User talk:A F K When Needed/Blog/ArchiveOne
Crippling Anguish[edit]
I vote for the Moa thing. --
El_Nazgir 10:36, 18 December 2011 (UTC)
Quotes[edit]
"ArenaNet have managed to breath[sic] life into what was formerly a dull profession, by granting it a whole host of new abilities."
Which are almost all "make a clone", or "blow it up". For what we've seen so far, the GW1 Mesmer has a wider variety of Things to Do, from my perspective. Yes, the clones are pretty neat, and how one is placed depends on the skill... But it's still just another clone which doesn't really do much (more on this later). Phantasms are slightly divergent in that they deal noticable damage, sometimes conditional. Then again, Hexes definitely managed that and so much more. Conditional damage in a large variety of ways, direct damage, crowd control, anti-spike, traps... Heck, even interrupts seem more varied (gain energy, burn energy, deal damage, disable, disable same-attribute skills, AoE interrupt, and a few conditional ones). GW2 is certainly more visually stimulating, but varied? No. Not so much, I fear.
And honestly? They have about as much visual feedback as a Warrior. GW1 has very discrete skills in general; the Elementalist is an obvious exception to the rule, with large-scale fire effects, explosions of cold and Invoke Lighting's bugged animation spam. Rangers mostly make their arrows glow or summon a generic looking spirit. Warriors generally only leave a glowing trail (Sever, Gash, Exec, Evis, Sprint, Frenzy...), and one of their fanciest skills (URF SHAKUURRR) makes a dull puff of dust appear and kinda nudges the screen. Necros have a few flashy skills (Deathly Swarm, Wells that 'nobody' used), but again most spells are just that; a spell-casting animation. Dervi might have a faint gray or blue minisplode, and only on their enchants. On that note, almost every ongoing enchantment has the exact same visual; Aegis and Death Nova are again exceptions. If anything, visual feedback is uncommon in GW1. It's good that they're changing this, but saying the Mesmer specifically was very dull because of a lack of visual feedback just feels a little silly to me, when so little visual effects exist in the first place :/ The Mesmer was never an exception.
To me, Mesmers are fun to play (against players!) because you just KNOW you ruined their day. You can tell that they lost that one key skill to your expertly timed Diversion; suddenly their backline collapses and your Warriors land two spikes in a row. You dispell their panicked Aegis mere moments after it popped, and then the monk dies. Why? Because *you* fucked him over. That is a Mesmer's visual feedback. The sweet taste of victory. (my DChops used to be pretty decent, too *smugface* )
Also of note: I liked GW specifically for not having any obnoxious animations. There were some annoying sounds (Penetrating Shot trololol), but never was the battle clouded in spell effects. Not even the iconic and large Meteor Shower was very obstructive; the clouds dissipate fast and the ground goes unmolested altogether. ANet seems to succeed in making skills more apparent but not obstructing, though, and I do applaud them for it.
"It would be nice in Warcraft if they did more than literally just stand there spamming the same spell; only moving when there's no target in range. "
Hey, that sounds exactly like GW2 clones :D Clones cast the skill you have on slot 1, phantasms do whatever they do but is most likely always only one thing. That is probably one of the trickier parts about being a Good Mesmer, coincidentally. If there's two Mesmers casting Generic Skill 1 and the third is channeling a Mantra, your opponent knows *exactly* which is the real one and you're going to get pummeled in the face, making your fancy illusion skill entirely pointless and a waste of time. That right there is to me the one neat thing about the massive reliance on cloning, which I otherwise don't like, regardless of how well it fits in. Also, if I do end up rolling a Mesmer, she's gonna be a Dolly; calling dibs now. --- Vipermagi 17:22, 18 December 2011 (UTC)
