Scan was a pretty useful ability in FFXI. You would scan an enemy and the spell would provide some information on the mob you scanned. I can't remember the extent of the information, but I do remember (weakness) being one of them. If a mob was resistant to lightning, or weak vs water, scanning the mob would let you know. Eventually, you would memorize which resistances the various mobs had and would plan your combat sequence before engaging them. In a game like Pantheon, where setting up abilities prior to engaging will be a big part of the overall combat strategy, I think an ability like scan would be extremely useful.
That said, I am also aware that the perception system could possibly be tied into something like this. Finally ... to spice things up and keep this ability useful (whether an actual ability or something tied into perception) I think it would be cool if certain mobs had resistances that could fluctuate. One spawn could be resistant to poison and the next could be strong vs it. I have seen it mentioned that NPC's will have access to the stats of any gear they have on their person, so that's a great start on how this could be achieved. One "skeletal archer" could be weak vs ice but his friend with the same name is weak vs lightning. I could see how some people might find this annoying but if the scan ability is accessible enough, I think this could add a layer to communication both prior to and during combat.
Would love to see mobs have different resists and even abilities to some extent. Anything to keep players guessing and adapting. I would even be for having their levels fluctuate a little bit between spawns. Mobs and even more so named mobs should have an identity and a role but there should be room in that to make them not be cookie cutter. Maybe a shadow knight mob had harm touch one spawn and a life tap the next, and one time he has both! Tie it in with the perception system and someone with enough skill in it might be able to detect signs that thats what the group is in for.
Probabl;y pretty time consuming to do all of that though.
oneADseven said:Scan was a pretty useful ability in FFXI. You would scan an enemy and the spell would provide some information on the mob you scanned. I can't remember the extent of the information, but I do remember (weakness) being one of them. If a mob was resistant to lightning, or weak vs water, scanning the mob would let you know. Eventually, you would memorize which resistances the various mobs had and would plan your combat sequence before engaging them. In a game like Pantheon, where setting up abilities prior to engaging will be a big part of the overall combat strategy, I think an ability like scan would be extremely useful.
This seems like a pretty interesting concept. Do you envision this as an ability which every class has access to? Or is this perhaps a line only available to a certain archetype, like casters for example? How was in handled in FFXI and how do you feel it would best work in Pantheon?
Krixus said:If mob resistances are set somewhat randomly, this could make some sense, otherwise why not just play the game and see what works?
They will be somewhat random. I mentioned that NPC's will utilize the stats of any gear they have on their person ... so if they have a breastplate with +30 cold resist, that mob would obviously be more difficult to kill with cold attacks than it's average counterpart that doesen't have that item on them. That's just one way how they can be random ... beyond that, we'll also see NPC dispositions. For all we know, there will be an NPC disposition that offers a boost to 3 "random" stats. There could be another NPC disposition where the enemy has access to the scan ability ... so if one of your party members has very low mental resistance, the enemies would focus their mental attacks on that player. Randomization is a good thing but players need a tool to help combat it, especially if we can't switch around our bars while in combat. Having an ability like scan would help deliver that.
Zeem said:Maybe be an option for the perception system.
This. Have the perception system handle it that way it is independent of class and race. But if you think about it, if you spend a lot of time adventuring in Goblin infested areas, and if you're actually paying attention, you'll learn on your own everything you'll need to know. You'll figure out their resists, which classes are tanks, which are casters, etc, which will run or call for help, all of that. You don't need some constructed game mechanic.
Even after all these years I can tell you that using any fire based spell in SolA/B was useless just as an ice based spell in Permafrost was an exercise in futility. Ghouls and Zombies were basically immune to disease spells while Orcs didn't have any special resists to worry about. Nobody needed a perception system or anything else to learn all this. We learned by playing and remembering.
oneADseven said:Krixus said:If mob resistances are set somewhat randomly, this could make some sense, otherwise why not just play the game and see what works?
They will be somewhat random. I mentioned that NPC's will utilize the stats of any gear they have on their person ... so if they have a breastplate with +30 cold resist, that mob would obviously be more difficult to kill with cold attacks than it's average counterpart that doesen't have that item on them. That's just one way how they can be random ... beyond that, we'll also see NPC dispositions. For all we know, there will be an NPC disposition that offers a boost to 3 "random" stats. There could be another NPC disposition where the enemy has access to the scan ability ... so if one of your party members has very low mental resistance, the enemies would focus their mental attacks on that player. Randomization is a good thing but players need a tool to help combat it, especially if we can't switch around our bars while in combat. Having an ability like scan would help deliver that.
Loot isn't going to be random like that so once you know the mob drops the cold resist breastplate you know. Until we know a lot more, my stance remains that we don't need this kind of thing. Play and learn the game. Take the queues the NPCs and environments provide and make good decisions. What's the point of these "random" things if you just overcome the unknown by casting a scan spell?
I'm sure mobs will have more than 1 item in their loot table which means the resists could vary for each item that has them. It's not a huge deal, I just thought the scan ability was useful in FFXI and something I would like to see returned to MMO's. One could argue "what's the point of having the mobs cast debuffs if you can just cure them" -- it's basically the same thing. There seems to be an emphasis on planning for upcoming fights and I think an ability like scan could help with that. It doesen't always need to work ... maybe some mobs are immune to it or are too strong to gauge.
Aatu said:I remeber this and agree it would be an interesting add the the perception system if not already being developed in a slightly different way.
Agree. I wouldn't be surprised if it was already in the game to some degree. Seems to be a natural feature of perception, specifically the Insight ability. As your Insight levels up, you can more accurately detect characteristics of NPCs. I just hope it isn't called "Scan." Sounds too sci-fi haha.