As the third phase of the closed beta is up, Carbine Studios has been tweaking and designing their sci-fi game called WildStar. MMORPG.com interviewed with Hugh Shelton, Class Designer, and Chris Lynch, Lead Combat Designer, on WildStar‘s new targeting and combat design. The aiming and combat techniques in WildStar will bring in a more substantial and dynamic experience for the player.
The telegraph abilities in combat have become much more common, then the old point and click single target systems. Instead of single targeting enemies, players must take more of a line approach to how skills hit. Say you’re up against four monsters at one time, you can just line up your ability (depending on your ability cast) in a straight line, circle, or in a number of various attack shapes and deal damage to all four monsters at the same time. The team said this was a new system called free-form targeting. Pressing TAB can cycle through your enemies to help you line up your skillshot and allies to find where they’re at.
The team did say that they had an autocast ability you can turn on or off, but testers were turning it off because the newer system allows for more free-form targeting. This is going to need very skillful players to master, especially with healers. Carbine stated that they wanted healing to feel like your were dishing out some DPS and being much more active. Even tanks will get some AOE skills to help out groups if you are within range. This does make for a very fast paced PvP style combat.
The Wildstar team is continuing to work on keeping all the character classes as balanced as possible, ranged and melee. With these new systems for combat, movement and targeting, we can expect for some really great gameplay coming for us in the future. WildStar is set to release sometime in the second half of 2013.
