Upcoming Change to Skills: Global Cool-Down

[Moogerfooger]

Most awesome news! 0.5 secs is perfect. It's exactly how I play at the moment. I kind of develop a rhythm where I hit the skill then anticipate when it lights back up. After awhile you get a feel for how long each cooldown takes. Its always been one after the other. Ive never intentionally hit multiple skills at the same time playing on a 3GS. I've made it playing in PvE this way to 56 so don't worry about it destroying your PvE experience. You'll survive.

Many of us don't play this way, and have figured out specific rhythmic skill chains with the current skill cooldowns that work well for a given class, and there is a rhythm to it as well, no matter how fast it may look like sometimes. Just because you made it to 56 playing this way (congrats by the way), doesn't mean it is the best/only way for everyone and that rhythm can't be done the way it is right now...because it can.

That said, I will wait and see how tests/rollout goes.

[superglut2]

Many of us don't play this way, and have figured out specific quick skill chains with the current skill cooldowns that work well for a given class, and there is a rhythm to it as well, no matter how fast it may look like sometimes. Just because you made it to 56 playing this way (congrats by the way), doesn't mean it is the best/only way for everyone and that rhythm can't be done the way it is right now...because it can.

That said, I will wait and see how tests/rollout goes.

I do the same as morak. Im even fine with 1 sec. I have like a finger beat gong on with my birdie when i play pve would def be less lagg on my iphone, on ipad it doest bother me but on iphone its rly annoying sometumes.

[Djinn80]

I think this is a good mix. If its .25-.5 seconds between skills thats totally fine. I would argue/request for extended buff times (evade, focus, rage, etc) since fights will last longer. For example, my STR bird is who I'm most worried about. He has 12 seconds to kill an ememy or he's toast b/c the dodge buff will wear off. Not to mention he is being kited the whole time and hopes specifically to get close enough to fight.

If root spells landed more frequently (for some reason 100%+ hit misses 60% of the time - excluding dodge) it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

I do think a small cool down is good. Not many RPG games let you unleash 5 spells in a half second - no skill in that.

This will make all distance weapons more powerful (wands, bows, talons..) since its all about running and hitting people. Most likely this will make Dex Bears and mages a little more powerful. Mages mostly since they won't be one shotted anymore.

Overall I think its good and trust after a few days of it being live there will be enough suggestions on how to tweak it to perfection. Just let us buy Rose wands again for a day please

[Echelong]

Only thing I am thinking now is how this will affect debuffs and time it takes to clear dungeons. Increasing the time could mean people would use less debuffs and instead just use skills to kill.

An example on the enchantress is when I go into a group of mobs (normally rushing in) I will use lightning, my two debuffs, frost blast and fire blast normally and sometimes I would do Drain life first because of the cast time. With a .5 sec global CD would mean to chose between debuffs to kill faster.

G said they will be tweaking DPS and Mob health so I am just hoping they test all aspects of PVE. For PVP I think this will be a welcome change but they will have to tweak Pallys because fights could last for days with the new Fury change.

I think this is a good mix. If its .25-.5 seconds between skills thats totally fine. I would argue/request for extended buff times (evade, focus, rage, etc) since fights will last longer.

This is a good idea to make buffs and debuffs last longer with a longer cooldown of course +1

[Moogerfooger]

I think this is a good mix. If its .25-.5 seconds between skills thats totally fine. I would argue/request for extended buff times (evade, focus, rage, etc) since fights will last longer. For example, my STR bird is who I'm most worried about. He has 12 seconds to kill an ememy or he's toast b/c the dodge buff will wear off. Not to mention he is being kited the whole time and hopes specifically to get close enough to fight.

If root spells landed more frequently (for some reason 100%+ hit misses 60% of the time - excluding dodge) it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

I do think a small cool down is good. Not many RPG games let you unleash 5 spells in a half second - no skill in that.

This will make all distance weapons more powerful (wands, bows, talons..) since its all about running and hitting people. Most likely this will make Dex Bears and mages a little more powerful. Mages mostly since they won't be one shotted anymore.

Overall I think its good and trust after a few days of it being live there will be enough suggestions on how to tweak it to perfection. Just let us buy Rose wands again for a day please

Good points. Guess we will have to just wait and see.

[Lesrider]

I agree with what Fluff said about it seeming to go backwards (it was a long post, so sparing everyone by not quoting it). In this game, in the current state, auto-attack is not really effective at all, other than for birds. This game has become completely centered on the skills. If a cooldown is coming for the skills, then the weapons would need to be more effective. Also, this makes more sense maybe for bears and birds (they should be more weapon-based), but mages in all games have nothing but their spells. Perhaps a balance is needed to make bears and bird weapons more effective on their own, but allow mages to spam skills faster than bears and birds? I'm just throwing ideas out there, haven't really thought it all through. It just seems like an equal global cooldown for all classes would be very imbalanced.

Also, I don't know whether this is feasible for sometime down the line, but maybe make regular attacks more interesting, instead of this auto-attack? I played Braveheart, and you basically swipe your finger in a circular motion to get your sword spinning around you. That's how you attack. And then there are skills, which have a longer cooldown. Keep in mind, this is for a warrior class -- usually warriors don't rely much on skills/spells, they're more of an extra bonus.

I'm not saying you guys need to copy that exactly. I just think it could make it more interesting if there was more than just auto-attack. Then maybe the game would be less skill-based, and less laggy. or would that create its own lag. I dunno...

[Physiologic]

I'll let Cinco talk more about the specifics, but my understanding is the design team is looking at around a .5 second cool-down. One effect of this is that usage of skills will become more of a rhythmic nature (2-ish every second-ish) as opposed to spammy button-mashing.

Fluff and I were postulating how long the cool-down might be last night around midnight:

[superss]

cool i like the concept but i like to spam kill im okay with it though

[Riccits]

the bear standard bear tanking methods wont work so anymore.. after bear making the crowd u normally need to nuke em fast, if not they follow again bear or running around again... in a crowd everyone uses his skills, and when i cant use one bcz 4 others pressing like crazy skill buttons it ends in a chaos...
imagine ur behind the group have to clear 2-3 mobs somewhere and u cant use skills then bcz the rest of group is fighting somewhere else... u wont be able to defense urself... gah...

[Cmandial]

I would like to see around a 1/3 second oval cooldown because a .5 second cooldown would end up being slower than that because of the time skills take to actually activate after they have been pressed.

[wvhills]

I'm just one person but here's my opinion...
I'm still not sure I understand...does it mean that you have to wait a few seconds between using each skill? When running into a room I like to focus, evade, then root once I'm in, then shattering scream and blast shot for the combo. If its the boss then I'll throw a break armor in right before the combo. I try to do all this as fast as possible. If they change it so you have to wait then I really don't think I'll play anymore. I'm more of a casual player (about an hour a day) and it seems if they do this then it'll greatly increase the time it takes to clear a map. As a casual player the reason I play PL and not WoW is because I can have fun make progress by playing intermittently through the day. If this increases the time it takes to clear maps and consequently the time it takes to level up and use better gear, etc. then I won't be playing anymore.
I think spacetime needs to carefully consider who they're market is...is it the hardcore player or is it the casual player?

[BlazeMystic]

As a casual player – I have no idea about game mechanics at all and if I’ve understood correctly you will only be able to do one skill at a time and will have to wait for the cool down before doing another skill – my concerns are:
• The game may be very slow and boring and levels will take too long to complete. Arduous rather than fluid and rhythmic.
• Soloing (esp with int mage) will be impossible because she will die very quickly due to lack of speed of skill usage.
• Mage will be rubbish given the fact that she depends on skills to stay alive and only being able to pull off one skill at a time will surely mean she will die frequently. Either that or there will be a lot of running away.
• I can picture the scene that everyone will be demanding to be healed and revived - but instead they will have to wait in a queue like fashion because first the mage will busy trying to stay alive herself and casting each one of her skills in preferential order - depending on how nice that player is!

Like I said, I’m a casual player, so perhaps I’ve got it completely wrong and it will be all fine and dandy. If the devs feel the current system needs tweaking, then who am I to argue with. Great game though – perhaps too good! Lol.

[Echelong]

Maybe the global cooldown change could be applied to all attack/debuff skills and not to buffs and mages healing. This would help keeping the group alive.

[Tamino]

I am playing since a few months, but I feel a little worried about this change (one may argue that it is the most frequent reaction about incoming changes, and he was right).

I see only a few situations in which a "cluster" of skill should be casted in a short time, because my playing style (as an Archer) strongly relies on skills, so that I am shooting them as soon as they are available and the main issue is the skill-cooldown. For timed-combo, I already need to wait between the two skills for the combo to be effective, so again no problem.

But what about buffers? In mid-term battles, Focus and Evade effect vanishes, and I need to cast them again; this is a full second in which I cannot shoot attack skill (and in most cases, since weapon time is about 1.0, neither fire with main weapon). As a net effect, our DPS delivery will not be "continuous" as today, but like hiccups... It could be a nightmare to play....

[Kalielle]

I hope the delay won't be too long. I think it should be just enough to prevent people from firing several skills at once (because the game wasn't meant to be played tapping skills with 3 fingers). Or maybe implement a longer delay just for pvp. For pve I think having to wait would be frustrating.

As a mage I pride myself on healing quickly and timing it just right during difficult battles (as opposed to just spamming heal whether the party's health is down or not). I would hate it if I were saving my heal and watching my party's health bar so I can react instantly when needed, but then not be able to cast quickly because I happened to cast frostbite right before my party took damage.

[Lesrider]

I hope the delay won't be too long. I think it should be just enough to prevent people from firing several skills at once (because the game wasn't meant to be played tapping skills with 3 fingers). Or maybe implement a longer delay just for pvp. For pve I think having to wait would be frustrating.

As a mage I pride myself on healing quickly and timing it just right during difficult battles (as opposed to just spamming heal whether the party's health is down or not). I would hate it if I were saving my heal and watching my party's health bar so I can react instantly when needed, but then not be able to cast quickly because I happened to cast frostbite right before my party took damage.

I keep hearing this about people tapping multiple skills at once with multiple fingers. Are the iPad users doing this? Bc I'm on my iPhone, and I use only my thumbs to play. So I can't tap more than one skill at a time. If this is meant to stop people from tapping multiple skills at once, then maybe that ability alone can be removed? But regular gameplay using just your two thumbs shouldn't be affected by this.

[Echelong]

@ Kalielle: Cinco said it would be a .5 second delay and they will do tweaks to DPS and Mob health but like you I am worried about healing and buffs.

[Tsarra]

Thanks for the Thread Cool Down in tone, it really is beneficial for us to talk about this with you in a level fashion, and you guys should know by now we are here with you to work together and make this game as great as it can be. We'll be tweaking things all up and down the DPS >>> Mob HP chain to make this feel fantastic.

If it wasn't you guys doing this, I'd be really mad. You've taken great care of me and all of the friends I've made since I started playing, though, and you've all made it clear that the players are the most important part of PL. I have faith that you all will do this right.

A 1/2 second cool down seems a little long in the tooth, but I won't know more until I have a chance to test it and provide feedback.

Would it have been okay to leave PvP out of PL in the first place? It seems like a rather small piece of the game...and it's also seems to have really screwed up the balance. Any number of whiny threads about how bears are terrible and useless or how the devs want all birds to die will illustrate that point better than I ever could.

The most important piece to remember is that this is a mobile game, I would think; having said that, making the runs noticeably longer would not have a positive effect on the game at all. If mob health, DPS and the like are being rebalanced along with this (in order to maintain run times), then I'd probably be okay with this overall.

The last piece of this is muscle memory - namely, remembering how to deal with a room full of mobs by remembering where and when to press, rather than knowing what to press. People are going to be horrible playing their characters at first after this goes in...which I'm fine with. Puts us all back on the same page again.

I'm just one person but here's my opinion...
I'm still not sure I understand...does it mean that you have to wait a few seconds between using each skill? When running into a room I like to focus, evade, then root once I'm in, then shattering scream and blast shot for the combo. If its the boss then I'll throw a break armor in right before the combo. I try to do all this as fast as possible. If they change it so you have to wait then I really don't think I'll play anymore. I'm more of a casual player (about an hour a day) and it seems if they do this then it'll greatly increase the time it takes to clear a map. As a casual player the reason I play PL and not WoW is because I can have fun make progress by playing intermittently through the day. If this increases the time it takes to clear maps and consequently the time it takes to level up and use better gear, etc. then I won't be playing anymore.
I think spacetime needs to carefully consider who they're market is...is it the hardcore player or is it the casual player?

Yeah...what he said.

[Kalielle]

Echelong, I think your idea is great that the delay should apply only to damage skills. That would still prevent one-shotting but would keep timed healing useful. It would also avoid the problem of a debuff running out before you get to cast the subsequent damage skill that the debuff was supposed to help with in the first place.

[hawkei]

Is there a given date to when this might happen?