https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cVrDfv0-fyXYA22T0Xv7atamqeTMbALloneFZaoDxcg/edit?usp=drivesdk

Above is a link for a spreadsheet I was working on at som point to better understand hit delays for ranged projectiles and dabbled a bit in gap closers. I created a "firing range" in my house with a dummy and the exact distances for 5, 7, 15, 22, and 28 meters. Used combat metrix's log with the "on cast" and " damage done" events, about 10-20 casts per skill, enough to conclude an average, sometimes rounding up/down if logical.

The log shows a range of values, usually up to 20% above or below what the actual value probably is. For example, I know all projectiles have a minimum travel time of 0.3s, but I'll get 0.295, 0.285, 0.321, 0.305, etc.

For melee coded skills, they're actually instant from when the server registers your cast. Surprise Attack for would say something like "Cast = 0.00s, Registered = 0.11s (110 ms delay), Hit = 0.11s." This is why I didn't bother checking most melee skills, unless they were a questionable hybrid like Streak or Breath.

Here's some TLDR's for gap closers ranging from 1m to 22m.

• Critical Rush = 0.024s ~ 0.42s
• Shield Charge = 0.024s ~ 0.42s
• Toppling Charge = 0.023s ~ 0.4s
• Teleport Strike = 0.46s ~ 0.46s
• Chains of Devestation = 0.5s ~ 0.65s

The 1st 3 abilities feel nearly identical, Toppling Charge was consistently 5% faster so I didn't round it, but maybe 100 more tests would prove them to be equal, not sure. They probably use the same frame work when under their animations, traveling at a constant speed to your target with no initial delay.

The biggest difference for Toppling is the animation, it has a lot of flare added with a recovery phase after you spike your spear. The animation and hit detection don't perfectly align, but this is usually acceptable practice for most games, including ESO as long as the gap isn't so large that it starts to feel laggy.

Think about this from the context of the 1m test, the hit is 0.023s, 1/10th the average human reaction time, practically instant, but the animation of the spear hitting is probably 0.5s so you're getting stunned half a second earlier than what is visually represented, this same thing will happen at 22m, just delayed by the 0.4s travel time.

This is the reason the new Jabs animation feels janky, animation implies 0.2s, 0.3s, and 1.0s... but actual registration is 0s, 0.4s, and 0.8s. Not matching the damage instances or pattern closely enough implies a different functionality, where the last hit is a big payoff which is no longer how the skill works. Probably why animation cancelling it causes the last hit to wave your spear around like a pool noodle as it transitions back into your held weapon for the next skill animation.

For the other 2 gap closers, Chains of Devastation is a projectile that probably qhas a locked in travel time of 0.5s, that then yanks the player at a very fast speed, thus why the gap between min/max range is only 0.15s, but it still has the longest total at 0.5s ~ 0.65s.

Teleport Strike has the exact same delay at any range because it uses a 0.4s cast time with a real teleport, that has a small 0.06s delay for the damage instance. It's why the skill feels clunkier the closer you get, because distance doesn't reward a faster animation like most abilities, similar experience with Mages Fury and Cliff Racer with locked in times. Of course, line of sight cancelling the cast time is also terrible..

All this to say.. my opinion on the subject is the 0.4s travel time on these gap closers feels just right, and if they were slowed down any further, they'd be added to the ever increasing clunky list of terrible abilities. Although I don't find this to be much of an issue, I can suggest 2 solutions.

First, I would start by cleaning up the animation to better match the hit detection, character doesn't need to awkwardly float and spike their spear down on the targets head, it can poke the front like Shield Charge.. as you would with a real spear.

Secondly, and I'm not a huge fan of this, could delay the stun to a seperate instance like Rune Prison with a beam of light hovering over the targets head that lands after a 1s delay, your character still travels at 0.4s over 22 meters, but the stun has a better telegraph. Although, by that point, it'd need to be undodgeable or unblockable like Rune Prison or Rune of Eldritch Horror or it would be completely useless... and if we're going this route, why is Shield Charge not a problem and allowed to stay the same.. which is my argument for just cleaning up the animation.

Seems pretty low priority if you ask me, if someone uses this, it means they're not using Streak, Fossilze, Javelin... or worse, Teleport Strike + Warden Script Contingency, all of which are better stuns imo so that's a win/win for me.

My guess is that this is one reason why TC has gained popularity in PvP, because it’s basically providing a guaranteed stun as players aren’t able to block it; their character is frozen in place while the gap close animation completes.

Toppling charge is popular again for the same reason beetles is popular: its great to combo with on a Plar.

You proc your beetles, you proc your contingency, and charge, and basically you get there and all 3 of your damage abilities go off at the same time. If your damage proc set goes off, this is absolutely devastating.

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

My guess is that this is one reason why TC has gained popularity in PvP, because it’s basically providing a guaranteed stun as players aren’t able to block it; their character is frozen in place while the gap close animation completes.

Toppling charge is popular again for the same reason beetles is popular: its great to combo with on a Plar.

You proc your beetles, you proc your contingency, and charge, and basically you get there and all 3 of your damage abilities go off at the same time. If your damage proc set goes off, this is absolutely devastating.

The only gap closer that works well with Contingency is Teleport Strike due to its cast time.

Contingency procs when resources are spent, which means for all other gap closers other than Teleport Strike, Contingency's effect happens at the starting point. The animation sometimes shows at the destination, but this is just a client side bug.

Unless you're right on top of someone already or you're using Teleport Strike, you should not be combining Contingency with a gap closer.