Love the game, but it needs an action queue! Combat is unfun

[Vaewyn]

Before someone strangles me, I get it. I really do. This is a game about micro-management. It is a classic RPG. It is a spirtual successor to Baldurs Gate 2. It is a game throwing us back to a time where developers/publishers or whoeever didn't see you as a drunken monkey that need their hand held every step. That alone is refreshing and why I'm trying to endure my frustrations with the combat system. I played Baldur's Gate 2 back in the day for 200 hours, I'm getting it.

 

Right now though, I feel the game lacks any kind of AI and the absence of an action queue is slightly maddening. I want to push on, I love the story, the world and the classic feel, but 4 hours in the combat just isn't fun. Maybe I'm biased here, but I don't want to have to tell my ranged attackers to attack every damned time. I want the party members to have some slight resemblance of a brain because hyper micro management once you get to 5-6 party members is just downright tedious and unfun.

 

If people are downright against this, I just ask that Easy or Normal mode have some AI or action queue or just have that option somewhere, anywhere.

[apolloooo]

you can queue by holding shift

[Matt516]

Action queue would be nice, yes. You don't have to tell your ranged attackers to attack every time though - the auto-attack works perfectly well.

[dirigible]

Ranged attackers will attack until their target is dead. If there is another nearby target, they will start attacking that one. If there's no nearby target, they'll stand around doing nothing. Possibly on the basis that ranged (squishy) characters shouldn't be running around putting themselves in potentially hazardous positions unless you tell them to.

 

I believe this is exactly how Baldur's Gate worked.

 

You can queue multiple commands by holding shift.

[Tigranes]

Every character told to use their normal attack will continue to attack the enemy until dead, and also move on automatically to a new enemy, unless you have clicked Disable Auto-Attack in the settings. 

[Jayngo]

So far I love combat. It's refreshing to micro manage everything. I miss that in games. I just blew through Dragon Age Inquisition (which I loved) a month or two ago and maybe used the tactical camera twice. I loved that Bioware added it and I thought I would use it-but the game just wasn't that difficult.

 

This game-I am pausing all the time and issuing commands and thinking what is the best choice. I'm scared to death to let battle run for more than 3 seconds for fear I'll screw it up. I love that.

 

To each his own, but I hardly think battle is boring. I'm about 18 hrs in and still trying to figure stuff out.

[mrmonocle]

Queue is there!

[Daemonjax]

Would be cool if we could see the queue like in kotor.

[PrimeJunta]

Yeah, there is an action queue.

 

Also ranged characters do (usually) auto-attack.

[JiminyJickers]

I'm quite a fan of the combat, really enjoying it.

[archangel979]

Every character told to use their normal attack will continue to attack the enemy until dead, and also move on automatically to a new enemy, unless you have clicked Disable Auto-Attack in the settings. 

Except for me. I disabled autoattack but they all still auto attack

[WDeranged]

A visible action queue for the highlighted character would be a nice helper.  If that's not possible maybe they could outline abilities in different colours to represent their place in the queue.

[Luckmann]

A visible action queue for the highlighted character would be a nice helper.  If that's not possible maybe they could outline abilities in different colours to represent their place in the queue.

This.

 

There is an action queue in the game, but I never use it, because I can't see what I've queued. Having a visible action queue above the portraits and the recovery/current action slide underneath them would be amazing. It's sometimes a bitch to keep track of what the various character's are doing, and combat is often a mess.

 

On a sidenote, related to "the combat is often a mess", I want to note that I've repeatedly been unable to tell where my characters are in combat, whether character A is me or Edér, and things like that. It really should be clearer, somehow.

 

 

Every character told to use their normal attack will continue to attack the enemy until dead, and also move on automatically to a new enemy, unless you have clicked Disable Auto-Attack in the settings.

Except for me. I disabled autoattack but they all still auto attack

 

This is ridiculously annoying. I really hope they fix it. Movement (or rather, NOT moving) is so important in the game, and action/recovery time is important, especially with slower characters.

 

It's frustrating as all hell to have the characters auto-attack and move around when you really just want them to stay where they are until engaged.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Luckmann

[sim-h]

Auto-attack = run past doorway where additional huge mob then sees your characters and all attack too ARGGHHH

 

Although to be fair - they should really hear the fighting and come anyway?? In fact every creature on the map should hear your fight and rush to the fray, if we wanted to be realistic

[Veevoir]

 

 

On a sidenote, related to "the combat is often a mess", I want to note that I've repeatedly been unable to tell where my characters are in combat, whether character A is me or Edér, and things like that. It really should be clearer, somehow.

In the name of all that's good - oh yes. At least make the active character have a different shade of green at the selection circle or something..

[Tigranes]

They do have a different shade. But I think it's... a very subtle difference.

[kylania]

I discovered the queue last night from a loading screen message.  So far I only use it for my ranger so she can mark a target and start attacking.  I agree with others in this thread, if I could see the queue I'd use it a lot more.

[JerseyP]

I think part of the reason why combat has the feel it does is that it still resolves a little too quickly. Both monsters and heroes have more damage capability in this game than the Ie game because of how the hit system is designed. If misses and grazes were a little more likely, combat would generally drag on for an aditional 6+ seconds. More time in combat means more opportunity to make meaningful tactical choices and more time to react to the situation at hand.

[Luckmann]

They do have a different shade. But I think it's... a very subtle difference.

You know what? Windows has this fancy function where you can press a button and your mouse-pointer gets a homing-beacon-circle-effect that notes where it is. I'd kill for something like that in PoE. Press button and the entire selection circle of the currently selected character fluctuates or vibrates, or flashes briefly and clearly in yellow or something.

 

Because it's true that the selection circle IS different for currently selected characters. It's got a slight shimmer. But sometimes I can't even see the selection circles clearly, let alone tell that shimmer from one to the other.

 

I wouldn't even be against the selection circle for currently selected characters changing colour entirely, as an option, of course, but that might be hard to pull off nicely if we consider the colourblind, I guess.

 

I wonder if it's something I can petition Bester for.. like.. "Selected Characters have yellow selection circle". Or something.