Overpowered NPC Abiliity "Taking Aim"... Buffed? Working as Intended?

theweakminded · May 2015

"I can't avoid this ability, it isn't a l2p issue" yes it is. Regardless f where you move, take aim will follow you because the NPC cane turn. It is not a ability that targets and area. Either interrupt it or line of sight. This is pretty much 100% L2P.

To reiterate: Nothing changed, learn to pay attention.

Hypertionb14_ESO · May 2015

Emma_Eunjung wrote: »

Mantic0r3 wrote: »

that thing has a 10sec charge time, the whole archer glows orange and even if you cant manage to interrupt him you can just dodge the attack as soon as you glow.

nobody should be hit by that -.-

The length of the "warning" actually does more harm than good, though, because it makes it hard to gauge when a roll dodge might be effective.

Like I said above, if it was JUST HIM, yeah this wouldn't be difficult to deal with. The problem is that these archers always seem to have lots of friends, all of whom are trying to kill you at the same time

Emma_Eunjung wrote: »

Hypertionb14_ESO wrote: »

Emma_Eunjung wrote: »

Anyone who has rambled through the mean streets of Craglorn has probably run into an archer with the overpowered attack called "Taking Aim". This ability can hit you for 20K+ out of nowhere and ruin your day in an instant. In the past, however, there was a twofold silver lining: 1) the NPC archer would helpfully announce his intention to use this horrible attack by shouting "taking aim!" and 2) the player could avoid the attack by stepping out of the conical target area.

Something has changed. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but something HAS changed. It does not appear to be possible to avoid the attack now by simply moving out of its path. On multiple occasions in the past couple(?) weeks, I've observed NPC archers (e.g. Scaled Court Perforators) twisting ALL the way around, I'm talking 180 degrees, in order to stay targeted on the player until the moment the arrow is released. That's nuts! It even happens when I Bolt Escape right through the NPC to try to avoid being hit... he just flips around and plugs me anyway.

Not everyone will agree, but I think this is really problematic for PvE balance. By making this attack unavoidable, you're basically giving a "boss mechanic" to some random trash mob. These guys simply do not carry good enough loot to justify dealing with that, LOL!

Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon? Is there a "best practice" for avoiding it?

alright first the two things i have bolded are LTP issues.

Taking aim has around a 10s cast time and is EXTREMELY obvious on the animation... they even shout out that they are casting it so you just need to be mindful of your surroundings when fighting archers. it takes them so long to cast you can walk up to them while blocking and interupt them if you dont have a ranged option... its not that hard to single out a mob doing such a obvious animation. in short...

The attack is Dodgeable and if you are a DK REFLECTABLE. you can also use any intterupt ability and bash to prevent them from casting it.

finally, yes it was ALWAYS a target ability that if you did not dodge would hit you no matter where you are as long as you were in range, and its a bow attack therefore it has VERY long range (npcs follow slightly differant rules thanks to even the most minor lag that is part of online gaming). so simply running from this is generally not enough if you don't notice them casting it. not that you cant get out of their range tho, it is limited and they cannot move while casting it.

so.... ya... in craglorn all archers have this ability and will use it pretty soon after engaging in combat...

hopefully reading the key points i have outlined you will have no problems countering this ability as it is literally one of the easiest NPC moves to counter.

Emma_Eunjung wrote: »

Mantic0r3 wrote: »

that thing has a 10sec charge time, the whole archer glows orange and even if you cant manage to interrupt him you can just dodge the attack as soon as you glow.

nobody should be hit by that -.-

The length of the "warning" actually does more harm than good, though, because it makes it hard to gauge when a roll dodge might be effective.

Like I said above, if it was JUST HIM, yeah this wouldn't be difficult to deal with. The problem is that these archers always seem to have lots of friends, all of whom are trying to kill you at the same time

the charge animation and the firing animation are very differant... charge just has the bow in the air like they are freaking praying... when that is done they stop and just draw the bow like any other normal attack, after which they let loose a massive orange bolt... you can dodge when the bolt is in the air or sucessfully while they are actively drawing it back to let it loose after the charge...

in those situations.... just single the mob out and test this stuff, you will find that everything in ESO can be made easy if you just watch the mechanics.. once you know them its pretty damm easy to just instintively dodge that bolt while still fighting other mobs..

You pretty much didn't read any of the comments in the thread before posting this, did you? I used to be able to avoid this attack simply by moving out of the way... now I can't. That's my main point, and that has nothing to do with me, really, or how I play the game.

As I said in other comments, I don't have a problem dealing with the mobs in Craglorn or elsewhere. My complaint is that the archers' targeting behavior seems different, and it's really annoying not knowing whether the old tactics don't work anymore because they're obsolete, or because the mobs are bugged.

As Shunravi pointed out above, perhaps Taking Aim was bugged BEFORE, and now they "fixed" it by making sure you couldn't avoid it.

others have mentioned, it was Always a targeted ability... in fact i mentioned that in the post too... talk to me about not reading each post..

[Moderator Note: Edited quote to match moderated version]

Ffastyl · May 2015

Depending on the enemy type Taking Aim will be clearly called out. For beastial races such as skeletons and goblins, it is called out in their language which can be hard to differentiate from the normal gibberish/creaks of combat.

If there is one thing I have noticed changed, it is the cast time. It seems to take longer for archers to fire Taking Aim.

The tracking component is something that has always been there. What you are noticing is likely an extreme case for the AI. Sorcerers have unparalleled mobility, so the archers are tracking as intended, but are keeping pace with ludicrous movement speeds which can seem unrealistic.

As far as learning to cope with it, hate to repeat everything before me, but this an issue of learning tactics. The archer does not move, holds his bow on high until he draws for the shot, glows orange, highlights the target in orange while drawing the shot, and calls out "Taking Aim!" in whatever language s/he speaks. If you're a Sorcerer, kite the bulk of the enemy group away from the archer and then Bolt Escape to the archer and interrupt. Or use a knockdown like Crystal Fragments. The only reason someone should be hit by Taking Aim is a lack of spatial awareness (ignoring the first time you see Taking Aim).

Emma_Overload · May 2015

Ffastyl wrote: »

The tracking component is something that has always been there. What you are noticing is likely an extreme case for the AI. Sorcerers have unparalleled mobility, so the archers are tracking as intended, but are keeping pace with ludicrous movement speeds which can seem unrealistic.

OK, this is a reasonable explanation. As a Sorc, I use BoL frequently to move out of the way of attacks and improve my position for making my own attacks. Maybe in the past I was moving out of range of the Perforators, but was mistakenly under the impression that I had avoided the attack while still in range. It's possible that the range of Taking Aim was extended at some point.

The thing about the cast time being so long is actually kind of a problem in and of itself, in my opinion. If they shouted "taking aim!" and then fired 2 seconds later, that would give you enough time to successfully roll dodge, no less and no more. Making the cast time so long makes timing a roll dodge kind of tricky, adding to the annoyance factor.

Nestor · May 2015

Emma_Eunjung wrote: »

Now it's kind of a crapshoot whether you can dodge it or not in the heat of battle. Something about the way NPCs target you with this ability has CHANGED, and I'm hoping to get a @ZOS response as to whether the 360 degree "turret" targeting is really the way this is supposed to working.

I noticed this last night with a particularly nasty Boss, don't remember the name. Anyway, the Red Circle on the ground grows out at a faster rate than I have ever seen and then bam, your hit for 20K to 30K. There is no time to dodge roll away, even if I start the dodge roll before the red even gets to me. Which is not easy when I am not occupied as you say with other mobs. This boss killed me about 4 times, but at least I could resurrect and get back in the fight.