In this week's Guild Wars 2 column, David North takes a peek at the combat in one of gaming's most hotly anticipated titles.  There a whole lot of different factors that make combat in an MMO either special or forgettable, and David thinks he has a grasp on which is which. 

Guild Wars for me was a bit of a breath of fresh air when looking at the overall pace of combat.  It wasn’t perfect but it was much faster than other games.  There were enemies all over, and decisions during battle had to be made quickly as we faced large groups of enemies, not a group of 3 or 4 enemies at a time that just had a massive amount of health. This was nice as it added more action to the gameplay and kept me moving.   For Guild Wars 2 this is pushed even further as we see elements of combat revisited and worked on in a new, fresh way for the genre.

Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: Kicking Combat Up a Notch.

what you waiting us to say, ohh its so great iys so good we have never seen like this befoure?

thanks for your news.

In almost any other mmo you fight small number of enemies at the same time. They usually have a huge energy pool, and it often takes more than 30 seconds to kill. Also we often see that those monsters only stand and attack you, without using any skills. This results a very boring combat.

In GW1 and GW2 you face the large number of enemies, often more than 8. They all have about the same amount health as you, and use several skills. Making the right decisions at the right time, using the right skill, and positioning is very important here. This results very fast paced and entertaining combat that requires your full attention and skill.

This is pretty much the summary of the article.

It will be a "tiny" step up from standard MMO faire, but really no ground breaking combat. If you want a great step up you would impliment something like DCUO or heck Vindictus type combat with skill based blocking, rolling and attacking. You add that kind of combat into a new MMO with decent PvP and then you'd have something.

Originally posted by Raevanhawk

It will be a "tiny" step up from standard MMO faire, but really no ground breaking combat. If you want a great step up you would impliment something like DCUO or heck Vindictus type combat with skill based blocking, rolling and attacking. You add that kind of combat into a new MMO with decent PvP and then you'd have something.

You can actually manually dodge (by rolling) almost any attack by double taping the direction keys. Also if you wield shield you can block attacks and spells like flame using sheild...

COMBAT = #1 Feature I am most interested in GW2 for.

1. Dynamic - positioning & dodging & avoiding, fast paced, decision making and proactive

2. Context - changing weapons as per FPS'ers, choosing builds, context dependent teamwork, multiple roles melee/ranged dps/support etc, aiming distance for some skills...

3. Visual - Looks v v cool, informative-looking, reduction on UI

...

PvP will be a very good barometer of this game's combat.

Originally posted by Raevanhawk

It will be a "tiny" step up from standard MMO faire, but really no ground breaking combat. If you want a great step up you would impliment something like DCUO or heck Vindictus type combat with skill based blocking, rolling and attacking. You add that kind of combat into a new MMO with decent PvP and then you'd have something.

 

Combat in GW2 is almost the same as DCUO mate. The only differences are you can't keep rolling forever, you can't stun-lock someone forever, you only block using specific skills and you can't bunny-hop your way to victory.

i hope Pvp turns out great because, PvP lasts 2 weeks. I'm really looking forward to this games dynamic combat along with everything else. Thank you ArenaNet

Tiny step ? As mentioned above, dodge and roll is being used for the first time in a mmo, not to mention the L4D style of reviving teammates. You also have water combat , which is not new but how it is being done is unique. Nothing tiny about Guild Wars 2 except Asura. :)

Everything about GW2 will just be epic ! I can't wait to get away from these cheap P2W Asian grinders for good.

But thankfuly, even though their mostly shit, they have fed my addiction.

Come on GW2 ! We need ya ! 

Did somebody say ...

Notch?

The Combat Is Looking Good As Always But Yea, The Gameplay Is Coming Out Nicely Can't Wait To Try Out The Game!

I think the whole premis of this article is way off.

Team sports, everyone has a role...  as the team advances on others those designed for melee and open-space threat need to be assessed. Ranged character, (who may havew to stop) do so because their perview is of a greater role.

If you clan, group, tea,, etc advances and moves as a unit...  what each single class does is part of the soup. You don't focus on one aspect and say.. 

GuildWars2 uses physics on many attacks, where you lob something, but must aim (not auto-target). Having to stop is thus pointless.

Of the 4 games i am keeping up closely with GW2 is the one that is screaming FUN into my ear..

I believe the overall feel of the games combat is going to take many by surprise once full control and mastery has been achieved by the player and it will spill right on over to the games PvP as well...

Looking forward to GW2!

"Being able to constantly move without things stopping or slowing down allows for more strategy in combat."

Does being able to constantly move while swinging a sword in combat or being able to constantly move while casting a spell in combat, without some type of detrimental movement penalty to the accuracy of, or power of your sword-to-hit or spell-to-hit, really add "more" strategy to combat?

Nice writeup, David. I'm there with ya waiting on pins and needles for GW2. To be honest, Guildwars 2 is the only MMO other than Planetside 2 that I'm at all excited about these days.

Well, that and Darkfall 2.0, but we'll see how that goes :X

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

"Being able to constantly move without things stopping or slowing down allows for more strategy in combat."

 

Does being able to constantly move while swinging a sword in combat or being able to constantly move while casting a spell in combat, without some type of detrimental movement penalty to the accuracy of, or power of your sword-to-hit or spell-to-hit, really add "more" strategy to combat?

 

its certainly adds more to strategy than just standing in one place...

Originally posted by Cik_Asalin

"Being able to constantly move without things stopping or slowing down allows for more strategy in combat."

 

Does being able to constantly move while swinging a sword in combat or being able to constantly move while casting a spell in combat, without some type of detrimental movement penalty to the accuracy of, or power of your sword-to-hit or spell-to-hit, really add "more" strategy to combat?

 

I believe this does..... mages and the likes suffer way to much from current combat mechanics. The idea of each class being free to move at any given time puts things on a more skill based level. How well you can multitask your attack with your positioning and observation of your enemies positions will decide alot in this game.

Definitly the way they are building combat in GW2 is very interesting to me. That fps and a bit further than that is something i will definitly have to try, even if the game turn to be a total failure which i'm confident it won't be, i'll still have to try it to see how combat goes out of curiosity.

Dodging + movement + player aiming + weapon swaping + cooperative game play. This really look like a next gen to me, thumbs up guys.

Nice article. But you forgot to mention another important aspect - cross profession combos. These add a whole new dimension to combat.

Also lol at people who say that GW2's combat brings nothing new. Yeah, I guess other MMO's have much more innovative combat systems.. right?