Tab targeting in this game.

[Bloodwine.6450]

I’ve just come back after a lengthy break and I was quickly reminded about one of the things that made me stop playing.

The tab targeting in this game is horrendous, so much so that it’s embarrassing. I have “nearest enemy” bound as my tab and I will literally have a player IN MY FACE and tabbing will target someone at random who’s nowhere near me.

Is there an alternative tabbing method I can use beyond that horrible camera mode with the crosshairs?

[Hashberry.4510]

Its horrible, I have never found a good solution. It seems it is purposely bad, so stuff like clones and pets are better decoys.

[Randulf.7614]

It’s been like it since gw1, poss slightly better now (it was a major complaint then too). I think there may be some minor options tweaks but otherwise, you just kinda get used to it

[mauried.5608]

It seems to be really good at targeting mobs like jungle boars or moas, but wont target some badguys standing right in front of you.One of the targeting options like target nearest ally has never worked since the games inception.Its possible that the targeting code was written by someone who is no longer with Anet, so no one knows how to fix it.

[Skotlex.7580]

I changed to using action camera for this game, I don't need to tab target ever. :pProbably not optimal for competitive modes, but this way I enjoy the game a lot more.

[Danikat.8537]

I think all the tab targeting options will cycle through enemies. It might also be affected by which way your character is facing - so enemies in front of you are more likely to be targeted.

If I want to target a specific person/object/whatever I just click on them. I only really use tab when I want to spread conditions around and it doesn't matter too much who gets what and when I want to find a specific enemy and can't click on them - then I cycle through them all until I get it.

[vyncius.6105]

Use Tab key to switch between targets. I never had problem with this game targeting

[zoejo.2317]

@Danikat.8537 said:I think all the tab targeting options will cycle through enemies. It might also be affected by which way your character is facing - so enemies in front of you are more likely to be targeted.

If I want to target a specific person/object/whatever I just click on them. I only really use tab when I want to spread conditions around and it doesn't matter too much who gets what and when I want to find a specific enemy and can't click on them - then I cycle through them all until I get it.

Not only does it cycle, but you can also go backward (cycle in the opposite direction) with shift+tab.

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

Between tab targeting enemies that aren't even close or outright offscreen, to my character forgetting to auto attack, its very messy. It only demands that I keep pressing the 1 key to keep attacking and hope my character is facing the right direction for abilities to go off without going on cooldown for no reason.

[Dawdler.8521]

Ugh dont remind me. There are 5 enemies in front of you and a wall behind them and GW2 is like "here let me help you target the invoulnerable wall".

[kharmin.7683]

Who targets things when you can just AoE spam everything? /s

I've never had much success without tabbing through enemies to get to the one I want. As a ranger main, who uses pets a lot, I find targeting to be rather fallible.

[Blocki.4931]

You can change it and if it's not the right target simply press it another time. I've not had any issues getting the target I want consistently to be quite honest.

[Dawdler.8521]

@Blocki.4931 said:You can change it and if it's not the right target simply press it another time. I've not had any issues getting the target I want consistently to be quite honest.Have you tried that against a 50 man zerg?

[Turkeyspit.3965]

@Dawdler.8521 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:You can change it and if it's not the right target simply press it another time. I've not had any issues getting the target I want consistently to be quite honest.Have you tried that against a 50 man zerg?

Why bring a sniper to an artillery fight....

My biggest gripe is I can't lock my target until I tab a new one. So often in fractals I'll lose target (often with ground target abilities) and when I hit tab, rather then going to my desired target, it bring up something else. The amount of times I've insta-tabed and lept to attack a shielded Horrik instead of Mai makes me fume.

[keenedge.9675]

It amazes me, but the tab target will rarely pick the enemy who is HITTING me, especially when I'm in open-world PvE.

My pet will find targets half a mile away and grudgingly return when called. I thought I trained it better than THAT.

There has to be some middle ground here. Often my tab target is in the next room or on the floor below, REALLY ?!

[Zaklex.6308]

@Danikat.8537 said:I think all the tab targeting options will cycle through enemies. It might also be affected by which way your character is facing - so enemies in front of you are more likely to be targeted.

If I want to target a specific person/object/whatever I just click on them. I only really use tab when I want to spread conditions around and it doesn't matter too much who gets what and when I want to find a specific enemy and can't click on them - then I cycle through them all until I get it.

Not only that but it's different for every profession...ranged professions will target the farthest enemy away from you, melee(should) target the nearest, but that nearest might not be the one right in front of you because of distance...it works fine if you know the nuances of how it's set up.

[Ototo.3214]

I honestly....don't have many issues with it...it typically picks roughly what I want it to and if it doesn't I just hit it a few more times. Idk, maybe I'm lucky or something? Though it could also just be because I tend to like weapons where I don't necessarily need a selected target, like greatsword. < <The only thing that ever bothered me with targeting was autotarget, which I turned off when I realized I could. Always found tab targetting in FFXIV to be worse, though they do at least have a Target Nearest Enemy option that actually works.

[Trise.2865]

There could be a conflict with the other targeting options. Are you using AoE Snap to Target? or Automatically Promote Target?

I've noticed the game often favors your mouse cursor for targeting instead of your characters' position, especially when using Ground Targeting.

Similarly, your facing and position can dramatically change what you can target. If the opponent "in your face" is actually slightly behind you, you won't be able to target them, even with "Target Nearest".

Consider also the opponents' capabilities. Mesmers, specifically, have skills that break and confuse automatic targeting.

[Khisanth.2948]

@Skotlex.7580 said:I changed to using action camera for this game, I don't need to tab target ever. :pProbably not optimal for competitive modes, but this way I enjoy the game a lot more.

That is not an accurate description. Skills that require a selected target(such as Flame Burst) still requires you to have a selected target with action camera. Action camera just ends up adding the additional requirement of having the reticle aimed at the mob as well which IMO is not an improvement to the situation.

On the other hand for the majority of skills there is no need to have a selected target. AoEs will hit whatever is inside them. Cleave skills will hit whatever is in range. Projectile skills will whatever is in their path. Ultimately the best option is just to select the target you want if you are concerned about who you should be attacking.

@Trise.2865 said:Consider also the opponents' capabilities. Mesmers, specifically, have skills that break and confuse automatic targeting.

That just causes you to drop/unselect the mesmer as a target.

[Skotlex.7580]

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@Skotlex.7580 said:I changed to using action camera for this game, I don't need to tab target ever. :pProbably not optimal for competitive modes, but this way I enjoy the game a lot more.

That is not an accurate description. Skills that require a selected target(such as Flame Burst) still requires you to have a selected target with action camera. Action camera just ends up adding the additional requirement of having the reticle aimed at the mob as well which IMO is not an improvement to the situation.

Have you played much with action camera? Generally speaking it does track whatever target is closest to the middle of the screen even if you aim sideways. I have no issues staying on target, but that may be because I am used to other games which use similar aiming (like Tera). In fact, the only drawback in my gaming sessions is that to cast on aoe on myself, I have to point the camera at my feet and they reposition the camera on the enemy.

[Trinnitty.8256]

It is really bad. Its like tab targeting prioritizes where the action cam would be pointing.It should prioritize hostile (red) names over non hostile (yellow) creatures. Then if there is a champion boss it always wants to tab target that first. The targeting system is one reason I hate stealth in this game. Some skills require target to use and retargeting mesmers and thieves are annoying. The Reticle always disappears.

[Rauderi.8706]

@Eloc Freidon.5692 said:Between tab targeting enemies that aren't even close or outright offscreen, to my character forgetting to auto attack, its very messy. It only demands that I keep pressing the 1 key to keep attacking and hope my character is facing the right direction for abilities to go off without going on cooldown for no reason.

This. I find myself mashing Skill 1 just to make sure it triggers...

[Khisanth.2948]

@Trinnitty.8256 said:It is really bad. Its like tab targeting prioritizes where the action cam would be pointing.It should prioritize hostile (red) names over non hostile (yellow) creatures. Then if there is a champion boss it always wants to tab target that first. The targeting system is one reason I hate stealth in this game. Some skills require target to use and retargeting mesmers and thieves are annoying. The Reticle always disappears.

It already does the prioritization for champions and legendary

[fixit.7189]

agreed: tab targeting is awful in gw2. it likes to target enemies i don't want too, like that mob in front of me, smashing my face. so annoying!

also it would be nice if there was an option to turn off player names when the cursor is over them: often times i will try to manually target a mob but i can't because it selects players instead. this is especially bad when there is lots of players around. sure i can turn off player names but it still shows their info when the cursor is over them.

(i hope you get what i mean, it's kinda hard to explain lol)

[Bloodwine.6450]

As someone who’s been playing MMO’s for 15+ years being able to hit Tab to target things has been a very standard and basic thing.

I’ve been playing GW2 since release but I can’t fathom how I ever got used to how bad targeting is in the game, it doesn’t seem like it should be a difficult thing for the team at Anet to correct.