Wands

[Googalabon]

How is there no way to turn off auto aim for wands?

[Outlaw Mugen]

Yo that's should be a thing. On that matter they should also increase the range on them. It's pathetic.

[Captain Canard]

I can live with the shorter range (staves are our long-range weapon), but holy cow the projectile SPEED is pathetic. Nigh impossible to hit a moving target. I can throw a torch faster than a wand shoots a fireball! And don't get me started on slow-motion lightning..

[Sgt.JESUS]

Yeah wands need a little love, but i think they did mess with the range, its longer now, the tracking should be a toggle, its annoying when you cant hit that guy right in front of you and the shots keep targeting that enemy in the back, but when the sh-it hits the fan and you are shooting everything while blinking away the autotargeting helps.

[Dude]

I think of the wand like a whip, which is how it sort of works

[Therin]

I'm a wand user too, but haven't worried about it too much. (Though I definitely hear the issues.) Isn't the <tab> key supposed to be a toggle for autolock though? I'll have to play around with that.

[Darkmuramasa]

Originally posted by Therin:

I'm a wand user too, but haven't worried about it too much. (Though I definitely hear the issues.) Isn't the <tab> key supposed to be a toggle for autolock though? I'll have to play around with that.

The is the "lock on" which is what tab and middle mouse do, but when firing not in aiming mode on a bow or just using a wand there is an automatic soft lock-on that you can't turn off and for some reason likes to target things further from you instead of, usually, the thing directly in front of you and about to hit you.

[gamergrandpa]

The wand states that it is a mid-range weapon. With a wand you need to keep your distance from mobs or take up a melee weapon like the daggers or sword. But if you want to go all mage then you have to maintain distance. Even then you will still have problems with the target lock at this time.

[Therin]

Originally posted by Darkmuramasa:

Originally posted by Therin:

I'm a wand user too, but haven't worried about it too much. (Though I definitely hear the issues.) Isn't the <tab> key supposed to be a toggle for autolock though? I'll have to play around with that.

The is the "lock on" which is what tab and middle mouse do, but when firing not in aiming mode on a bow or just using a wand there is an automatic soft lock-on that you can't turn off and for some reason likes to target things further from you instead of, usually, the thing directly in front of you and about to hit you.

Okay I hear you now I think. Thanks for taking the time to clarify.

I kited mobs a fair bit until I was higher level. Past a point though, given I've specced and geared big-time into damage and wands in particular, keeping cc in mind still, I burn mobs down pretty quickly. (But yeah I'm the proverbial glass-cannon if they get in on me. So there is a big downside, as there should be.)

I do have the targeting issue come up still, and yeah it's a minor annoyance but with my spec and play-style it hasn't been too big a hurdle. If it targets the second (further away) mob for a hit - which I do agree is a bit annoying when you're not looking to do that - I will have less hps on that one when he gets closer to me, and I'm still able to re-target the first (closest) guy anyways and finish them off first. I sometimes just kite some more at that point. There is a setting too for whether it's the direction your character is facing or the camera is facing - so for old school mmo gamers like me I can adjust that. (And at least it's not taking five minutes to kite a mob like back in EQ or DAOC etc. haha) In fairness it's tougher in the odd place where space is quite limited; but there I see that as a reasonable downside to my spec. There I just try to pull the mobs and/or be prepared to pop some potions while burning them down as quickly as possible.

Please though - I do hear that the system could use some adjusting. Targeting is an important aspect of the game. And I've never even played a bow spec, so I can't comment there and I take your word on it.

[Therin]

Originally posted by gamergrandpa:

The wand states that it is a mid-range weapon. With a wand you need to keep your distance from mobs or take up a melee weapon like the daggers or sword. But if you want to go all mage then you have to maintain distance. Even then you will still have problems with the target lock at this time.

<Mental note: read @gamergrandpa's nice succinct posts first before posting myself.>

[Outlaw Mugen]

Originally posted by Captain Canard:

I can live with the shorter range (staves are our long-range weapon), but holy cow the projectile SPEED is pathetic. Nigh impossible to hit a moving target. I can throw a torch faster than a wand shoots a fireball! And don't get me started on slow-motion lightning..

Projectile SPEED yes absolutely would like that too.

They don't need to increase range by much BUT some flying enemies are JUST outside the range and this is rather annoying. I have to switch either to a fireball spell or a bow. So 2 m + extra wouldn't hurt .

Also they should have different projectiles. Shock wands should have a lightning that bounces off enemies even for a small damage, fire should have a fast straight moving projectile, ice maybe an Ice Shard or a Ice Cloud in front of the caster.... I dunno.

[Captain Canard]

Originally posted by Outlaw Mugen:

Also they should have different projectiles. Shock wands should have a lightning that bounces off enemies even for a small damage, fire should have a fast straight moving projectile, ice maybe an Ice Shard or a Ice Cloud in front of the caster.... I dunno.

And alternative would be to totally differentiate the wand from the staff, and make it shoot a stream instead of a projectile. Think of a flame thrower for flame, Sith lightning for the electric, a "cold air thrower" for ice (like Superman breath), etc. This would make it more effective at shorter range, making the wand the short range weapon, and the staff the long range weapon. It would also add some variety to the mage, where the wand is a "paint and spray" closer-range weapon (kinda like swinging and ax all over the place like my other character), whereas the staff is the long range magic alternative to the bow.

[Nigel]

Originally posted by Captain Canard:

And alternative would be to totally differentiate the wand from the staff, and make it shoot a stream instead of a projectile... .

That is an interesting idea.

It might totally change the way a wand is used and the power it has. If the devs are concerned that it will mess up the game balance, they could just add one particular wand that works like this and leave the other wands as they are. That would give them the chance to see how it work and they could adjust accordingly by making this type of wand either more difficult or more easy to obtain.

Or the stream function could be a late-stage upgrade to some of the wands.