Comparing Playing Deadeye to Playing Druid.

[Voluptus.3509]

First I'll vent, then I'll make a constructive suggestion...

 

I've been maining druid for a while now and have been in the game for over four years. I looked at Deadeye and loved the concept, so I decided to try it as my second PoF spec.

 

So I get all set by decking my human female thief out to look like Trinity from the Matrix. All black leather trenchcoat, sunglasses and the reclaimed rifle sure looks a lot like an AK-47. Badass, right?

 

I should note here that the gear I'm using to compare the two professions is the same gear. It's not the same type of gear, it's literally the same pieces of gear. I have a full set of ascended marauder's that I swap between the two characters.

 

So, I get a test build and take it to some regular maps to get used to it. Works great there. Reminds me a lot of using Druid longbow but with an immob in slot 2 instead of a knockback in slot 4. Kind of missing the AoE and really missing my piercing spec, though. The piercing in staff allows my druid to use high mobility and positioning to take out 5-6 mobs at once in maps like Auric Basin, while in ascended marauder's gear. Just target the farthest thing in the fight and use constant lateral movement to keep your foes in a line as they chase you around. The beam goes through them all and you pile up the bodies.

 

So off I go into PoF maps with Deadeye, ready to have some fun.

 

Is this someone's idea of a joke?

 

80 Drakes and other mobs in regular maps, no sweat. But in PoF I kneel and use the same F1, 1, 2, 4 rotation on an 80 drake and it just says "Block,Block,Block,Block,Block" as it waddles it's fat read end right up to me and eats my face. So I go to use lateral movement, just like on my druid... and *I'm immobed by my own 5 skill*?????

 

So how do I clear this immob condition that I gave myself? Apparently I have to burn a dodge (after which I'm just immobed in a different spot a few feet from where I was first immobed, the mob then takes two little steps and starts chewing on my face again) or I need to use a two step process to stand up with skill 5 and only then move around. That two steps takes about one second to perform and during it I may as well be in binding roots from a druid staff elite spec while some Cannon thing in PoF blows my teeth out.

 

Also, I understand that things should be tougher in PoF and that's cool. I have a great time in there on my druid and the difficulty is a fun challenge... but on a deadeye it's an exercise in frustration. I mean, really? I can shoot something 12x and it just walks up and starts pounding on me. Is this a real gun or should I go into wardrobe and put the pop-gun skin on it?

 

On my druid I tear this stuff to pieces, in the very same gear. Between dodges, lateral movement and Grace of the Land the mobs can't lay a finger on me as I evade everything they throw at me. I understand that a kneeling rifleman shouldn't be that mobile but come on... I should be able to get up and move left without rolling on the ground and then being just as immobed after the roll.

 

Solution?

 

Remember that someone getting up out of a crouch can explode out of that because their knees are bent... exactly like a person running the 400 explodes out of the starting blocks or an American football player exploding out of a 3 point stance. So the best solution, imho, is to allow a person to get out of the kneel with forward/back/left/right AND if they're coming out forward or to either side they should get half a second of swiftness... but that clearly would be ridiculous to allow someone walking backward to get that. There should also be no CD on this swiftness since it's only possible to get as part of the act of getting up.

 

This means:

- To go from kneeling to kneeling you roll on the ground, burning a dodge.

- To get up and run around you just use your moment keys to jump up fast (hence 1/2 sec swiftness) and then move normally.

 

As one who uses lateral movement in druid to bounce around like a 2 month old puppy on crack, I can tell you that this simple change would make a world of difference to a deadeye and massively increase your chances of survival in PoF maps.

 

Okay, rant over. Before you criticize remember that YMMV according to your own past play style and professions.

 

 

[Voluptus.3509]

EDIT: First, the edit button isn't working for some strange reason. It turns black and stays black, but does nothing.

 

Above I misspoke when I said Grace of the Land was my mobility. It's actually Ancestral Grace.

 

Hey, I wrote this at 5:10AM before I was halfway through the first cup of coffee... gimme a break.

 

Oh, and speaking of gimme a break? Since when does saying that something is Bada** rate a kitten? Come on guys... seven year olds have heard worse.

[Llethander.3972]

Being able to cancel kneel with the movement keys would remove the ability to dodge and remain kneeling. Kneeling costs initiative so the player may not always want to have to kneel again after dodging. I, personally, would prefer being able to cancel kneel with the jump button as I'm pretty confident that it would feel less clunky than having to hit 5 again.

[Ohoni.6057]

> @Llethander.3972 said:

> Being able to cancel kneel with the movement keys would remove the ability to dodge and remain kneeling. Kneeling costs initiative so the player may not always want to have to kneel again after dodging.

 

How about please both crowds, make it a toggle in the option menu?

 

By default, works like now. Toggle on, makes it so that using the movement keys stands you up. Or maybe reverse them, since the new behavior seems like it would be most intuitive for most players, while the "classic" mode seems more like a min-maxer technique.

 

Alternately, they could figure out how to make kneeling and unkneeling not cost initiative if you're doing it fast enough and not getting the bonus effects, like if there are no conditions on you to clear, if you're already cloaked from the last time, etc. I don't know, might be too complicated.

 

 

[Voluptus.3509]

> @Llethander.3972 said:

> Being able to cancel kneel with the movement keys would remove the ability to dodge and remain kneeling. Kneeling costs initiative so the player may not always want to have to kneel again after dodging. I, personally, would prefer being able to cancel kneel with the jump button as I'm pretty confident that it would feel less clunky than having to hit 5 again.

 

In my experience, the game knows the difference between a strafe and a sideways dodge. I use them both all the time and can dodge left or right from a standing start, without taking a step. If double tap to dodge is set then a double tap on a direction key would trigger the sideways dodge and not the strafe, as it already does.

 

I understand your concern but I think the game is already programmed to know the difference between strafe and dodge, and it does that rather well. It's simply a matter of telling the game that if the player performs a dodge then they come out of the roll still kneeling, as it already does now. However, if only a movement key is pressed then the player should get up and move.

[Doctor Hide.6345]

> @Voluptus.3509 said:

> > @Llethander.3972 said:

> > Being able to cancel kneel with the movement keys would remove the ability to dodge and remain kneeling. Kneeling costs initiative so the player may not always want to have to kneel again after dodging. I, personally, would prefer being able to cancel kneel with the jump button as I'm pretty confident that it would feel less clunky than having to hit 5 again.

>

> In my experience, the game knows the difference between a strafe and a sideways dodge. I use them both all the time and can dodge left or right from a standing start, without taking a step. If double tap to dodge is set then a double tap on a direction key would trigger the sideways dodge and not the strafe, as it already does.

>

> I understand your concern but I think the game is already programmed to know the difference between strafe and dodge, and it does that rather well. It's simply a matter of telling the game that if the player performs a dodge then they come out of the roll still kneeling, as it already does now. However, if only a movement key is pressed then the player should get up and move.

 

They already covered the movement keys should cancel kneel bit. They said no to that suggestion because some people do use the double tap. I personally don't because moving with mouse is easier, but there are some out there that do which is why they want to keep it that way. Having the jump key do it is much more plausible solution then the movement keys at this point.

[Leo Schrodingers Cat.2497]

The Sand Lions are the ones with the block projectiles ability. This is not just a problem with deadeye, this is all classes. It just happens to be that Deadeye is the only one that can reliably remove that stupid buff at range with his sneak attack instead of needing to burn a utility or something.

 

My guess is they introduce these creatures to force you to use other weapons. Sword Dagger works pretty damn well on mobs with reflect projectiles, block projectiles, can not be killed at range.

 

But this is nothing to complain about yet. Wait till you have to deal with a Deadeye's (yours or someone elses) Veteran/Legendary shade. They will just start popping people off if not dealt with immediately.