Should Blocking be Directional?

Avran_Sylt

As in: If I have my shield raised in front of me, and I get struck from behind, should that attack be reduced in damage?

coop500

Other

I didn't even know it wasn't, I thought we had to be facing the attack for blocking to work.

Avran_Sylt

@coop500

Ah, yeah, it's 360 Degrees of protection when you hold block.

NBrookus

Other

In a game where snipes and frags travel around corners, there's no player collision, destro ults go through walls, ceilings and floors, sorc pets hide inside rocks, and gap closers snare you so they land but an NPC eclipse cast *after* you cast toppling charge you will CC you.

... I'm not sure I'd pick on block as the one thing needing be physics based.

Avran_Sylt

@NBrookus

This would generally serve as a method of buffing Damage Shields by differing each 'type' of blocking's effectiveness,

Aliyavana

Yes

I think in pvp you should shield less damage from behind to counter godly tanks in cp campaign, but if you nerf pvp pve gets nerfed so I'd rather not

Alpheu5

No

Wouldn't that make tanking any fight with massive AoEs virtually impossible? How do you block below you?

NBrookus

Other

Even shield sized doesn't matter for blocking. Nor can a tank intercept projectiles or gap closers intended for another target even if they travel through the tank's body.

Physics is out the window altogether.

DeadlyRecluse

No

Nope. Not in a game as laggy as this that already privileges numbers.

I get the logic of it, and I think it would be pretty cool in a different game (or a different iteration of this game), but it would be pretty hard to make feel "right" in ESO outside of 1v1s (in PvP) or the simplest boss fights (in PvE).

Tanking axes in PvE, for instance, would probably be pretty much impossible with directional block. A 1v2 in PvP would just be the 2 spread out so you are constantly taking unblocked damage from one of them.

Avran_Sylt

@DeadlyRecluse

Or, in the case of the Axes, it would promote Damage Shield Tanking rather than basic Hold Block tanking, favoring magicka heavy tanks in this instance rather than hp/stam tanks.

PvP wise, lag is always an issue. if not getting a bunch of damage instances landed on you at one time, it's not seeing your enemy until they're right on top of you. In which case, you bring a fair point.

Avran_Sylt

@Alpheu5

Damage shields. the one thing that no one wants to use when it comes to a tanking role.

sevomd69

No

There would be a lot of dead tanks if that were true.. and which direction would ground based aoe's be...or airborne damage like volley?

Avran_Sylt

@sevomd69

Direct Damage Ground based AoE ignores block already... I think.

Volley? that would be a good question.

Bislobo

Yes

They can't do that. Would be great tho...

SirAndy

No

No. Since attacks don't obey LOS, blocking shouldn't either ...

AtraisMachina

Avran_Sylt wrote: »

@sevomd69

Direct Damage Ground based AoE damage ignores block already... I think.

Volley? that would be a good question.

What lol

ParaNostram

No

Conceptually no you shouldn't be able to block what comes from anywhere but in front of you.

Mechanically, you have to be able to block from all directions given reasons already mentioned by others (no real player collision, range attacks coming from every which corner, destro ults and stuff going through walls)

WuffyCerulei

No

Speaking from pve perspective, there's times when EVERYONE needs to block a mechanic. If it were directional and someone happened to look away from the boss, they'd die.

Ankael07

Yes

We should have some sort of damage or critical chance boost when we're flanking the enemy. It would add so much more depth to the combat.
Of course, ranged players should be taken into consideration as they cant flank as easy as stamina players.

Alpheu5

No

Avran_Sylt wrote: »

@DeadlyRecluse

Or, in the case of the Axes, it would promote Damage Shield Tanking rather than basic Hold Block tanking, favoring magicka heavy tanks in this instance rather than hp/stam tanks.

PvP wise, lag is always an issue. if not getting a bunch of damage instances landed on you at one time, it's not seeing your enemy until they're right on top of you. In which case, you bring a fair point.

Except wards don't reduce the damage done to you or protect you from most CCs. Plus they're mostly used reactively, not as a complete replacement for block.

If you have poor stamina management as a tank in any sense, you're a dead tank.

SanTii.92

Other

Unsure. This would be a rather large change that might carry unexpected consequences. Maybe we could have 50% mitigation in front and 25% from the back.

Alpheu5

No

Ankael07 wrote: »

We should have some sort of damage or critical chance boost when we're flanking the enemy. It would add so much more depth to the combat.
Of course, it wouldnt be easy for ranged players to flank that should be considered when making the chance

Avran_Sylt

@Alpheu5

All taht depth relegated to a single set.

Avran_Sylt

@Alpheu5

But yeah, I do think that tanking in general could use some work. Shield perhaps having things added to them. Can't say that I ever really thought the 6s max duration on a shield was a good change.

Maikon

NBrookus wrote: »

Even shield sized doesn't matter for blocking. Nor can a tank intercept projectiles or gap closers intended for another target even if they travel through the tank's body.

Physics is out the window altogether.

A tank can't intercept a gap closer, but there is a armor set that lets you intercept projectiles intended for another within a certain range.

Shardan4968

No

I voted 'no' immediately, but when I think about it, hit from behind should be definetely enabled in PvP to nerf unkillable tanks.
But I think in PvE tanking is hard enough and there would be more [snip] on tanks who dies too much.

[Edited to remove profanity]

Merlin13KAGL

Alpheu5 wrote: »

Wouldn't that make tanking any fight with massive AoEs virtually impossible? How do you block below you?

Blocking ground based attacks does nothing for you anyway. It's why you don't stand in them.

Alpheu5

No

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Alpheu5 wrote: »

Wouldn't that make tanking any fight with massive AoEs virtually impossible? How do you block below you?

Blocking ground based attacks does nothing for you anyway. It's why you don't stand in them.

I don't mean the ground-based DoT AoEs like the Strangler poisons in Bloodroot. The mortar attack from the Harvesters in ICP is a good example of a blockable non-directional AoE.

TheValkyn

No

We don't need any further calculations to slow down combat.

Merlin13KAGL

Alpheu5 wrote: »

Merlin13KAGL wrote: »

Alpheu5 wrote: »

Wouldn't that make tanking any fight with massive AoEs virtually impossible? How do you block below you?

Blocking ground based attacks does nothing for you anyway. It's why you don't stand in them.

I don't mean the ground-based DoT AoEs like the Strangler poisons in Bloodroot. The mortar attack from the Harvesters in ICP is a good example of a blockable non-directional AoE.

Gotcha, @Alpheu5 . It would make things monumentally more difficult, especially in lag situations or duing any kind of desync. I'd see a whole lot of unncessary dying going on, even when everything was right and good on from the client's perspective.

There's already a whole lot of fringe AoE and damage/deaths that happen even though visible well outside of an AoE. This (non-360) would only serve to make that worse.

Alpheu5

No

Oh, another AoE I just remembered that you wouldn't be able to block since it comes from above. The Bone Colossus's ice-bomb-attack-thingy in Falkreath Hold. If a DPS with low max health doesn't block that it's a guaranteed death.