The Absurdity of Dodge Rolling

[von Peso]

After seeing a comment about it it occured to me how strange the whole dodge-rolling mechanic feels. It feels completely out of place, both mechanically and thematically.

Why is every class just rolling around on the ground to avoid damage? I mean, think about it:

- Sorceress should be blinking—teleporting through danger with magic.
- The Monk should be spinning through the air in a pirouette or using martial arts-inspired evasive movement.
- The Witch could be fading in and out of reality to sidestep hits.
- The Mercenary could be jumping away.
But instead, we get this universal rolling mechanic, where everyone—regardless of their class, their background, or their fighting style—just gets down on the ground and rolls around like they're trying to put out a fire.

Honestly, it never even occurred to me that rolling on the ground would be a practical way to dodge anything. Most real-world dodges involve jumping, sidestepping, or quick bursts of movement. Why the rolling? It feels so out of context and absurd.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for each class to have a class-specific dodge style instead of just this generic rolling?

Edit: To clarify I only mean changing VISUALS of the dodge mechanic, not to mess up the ballance or take away from other endgame movement skills.

The multiverse theory suggests an infinite number of universes, some almost identical to ours. Yet, we must be the only one where a Sorceress rolls in the mud to dodge an attack.

[ANDS!]

Originally posted by von Peso:

Why the rolling?

. . .because the developers didn't have an evasion solution available at low levels to all classes that felt both unique to the class and balanced across all classes at that level?

[LostInSpace]

I wouldn't mind some additional "dodge roll" flavour for the classes. Seems like a good idea and they actually leaned pretty strongly into the class fantasy stuff in poe2.
Probably not gonna happen in EA though.
But now that I think of it, it will probably be available in the shop at some point

[Stockwerk 13]

Originally posted by von Peso:

After seeing a comment about it it occured to me how strange the whole dodge-rolling mechanic feels. It feels completely out of place, both mechanically and thematically.

Why is every class just rolling around on the ground to avoid damage? I mean, think about it:

- Sorceress should be blinking—teleporting through danger with magic.
- The Monk should be spinning through the air in a pirouette or using martial arts-inspired evasive movement.
- The Witch could be fading in and out of reality to sidestep hits.
- The Mercenary could be jumping away.
But instead, we get this universal rolling mechanic, where everyone—regardless of their class, their background, or their fighting style—just gets down on the ground and rolls around like they're trying to put out a fire.

Honestly, it never even occurred to me that rolling on the ground would be a practical way to dodge anything. Most real-world dodges involve jumping, sidestepping, or quick bursts of movement. Why the rolling? It feels so out of context and absurd.

Wouldn’t it make more sense for each class to have a class-specific dodge style instead of just this generic rolling?

true
and
good point

[NANI YO?! B-BAKA!!!]

Originally posted by ANDS!:

Originally posted by von Peso:

Why the rolling?

. . .because the developers didn't have an evasion solution available at low levels to all classes that felt both unique to the class and balanced across all classes at that level?

I think OP had in mind only visual point of the dodges. Mechanicaly they all can be same, but animation could be better and more matching class. Dont worry. They still can add dodge "skins"/animations in the item shop later on

[von Peso]

Originally posted by NANI YO?! B-BAKA!!!:

Originally posted by ANDS!:

. . .because the developers didn't have an evasion solution available at low levels to all classes that felt both unique to the class and balanced across all classes at that level?

I think OP had in mind only visual point of the dodges. Mechanicaly they all can be same, but animation could be better and more matching class. Dont worry. They still can add dodge "skins"/animations in the item shop later on

Yes, only visuals.
Just like The Witcher had absurd rolling when in the books he was mostly using pirouettes

[RedFaster]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yIg9OTys6o

[crzyfsh123]

Watching higher level playing, a lot less rolling.

[Stockwerk 13]

btw are there even movement abilities in this crappy game?

my sorc has not a single teleport, movementspeed push or anything in their basic toolkit....

[Stockwerk 13]

i mean not for the eye frame but any ability or anything that lets you traverse this gigantic ass maps a tad faster

[von Peso]

Originally posted by RedFaster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yIg9OTys6o

If you’re specifically trained to perform a dodge roll, that’s fine, but such a rare maneuver should be reserved for just one class. Never seen anyone ouse it in real life scenario.

[RedFaster]

Originally posted by Stockwerk 13:

btw are there even movement abilities in this crappy game?

my sorc has not a single teleport, movementspeed push or anything in their basic toolkit....

Now maybe this is crazy but instead of comparing to PoE or D4 what if we were to compare to a game that is actually really cool

like Nier Automata

That game had all kinds of crazy action but you didn't need teleport spells or magic blood flasks or whatever

because the dodge button also had a basic sprint function and that was normal

and also many other games do the same thing for the same reasons.

Just saying. The answer to this riddle is already known.

[Terron]

Good point. It would be a welcome addition. Maybe even an upgrade which slightly increases roll distance while also changing the animations to what you describe. I do hope they just have these unique dodge animations as standard though in final release. Good shout OP.

[RedFaster]

Maybe there are people out there that don't know League Of Legends sucks and spend most of their life in grippy socks but just imagine 2B's butt for a minute and I think the truth will become clear.

[Stockwerk 13]

it dont have to be Last Epoch levels of literal speed of light:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmaPwrzf1QI
(this is not the regular in LE, its just the upmost extreme powerlevell u can reach after endless grind and abuse of every game mechanic trick u can think of)

but can we have at least anything?

[Stockwerk 13]

Originally posted by RedFaster:

because the dodge button also had a basic sprint function and that was normal

but there is no sprint button PoE2
there is just a "go extra slow" button whenever u cast a spell