05-07-2004, 10:17 AM
2) Rogues and to a degree warriors can try out different skill combos to try and kill the mob faster, and warlocks can use different curses and a different minion. That's about it. As said above, it only makes your guaranteed victory more guaranteed, or damages a mob a bit more before you die. The number of monsters is all that counts.
I disagree with a lot of the items you listed, but I'll address this one specifically. Since I've played a warrior the furthest, let's look at that. My strategies probably aren't optimal, but in any case there is more to it than it may look like to an observer.
My usual solo routine is to stay in defensive stance. I will try as carefully as possible to lure one mob, and I have a gun to help with this. Once the mob gets close, I often open with a demoralizing shout to lower the damage against me. If my enemy is pretty buff, I then use a sequence of sundering strikes to make him more vulnerable for future attacks. Then I go into an alternating sequence of shield block and revenge, trying to preserve my own life while finishing off the enemy as quickly as possible. Even if victory is certain, trying to make optimal use of the skills can be critical, because a second mob could stumble into you, spawn on top of you, or in some cases be spawned by the first mob. So in my typical routine attack, I'm using a sequence of about 4 combat skills (not counting my buffing shout, or bloodrage which I am likely to use right at the start of the fight).
However, not every battle is so routine. I may face an enemy with some spells or healing spell, in which case I may try to save enough rage to attempt a shield bash to stop their spell. I may try to use an easy enemy to build up rage to use against the next foe. I may face a pure caster and decide to switch into battle stance, where I have charge, another comination of damage skills, and another spell-distrupting skill. I may face a tough melee enemy who is "social" and now I face a dilemma. Depending on which stance I use, I will have different tactics to try to keep him from reaching his friends to get help. An example in battle stance would be to let my rage build up a little bit in the middle of the fight, then try to get a hamstring off just before the enemy flees, and then use the built up rage to quickly finish him with strikes and/or pummels. If he makes it to his friend, or pulls me close enough to activate more mobs, obviously it can be a grave problem. Of course it is easier to avoid this if you can pull the enemy far away from his friends initially, but this is not possible if there are mobs in every direction.
Speaking of grave problems, we have the desperation scenario. Instead of one mob, it's 2, 3, or 4. Or instead of a manageable mob, it's an uber-boss. Now the gloves come off. It starts with inner rage to fuel my skills. Then it might be shield wall to buy a few crucial seconds, or intimidating shout if I decide to run away. If I stay and fight, then something like thunderclap might come into play. Healing potions always come into play here, and other items like bloodstones or engineering gadgets could come in handy to turn the tide.
Then, there are group tactics. In a typical group, I will be tanking by using defensive stance and using taunt over and over. Fairly straightforward, if we are only facing one mob. If we face multiple mobs, suddenly I have to adjust my tactics to the situation. I might use my long-timered "challenging shout" to try to draw aggro from all of the mobs, or I may try to taunt whichever mob is attacking a vulnerable party member, or I may lock onto one mob and stall it while the group nukes the other. If the party has multiple warriors, or is generally pretty tankish, then I need to figure out if I need to taunt of if I can use more aggressive skills, or even switch to battle stance and play like a rogue.
It's possible (almost certain actually) that I overthink my battles and could do better with a simpler skill combination. But one thing I am quite sure about is that a good warrior has to worry about more than just finding a sequence that does optimal damage.
All of that said, it is true that many, many battles are simply either too hard or too easy. I guess it's the player's responsibility to find an area (or a party) in which most battles don't fit those categories and have some fun.
I disagree with a lot of the items you listed, but I'll address this one specifically. Since I've played a warrior the furthest, let's look at that. My strategies probably aren't optimal, but in any case there is more to it than it may look like to an observer.
My usual solo routine is to stay in defensive stance. I will try as carefully as possible to lure one mob, and I have a gun to help with this. Once the mob gets close, I often open with a demoralizing shout to lower the damage against me. If my enemy is pretty buff, I then use a sequence of sundering strikes to make him more vulnerable for future attacks. Then I go into an alternating sequence of shield block and revenge, trying to preserve my own life while finishing off the enemy as quickly as possible. Even if victory is certain, trying to make optimal use of the skills can be critical, because a second mob could stumble into you, spawn on top of you, or in some cases be spawned by the first mob. So in my typical routine attack, I'm using a sequence of about 4 combat skills (not counting my buffing shout, or bloodrage which I am likely to use right at the start of the fight).
However, not every battle is so routine. I may face an enemy with some spells or healing spell, in which case I may try to save enough rage to attempt a shield bash to stop their spell. I may try to use an easy enemy to build up rage to use against the next foe. I may face a pure caster and decide to switch into battle stance, where I have charge, another comination of damage skills, and another spell-distrupting skill. I may face a tough melee enemy who is "social" and now I face a dilemma. Depending on which stance I use, I will have different tactics to try to keep him from reaching his friends to get help. An example in battle stance would be to let my rage build up a little bit in the middle of the fight, then try to get a hamstring off just before the enemy flees, and then use the built up rage to quickly finish him with strikes and/or pummels. If he makes it to his friend, or pulls me close enough to activate more mobs, obviously it can be a grave problem. Of course it is easier to avoid this if you can pull the enemy far away from his friends initially, but this is not possible if there are mobs in every direction.
Speaking of grave problems, we have the desperation scenario. Instead of one mob, it's 2, 3, or 4. Or instead of a manageable mob, it's an uber-boss. Now the gloves come off. It starts with inner rage to fuel my skills. Then it might be shield wall to buy a few crucial seconds, or intimidating shout if I decide to run away. If I stay and fight, then something like thunderclap might come into play. Healing potions always come into play here, and other items like bloodstones or engineering gadgets could come in handy to turn the tide.
Then, there are group tactics. In a typical group, I will be tanking by using defensive stance and using taunt over and over. Fairly straightforward, if we are only facing one mob. If we face multiple mobs, suddenly I have to adjust my tactics to the situation. I might use my long-timered "challenging shout" to try to draw aggro from all of the mobs, or I may try to taunt whichever mob is attacking a vulnerable party member, or I may lock onto one mob and stall it while the group nukes the other. If the party has multiple warriors, or is generally pretty tankish, then I need to figure out if I need to taunt of if I can use more aggressive skills, or even switch to battle stance and play like a rogue.
It's possible (almost certain actually) that I overthink my battles and could do better with a simpler skill combination. But one thing I am quite sure about is that a good warrior has to worry about more than just finding a sequence that does optimal damage.
All of that said, it is true that many, many battles are simply either too hard or too easy. I guess it's the player's responsibility to find an area (or a party) in which most battles don't fit those categories and have some fun.