What sucks is I dont see enough posts describing exactly how superior the combat system is in Aion.  I will describe a few of the aspects that impress me the most, but feel free to contribute your experiences and perspectives on Aion's combat system.  Share any details so that people seeking information about the game can get a good idea of what makes Aion stand out in a genre of Asian MMOs that many think can be all to predictable.  If you want to present a contrasting perspectve thats fine, I just ask that we try to be respectful of each other's opinions and not let the point of the thread get lost in hostilities. 

1. The attack chains are not only smooth and tactically sensible, but you have the option to hit the power's key that initiated the chain again to execute the next power of the chain (instead of hitting additional keys.)  This not only increases efficiency, but increases your attack speed (reaction time) as well as prevent setting off a wrong power durign the heat of battle and missing an opportunity.  Of course you have the option to assign the additional chain powers to individual hotkeys and execute them at your own accord.  You can activate another power instead of conituing along the chain as well. 

The next accessible chain powers also appear as flashing icons on the right side of your avatar toward the middle of the screen.  You may select the one of these flashing icons with a mouse click instead of depressing a key for the same effect, the choice is yours.

2. The execution of powers or abilities are fast and right on the money!!!  You will not experience any sluggishness or delay from hitting the key to hitting your opponent (quite unlike WAR for example.)  Also, the global cooldown is very unobtrusive, barely noticable.

3. The abilities for each class are well thought out and provide a powerful combinations of tactics that make sense for your class.  In many games I find that there are gaps in combat within a class which makes you dependant on another class to defeat certain foes.  Aion closes this gap and provides each class with the necessary tools to survive many more situations than you would expect. 

What I mean is I wasnt left stranded waiting for the cooldowns of my most powerful maneuvers in order to feel like i was contributing to a fight.  The time between various cooldowns are well situated so that you can protect yourself with crowd control maneuvers or buffs that are purposeful, instead of just hitting the same 3 attack keys to win a battle.

4. When I play the various classes, I feel like my character is executing a balance of maneuvers, much like in a martial arts film.  In other words, the combat is not only fun, it is totally immersive!  The Templars perform maneuvers that you would expect a knight to execute.  The Chanter feels like a staff wielding magical monk.  The Assasin dances to the music of death and destruction.  Each of the classes has that particular feel you might be looking for as a soloist or contributing party member.  As combat options become available to you through level progression, the feeling that your character gains important knowledge and tactics becomes more and more evident.  New abilites empower your gameplay with a sense of expertise and survivability.  I never felt like I was waiting for a certain level (or a certain power) in order to, then at that point, begin enjoying the game.  From early on I am able to enjoy a fluidity of attacks and sensible progression of abilites.  I cannot say this for many other games, nor the extent to which I have enjoyed the combat.

It is necessary to get to the heart of the matter of why we enjoy MMOs... and that is we seek amazing combat: combat that makes sense, combat that excites, combat that makes you want more!  Aion delivers on combat.  Thats what this thread is about.  Thanks for reading :)

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The one problem I have with your #1 Attack Chains;  When the chain has only a single choice hitting the same hotkey does run the next skill in the chain.

EXCEPT!
- The chain skills have long cooldown timers. I don't always want to expend a 1 minute cooldown to knock off the targets last 1%. How do I go back and use the standard attack and not  waste the chain?

- Not all chains are clean A then B then C. Several chains are A then B then C or D. Currently there is no clean way for you to work the chain off a single button when the skill chain branches. It will always use C, if you want D you need to drag it to a seperate hotkey it seems.

like he said ^ there should be an option in the chain list to select which chain tree u want for default.

Another big plus for the combat system is the way it aids your defense if you are moving backward,  and your offense if you are moving forward or attacking from behind.  It's a small detail, but I think it enchances the overall feeling of combat, giving the player a more active roll rather than simply spamming buttons.

Some chains branch into 2-3 different higher level chains. So in later levels you have to bind chainskills to additional keys or use the mouse.

Depending on classes sometimes you have to wait for cooldowns.

CAion lag + cast + animation time + autoattack bug = frustration.

The combat system is not bad but last time someone used the term "superior combat system" it was AoC. ;)

Originally posted by Shol

Some chains branch into 2-3 different higher level chains. So in later levels you have to bind chainskills to additional keys or use the mouse.

Depending on classes sometimes you have to wait for cooldowns.

CAion lag + cast + animation time + autoattack bug = frustration.

 

The combat system is not bad but last time someone used the term "superior combat system" it was AoC. ;)

This.

Originally posted by CyclopsSlay

The one problem I have with your #1 Attack Chains;  When the chain has only a single choice hitting the same hotkey does run the next skill in the chain.

EXCEPT!
- The chain skills have long cooldown timers. I don't always want to expend a 1 minute cooldown to knock off the targets last 1%. How do I go back and use the standard attack and not  waste the chain?

- Not all chains are clean A then B then C. Several chains are A then B then C or D. Currently there is no clean way for you to work the chain off a single button when the skill chain branches. It will always use C, if you want D you need to drag it to a seperate hotkey it seems.

 

 

 

They need to use a skill chain system like Spellborn. I don't want the "rolling" combat bar like Spellborn, but the fact is you set up the following skill for the chain or combo. There are a couple of ways they could do this, but I agree they need to polish it out. No sense in having a cool combo system that is a pain to chain together.

Originally posted by madeux

Another big plus for the combat system is the way it aids your defense if you are moving backward,  and your offense if you are moving forward or attacking from behind.  It's a small detail, but I think it enchances the overall feeling of combat, giving the player a more active roll rather than simply spamming buttons.

Were you ever able to determine if the strafing Dodge bonuses, < > arrow indicators, worked versus ranged and spell damage?
I know the ^ movement based offensive bonus doesn't work with spells as you cannot cast and move. And psitional modifiers seem to not affect ranged/spells.

Well writen my friend. Finally someone that gives some positive feedback about Aion instead of those whiners that go

"aoc combat is better"

or

"lag makes it frustrating" ( duh you play on china servers )

We are talking about Aion anyway and not another game. I don't care about other games really.

My 2 cents

Originally posted by krityc

They need to use a skill chain system like Spellborn. I don't want the "rolling" combat bar like Spellborn, but the fact is you set up the following skill for the chain or combo. There are a couple of ways they could do this, but I agree they need to polish it out. No sense in having a cool combo system that is a pain to chain together.

  

 

Despite the fact that Aion is the better overall game,

The combat system of Spellborn "espescially  the targetting mechanisme combined with the rolling combat bar" is the best idea ever seen in an MMO..  Sadly, they choose not to add standard classroles like healer and tank, this has put me off that game.

What sucks is that I have to wait until Sept until it launches here in the US. (I don't do betas as a general rule, I hate throwing away work on a character).

Thanks for posting this OP, I did not realize the details of Aion's combat system and it sounds fun.  Looking forward to the game more now.

I was able to make my ranger shoot arrows at target while my ranger was running. But only with standard attack not skills. My ranger could even turn upper body around to shoot backwards at target while running as far as I remember.

But my ranger had trouble turn around and shoot at target behind with skills, even if my ranger was standing. Succeeded sometimes and failed other times.

Dont know if this is by design or a bug.

2. The execution of powers or abilities are fast and right on the money!!! You will not experience any sluggishness or delay from hitting the key to hitting your opponent (quite unlike WAR for example.) Also, the global cooldown is very unobtrusive, barely noticable.

Its possible that you may not feel this is as smooth as it could be, for spells there is a 'pre-cast' time.  its very small in reality but might feel slugish to you during the early levels.  So if it doesnt feel right to you to begin with just stick at it and it gets better to the stage you don even notice it.

Although, to be fair I played on the chinese servers so Im not certain how much lag contributed to this

I'm gonna give this title a shot since everything I've read and researched about it gives me the impression that it will be more complete, due to it'sdevelopment and prior experience, than many other mainstream and current mmorpg titiles.

Kyl, I dont see it as throwing away money or development on a character, but well invested entertainment and game-play familiarity, if the research on a title looks promising, which to me it really does.

And it seems that there is enough diversity of game-play juxtaposed to existing mmorpg titles and a different game-play mechanic(s) to make it an interesting experience for a bit.  Plus, I like to get familiar with a title before commercialization to be able to get past the more early-onset and germane character development to spring-board a bit more efficiently to the more comprehensive game-play usually found past the games' beginning stages.

But for me, for example, I'll play a new mmorpg title for at least 3 months after doing some exploratory looking into and due diligence on.  So If that's even the case with Aion being as well diverse in pve/pvp game-play with even a little more breadth and depth of game-play, it's comparatively a minimal outlay of funds for decent, good or great entertainment value when I think about it in terms of either going to an amusement park, going to a bar, taking in some movies in a theater, etc.  But that's me.

Originally posted by sadeyx

Its possible that you may not feel this is as smooth as it could be, for spells there is a 'pre-cast' time.  its very small in reality but might feel slugish to you during the early levels.  So if it doesnt feel right to you to begin with just stick at it and it gets better to the stage you don even notice it.

I think this pre-cast time is part of the animation. Even 'instants' still require you to be paused for the activation word it seems. So while you're shouting out 'Abracadabra' there is a delay in the cast or usage of a skill.

Noticable, yes. Annoying, not usually.

The spin jump for ranger arrows seems to require some touch I don't have yet. I naver get even close to a full spin as I have seen some do in the clips.

I agree about the combat, it's one of the draws of the game to me. It is probably the third best and enjoyable combat I've had in an mmo.

Originally posted by Conq

I'm gonna give this title a shot since everything I've read and researched about it gives me the impression that it will be more complete, due to it'sdevelopment and prior experience, than many other mainstream and current mmorpg titiles.

 

Kyl, I dont see it as throwing away money or development on a character, but well invested entertainment and game-play familiarity, if the research on a title looks promising, which to me it really does.

 

And it seems that there is enough diversity of game-play juxtaposed to existing mmorpg titles and a different game-play mechanic(s) to make it an interesting experience for a bit.  Plus, I like to get familiar with a title before commercialization to be able to get past the more early-onset and germane character development to spring-board a bit more efficiently to the more comprehensive game-play usually found past the games' beginning stages.

 

But for me, for example, I'll play a new mmorpg title for at least 3 months after doing some exploratory looking into and due diligence on.  So If that's even the case with Aion being as well diverse in pve/pvp game-play with even a little more breadth and depth of game-play, it's comparatively a minimal outlay of funds for decent, good or great entertainment value when I think about it in terms of either going to an amusement park, going to a bar, taking in some movies in a theater, etc.  But that's me.

We all have our OCD moments, mine happens to be with MMORPG characters. When a game comes out, I'll usually mess around with a couple of character types for maybe 10 levels, then I pick one and play no others until it reaches max level.

So picture me in previous betas, leveling my characters up to 20 or 30...and then they wipe the server and I start over, replaying the low level content yet one more time.

I just hate doing that, drives me up the wall so I've found its better for me to wait at least until they have the open beta, especially if they are going to let you keep your characters (up to a certain level) post launch.

I know other folks prefer to really shake the game out before buying it, but I have to say, if I managed to get to max level during a beta, I'd probably never bother buying the game.

Can these chain combos be macroed?

I hope not.

Aion's really about jump motion cancelling...especially for archer and two handed types. 

For two handed swords or spear types and archers, you can motion cancel to execute skills faster and even chain skills faster, and this is noticeable. 

As for moving while casting.  Some spells allow you to move while casting and you can take advantage of < > dodge.  However, Casters have robes with very low natural dodge, so it becomes quite pointless, unless that is you are extremely good at micromanagement. 

Assassins with 1800+ evasion stat really see light when it comes to < > dodging...If the opponent doesn't have anywhere near 1500+ in accuracy stat, trust me, you will definitely see the difference. 

Not until couple months ago, people used to say Aion doesn't require any skill and all you need is really good gear and just point and click to kill everyone.  Not applicable these days, since alot of the top ranking Abyss PvPers all have good controls and people make fun of others who post vids with ganking and etc that really don't show much control ability.

As for dodging magic attacks and melee attacks.  The two work totally differently.  Nowdays people usually try to complete 2-3sets of armor. 

In my case I have 3 separate sets.  One set is specifically set with Magic Resistance Mana Stone for against Caster types, which helps nullify magic type CCs.  Another set is full Evasion Mana Stoned which allows me to achieve 1900+ evasion, and my last set is DMG+CRIT Manastone embedded for the usual PvE, and most of less intense PvP.