Engagement system

[RevBlue]

Why do I see a lot of hate for the engagement system? Its basically the same as attacks of opportunity from D&D 

[AlphaMagnum]

I tend to agree with you, but here's my understanding:

 

It might be because enemies seem to abuse it far more than we do.   We are supposed to rely on it to keep things attached to our tanks and to penalize enemies for trying to walk away to hit the squishies in the backrow.  However, what ends up happening is that lots of enemies have teleport at-wills like the Rogue's "Escape" ability, letting them freely disengage and get right up in the wizard's face.  Furthermore, tougher enemies (read: bosses) basically ignore the pansy-ass Disengagement Attacks from our 5 Might/Max Deflection tanks who hit like wet noodles.

 

How much of these issues stem from the game's newness and our unfamiliarity with the system?  Once we discover more optimal approaches, will things change?  I imagine that appropriate tactics (read: intelligent use of crowd control) can likely handle most of the teleporting mobs, but bosses are another problem entirely.  To be fair, they're bosses and should probably be quite difficult, so maybe that's a non-issue after all.

[Epsilon Rose]

Why do I see a lot of hate for the engagement system? Its basically the same as attacks of opportunity from D&D 

D&D isn't exactly a sterling example of good game design. It's actually pretty badly balanced.

[Voss]

Why do I see a lot of hate for the engagement system? Its basically the same as attacks of opportunity from D&D 

Except in D&D, terrible pathfinding AI doesn't make you eat a bunch of attacks when seeking new targets or getting around bits of floor that are essentially randomly not walkable. 

 

Also, what Epislon Rose said. D&D is, much like PoE, full of trap choices and exploitation. 

[Rabain]

There needs to be more tweaking to this.  At the moment it just isn't fun, you are penalized for the game being overly sensitive.

 

Something like not suffering more than 1 Disengagement penalty per X seconds.  Logically if I am fighting several enemies and I want to move I will plan the move to receive the least damage.  I might still get hit but everyone shouldn't get a free massive hit on me.

 

Also I should not get hit for moving so long as I am within 2-3yds of the enemy.  Currently you get smacked in the face by everyone just for shuffling sideways to make room.

 

Engagement is an interesting mechanic and it doesn't really need to be removed like some people have been saying.  It just needs to be toned down so that it stays a penalty but not a dealbreaker for moving during combat.  If I have 80 Endurance I can sometimes get hit for 20+ for moving, it is too much especially when 2+ enemies can hit, you are down for no logical reason but a system that isn't working properly.  That number needs to be more like 10 max or something.