Age of Conan

this is a popular complaint i hear so after spending a entire weekend playing the hell out of the game im going to calm some of your fears,this combat system REALLY shines, no you CANT expect to bunny hop spamming all your best combos just not gonna happen, ill explain

Pacing: Firstly calm down, there is almost a "rythm" to combat, dont SPAM keys ! no matter have fast you hit a key you will only swing so fast, queue up your next combo know which keys to execute it be patient and "think" ahead, think about where your foe is going and not where he is

Set ups: all classes have what i call a "Set up" move, classes can do knockbacks,knockdowns,stuns,dazes,roots etc, these moves arent combos so they only take hitting a key to excute (ala WoW) so after doing a move like this you can pull off some of your harder combos.

Small Combos:  some combos are very easy to pull off in combat...my assassin had a nice dmg combo that was only press key then "w" and the move had a good deal of range as well so even if they move away it would still connect.

Mobile Combos: you cant run in a straight line and do combos however  you can strafe without breaking your combo and turn in circles...so for example if your foe was in front of you and you started the combo and he moved to the left, you could turn your charater to face him and not break the combo, as long as you dont move forward or backwards, Also remember if you cant do a combo because they are running around too much, your foe CANT either nor can they cast, be patient and wait for your opening, your basic attack moves arent weak/useless like other games "auto attacks"

Collsion: is awesome! i wish i could do this to druids in wow...another powerful tatic is a "Swarm" bascially if you see a healer/caster 2-3 people gang up and "box" them in so they cant run and then you can pull off combos very easy

The enivorment: archers use pillars,bushes to hide behind, soliders knock people off ledges, casters use your hide skill and wait in the wake so you dont get targetted as fast, rogues sneak through the guardian front lines, everyone talks abou AoC combos but combat has ALOT more to it

Killing Runners: so if a foe sprints off he is hard to catch, think of a rogue hitting sprint and you have the idea, you should prepare and save stunning combos or have bleeding effects to kill them as they run off, Another neat feature any class can attack a foe in the back to produce a "daze" effect slowing their movement

Debuffs: one word WOW! im very impressed by the effect debuffs have on a foe, decreasing your foes attackspeed,attack skilling, lowering resitances and armors acutally is EXTREMLEY noticeable, its not all about dmg moves, if you are smart you will have these moves ready

Combat Length: You wont be a superhero, you are going to be hard pressed to if you think you are going to kill 5 players solo, if you are gangbanged you will die fast, if you are caught off guard you will die fast, however 1 vs 1 combat last long enough to think plan and execute, 1 vs 2 will also give you enough time to either escape or CC etc. 1 vs 3 even with healing on you, most likely spells a quick death :)

Healing: so most MMOs have burst heals, AoC has some but they arent 1hp to full spells, some think healing is weak because they are used to that, healing is a edge thats it...its not a "IWIN" button if 2 teams 100% even matched the team with the smart healer will win everytime, think of heals as a buffer a delay of death so to speak, you arent helping your team if you stay in back and just heal, you are much better off staying mixing dmg with heals, Feats help in this respect, bear shamans get a melee dmg buff when they have a heal ticking on them, PoM for every heal they cast get a holy dmg attack bonus and the more Tempest of the set do dmg spells the stronger the heals, healers have begged for a less boring healing system you will NOT fall asleep at the keyboard playing a priest  

If you have any questions about combat let me know and ill answer, enjoy AoC ! see you on the 17th !

Thank you for posting this, it clarified some things for me in a very comprehensive way.

Originally posted by kazson

this is a popular complaint i hear so after spending a entire weekend playing the hell out of the game im going to calm some of your fears,this combat system REALLY shines, no you CANT expect to bunny hop spamming all your best combos just not gonna happen, ill explain

Firstly calm down, there is almost a "rythm" to combat, dont SPAM keys ! no matter have fast you hit a key you will only swing so fast, queue up your next combo know which keys to execute it be patient and "think" ahead

all classes have what i call a "Set up" move, classes can do knockbacks,knockdowns,stuns etc, these moves arent combos so they only take hitting a key to excute (ala WoW) so after doing a move like this you can pull off some of your harder combos.

Also some combos are very easy to pull off in combat...my assassin had a nice dmg combo that was only press key then "w" and the move had a good deal of range as well so even if they move away it would still connect.

Also you can strafe without breaking your combo and turn in circles...so for example if your foe was in front of you and you started the combo and he moved to the left, you could turn your charater to face him and not break the combo, as long as you dont move forward or backwards

collsion is awesome! i wish i could do this to druids in wow...another powerful tatic is a "Swarm" bascially if you see a healer/caster 2-3 people gang up and "box" them in so they cant run and then you can pull off combos very easy

Use the enivorment, archers use pillars to hide behind, soliders knock people off ledges, casters use your hide skill and wake in the wake, rogues attack that ranger in the corner,

You wont be a superhero, you are going to be hard pressed to pull a wow and make a video of yourself pwning 10 players...just not going to happen, at most with my conq  i was able to burn down 3 casters back to back but once people get more skill i doubt this will happen

If you have any questions about combat let me know and ill answer, enjoy AoC ! see you on the 17th !

 

Im really glad to see more people then just Avery making intelligent, concise, posts around here.

Keep up the good work. I actually learned a few things myself that ill have to try out.

-Jive

yeah awesome post man i havent been able to play and have been wanting some upfront info on the combat system and just thanx. just reassured me this would be another SWG where u actually have to think to own. i come in WoW top 10 with my warrior and lock with out even trying just brainless clicking. i miss complex and skill requirements that wow just lacks

I think the title to your thread underminds the rich content of your thoughts

Great read and info!

Maybe next time give your topic a bit better title. When I see OMGZ or ZOMG I think back to WoW.....

 You will hear the "OMGZ i cant combo while moving" comment from WoW players who want to spam their best skill,but unfortunetly you actualy have to think how you attack.

  The powerfuller the combos are,the harder they are to perform and the easyer they are to dodge.For exemple the HoX molten steel slash combo has a cast timer,even after you performed the sequence to activate it,there is a cast period for it before it does the actual dmg,during that time your oponent can run away or even intrerupt you,but if it hits,it does a ton of dmg.Soo you have to plan ahead,if your allies surounded several enemys it will be easy to perform the combo cause colision phisics in AoC dont turn every player into a ghost and they dont pass threw each other.

I tell you what i never liked the whole hit the hot bar button combat. But this combat is awsome. With my Adult ADD i can play wow for about 20 mins before i start looking at porn. I started playing Beta Fri. night and next thing it was sunday night. Combat is very fun and not boring.  I'm sure though people are not going to be use to it off the bat.  But its like a new song people dont like, It will Grow on you then you will want to hear that song all the time.

When we all from beta weekend allso have to be tru. 

-

To make the combo system work, as pland and all the time, not 1 out of 10. 
1. The enemy has to be stund, rooted ect.
2. The enemy has to be fhighting a nother enemy.
3. Or drain from stanima, and runing from you, whit his/hes back to you. 

Beside that more or less, luck to activat a combo. If its not a 1 "pess" combo.

Originally posted by TheArzhAngel

When we all from beta weekend allso have to be tru. 

-

To make the combo system work, as pland and all the time, not 1 out of 10. 
1. The enemy has to be stund, rooted ect.
2. The enemy has to be fhighting a nother enemy.
3. Or drain from stanima, and runing from you, whit his/hes back to you. 

Beside that more or less, luck to activat a combo. If its not a 1 "pess" combo.

Executing a combo is anything but luck.  Once you start to memorize those combos, you won't even have to look at the pop-up directional keys for a reminder.  If you can't execute a combo while fighting someone, then it might not be Funcom's fault.. 

Plus, not everyone is interested in running away, when someone is wailing away at you, there's no excuse not to combo.