Akalukz wrote:I am not saying get rid of guard, I am suggesting to put in direct hard counters for it, make is have draw backs, and or more limitations. I believe small tweaks can bring this into line, no need to gut the skill. Personally I would lean towards the mitigation and avoidance of damage it grants.
Guard is one of the coolest skills in game, I just feel and I don't believe I am alone in thinking this, that it needs to be brought under serious consideration for change. Even in live there was talk of changing the way guard worked, before it all went to hell.
I was refraining from this entire thread until I saw you guys all talking about Guard. This, to me, is one of the coolest but biggest issues with the game. I may take a different perspective than others, but I see a few who I think, think along the same lines as I do.
Guard is too critical, arguably the most important skill in the game but there is zero "in game" support for guard. There are no 'animation tells' to SEE if someone is guarded, you have to pick out the buff animation, then locate the possible tank that is guarding them to then see if in range or not etc. Its all a pure guessing game half the time. Also when playing in many groups, you get players who DONT coordinate guard and many players dont even realize if they are inside or outside guard range.
For being such a crucial part of play, I have always been so frustrated at the lack of support, animation, etc this game offers towards guard AND the amount of coordination it takes to use guard. It basically REQUIRES addons as well as external voice ability to us. When you compare a coordinated group to PUGs. The two biggest advantages they have are guard and assisting - neither of which are really supported well in game.
Anyways, ive posted on it before, but if you want this game to appeal to more players there is a "tight unwillingness" it seems to me, to alleviate the REQUIREMENT to play with a full group of people. Many players (like myself) often get discouraged in playing competitively because they cant get a full group together.
I get it, WAR is balance surrounding classes working together, its VERY unfriendly to the solo player or the duo players who get on to get in a warband or SCs, but this is also why it struggles with population issues. People dont want to feel forced to have to get premade groups together and coordinate times to play just so they have a fighting chance.
I voted for a guard rework because frankly its the strongest ability in the game that requires too much external support and communication for casual or even semi-casual players to be able to use where as it completely tips the scale in favor of the premade team who can use it easily to the best of their ability.
I have offered suggestions in the past of things like - creating a permanent animation while guard is actually APPLYING to the target so you can SEE when you are hitting someone with guard or not, or when you punt someone away. Or other ideas (that prove not to be feasible) such as a "total guarded damage" meter at the end of SCs to promote guarding.
I know another game "Neverwinter" made its "guard (called Knights Valor) work for any ally in the party within X range. So rather than guard applying to just 1 person it was like an AoE damage split - this forced tanks to ALL go defensive considering they would soak up a TON of damage. I dont think this is the best option either as AoE would eat them for breakfast.... In Neverwinter it also has a very distinct animation so you can visually see when you hit a target that a portion of the damage actually goes to the tank. So you know your hitting a guarded target.
But I do think something needs to be done for guard. I think it should
try and accomplish the following:
1) Be much easier to use for all players effectively.
2) Provide a meaningful selfish benefit of sorts - currently its a pure selfless skill.
3) Create visual cues that tell you when its working or not working.
This will promote team play and lessen the "gap" between the 2-2-2 premade groups and other groups... Which is what this game needs to appeal to a larger audience.