Darth Hater

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Why can't I move? Oh, i'm stunned

A topic that is getting some attention on the forums now is the stun topic, and I want your opinions

Stuns,stuns,stuns


Mostly all MMOs have them, some love them, some hate them, they are the stuns Either it gives you a chance to get that vital heal off, or it buys you some time for some quick blows, and then another stun, also known as stun locking But I would like to take a closer look at how the mechanic might be working, and how you can throw your thought at it.

So in the screenshot above, we see our beloved Bounty Hunter, Grell. Now Grell is level 5, and looks like he has two stuns already, the Flamethrower (Ability Three) and the Stun Dart (Ability Four). This could either be the GM has granted himself one or two stun abilities for demonstration purposes, or maybe Bounty Hunters just get lucky. After using the Flamethrower ability, the target has two debuffs, one is the stun debuff, and the other could possibly be the "burning" debuff icon. Also notice that the stun is not broken immediately after re-engaging the target, so it could be a "Cheapshot" WoW style, yes I am sorry for referring to WoW, stun, in which the target remains stunned. Also be sure to take note that the Bounty Hunters Flamethrower ability is a cone effect, for Area of Effect stuns.

StunDart


Now in the above stun, is the Bounty Hunters "Stun Dart" ability, which well, fires a dart that stuns the target temporarily. Now the footage was cut off short so we could not see if it was a "WoW Gouge" ability, which is a short stun that is broken if you engage the target. My guess is that it will be the Bounty Hunters gouge. Looks like it will be very useful in pulling multiple mobs and acting as a crowd control.

SmugglerNutKick


Looks like the Smuggler will be getting his hands on a stun or two as well, the above shot being the "Kick to the Nads", and the debuff being shown with what looks like a counter going around. And by the looks of it, it does lead to the "Head Shot" ability. A second stun for the Smuggler might be the "Flash Grenade", but we do not know at this point

SithStun


The Sith has the force choke which could be considered a damaging stun, that allows other players to keep engaging the target. On the rate it is currently at, I would expect at least all classes to have one stun, if not two.

Stun in my opinion would help immensely in PvE, as to act as CC (Crowd Control), but it might end up being abused in PvP, as a stunlock LOLIWIN combo. However if we see a return of diminishing returns, it could be phased in just for PvP, and allow you to stunlock in PvE. Looking for BioWare to come up with intelligent cooldowns, and no 10 second stun cooldowns. Now comes your part, I want to know what is your opinion on stuns, are they being overused? Are you afraid that the cooldowns will be to fast? To slow? What did you have for dinner? Stun locks? We need your feedback

Comments

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  • Zoid's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 656
    #16 Zoid Posted 9/19/2009 1:34:50 AM
    I like option a and c, but make it more like immune for 60 sec or so. 30 min seems a bit too steep.
  • eria's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #15 eria Posted 8/26/2009 10:24:16 PM
    I think the best solution would be to make different rules for both pve and pvp. Stuns are fine, but when their are a lot of them, with or without DR, it can become frustrating to be on the receiving end. For stuns, I would much rather see a stun last for X amount of damage, or X amount % of hp, rather than a certain amount of time. Who knows how much damage can be done to you in 5 seconds, it could take you from 100% to 0%. But make it a certain damage cap, and now the person has time to react and possibly turn the fight around.

    I think CC in general is needed, otherwise it just becomes who can spam their damage buttons faster. CC gives you really good tactical game play I feel. But I will say, there's good CC and bad CC. I personally like longer cool downs on CC, because it means you really have to use them when it counts. When it gets to the point that you just use it to use it, then it's a problem.
  • Asherett's avatar
    Nerf Herder
    • Posts: 5
    #12 Asherett Posted 8/26/2009 5:38:06 PM
    I think it's vital that Bioware don't adopt Blizzard's stance on PVE vs PVP, i.e. that all abilities need to be the same. Even Blizzard finally needed to shorten CC duration in PVP, but IMO the game is still weakened by the fact that they need to balance for PVE and PVP at the same time. Simply state that everything that works in PVE does not need to work in PVP and the problem is solved... Diminishing returns work, but feels like a "cheap hack" to me.
  • sado's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 1623
    #13 sado Posted 8/26/2009 6:29:46 PM
    It's a hard balance to strike, one I hope Bioware does well.
  • DirectX's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #9 DirectX Posted 8/26/2009 7:58:02 AM
    I am not a big fan of stuns. I would prefer it if classes had skill interrupts. It makes for epic battles where you have to predict what your enemy will cast next.
  • DirectX's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #14 DirectX Posted 8/26/2009 8:15:18 PM
    There were only a few skills revealed and a relatively large amount of them had stuns. I trust BioWare will listen to feedback on things like this. It is in alpha stage, so it's probably not all going to stay.

    The system could get a lot better by adding a simple condition to the skills. For example, "target foe is set on fire and stunned IF they are not in motion". It isn't as much of an IWIN button that way.

    "effect ends if opponent stops, drops, and rolls" o.O
  • Feo's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #10 Feo Posted 8/26/2009 9:47:19 AM
    Do you mean WoW abilities like a Shaman's Earth Shock, Rogue's Kick, Warrior's Pummel/Shield Bash, and Mage's Counterspell?
  • DirectX's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #11 DirectX Posted 8/26/2009 12:26:06 PM
    Yep, similar to those.

    In GW, players are limited to eight skills. It's the interrupters job to figure out what each enemy is using, and shut down the important stuff.

    Depending on their cast length, it can be a challenge to instantly recognize and interrupt a skill. Plus, it's often entertaining to rub it in a bit ;)

    Here are some GW examples:

    http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Block
    http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cry_of_Frustration
    http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Leak
    http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Migraine
  • Feo's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #4 Feo Posted 8/26/2009 1:38:17 AM
    Long story short: Keep your PvP QQing out of my PvE pewpewing.
  • Feo's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #8 Feo Posted 8/26/2009 5:00:40 AM
    Part of that long story entailed PvE nerfs for PvP balance.
  • sado's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 1623
    #7 sado Posted 8/26/2009 4:38:18 AM
    PVP and PVE when it comes to CC are two completely different things...or I would hope so.
  • Alkarin's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #6 Alkarin Posted 8/26/2009 2:55:13 AM
    and keep your PvE QQing out of my PVP pewpewing!
  • Zoid's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 656
    #5 Zoid Posted 8/26/2009 1:48:17 AM
    I got no problem with that.
  • Alkarin's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #1 Alkarin Posted 8/26/2009 12:49:15 AM
    dimishing returns or else.
  • sado's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 1623
    #3 sado Posted 8/26/2009 1:07:47 AM
    Yep, CC without diminishing returns is a game killer to me.
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