QoL Request: Auto-Attack Chain Indicators

[Tzu.6371]

In Guild Wars 1, assassins had lead, off-hand, and dual attack skills that all came with a handy indicator in the corner of the skill icon telling you what kind of attack each was. Can we please get something similar for auto-attack chains? Right now it's often difficult to tell where I am in a chain because it's next to impossible to memorize all the different icons for all the different weapons auto-attack skills among all the different classes. Having markers for each "level" of a chain would help immensely in alleviating this burden, especially for new players trying to learn how to maximize their damage by completing and not accidentally interrupting full chains.

 

Best,

Tzu

[PolarBear.3961]

Would be nice. Or they could just remove the chains from autoattacks that have them.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

1 hour ago, PolarBear.3961 said:

Would be nice. Or they could just remove the chains from autoattacks that have them.

Auto-attack chains are an important part of differentiation in skill levels in the game. The majority of your damage tends to be backloaded into the third hit, and inexperienced players often cancel the chain before this.

 

A simple number overlapping the icon will let us know which phase its on.

Edited January 29 by Mariyuuna.6508

[PolarBear.3961]

I know that. But why are 50% of weapons without auto chains ? It feels unfinished so why not add auto chains into all the weapons or remove them from them.  

[Asum.4960]

1 hour ago, PolarBear.3961 said:

I know that. But why are 50% of weapons without auto chains ? It feels unfinished so why not add auto chains into all the weapons or remove them from them.  

Auto Attack Chains are mostly for animations sake. The weapons lacking them are largely the ranged/projectile weapons where Anet felt like they could get away with cutting that corner - but imagine all melee weapons were just the same, awkwardly looping/resetting, swing or stab animation, over and over and over. 

 

Having chains there makes for much smoother, visually pleasing and more engaging gameplay. 

That said, I'm all for updating all weapons to have AA-Chains, as I think the weapons lacking them feel a lot more bland and spammy. 

 

I like OP's idea, although I think it would probably enough to just give the last hit in the chain a more distinct icon in art and/or colour, as well as potentially an audio cue.

Especially for Swords where it's often just three drawings of a blade from slightly different angles with a samey colour scheme, it's pretty hard to tell without significant time spent on that profession and weapon. Usually the downward swing icon is the final hit, but just that can be hard to watch out for in the heat of things, and not even that is consistent among all weapons.

 

Necro Scepter is a good example of this done right imo, with the final hit having a brighter, unique icon and being accompanied by a distinct sound, letting you know you finished the chain and gotten value out of it's most potent hit.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

On 1/29/2023 at 5:56 AM, Asum.4960 said:

Auto Attack Chains are mostly for animations sake. The weapons lacking them are largely the ranged/projectile weapons where Anet felt like they could get away with cutting that corner - but imagine all melee weapons were just the same, awkwardly looping/resetting, swing or stab animation, over and over and over. 

 

Having chains there makes for much smoother, visually pleasing and more engaging gameplay. 

That said, I'm all for updating all weapons to have AA-Chains, as I think the weapons lacking them feel a lot more bland and spammy. 

 

I like OP's idea, although I think it would probably enough to just give the last hit in the chain a more distinct icon in art and/or colour, as well as potentially an audio cue.

Especially for Swords where it's often just three drawings of a blade from slightly different angles with a samey colour scheme, it's pretty hard to tell without significant time spent on that profession and weapon. Usually the downward swing icon is the final hit, but just that can be hard to watch out for in the heat of things, and not even that is consistent among all weapons.

 

Necro Scepter is a good example of this done right imo, with the final hit having a brighter, unique icon and being accompanied by a distinct sound, letting you know you finished the chain and gotten value out of it's most potent hit.

I love the idea of giving the final attack in a chain a distinct icon, look, and sound. This would really help us with managing our skill use. I also second the idea of giving all AA skills a chain. Maybe then people will stop complaining about the "shoe-shoe-shoe" sound of the guardian's scepter if it only pops every 3rd attack.

[ZeroTheRuler.7415]

On 1/28/2023 at 9:13 AM, Tzu.6371 said:

In Guild Wars 1, assassins had lead, off-hand, and dual attack skills that all came with a handy indicator in the corner of the skill icon telling you what kind of attack each was. Can we please get something similar for auto-attack chains? Right now it's often difficult to tell where I am in a chain because it's next to impossible to memorize all the different icons for all the different weapons auto-attack skills among all the different classes. Having markers for each "level" of a chain would help immensely in alleviating this burden, especially for new players trying to learn how to maximize their damage by completing and not accidentally interrupting full chains.

 

Best,

Tzu

Love this idea!