Curse

HigherMinion · Sep 28, 2010, 12:00 AM // 00:00

When was the last time you saw a human Minion Bomber? Or for that matter, a successful Minion Master? I'd wager it was a while ago.

It's a fun bar to run, having an army of minions autoattacking foes at hammer-type Attack Speed. However, there appears to be one "bug" preventing it from being any fun to run... Atleast for me.

I want to cast Jagged Bones, Great Dwarf Weapon or Death Nova on my minion, and I struggle to target them all successfully; sometimes targeting the same one five times in a row. I can't.

My question is this... Why the hell can you hold Alt and select Nature and Binding rituals, but NOT MINIONS? They are allies. Paragon skills that target allies function on minions. It's not like I'm asking for a whole new panel to show each Minion as it's raised and destroyed so you can see it's red-bar in all it's glory; just to be able to hit Alt and click their names successfully with ease.

To add to this; enemy and neutral minions CAN be targeted. Why?
Discuss.

**Marty Silverblade** · Sep 28, 2010, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Perhaps they were concerned that it would clutter the screen for people who clicked for allies? If this is the case they could just add a check box to disable it in the options menu.

I think if we aren't going to get a minion panel this is the next best thing.

TalanRoarer · Sep 28, 2010, 12:23 AM // 00:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

When was the last time you saw a human Minion Bomber? Or for that matter, a successful Minion Master? I'd wager it was a while ago.

Actually, no. I saw one yesterday in HA.

For me, I don't really care for your suggestion Tom. A hero can MB very efficiently and I will continue to let him do so instead of wasting my time MBing as a human.

I understand the idea and why you want it, but think about it: If you were able to target them by holding ctr/alt (whichever one it is) would it really give you that much more of a desire to run MB as a human?

I know I've basically disagreed with you here but,
/Signed.

Xenomortis · Sep 28, 2010, 12:27 AM // 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

When was the last time you saw a human Minion Bomber? Or for that matter, a successful Minion Master? I'd wager it was a while ago.

The last time we ran that stupid setup in HA? Our bomber was reasonable.
As for a successful MM? Well I last ran as an MM the other week so yeah, two weeks ago. Maybe my ego is just huge, but being successful and being arrogant aren't mutually exclusive.

Although yes, I would like minions to be highlighted the same way everything else is when I press Alt.
Strangely though, I've never really noticed or thought about it before. But it's been a long while since I tried using Death Nova.

So /sign for alt highlighting minions, even if it's only for the player who owns them.

HigherMinion · Sep 28, 2010, 12:35 AM // 00:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by TalanRoarer

Actually, no. I saw one yesterday in HA.

For me, I don't really care for your suggestion Tom. A hero can MB very efficiently and I will continue to let him do so instead of wasting my time MBing as a human.

I understand the idea and why you want it, but think about it: If you were able to target them by holding ctr/alt (whichever one it is) would it really give you that much more of a desire to run MB as a human?

I know I've basically disagreed with you here but,
/Signed.

Well, think when we form human teams for a ZB, dungeon or FoW. We almost always *waste* a player slot because a player cannot run a Minion Bomber efficiently. I believe this would give more incentive to run it on a human slot.

A human isn't as stupid at spamming Death Nova outside of battle, and they can use good support skills and not waste energy Draw spamming everything with Disease.

BlackSephir · Sep 28, 2010, 12:44 AM // 00:44

Yeah, making a mini-list for MMs that'd make targeting minions easier is not an old nor bad idea but then again, you expect AN to do something?

Xenomortis · Sep 28, 2010, 01:14 AM // 01:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackSephir

Yeah, making a mini-list for MMs that'd make targeting minions easier is not an old nor bad idea but then again, you expect AN to do something?

The suggest idea in this thread is not for a list, but just for the Alt key to cause friendly minions to be highlighted.
I cannot imagine this being a very difficult or time consuming task, I would have thought it would simply require changing a flag in the program somewhere.

Aeon221 · Sep 28, 2010, 03:44 AM // 03:44

I've never understood why Death Nova etc weren't reworked into target self maintained enchants that gave all minions X, Y or Z effect, with an on cancel effect of causing all minions to go boom or change into unicorns or something. Less spam, same basic effect, and the 'on conclusion' rewards smart players. Heck, I'd throw down five bucks or so for a mini skillpack that included some stuff like that.

In fact, I've often wondered why more maintained enchants don't have some sort of on cancel effect, or some secondary feature when already activated so that they're less mindless. And, even more generally, why other long duration spells with shorter recharges don't do something else when the skill is still up.

Look at Verata's Aura, for instance. Leaving aside how inane the skill itself is, the slot is completely effing useless while the enchant is up and running. Why not add the additional effect of "If Verata's Aura is already active, recharge is halved and you do 10-30 damage every second for 1...3 seconds to all adjacent enemies." Or "... nearby enemies are cursed with Verata's Spite, and have 1...3 degen for the next 5...10 seconds."

Oh, hey, I'd use that. Not often, mind, but more often than I'd use Verata's Aura in normal cases.

Skills shouldn't have to be so one dimensional is what I'm basically saying.

Lanier · Sep 28, 2010, 04:22 AM // 04:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

When was the last time you saw a human Minion Bomber? Or for that matter, a successful Minion Master? I'd wager it was a while ago.

Uh, I minion bomb all the time. Then again, I do it on my rit, but minion bombing still involves efficient use of death nova and jagged bones no matter what profession you are.

That said, I would be all for this suggestion... but hasn't it been suggested before?

reaper with no name · Sep 28, 2010, 05:59 AM // 05:59

/signed for more consistency in the game.

Bristlebane · Sep 28, 2010, 07:28 AM // 07:28

This gave me an idea, why not turn Death Nova (and maybe Jagged Bones) into similar functionality as Dwayna's Sorrow. That means that it also enchants all nearby (undead) allies. For balance, either damage or duration is toned down a bit.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/d...75#post5256375

HigherMinion · Sep 28, 2010, 08:16 AM // 08:16

Yes, but my request is much more reasonable than another set of skill balances to the necromancer profession, see? I like the suggestion, though.

Bristlebane · Sep 28, 2010, 08:32 AM // 08:32

Or if they could just add hotkeys:
Target Next Minion
Target Previous Minion

That would go a long way in making things easier to play MM.

HigherMinion · Sep 28, 2010, 09:02 AM // 09:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

Or if they could just add hotkeys:
Target Next Minion
Target Previous Minion

That would go a long way in making things easier to play MM.

That would be even easier than the alt suggestion. I mean, it would make targeting minions flawless as opposed to just a bit easier. Possibly OP.

Jk Arrow · Sep 28, 2010, 08:11 PM // 20:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

Or if they could just add hotkeys:
Target Next Minion
Target Previous Minion

That would go a long way in making things easier to play MM.

I'd be in favor of this if they can't let you Alt select them. I always thought it was strange that when you raised a minion, a minion icon came up to tell you how many minions you had but no other info about them such as which order were they raised in, health, conditions, enchants, weapon spells, etc. Would have been cool to have an active minion window like the party window that would constantly add and delete minions as they were raised and killed but it's too late for that.

Bristlebane · Sep 28, 2010, 09:10 PM // 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by HigherMinion

That would be even easier than the alt suggestion. I mean, it would make targeting minions flawless as opposed to just a bit easier. Possibly OP.

Most definitely not OP when comparing to a hero MM, so I see no problem in adding such hotkeys.

Sirius Bsns · Sep 28, 2010, 09:37 PM // 21:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty Silverblade

Perhaps they were concerned that it would clutter the screen for people who clicked for allies? If this is the case they could just add a check box to disable it in the options menu.

I think if we aren't going to get a minion panel this is the next best thing.

Or even better, they could just add an accelerator like Shift + M for "Minions" that toggles a minion menu [similar to the party menu] on/off.

HigherMinion · Sep 28, 2010, 11:22 PM // 23:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

Most definitely not OP when comparing to a hero MM, so I see no problem in adding such hotkeys.

I'm thinking about it in terms of how I usually run PvE, with Ether Renewal bonders. You could simply maintain your ten/eleven minions indefinitely with PB, while buffing them with SoH/GDW. Ten extra physicals? yes please. It would be too easy to manipulate.

Bristlebane · Sep 29, 2010, 03:08 PM // 15:08

I wouldn't base judgement of a gimmicky built. Sure, ER is overpowered but not just for necros but for other casters as well. And when Anet decide to change that skill, all thoose builds will fall with it. Best to just focus on this skill and what would make it more enjoyable to play for a human player, then let Anet worry about any implication with non-necros. If it's still a bit concern, I see no harm in adding a 10-15 seconds recharge in return for buffing all adjacent or nearby.

HigherMinion · Sep 29, 2010, 03:40 PM // 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

I wouldn't base judgement of a gimmicky built. Sure, ER is overpowered but not just for necros but for other casters as well. And when Anet decide to change that skill, all thoose builds will fall with it. Best to just focus on this skill and what would make it more enjoyable to play for a human player, then let Anet worry about any implication with non-necros. If it's still a bit concern, I see no harm in adding a 10-15 seconds recharge in return for buffing all adjacent or nearby.

I was giving an example. The point is, being able to target minions effortlessly, for the rest of the team, would make Weapon spells stronger along with prots for keeping the minions alive for an infinite amount of time.

Alternatively, something Xenomortis suggested, have it so only the Necro who raised the minions can view them when pressing Alt or having a seperate minion party-bar.

Of course, the best way to give minion mastery a human advantage is being able to micro a party of minions and be able to flag them into a mob