AOC: Struggling with Combat

I don’t play melee characters.  I especially don’t play melee characters where positioning is required to execute skills.  So why am I rolling a melee class in Ago of Conan where positioning is absolutely key AND you have to execute actions in specific sequences to maximize damage?  ‘Cause I’m crazy I guess but my game play is starting to show the strain of that decision.

The more skills I acquire, the more I’m beginning to struggle with the combat execution.  If there’s only a single mob I do just fine.  It’s when I’m trying to pull two to three and they are at my own level that I’m starting to die.  I get a bit flustered and my health as a Bear Shaman is actually low compared to other classes.  With a 1v3 fight, I’m going to finish with just a sliver of health in the first place.  Therefore if I make any mistakes at all, I’m dead.  Most of the time I die AND the final mob dies at the same time.  One hit sooner, one combo sequence not missed and I would have finished alive.
There are multiple factors making this hard for me:

1. I’ve played for many years with all my skills on the left side of the keyboard.  I custom map 1 to 5, Q to R, A to F and Z to V.  Primary skills are on A to F which is natural hand placement for touch typists.  Secondary are Q to R, personal buffs Z to V and things I only cast only (long cool down spells) 1 to 5.  My right hand is for movement and the right side of the keyboard for out of combat commands like long duration buffs, food, mounts, switching gear etc.  This setup doesn’t work well for AoC where I have to go off the 4 rows of skills all the time for combos.  When I’m trying to execute in a hurry, I may hit the wrong key because it’s fast combat, I’m trying to move while I’m hitting and sometimes there is a lag between what I’ve pressed and it’s execution on the screen.
2. No auto attack means if you’re not spamming buttons you’re just standing there taking damage.  I find that I often forget to press hit keys after executing a special command that doesn’t have a combo key sequence.  Struggling with the basic combat now, I can’t imagine adding in proactive blocking too.
3. I’m not used to playing a melee character.  The only melee class I’ve ever played is the Paladin in World of Warcraft.  I leveled her for the AOE grinding spec which was fun but went Holy at 70 to heal in PVP.

I decided on melee in AoC because the uniqueness of the combat doesn’t manifest itself in the caster classes.  They do have Spellweaving which sounds interesting but it’s not until 40 and from what I’ve read, not actually working. I thought the melee might ensure that the game-play was fresh so that I’d be more likely to stick around.  However, I’m actually enjoying the world itself that I think I’d like it regardless.

I have a G15 keyboard which I rarely use for the macro features.  I bought it because of the backlit keys since I often play sitting in bed late at night.  When I first had this problem with AoC, I created a few macros with the G15 to execute the combos.  It was easy to do and they execute as expected.  My problem is that you must use the G1 to G6 keys.  They are left side but a reach that requires that I move my hand off the keyboard.  Because there is no auto attack, if I fumble getting back to the hit keys, I’m just taking damage again.
I’ve moved things around and try lots of things to alleviate this problem to no avail.  1v1 I’m perfectly fine but I’m not going to level killing one mob at a time.  Besides which, it’s sometimes impossible to orchestrate a 1v1 encounter.

I’m not sure if it will just take more time getting use to this combat style or it goes back to the reasons why I’ve never played a positional melee character in the first place.  Is anyone else having this issue? How have you resolved it for yourself?  I enjoy grinding but I won’t be able to do that effectively if I can’t fix this situation.  I know it’s noobsauce but simply having an auto-attack would fix this for me as it would give me time to re-acclimate on the keyboard in between actions. I think I’m going to look into the AoC macro system to see if it works and if I can map the combos to Q to T which would be more natural for me.

Comments

[JoBildo]

I know lots of folks are programming combos to their G15s and doing so effectively. But if its causing you to break your fingers the next option might be to actually look into a Zboard or just keep on keeping on until you're a seasoned vet with the system.

I find that the key is to not get flustered by seeing all those mobs on you and to make sure that auto-face is turned off. That's key so that you can maximize the conical damage of all melee weapons. It's definitely an odd beast to get used to but once it clicks... oh - oh it's magic.

[Scott]

To add to Bildo's suggestions. Programmable keyboards such as the G15, or the newer Razer keyboard can be a big help.

Also you need to just keep your cool and have a good feel for how many mobs your character can handle at a time, it'll depend on your class, and level. Some classes don't come into their own in AoC till much later levels, be it lvl30, 50, or even 80.

I haven't played a bear shaman, but I do have a Tempest and Priest of Mitra at 40. Both of those do really well with groups as you can pop both of your HoT's and survive through nearly any dps thrown your way. Also take advantage of any crowd control, particularly knockback abilities, that gives you precious seconds for your HoT's to heal you without incoming damage.

Also always carry 15+ health potions (Stamina and Mana too depending on needs for melee or spells). They're cheap and they'll save you often.

If a fight is going badly, don't be afraid to pop a stamina potion and just turn tail and run, even if you decide to stop and fight, you just bought yourself a few seconds of free healing - likely enough to win.

Lastly you might want to consider trying a Conqueror, Guardian, or one of the other healing classes like Tempest or Priest of Mitra. They're all very solid with high survivability, I've played them and can vouch for them as they give you a lot of leeway to think your battles out more.

[saylah]

@Bildo & Scott... Re-rolling this weekend on Wiccana to guild with TTH let me re-work things and do it from the beginning instead of all the mid leveling tweaks I was making - most of which kept throwing me off.

I turned off auto face which i didnt know existed. I didnt know why every time I moved I kept getting twisted back to the mobs. Thanks Bildo for that tip! I read some posts on the forums about the fact that you dont NEED to use every combo you get. That's like duh, but until someone says it, you might not think about it.

I took that advise and removed non critical combos from the primary key areas and that worked wonders. Having fewer combos to worry about I find that I can execute them all quite well.

The biggest difference came at the upper teens where I finally got a direct HOT. Like Scott said, the different classes mature at different times. The Bear Shaman has very low health and I hadn't gotten any direct healing spells.

Things are much better now. I can do 1v3 same level or one above me. I can solo bosses up to 2 levels higher.

For group pulls, I start with my HOT that ticks from melee damage. From there I execute all my +damage combos. By that point my health is around 40%. First knock-back was consumed in initial damage flurry but most powerful knock-back gets used now - it literally puts them on their backs. I used that time to consume my direct HOT which brings me back to 80% or so then finish them off.

Getting that direct HOT makes a huge difference. Many times I'd finish of 2 of the 3 mobs but a fourth would stray by and join it at 100% health which I couldn't offset in time. I'm also employing the suggestion of run to gain some distance and health regen. When I have enough back I can re-engage if they are still following me. This really helped out in my Destiny quest where they have casters in the groups.

I did some more reading and found that many people thought about quitting the BS before level 15 because of being so squishy. They neglected to say why level 15 was the first hump - it's because until then you're a healer without any heals! Go figure.

As for the pots, I don't think lowbies can afford them. Coin is really scarce. I supplement the food drops by purchasing additional buff food but I'm not willing to part with coin for potions at this time. I need to be able to afford bags before pots. :-)

[Ryan]

You might be having a tough time because Bear Shamans at 1-20 is one of the toughest out there.

[Higgs]

Hang in there,

The bear shaman is a late bloomer.

Im 54 now and i have no problem going against 3-4 mobs 2 levels higher than me.

Untamed Regeneration 3/3 FTW ! The description is misleading, it is simply a must have.

Higgs
Bear Shaman
Wiccana

[saylah]

Yes, I've read that it is hard in the beginning but will even out later and we'll be in good shape in PVP if they fix itemization.

About the only thing I know about my spec so far is that I should have Untamed Regen as soon as I can get it. Not sure which to take on the second tier. I'm still searching for spec ideas.

Thanks for input.

[NemosFolly]

I have the original G15 with 18 keys and have moved movement to 8,10,11,&12 then combat and combos to 1-6 and macro'd 13-18 for odds and ends this is the first game that I actually found a need for all 18 keys no I can feel justified in spending all that money lol.