Shield-smash AOE dispersion bug, how it's bugged and a simple fix

[zipfile]

I was messaged by Olebenny, fellow Guardian on Arkensalt server and leader of Raiders Beneath the Shadow, with a question on how Shield-smash AOE works. After some minor confusion, he explained that he actually figured out how exactly it's bugged and we needed to test his theory.

The theory is quite simple really. Whatever is in the frontal arc of the enemy being hit by Shield-smash, will be affected by Shield-smash AOE.

And as soon he explained it to me, it made sense. Any skilled Guardian familiar with how to take advantage of current Shield-smash to hit as many targets as possible (in case you don't know, click here. But we never really knew why it worked like that. There's a theory (which I subscribed to until now) that Shield-smash hit in a weird arc around the Guardian, centred at the mob. But this now looks like an open and shut case.




Vastin, can we please finally have a fix for this? It looks quite simple, reverse the AOE from the frontal of the enemy to the frontal of the Guardian.

[Mukor]

Nothing against that theoty is a nice one but I Hit sometimes targets behind me with Shield-smash.
And in other cases I don't hit the mob directly in front of my target.
This improves the number of targets we Hit but don’t ensure we hit All if they're less than 7.

[zipfile]

Nothing against that theoty is a nice one but I Hit sometimes targets behind me with Shield-smash.

That's because you target your were hitting was looking at the enemy itself, within the AOE of the Shield-smash, because it works on a frontal of the enemy.

And in other cases I don't hit the mob directly in front of my target.

I'm unsure what you mean by this.
If you mean you're targeting an enemy behind another foe, yet shield-smash isn't hitting the foe, I haven't seen or witnessed something like that.
In the video, especially at around 0:29, you can see the Archer that's being targeted by me getting hit by Shield-Smash, and all enemies that were in front of him and between Olebenny and the archer got hit as well, so I'm unsure what you mean.

[Mukor]

That's because you target your were hitting was looking at the enemy itself, within the AOE of the Shield-smash, because it works on a frontal of the enemy.



I'm unsure what you mean by this.
If you mean you're targeting an enemy behind another foe, yet shield-smash isn't hitting the foe, I haven't seen or witnessed something like that.
In the video, especially at around 0:29, you can see the Archer that's being targeted by me getting hit by Shield-Smash, and all enemies that were in front of him and between Olebenny and the archer got hit as well, so I'm unsure what you mean.

In both cases the enemy was in front of my target.
Situation one:
FMT
Situation two:
MFT

M is me, t the target and f another foe.
In one I Hit both even smash shouldn't be 360 on two I don't hit the non target.

But Yeah they must overwork Shield-smash to a clear and simple mechanic.
Optimum would be simmilar tow fury of blades on champs, top of it with simmilar targets as fury.

[Olebenny]

I am 99% confident that it works like it is displayed in the video

If you use it on a mob, that mobs front 5m AOE is what gets hits. So if the mobs is look at you and there is a target behind you it hits the target behind you if it is in the 5m range

The said mobs turns around for a random aggro attack on someone as you use shield smash, it will not hit the other targets anymore unless there were guys behind the OG target for him to now be looking at.

[Mukor]

I am 99% confident that it works like it is displayed in the video

If you use it on a mob, that mobs front 5m AOE is what gets hits. So if the mobs is look at you and there is a target behind you it hits the target behind you if it is in the 5m range

The said mobs turns around for a random aggro attack on someone as you use shield smash, it will not hit the other targets anymore unless there were guys behind the OG target for him to now be looking at.

K this could be that the target Was runnjng away turned around at the time of hit. I didn't pay attention to that. Thanks.
But neithertheless it's a bad mechanic.

[zipfile]

K this could be that the target Was runnjng away turned around at the time of hit. I didn't pay attention to that. Thanks.
But neithertheless it's a bad mechanic.

It looks like a very simple fix as well so....hopefully it'll be changed

[Marxlne]

Yes, i thought it was clear how it worked when i posted my vid way back 2017 but yes it is exactly how it works atm. I just draw a rough diagram , maybe it's helping people to better understand how it works. Shield-Smash hits mobs in the 2.5m range, 180 degree arc in front of the TARGETED MOB's VIEW:




In my example all mobs inside the 180 degree arc will be hit by Shield-Smash, even mobs behind Guardian. Mobs outside of 2.5m range will not get hit.

Only thing i don't understand yet is how the targets are selected when there are more than 7 mobs inside the arc. Looks totally random to me ...

[Mukor]

Yes, i thought it was clear how it worked when i posted my vid way back 2017 but yes it is exactly how it works atm. I just draw a rough diagram , maybe it's helping people to better understand how it works. Shield-Smash hits mobs in the 2.5m range, 180 degree arc in front of the TARGETED MOB's VIEW:




In my example all mobs inside the 180 degree arc will be hit by Shield-Smash, even mobs behind Guardian. Mobs outside of 2.5m range will not get hit.

Only thing i don't understand yet is how the targets are selected when there are more than 7 mobs inside the arc. Looks totally random to me ...

Jep thats work as every skill if the number of foes are higher as the number of targets.
In shield smash case you hit your target and 6 random.
That's what make it hard to tank vs a champ with minimum 10 targets, even if we would build enough threat with our skills without taunting they hit more and generate more threat on All with that.
And thanks for the graphic.

[Melleborn]

I don't even play Guardian, or anything really at higher lvl. I was just browsing the forums when I came across this thread.

Why would the point of origin of shield swipe be the targets cone instead of your own? This does not make any sort of sense..

[Mukor]

I don't even play Guardian, or anything really at higher lvl. I was just browsing the forums when I came across this thread.

Why would the point of origin of shield swipe be the targets cone instead of your own? This does not make any sort of sense..

That's excactly the point and whar should be fixed.

[Nouri]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[JiiPee]

Jep thats work as every skill if the number of foes are higher as the number of targets.
In shield smash case you hit your target and 6 random.
That's what make it hard to tank vs a champ with minimum 10 targets, even if we would build enough threat with our skills without taunting they hit more and generate more threat on All with that.
And thanks for the graphic.

Or it may be that you hit mobs with lowers aggro. Or it's just totally random. Haven't done really any testing, but to test that should be quite easy.

[Mukor]

Or it may be that you hit mobs with lowers aggro. Or it's just totally random. Haven't done really any testing, but to test that should be quite easy.

It doesn't matter how it works 5 vs 10 targets, five are allways a lower Overall threat generation.
Especiallely after the target reduction off shield taunt since a few updates.

[Casmond]

Bumping this up. It would be nice for a Dev to stop in and say: "Oh, thanks, we are aware."

Currently, the way the skill is malfunctioning, you are negating any sort of positioning advantage to maximize your blocking stat. The only way to maximize Shield Smash is to hit the party furthest away from you (as that would have the other mobs in it's 180 degree arc). As a result of doing that, your blocking ability is compromised by the parties now on your left right and behind.

I'd like it fixed. I'd settle for an acknowledgement from the devs.

[Mukor]

Just copy the mechanic of fury of blades to shield-smash and change the + targets legacy to + dmg.

[Gorikon]

Yes, i thought it was clear how it worked when i posted my vid way back 2017 but yes it is exactly how it works atm. I just draw a rough diagram , maybe it's helping people to better understand how it works. Shield-Smash hits mobs in the 2.5m range, 180 degree arc in front of the TARGETED MOB's VIEW:




In my example all mobs inside the 180 degree arc will be hit by Shield-Smash, even mobs behind Guardian. Mobs outside of 2.5m range will not get hit.

Funny thing is: This bug should be easily fixable. It happens because of a mixup of how damage is applied to mobs single target vs. AoE.

Single target skills apply their damage to the targeted mob. Pseude code:

Mob myMob = player.getTarget();
myMob.applySkillDamage();

AoE skills first create a list of mobs who are in the area (circle, cone, whatever). (The function that returns this list has a number "maximum targets" as parameter.) Then, skill damage is applied to each of these targets. Pesudo code:

MobList myMobList = player.getMobsInFrontalCone(5)
for each Mob in myMobList
{
   Mob.applySkillDamage()
};

In the case of Shield Smash, it probably looks like this:

MobList myMobList = player.getTarget().getMobsInFrontalCone(5)
for each Mob in MobList
{
   Mob.applySkillDamage()
};

Because the getTarget() function sits between the player object and the cone calculation function, the cone is calculated from the targeted mob, not from the player.

Would be nice if a dev could check this is what happens...

[Casmond]

Bumping this up again...


Hey DEVS...how about cutting back on how many Wolf Hound pets you can create, and putting some time into fixing this Major Guardian skill.

[Casmond]

Come on, this is ridiculous. Bumping up again so someone in a position to do so can fix this important skill or at least acknowledge that the problem exists.

[Casmond]

Whatever you do, for the all our sake...DO NOT FIX THIS SKILL!!!!

It is merely one of the main skills at keeping agro and crowd control on a mob you are tanking. It's important that it doesn't work. In fact, in that it partially works is unacceptable. You need to totally break it. None of this half-assed stuff!!!

It's important to me, and many other players that use of the skill negate any effort made into building up block ratings or any other defensive traits that are effective on a 180 degree basis. Positioning on mobs is for the anal retentive. Real players love broken main skills. It keeps life interesting. I find it, absolutely, fantastic that the only way to gain benefit from the skill is to hit the mob furthest away from me. That way, all the other mobs to my left, right and behind can hammer away without worrying about that pesky block/parry rating on those needy guardians.

I don't know what I was thinking. I apologize. For the last year or longer (I don't remember anymore) I've been trying to encourage you to fix the skill, or at the very least acknowledge that it doesn't work. I SHOULD have been thanking you for totally ignoring the issue. It's a main skill. We don't need it. Nor do we need any sort of bonus on the guardian belt. That sort of stuff is for other classes.

I think I might just check out the pricing on an Aria of Valar so I can have another broken guardian. That would be twice as nice.

[HolyDuckTape]

I don't know what I was thinking. I apologize. For the last year or longer (I don't remember anymore) I've been trying to encourage you to fix the skill, or at the very least acknowledge that it doesn't work. I SHOULD have been thanking you for totally ignoring the issue. It's a main skill. We don't need it. Nor do we need any sort of bonus on the guardian belt. That sort of stuff is for other classes.

I think I might just check out the pricing on an Aria of Valar so I can have another broken guardian. That would be twice as nice.

kek, rip guards