"Keep Moving" and "Stop Moving" Buffer Time?

[Blurrg]

This is something that is really bugging me. Whenever I get these attack words on me, I feel like the timers have some kind of buffer on them. It is especially prevalent in the Frog boss fight when you have to quickly move after the "Stop Moving" to get where you need to go.

I feel as if both of these keywords are hurting you even after the timer goes off. In the Frog fight, he jump at a colored circle and usually the moment he lands all the damage goes off and more orbs and stuff spawn for you to dodge. I very commonly will start moving directly after all these timers go off but I'll still get damaged by the "Stop Moving" attack.

Is there some kind of input buffer here on the attack? Because its really bugging me when I get damaged despite feeling like I should not. I have to hold my movement back for a long time just to make sure I don't get damaged and it makes dodging the next attacks that much more difficult because I'm purposely stalling something that I feel shouldn't need to be.

I don't know, I could be wrong here because the timing in this game is very tight, but I feel like these attacks in particular are not acting on the player at the correct time that is shown.

[Elmdor]

You know I was going to make a post about this very thing so yeah I don't think you're wrong here. I also feel like I'm getting hit WAY after the stop mechanic bar fills. It feels like it's almost a half a second after the bar fills that the mechanic can still damage you.

[Aniki]

I've had this issue too, not sure if its a bug or intended

[Meredith K Pseudonym]

I had assumed that was the point of the exercise. Keep Moving tries to make you run into something and Stop Moving forces you to stand clear of all bullets but neither matter in the slightest until the bar is full. If it lasted a single frame, it wouldn't be at all threatening. You have a (dull) red aura around you when it's still in effect.

[（ﾟДﾟ）]

Listening for the sound effect before moving helps, but yeah the bar feels "off."

[Meredith K Pseudonym]

Perhaps keeping the text until the window for taking damage closes would be better?

(Again, assuming it's supposed to be there.)

[Sasha]

100% agree.

Either the damage should be applied the moment the bar fills, not after, or have the damage window be more clear. The sound effect can be hard to hear in the midst of many sound effects, and the visuals for that specific mechanic's damage window (red aura mentioned above) weren't noticeable to me.

Right now the mechanic doesn't feel intuitive and it seems I'm not alone having trouble with it.

[Elmdor]

Originally posted by Meredith K Pseudonym:

I had assumed that was the point of the exercise. Keep Moving tries to make you run into something and Stop Moving forces you to stand clear of all bullets but neither matter in the slightest until the bar is full. If it lasted a single frame, it wouldn't be at all threatening. You have a (dull) red aura around you when it's still in effect.

You're not wrong here on the purpose of the mechanics, but I think a lot of the issue is that in these fights you always need to start moving and set up for the next phase immediately. In the case of the always move it's not that bad since you're already moving. Since you're already moving the timing of the damage doesn't really matter. When it comes to stop moving a lot of the time when you see the mechanic you need to start moving right away to prep for the next phase.

Take the OP's Avy phase for example you need to dodge big orbs, small orbs and spend time going around them to make the circle fast enough and you really don't have a lot of time. Especially if you have base movement speeds. So when the bar fills and you start moving afterwards to make the very tight timing of the next attack and still get hit it doesn't feel like you made a mistake.

[Blurrg]

Originally posted by Meredith K Pseudonym:

I had assumed that was the point of the exercise. Keep Moving tries to make you run into something and Stop Moving forces you to stand clear of all bullets but neither matter in the slightest until the bar is full. If it lasted a single frame, it wouldn't be at all threatening. You have a (dull) red aura around you when it's still in effect.

While I agree, I think a single frame of damage is all that is needed, and that is what I as a player expect. Stop moving forces players to find safe spots. For example in the fight where you fight the girl with the huge moving yellow orbs, you have multiple layers of Stop Moving, forcing you to stay still for an extended period of time, which provides the function you desire.

Other applications of the mechanic are usually time based. The one I mentioned being the Frog attack where you have lots of small fast orbs and a big orb moving across the screen, and you are tasked to get to the other circle while dodging and stop in time, and it happens multiple times successively.

But this buffer time, specifically when applied to the attack above, makes it very difficult to setup for the next time you have to make it. If its intended to be this way, then okay, but if that is so, I believe the video and audio cues that apparently exist are not very obvious.

Maybe some red light green light coloring, or a symbol, or anything to clearly communicate the time window that you aren't allowed to move would be massively helpful. Because in its current state its hard to parse.

[PewPew]

I find if I'm not the host it snaps pretty well. But if I'm the host or solo. There's a .5 second time where you will get hit after the cast bar finishes. It's dumb lol

[Maxx Saigen]

Yeah, this needs more lee-way. Keep losing runs on lunar difficulty because waiting about .5-.7 seconds seems to never be enough, and there is so many mechanics in emerald lakeside that requires you move quickly after stopping/moving...

It doesn't even need to be that much. I would expect the wait to maybe be .1 or .2 seconds, but the fact I have to wait slightly more than half a second makes it more infuriating than it needs to be.

[alstroemerium.]

Originally posted by （ﾟДﾟ）:

Listening for the sound effect before moving helps, but yeah the bar feels "off."

The bar is definitely off, especially coming from FF14, I've taken damage countless times by moving as soon as the bar disappears.

[mino_dev]

Yes, unlike FF14, you have to stop moving AFTER the bar completes, not when it completes.

I'll add something to make this a bit more clear in the next patch, but when the spinning effect around your character disappears is when it's actually safe to move.