Guild Wars 2 – Hybrid Combat System

Guild Wars 2 and It's Hybrid Combat System

Guild Wars 2 has been accused of over-hyping by a lot of people. It is a bit strange how those same people generally have the wrong impression of the various features of the game. I have personally seen cases where these same people end up thinking some of Guild Wars 2 systems are less in depth then they really are. Just the other day someone commented on one of my other blogs “GW 2 isn't action combat. You still lock onto enemies just like WoW.” This is inaccurate in various ways. Below I try to explain the various aspects of combat in Guild Wars 2.

Target & Non-Target

Guild Wars 2 is build on a design philosophy of having players play the way they want. The combat system is designed on the same concept. You can launch attacks without targeting anyone first, this will obviously give the players that attack before targeting a small time advantage at the expense of you having to do your own targeting. Targeting an enemy before firing a projectile only seems to help you with the firing direction of that projectile. The projectile will still need to travel the distance and physically hit. If the player / monster moves out of the way, another object gets in between or the target player starts a projectile deflecting skill your attack will miss.

Weapon Dynamics

Another pretty unique thing as far as I can tell in MMOs is that weapons have damage dynamics. A long Bow for example does more damage when fired at a distance then when fired close to a target. Likewise a short bow will do more damage the closer to a target it is fired.

Splash Damage

Another feature of the combat in Guild Wars 2 is that this being a hybrid action combat game, it does not limit damage to the targeted object only. If you're fighting 3 monsters who are all in close proximity of each other your sword swings will damage all those that it connects with and not just the targeted object.

Cross Profession Combos

Another unique feature of Guild Wars 2 is its cross profession combo system. What this does is having attacks by different players interact with each other creating new type of attacks and effects. For example if an elementalist puts down a wall of fire and another player ranger fires an arrow through that firewall his arrows will catch fire and inflict burning condition on any target they hit. This system is not only limited to damage but can also be used to create unique effects. For example if an engineer deploys a smoke screen and a warrior uses a stomp ability in that smoke screen, near by allies will be cloaked even if that character would have no invisibility skills.

Weapons Matter

In most MMOs Weapons simply provide two factors to combat, one being speed and damage amount which combination there of gives rise to a single factor known as DPS. Another is stats boost which improve your characters attributes. Guild Wars 2 will take this further. A Weapon will determine some of your available skills and consequently even the role you're playing. A warrior with a Sword is mobile and can deliver quick attacks. A warrior wielding a mace will get skills to stun and disrupt enemies giving them a more support role. A warrior with a long bow changes the play style to a range AOE damage dealer. Weapons can also be changed in middle of combat allowing a player to change his strategy on the fly if they determine their current approach is not working.

Dodging & Player skill in Combat

Mobility is very important in Guild Wars 2. Stand still and you will soon be overwhelmed with damage. Move around and you will end up avoiding some of the projectiles. Dodge and you will be even more successful and reducing the damage you receive even further. The hybrid nature of Guild Wars 2's combat makes it both interesting and engaging. Unlike many MMOs which focus more on level and equipment in Guild Wars 2 skill matters. Dodging is one such mechanic. Dodging consumes energy and you will be limited on how often you can dodge during a fight. Thus a player will need to be careful at what his opponent is doing and triggering a dodge when this will have the biggest effect.

In conclusion as we can see Guild Wars 2 provides an in depth combat system. There is a lot more to combat then selecting a target and hitting a key repeatedly. Combat may seem simple at a glance. Selecting a target and triggering a skill will indeed launch an attack and it certainly doesn’t get simpler then that. But thats just the surface, its goes a lot deeper then than that as a matter of fact mastering the different aspects of combat will take time for sure but it also makes the game very interesting in my opinion.