Question about special attacks

[JemNI]

I'm looking for some answers to satisfy my curiosity about something. If you don't have an enemy targeted by your weapon and you press a special attack that affects a target, say Blast Shot for example, does it hit the next nearest target anyway? I seem to always press those special attacks right as somebody else takes out who I was aiming at and I wondered if that wastes my shot.

[Phoenixking]

No it hits the oponent nearest

[asommers]

For all skills, targets are chosen at cast time, not activation time.

-ALS

[Phoenixking]

Exactly
/char

[Royce]

Exactly
/char

Yeah but what that means is that if you press a skill button, and immediately your target is killed by another attack, then your attack will not retarget (though it will if you press the skill button right after your target is killed, or when you have no target selected).

[Fyrce]

I think sometimes your target is kaput and yes, your skill is wasted as it goes into cool-down.

[JemNI]

Ok, so the lesson to learn here is to not use a skill if your target has almost no health left. Right? Unless he's a boss maybe and you need him down as fast as possible.

[JemNI]

Oh, also, are there any guides that show these casting times? Blast shot seems to happen very quick, but some of the enchanter spells seem to take over a second. Luckily very few of them target a single creature, but still.

[Fyrce]

I like to kill things ASAP, so I don't hold back skills, but I do rotate them and there's some things you can do to make sure there's a greater likelihood you'll have a good skill available. So for example, for bear, you have several skills that can stun. I like to use them in combination with skills that do not stun. So hopefully by the time you finish all the stun skills, the cycle is ready to go again. Like that.

However, I think it's a mistake, especially with bosses, to hold back any damage or buff/debuffs. You should always be doing max damage. You can target whatever has the greatest life with your single attacks and trust your areas to take care of the rest. For example, the snipers are unlikely to die in 1-2 hits, but aliens might. Like that.

[Ellyidol]

Same question with bear slashes. If your surrounded by mobs, and lets say your current target dies with your first 2 slashes (but you press all 3 slashes together), does your 3rd slash go wasted? Or does it hit on the next target? I've been under the impression that it goes wasted.

[Riccits]

Same question with bear slashes. If your surrounded by mobs, and lets say your current target dies with your first 2 slashes (but you press all 3 slashes together), does your 3rd slash go wasted? Or does it hit on the next target? I've been under the impression that it goes wasted.

nor sure about bear skills, but with archer when i kill a mob with break shield shot, and after press blast shot, this one will target a new mob.

[Ellyidol]

nor sure about bear skills, but with archer when i kill a mob with break shield shot, and after press blast shot, this one will target a new mob.

Yup, but what if you press both at once? Does the second skill "miss"?

[Duke]

Yup, but what if you press both at once? Does the second skill "miss"?

For all skills, targets are chosen at cast time, not activation time.

-ALS

This would imply that your answer is "yes". If you activate the skill against a live target, and the target dies before your skill actually activates, then the skill would go off against no target. Basically costing you the cast time, mana, and cooldown with no effect.

Now, how this would work for something like Blast Shot, where you have a target and and AoE, is something I'm still a little unclear on. Would Blast Shot still go off, centered on the dead target, or would it just be a "mis-cast"?

[mycroftxxx]

IME, the Blast Shot will “miss”. It's annoying, since it ruins the combo I was in the middle of.

[Fyrce]

I think most times the AoE will miss. However, I've seem where it appears as though the target is dead but the area seems to go off. But maybe it went off just before the target dies...? Not sure.

Mostly it misses I think. Only sometimes does an area appear to execute when the target dies. It almost seems like it gets a new target, but I'd imagine that's just perception since it's an area attack. Even when something happens, it seems a bit off -- like the skill is only partially effective or an echo.

Of course, the program is also calculating targets as the situation is fluid. So who knows what info is sent where, especially when lots of things are happening on the screen.

[Tengotengo]

when you go to the auction, hunt for stuff with the highest ms and hs possible that you can wear, regardless of level or class. You don't have to worry about mana expenditure if it regens quickly. Don't be stingy! SMACK EM ONE.