Skill inconsistencies and profession related qns!

Hi there,

I don't really know where to post this so I just thought I'd ask around here. I've been playing a lot of warrior lately but I've been noticing a lot of inconsistencies when it comes to using skills that have built in mobility. For instance, when I use the adrenaline skill for the hammer or axe or if I use great sword 3 (I think that's the one that spins you forward). Even though I can clearly see that the enemies are hit, there are no damage being registered. My ping is 300 if that is perhaps the issue. It makes me feel like I need to play slower because the game can't keep up? Is this supposed to be normal?

Also, any profession suggestion for high ping players that doesn't require me to learn how to play the piano? I was thinking I should just focus on supporting since a lot of top DPS builds have their rotations tightly coupled together with timing. Maybe a ranger or a necro? I do mostly open world PvE atm but I'd love to get into PvP, WvW and end game PvE. And no, it doesn't have to be meta. I'm just looking for a decent and not very lag dependent profession that's easy to play (so I can focus on the enemies and dodging instead of at the cooldown numbers on my skill bar).

Thanks!

As someone with a similarly high ping I can say it's a little frustrating at times yes; some skills just work differently (or don't work) for us, and sadly there is nothing we can do about it, the warrior has a couple of skills like that (Bull's Charge is a classic example). Keep in mind that enemies aren't where we 'see' them on our screen, they're usually a metre or so ahead of their visible position, this can lead to attacks that we think should hit missing. This is exacerbated in PvP. Of course this also extends to 'circles of red' those with high latency know we just don't have to move out of them, we have to be clear of them by at least a 'metre' or so, or be beyond their area of influence with time to spare, etc etc.

Generally speaking, playing from range can mitigate some of the feeling and obviousness of these inherent latency issues, so I'd suggest trying your warrior with a rifle or bow and seeing how that feels. Also builds/traits etc, that snare/stop the enemies from moving about so much helps.

Playing with high latency is a less forgiving style of play, but I've found I have gotten use to it though with time and learnt to adapt to the slightly different requirements, hopefully you can to.

Sorry to say, but this is a strict ping issue. Reverielle explained nicely how and why there is disharmony between what you perceive versus what actual gets processed.

Simply put, the visual information presented by your client on your screen is outdated and/or out of sync and does not represent actual server side processes.

Ah I understand.. I think. Theoretically, if I'm playing at 300 ms, I can expect myself to be "behind" by 0.3 seconds? Or would it be better to gauge using distance e.g. 1m. How far is 1m in game? Is 1m an average gauge based on your experience? At the end of the day, it's all from the server's pov right? I'm going to list out a few scenarios and let me know if I have any of them wrong.

1) As mentioned by you, If I'm dodging an attack, I should be out of the "circles of red" and at least 1 metre away from it (or at least out of the danger zone for at least 0.3 seconds). That way from the server's PoV, I'm definitely out of the "circles of red" (I guess that's why I love blink lol).2) If I'm hiding behind cover, I should expect myself to still be walking towards the cover on the server so if I get hit behind cover (for the very first second), it is normal.3) If I'm going to attack a stationary target at the maximum range as indicator by my skill, I should move a metre closer before using it to let the server "catch up" before activating my skill (you'll also have issues like trajectory to deal with.)4) If I'm attacking a moving target with a skill shot, I should lead my attack by a metre in the direction where I think the enemy is moving. From the server's perspective, if I'm 0.3 seconds ahead of the server (because of the latency) then I should also be able to assume that the actual position of a moving enemy is also 0.3 seconds ahead.

TL;DR. The information on my screen is outdated by 0.3 seconds. If I'm moving towards something, I'm actually 0.3 seconds behind from the server's pov. If someone is moving towards me, he's actually 0.3 seconds ahead because it took 0.3 seconds of latency for that information to get to me.

Is it then right to assume that skills like GS5 will always hit the target since it auto tracks? Or does it not work that way? i.e. if we activate the skill at maximum range in our screen, we're theoretically activating it at more than maximum range in the server so it cannot hit.

@Reverielle.3972 said:As someone with a similarly high ping I can say it's a little frustrating at times yes; some skills just work differently (or don't work) for us, and sadly there is nothing we can do about it, the warrior has a couple of skills like that (Bull's Charge is a classic example). Keep in mind that enemies aren't where we 'see' them on our screen, they're usually a metre or so ahead of their visible position, this can lead to attacks that we think should hit missing. This is exacerbated in PvP. Of course this also extends to 'circles of red' those with high latency know we just don't have to move out of them, we have to be clear of them by at least a 'metre' or so, or be beyond their area of influence with time to spare, etc etc.

Generally speaking, playing from range can mitigate some of the feeling and obviousness of these inherent latency issues, so I'd suggest trying your warrior with a rifle or bow and seeing how that feels. Also builds/traits etc, that snare/stop the enemies from moving about so much helps.

Playing with high latency is a less forgiving style of play, but I've found I have gotten use to it though with time and learnt to adapt to the slightly different requirements, hopefully you can to.

The '1 metre' is used purely for ease of understanding, but your latency of 300 ms means basically almost every action your character does in game the server receives 0.3 s later. So the 1 metre is actually quite variable; it might be only 1 m when walking, but if sprinting it may be 2 m. So for your points;

1. It's not so much 1 metre, but you want to be out of the red circle area 300 ms before the effect fires off. Or if you want to block an attack you need to have block ready 300 ms before the attack initiates. It's this fact that a lot of Youtubers that post videos complaining about an online game's 'poor' mechanics seem to forget. For example, they post a video where their character puts up their shield to block an attack the split second before an attack goes off, and then they complain why their character still gets hit: the answer is not poor coding or any fault of the developers, it's simply that they - the player - haven't taken into account the role latency plays in the sending and receiving of information when playing online.
2. Yes, on your screen your character is behind cover, but to the sever they're still moving towards cover for another 300 ms.
3. Only if it's moving and you're moving. If you're both stationary you can be right on the edge. Generally speaking the more spatially dynamic a situation is (e.g. the more you and/or your enemy are moving about) the more obvious the effects of latency are, with regards the threshold of locations (e.g. red circles). There is no catching up though, your client-side events (e.g. character movements/skill on your computer) will always be received by the server 300 ms later.
4. For ground targets skills, more or less yes. For skills that automatically hit we obviously don't have to aim them anymore than one would usually expect.

TL;DR. The information on my screen is outdated by 0.3 seconds. If I'm moving towards something, I'm actually 0.3 seconds behind from the server's pov. If someone is >moving towards me, he's actually 0.3 seconds ahead because it took 0.3 seconds of latency for that information to get to me.Overall, yes you see to understand the what's going on.

Is it then right to assume that skills like GS5 will always hit the target since it auto tracks? Or does it not work that way? i.e. if we activate the skill at maximum range in our >screen, we're theoretically activating it at more than maximum range in the server so it cannot hit.Well there are other factors that can affect whether you skill hits a target or not, but in the context of latency; yes, auto tracking skills minimise the effect of latency.

At the end of the day I wouldn't worry about it too much, with experience you'll come to know just what little extra things you'll have to have your character do to mitigate the extra challenges a high latency imposes on game play. And yes, there will be the occasion that your character will be defeated as a result of latency, but with practice they will become few and far between. I'm no expert on this, but I hope what I've shared helps.

Thanks a lot for the clarification Reverielle. I guess it'll also come with more practice. Off to adapting to 300 ms! Thanks again! And thank you too Cyninja.2954!

@Reverielle.3972 said:The '1 metre' is used purely for ease of understanding, but your latency of 300 ms means basically almost every action your character does in game the server receives 0.3 s later. So the 1 metre is actually quite variable; it might be only 1 m when walking, but if sprinting it may be 2 m. So for your points;

1. It's not so much 1 metre, but you want to be out of the red circle area 300 ms before the effect fires off. Or if you want to block an attack you need to have block ready 300 ms before the attack initiates. It's this fact that a lot of Youtubers that post videos complaining about an online game's 'poor' mechanics seem to forget. For example, they post a video where their character puts up their shield to block an attack the split second before an attack goes off, and then they complain why their character still gets hit: the answer is not poor coding or any fault of the developers, it's simply that they - the player - haven't taken into account the role latency plays in the sending and receiving of information when playing online.
2. Yes, on your screen your character is behind cover, but to the sever they're still moving towards cover for another 300 ms.
3. Only if it's moving and you're moving. If you're both stationary you can be right on the edge. Generally speaking the more spatially dynamic a situation is (e.g. the more you and/or your enemy are moving about) the more obvious the effects of latency are, with regards the threshold of locations (e.g. red circles). There is no catching up though, your client-side events (e.g. character movements/skill on your computer) will always be received by the server 300 ms later.
4. For ground targets skills, more or less yes. For skills that automatically hit we obviously don't have to aim them anymore than one would usually expect.

TL;DR. The information on my screen is outdated by 0.3 seconds. If I'm moving towards something, I'm actually 0.3 seconds behind from the server's pov. If someone is >moving towards me, he's actually 0.3 seconds ahead because it took 0.3 seconds of latency for that information to get to me.Overall, yes you see to understand the what's going on.

Is it then right to assume that skills like GS5 will always hit the target since it auto tracks? Or does it not work that way? i.e. if we activate the skill at maximum range in our >screen, we're theoretically activating it at more than maximum range in the server so it cannot hit.Well there are other factors that can affect whether you skill hits a target or not, but in the context of latency; yes, auto tracking skills minimise the effect of latency.