Modifications to How AoEs Work

Allow certain Area of Effect spells to be placed anywhere (within spellcasting range) - not just on top of targets.

With the recent update, AoE's have more or less become a mob herder; now, with firestorms and meteor showers taking four seconds to cast, the spells do little but push the monsters around. Allowing a firestorm to be cast in an area to deter monsters from entering an area would add a strategic aspect to the gameplay.

Basically, instead of having to have your AoE's drop behind your target, you can estimate and head off your target. Not only would this allow AoE's to be of (edit: more) use in PvE again, it could make AoE's play a more useful role in PvP.

I realize that the mechanics of the skill uses might have to be changed; for example, you press the shortcut for your skill, and a circle pops up - you click in an area, and thats when you begin casting your spell. I know it will be slightly confusing at first, but I believe the benefits would outweigh the adjustments in playing style.

...

A few examples of skills that could be changed to act this way are:
Fire Storm
Meteor Shower
Maelstrom
Chaos Storm

I guess I'll put more examples up as I think of them.


Edit: I'm not sure if everyone understood exactly what I was saying. O_o

The procedure would be:
1) Press Skill Key
2) Click area
3) Start casting
4) Finish casting - where you clicked. :P

Good idea, mate.
Let us able to use these spells by targeting an area, instead of a target.

For those who do not understand what this concept, think of the AOE effect spells in Warcraft III and how they are applied.


/Agreed
/Signed

Hell, just think of the skills in the same way as traps, only they don't need to be triggered by an enemy.

Well, AoE's need SOME kind of buff now. I've always found them pretty useless, but now they're harder to use.

/signed

P.S. I actually enjoyed this update when playing as a fire ele. Things felt dynamic. I just think AoE's will be buffed in the next set of balance changes.

This is a good idea, /signed, but remember when you cast the AoE spell it always goes to the position they're in when you finish casting. I guess maybe if you could see where a group of enemies was heading then you could cast it.

I made the very same suggestion regarding targetting the ground a couple of months back.
It was bashed a fair bit but received some support.

/signed (for you oh so poor ele's, lol)

The patch didn't make them unuseful - firsthand experience through the ring of fire missions proved that. <--no this is NOT a bash just an observation.

I think broadening the Area for AOE would help a bit more - I mean lets face it a Meteor Shower isn't exactly going to be confined to a 5ft circle.


/signed - only because I think this is a good idea that might ought to have been in game anyway.

/signed

/signed

<--- Look at my profession... why wouldn't I want this?

/signed

I've always thought this should be in the game. Or at very least be able to cast on yourself.

It should be an option, not mandatory. What if the monster has moved before the spell goes off? This would only nerf AoE spells.

/not signed

/signed (I was just getting into my lvl 11 nuker)

/signed

I think this would actually make the idea of using AoEs to target chokepoints (etc) a workable one. It would be great to see the actual area of effect expanded, but I doubt that'll ever happen.

Well, I find AoEs to do what they're supposed to do, cause chaos. I'm quite happy that now enemies flee from the area, instead of standing there and dying. Also, a running enemy 1) Isn't casting spells and 2) Isn't attacking.
Also, if an ele casts an AoE spell on an enemy attacking him, it probably would force the enemy away for a while, no?

As for this topic, I would LOVE to see AoEs work like this. It's make the PvE game FAR more strategic than it is now. Though, With AoEs now, you can still herd a group together and do a one hit, massive AoE spike to the larger group

It's a nice strategem that you would be able to strategically place AOE's and maybe lure them into now, since they run since the patch. Not only, imho, would this make some casters actually use their noggin <--Not a bash, as am I caster on my alt, but a new way for them to immerse theirself in their own profession, once again


//Signed <--Doublesigned.

--The Shim

/agreed

I like the idea a lot too.
I sort of stated this in another thread but didnt follow throw with it like you did.

I also said some AoEs could possably have tracking.
Chaos storm would be great AoE that tracks.
Nothing fast, something at a reduced speed to keep a player moving, or a snared player stuck. Maybe at 50% reduced speed of a player.

/signed

i like this idea but i don't know know about the targeting system.

what if you had a marker you could put on compass. like left click on compass to assign target area. that way you wouldn't have to click on ground to target.

For PvE Perhaps if the AOE nerf was left 'as is', the AOE spells could be changed to act like a specific target spell. So you cast say Symbol of Wrath on a target enemy, all his buddies run away from him too while he takes full damage and does your AOE all around him, you would still be able to cast it on yourself and perhaps another party member. This would be fun, to watch, and sort of the chaos you want to see in a battle. If choas ina battle is your goal. I can picture enemy hoards screeming 'get it off me get it off me'.

However I am not at all sure they should be able to pull the same thing on me. Real life people crew are not as smart about running away from AOE in the form of bad wells, and smite AOE. They do tend to notice traps, mesmer, and ele damage and move out of it, well sometimes.

excellent idea, although i feel that you should still be able to cast them on top of a monster if you wish. but yes, i love the idea of creating no go zones for the enemy.
i hope that next update they adjust aoe spells to last for a longer time period, as otherwise the mana cost of creating these 'no go' zones will not be worth the effect.

/signed

This make sense since you can cast an AOE on an spot where the monster has died or moved away. I'm all for this.

/signed

Hopefully free target system is not hard to include.