There are a lot of things to consider when you think about what kept you playing your favorite MMOs, but for me a lot of the time it can be simple things I enjoy about the moment to moment gameplay. A really neat spell or ability can make a character a whole lot more enjoyable to play, so this week I wanted to share some of my favorite MMO spells or abilities.
The Matrix Online – Hyper Jump
MxO featured a flawed, but fun Interlock combat system where players were locked into combat with NPCs or other players, allowing for some incredibly neat (and synchronized) animations to play out. I loved many skills in the game, especially one move in particular where you’d kick a guy in the nuts from behind all in glorious bullet time. But there was something even simpler in MxO that made the game super enjoyable for me and that was the Hyper Jump. Characters in The Matrix films were always leaping all over the place and in MxO you could do the same. The game lets you leap from building to building across the Megacity and with so much verticality in the game it was truly enjoyable, especially when it came to chasing down other players in PvP.
City of Heroes – Nova
I feel like picking a favorite ability in City of Heroes is like trying to pick your favorite kid. There were too many amazing and satisfying to use skills in the game and no other game comes close for me. That said, Nova was the first ability I truly fell in love with. Nova was the Energy Blast set’s ultimate ability and it wasn’t too different from other Blast set ultimates in the sense that it was a massive damage PBAoE that drained all of your Endurance to pull off. Well, except for one part. It knocked everyone around you away when you used it and you could slot it for Knockback, which, of course, I did, at least temporarily. Even without gimping the damage to enhance the knockback, sending enemies flying as violently as it did make the power (and thus your character) feel incredibly powerful. Slotted up for Knockback, though? You’re sending dudes flying down city blocks. It was wild.
Warhammer Online – Fetch!
Ah, Fetch, one of the most frustrating abilities in the game for Destruction players. I played the White Lion at launch when it was absolute trash because I have a soft spot for cats and having a pet lion to fight in tandem with me that actually grew as I progressed through the levels was just too neat to pass up. At some point, though, Mythic made White Lions viable and my reign of terror began. The ability had a simple function, it would send your lion to the target and then toss him to you.
What made Fetch! stand out from most pull abilities was the lion’s ability to just not care about geometry or line-of-sight whatsoever. Targeting some poor bastard up on the battlements of a keep with Fetch! was endlessly entertaining for me and undoubtedly frustrating for them. Ducking out of LoS didn’t help, once the ability was cast that damn lion would glitch its way up there and launch the enemy right off the battlements down into a waiting mob of Order players below.
Final Fantasy XIV – Dragoon Dives
In my opinion, the Dragoon is the coolest thing the Final Fantasy series gave to us. The Dragoon is an armored, spear/lance-wielding class that can leap into the sky and brings its might down on enemies from above and I’ve been obsessed with it since it made its first appearance in Final Fantasy II. While you can’t disappear into the sky in Final Fantasy XIV, the various dives available to the Dragoon are still fun as hell to pull off. Backflipping into range and then leaping into the sky with various dive abilities is, to me, still the coolest thing you can pull off in FFXIV.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Leap & Push
Like City of Heroes, there are a ton of abilities in SWTOR that I absolutely love and it’s hard to pick a favorite. The Powertech has a ton of abilities that make you feel like an absolute badass when used, and there are iconic Force powers such as Force Choke, as well. But for me, the thing that impressed me about the game the most was Force Leap. SWTOR mostly plays like your traditional hotkey MMO and we’re all familiar with the various gap closing charge moves these games often feature. But Force Leap is awesome because it didn’t just close distance with an enemy on a horizontal plane, but it let you leap up multiple stories to your target. This was even more fun when combined with something like Force Push. This simple move or combination of moves made playing the Jedi Knight/Sith Warrior fantasy that much more convincing. Leaping up to a target and hurling him violently over a railing to his death never gets old for me. Can you tell I like knockback abilities?
What are some of your favorite MMO abilities? Share them with us in the comments below!
