate for the stones for both sides so PvE or RvR players don't feel like they've been jipped.

There's seven tactic slots, but I remember hearing that after getting a lot of renown from RvR you can unlock an extra tactic slot, not sure if that's still the case. I sure hope they'll have an auction house or a marketplace system, as they haven't mentioned or even hinted afaik to anything about player housing.

Cicadymn:
Vomit lightning is the best thing I've heard all day.

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

/// But I digress. I like the idea of having a low drop rate for a sort of stones that will allow respecs. It sounds to me like we could have up to 24 (21?) tactics to use and combine into three sets. Are there eight spots or just seven? Bah, anyways. I think it would be one of those at the most. However, respec rocks dropping off of RvR/PvE endgame targets would be a good idea. Then if you wanted to change you'd simply have to participate a good amount till you got one. Maybe even make them able to sell in the Auction house (will there be an AH for that matter?). I'd suggest an even droprate for the stones for both sides so PvE or RvR players don't feel like they've been jipped.

Aye, enhance fun only lasted a little while, prolonged when I got a giant claw for a hand. But not having any de-agro ability made it boring, as you'd just have to stop DPS when you got close to the tank. After playing a druid afterwards, I found that agro-stealing was actually a point of pride for many shaman. I lobbied unsuccessfully a few times to teach them that that's bad, and a few more times to get them to delete their accounts when they wouldn't learn.

As for addressing me, I am a she, though I talk like a sailor sometimes. Whether or not I'll stick around is up in the air; it depends on how many cookies I am furnished with.

*gives massive tin of cookies*

Stay with me(us)! I'll bake you a muffin!

(special prize to whoever gets that joke first)

I don't have any cookies, just cats.

All this talk of Shammalammas almost makes me want to reactivate my account and roll a space blueberry Shammy..almost.

Wow, so far cookies, muffins, and bearcats! First one to show me a real manbearpig may have a cookie.

I'll give you half a cookie because I can tell that's actually Al Gore in a manbearpig outfit, not a real manbearpig. You can tell by the nose.

But lest you order more desert, you get half of this:

MoonPenguin:

FALSE

EDIT: Zomg thats a coookie 0.o

Wow. Moon's got half of my cookie, and that there is a genuine manbearpig. I'm going to cook up something special for you, Cicadymn.

It may not be as big as Moon's half cookie, but I baked fresh diamonds and kittens in it.

Are the kittens pumpkin flavored? I hope they are...that would be so festive =3

Cicadymn:

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

Male until proven female.

guitar:

Cicadymn:

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

Male until proven female.

lol

guitar:

Cicadymn:

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

Male until proven female.

The internet creed amirite?

Cicadymn:

guitar:

Cicadymn:

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

Male until proven female.

The internet creed amirite?

'Tis teh law.

guitar:

Cicadymn:

guitar:

Cicadymn:

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

Male until proven female.

The internet creed amirite?

'Tis teh law.

Weren't laws made to be broken though?

lets not break the forum with pyramids :(

Cicadymn:

guitar:

Cicadymn:

guitar:

Cicadymn:

Also: If you're going to stick around Sarande are you a he or she? So I know how to refer to you. See I have this thing about girls in sigs and asexual names that I don't know the meaning to that often results in an embarrassing sitation where I call Chi a girl again.

Male until proven female.

The internet creed amirite?

'Tis teh law.

Weren't laws made to be broken though?

no, you are thinking of rules.

and this forum has seen bigger pyramids :P

moon:
seriously, easy on the pyramids

I blame the fact that I was born in the wrong time period. I never got to cut someone's heart out and then kick them down a flight of stairs. I'd totally get arrested for that nowadays. ;_;

Everybody is really testy lately :/

I'm not!

<3

Maybe if someone let me cut out their heart and kick them down a flight of stairs I'd feel better. :D