About the new Aimed Shot

[Radia]

If I understood the various FwM and balance documentation lying round about Aimed Shot, then the new mechanic will work like this:

Aimed Shot = instant if (self (concealed) && target cannot see you)
Agents get a lesser instant aimed shot if not concealed.
Anyone else gets a cast-time aimed shot if not concealed.

A question about the last point - is the cast-time aimed shot useable in PVM? Will it interrupt normal shots if so (or to ask a question, will it be worthwhile to consider using aimed shot in PVM)?

[Insane666]

there has been no word on AS mechanic rework in ages, but from what was said before yes, it will be usable in pvm

all the above ( insta if concealed, 3 sec cast if not ) should work both in pvm and pvp, the main diff in pvm is that you will be able to "cast" AS w.o being concealed in pvm, wich will allow you to repeat it every 11sec ( with a reduced dmg if ASing not from conceal )


then again, this was said something over a year ago? their plans might have changed million times since then, or that could have been just a lie;p

[Xtremtech]

I was trying to search for the posts where Means detailed the AS changes... and I couldn't find them, oddly enough. So I can't confirm it either way... just don't understand why I can't find that announcement...

X

[Xtremtech]

Ahhh found one post by Means:

- Become a 3ish second "opener" that can be interrupted by any melee attack. In PVM this will be repeatable without a conceal check (Concealing successfully will likely add bonus damage).
- Damage will likely be increased to account for the additional time it takes to execute and for the vulnerability of the player who has to stand still to execute it.
- Aimed Shot, Full Auto and Sneak Attack will likely share the same cooldown to make it possible to balance between different professions and setups.
- A secondary attack action (on the same timer as AS/FA/SA) with an instant execution time will unlock and scale at specific levels of Aimed Shot skill. Higher investment in AS skill will yield better results.

but it's not the one I had in mind...

X

[Ocene]

"that can be interrupted by any melee attack"

I hope that won't be the case.

[Xtremtech]

I was pretty sure I'd seen a dev post that the new Secondary AS attack would be defendable - that is, it would probably go up against Dodge-Ranged + AAD. Just can't find it now...

I'm also pretty sure that I've seen a dev say that only Agents will get access to the secondary attack.

I just can't find the posts for the life of me...

X

[Jekonam]

"that can be interrupted by any melee attack"

I hope that won't be the case.

Of course that will be the case.

[Radia]

Ahhh found one post by Means:

- Become a 3ish second "opener" that can be interrupted by any melee attack. In PVM this will be repeatable without a conceal check (Concealing successfully will likely add bonus damage).
- Damage will likely be increased to account for the additional time it takes to execute and for the vulnerability of the player who has to stand still to execute it.
- Aimed Shot, Full Auto and Sneak Attack will likely share the same cooldown to make it possible to balance between different professions and setups.
- A secondary attack action (on the same timer as AS/FA/SA) with an instant execution time will unlock and scale at specific levels of Aimed Shot skill. Higher investment in AS skill will yield better results.

but it's not the one I had in mind...

X

That seems clear enough, thanks :-). This all has me wondering how it will fit with the current weapon sets for specific professions (thinking especially of Traders with the silverback, and MPs with the Tigress - will these weapons surface as best for both PVP and PVM?).

[Radia]

"that can be interrupted by any melee attack"

I hope that won't be the case.

Bear in mind that will only be for the "Strong" aimed shot. The weaker, secondary version looks to be non-interruptable. For non-agents, that also means that rooting an opponent will be a necessary pre-requisite for using AS. I'm not sure that will work in the long term - means the melee professions will have to get used to the idea of spending at least half a fight rooted in order for things to balance out ...

I do worry about the "by any melee attack" bit though - sounds like any non-melee will be rather vulnerable to the stronger AS attack; maybe that's balanced by being able to run away?

[Ocene]

Run away from who, everyone and their dogs have a capped run speed.

[Xtremtech]

This all has me wondering how it will fit with the current weapon sets for specific professions (thinking especially of Traders with the silverback, and MPs with the Tigress - will these weapons surface as best for both PVP and PVM?).

If you talk to Bow MPs, then the PvP ones will tell you that this is bad news. The reason MPs use Tigress at top levels for PvP, is that it delivers reliable damage every 11 seconds. Their normal hits and perks miss a lot, because AR sucks with a Tigress PvP build. Pets are very unreliable as things stand. So it's the reliability of the AS damage that makes it worth the sacrifices... it's essentially all they can kill with.

But if you have to stand still for 3 seconds and can get interrupted by melee... then that reliability is lost. And MP crowd control is very weak - with mez pet unable to land on moving targets and just the TR root apart from that.... so holding back a melee opponent is very difficult.

In addition, while the MP can now kite a fair bit as a supplement to weak defences, stopping momentarily to AS (which is the major part of their damage) is OK... but stopping for 3 seconds is pretty nightmarish.

So all in all, it's seen as a bad change for the Tigress PvP users.

X

[Radia]

Run away from who, everyone and their dogs have a capped run speed.

From the guy doing the aimed shot. According to the quotation above, you have to be stationary to cast it.

[Ocene]

I see, yes.

[Radia]

If you talk to Bow MPs, then the PvP ones will tell you that this is bad news. The reason MPs use Tigress at top levels for PvP, is that it delivers reliable damage every 11 seconds. Their normal hits and perks miss a lot, because AR sucks with a Tigress PvP build. Pets are very unreliable as things stand. So it's the reliability of the AS damage that makes it worth the sacrifices... it's essentially all they can kill with.

But if you have to stand still for 3 seconds and can get interrupted by melee... then that reliability is lost. And MP crowd control is very weak - with mez pet unable to land on moving targets and just the TR root apart from that.... so holding back a melee opponent is very difficult.

In addition, while the MP can now kite a fair bit as a supplement to weak defences, stopping momentarily to AS (which is the major part of their damage) is OK... but stopping for 3 seconds is pretty nightmarish.

So all in all, it's seen as a bad change for the Tigress PvP users.

X

Very similar logic would apply to Traders, at least from my own experiences with Trader PVP. Roots get resisted a lot, and get broken a lot as well. Sitting still for 3 seconds is not going to be pretty for PVP.

I wonder if the requirement on the secondary attack action being agent only is being discussed? AS being less powerful is ok to my mind - but it not being viable at all is going to open up bigger problems for certain professions ...

[Ninjaloot]

Standing still for 3 seconds to hit a target isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Try playing as an NT to get a similar feel to what it would be like.

[sultryvoltron]

Standing still for 3 seconds to hit a target isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Try playing as an NT to get a similar feel to what it would be like.

Try playing your NT only casting IU with interrupt chance at 100% and don't use NS2. That's a bit closer to what is proposed.

[MassDebater]

Try playing your NT only casting IU with interrupt chance at 100% and don't use NS2. That's a bit closer to what is proposed.

And dont use roots
And dont use blinds
And dont have 3k def rating
And dont have dtn

[Ocene]

I think making AS a castable special is a big mistake.

[sultryvoltron]

And dont use roots
And dont use blinds
And dont have 3k def rating
And dont have dtn

Agents have roots that land sometimes. But yeah good point, no blinds allowed. Def setups will be dreams gone by if the perk changes go through as planned. And I figured I'd give them DtN in place of CH for realism, even though DtN like 100 times better.

[Ocene]

Standing still for 3 seconds to hit a target isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Try playing as an NT to get a similar feel to what it would be like.

Sorry, it's bad. NTs have a ton of CC toolsets to make it a lot more viable.

That idea needs to be scrapped.