Curse

psycore · Nov 19, 2010, 08:00 AM // 08:00

The names are a bit misleading for two of Kieran's skills:

Kieran's Sniper Shot: Bow Attack. Deals +50 damage to target foe. Inflicts Bleeding (25 seconds). 25% chance of dealing +900 damage; 100% chance on Marked target.

then he also has:

Gravestone Marker: Bow Attack. Deals +35 damage to target foe. Inflicts Crippled (15 seconds). Knocks down (3 seconds) targets suffering Weakness.

Going by the name/descriptions alone they seem to indicate that he can mark and snipe targets, that isn't the case of course - Miku is the one who calls targets with promise of death - this isn't immediately obvious due to the naming comventions used.

Perhaps rename Gravestone Marker to Gravestone Shot and Promise of Death to Marked for Death (death marker or something else, cant use mark of death for obvious reasons)

Miku could also perhaps call : I've marked X for death!

Shayne Hawke · Nov 19, 2010, 12:18 PM // 12:18

Miku does already call the target of her hex, which is the enabler for the 100% chance of the bonus damage proc.

psycore · Nov 19, 2010, 02:45 PM // 14:45

yes i know but it is not obvious that she is calling the targets for keirans benefit.

Spookii · Nov 19, 2010, 03:32 PM // 15:32

I agree that it was a little misleading. It took me a while to figure it out.

Maybe instead of changing the skill name, change the description of the Snipe skill to say something like ...

"...chance on Miku's called target."

A11Eur0 · Nov 19, 2010, 10:12 PM // 22:12

It took me all of 5 seconds to figure out that her 'call' of a target is the "mark". considering that calling targets is the main point of a "spike", and that you're working "with" Miku instead of her just being along for the ride (she's not a henchman, or hero, so she shows up as an Ally), it's quite obvious that her hex is the "mark" for sniper.

Spoonfeeding...it's the downfall of society.

Mordakai · Nov 19, 2010, 10:17 PM // 22:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by psycore

yes i know but it is not obvious that she is calling the targets for keirans benefit.

How is it not obvious?

It's the only thing she calls out.

Anyway, part of the fun of these scenarios is figuring out the new skills.

Master Fuhon · Nov 19, 2010, 11:26 PM // 23:26

I made the same mistake. I rushed into the first mission learning the skills as I was going. For the first few mobs, I played it like it was volley, savage shot, party healin hex removal, poison arrow condition removal, and EV Sniper support. Then I started picking up the more complex damage interactions of the skills as it continued. It was by coincidence during the first mission, when I started "Gravestone marking" my targets, they were all 900 dmg killed.

I don't watch party chat when I am with AI, and I ignored the assassin when she kept attacking hard targets with self heals and blocking stances over my called target healer/caster/rezzer. Party chat was filled with more "I'm attacking X" spam than she was doing anyway. Nothing about Thackery's bar encourages clicking on a party member, so I wasn't going to read the sin's skill descriptions because I had already thought Gravestone was supposed to be the Mark.

It wasn't until I started the second mission when something went wrong, and I first thought they were dispelling my mark. When I completed the second mission, I was ready to find out whether this was already reported as a bugged skill. Then I found out that Promise=Marked. But I suppose that Assassin deserved it for not listening to my called targets in party chat either.

IlikeGW · Nov 20, 2010, 01:05 AM // 01:05

I agree they need to make the mark thing clearer, since it's never been in the game.

WarcryOfTruth · Nov 20, 2010, 01:08 AM // 01:08

I was thrown off at first, but I caught on quickly, just tab around to find which foe has the hex and Snipe! I think it's silly to make her able to call targets for you since she is an ally. Where as the in game mechanics have it where when only party members call, you can push "T" to immediately target that foe. I think it is fine the way it is, do we really need people holding our hand through the missions? I got through them with no trouble at all... 4 times

Anakita Snakecharm · Nov 21, 2010, 11:21 PM // 23:21

I completely agree with this. I had the same problem. Quoted from another thread:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anakita Snakecharm

I didn't understand how Sniper Shot worked until halfway through the third one. I was thrown off by the skill description where "Marked" was capitalized, so I thought the point was for me to combo it myself with Gravestone Marker. It obviously didn't work very well, but it worked by coincidence often enough that I assumed the failures were the results of interrupts and enemy tactics, not that I was confused about how the skills worked.

I'm used to playing with other humans who will either call targets for information purposes or to ask for help taking them down. So I assumed Miku was just doing the same thing. (I'm also used to people usually leading with a certain skill, so the fact it was always Promise of Death didn't really register in my mind.)

I got that Miku was calling the targets for me, but unless you only play with NPCs, it may not be clear why she's doing that.

I assumed she was calling a spike, so I would do what appeared would cause the most damage-- Gravestone Marker to mark the enemy, then Sniper Shot. This sometimes worked, but many times Promise of Death was no longer active by the time I got both shots off.

I think that the description should be changed from "Marked target" to "ally's called target" and/or the name of Gravestone Marker should be changed so it doesn't appear to be the mark. At the very least, "Marked" should be changed to "marked," since it doesn't refer to a proper noun with Mark in the title, and something else does have that.

It's just needlessly confusing for no real purpose. Confusing skill descriptions are an error, not a meaningful challenge to be overcome.

MisterB · Nov 21, 2010, 11:41 PM // 23:41

^ Keiran's Sniper Shot doesn't actually trigger 100% on called targets, though.

Skills should describe their effect. Keiran's Sniper Shot should specify that targets hexed with Promise of Death trigger the 100% chance. Just make the synergy more clear. If we could could view the text of the Promise of Death skill Miku uses before battle, there would be no issue.

Anakita Snakecharm · Nov 21, 2010, 11:52 PM // 23:52

That's a good point, MisterB. I agree.

Trying to figure out what a skill does from a misleading description is not what I would consider a genuine game challenge.

It's doubly confusing in these missions because with only two of you, spiking is a really good idea to get the enemy numbers down as quickly as you can-- so calling spike targets would make sense even without a specific skill synergy between you.

I see no downside to making the skill descriptions more accurate, and a lot of benefit.

jazilla · Nov 22, 2010, 05:14 PM // 17:14

These are the exact ways that GW2 skills will work when we are playing with other people. There is way more teamwork involved and the skills have more direct impact with each other. This will give ANet a good barometer for how players are dealing with the changes. I do wish however, that they would have actually made it a called target so that you couldpress "T" to target the one she calls. It's not a big deal, but it would have been a cool feature if implemented.

Pyrthas · Nov 22, 2010, 05:24 PM // 17:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordakai

Anyway, part of the fun of these scenarios is figuring out the new skills.

Maybe, but making people figure it out wasn't part of Anet's aim, since the developer update says, "The best thing to watch out for is the Promise of Death skill—when you use Keiran's Sniper Shot on a foe suffering this hex, it's basically an instant kill. Nailing it is very satisfying." They weren't trying to make it a little secret that you had to discover or something.

Gennadios · Nov 22, 2010, 08:25 PM // 20:25

If it wasn't for Guru I wouldn't even have known, I pretty much assumed exactly what OP wrote.

On the plus side the content's easy enough without it, I had the kieran quests complete on one character before I ever found out.

Anakita Snakecharm · Nov 22, 2010, 09:39 PM // 21:39

I think the point of "figuring out new skills" is more about figuring out how to use them effectively, anyway, than figuring out what the heck they do at all.

I would honestly have found it less confusing to have Thackeray's skill labeled "?" and have to just use it to figure it out, than to have two things on the bar referring to a "Mark" not be related, and have the thing that's the real mark not be called a mark at all.

At least if it was labeled "?" you would know you didn't know, whereas now you may think you do but be mistaken by the descriptions.

(Not that I'm literally suggesting the "?" be used, of course. I think they just need to label the skills more accurately if they're not supposed to be mystery skills.)

WarcryOfTruth · Nov 22, 2010, 10:13 PM // 22:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterB

Keiran's Sniper Shot doesn't actually trigger 100% on called targets, though.

It will trigger 100% of the time while the target is hexed. Promise of Death is a hex, so as long as it is not removed, and you snipe the target, it will work 100% of the time.

MisterB · Nov 23, 2010, 03:45 AM // 03:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarcryOfTruth

It will trigger 100% of the time while the target is hexed. Promise of Death is a hex, so as long as it is not removed, and you snipe the target, it will work 100% of the time.

The condition for the Sniper Shot skill is: target is hexed with Promise of Death. Calling the hexed target has nothing to do with fulfilling the condition of the Sniper Shot skill.

WarcryOfTruth · Nov 23, 2010, 05:12 PM // 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by MisterB

The condition for the Sniper Shot skill is: target is hexed with Promise of Death. Calling the hexed target has nothing to do with fulfilling the condition of the Sniper Shot skill.

True, but she will only call Promise of Death if it is successfully cast. If she calls the target, the target is hexed. Unless there is a bug I have not come across.