Talk:Area of Effect

In all half-decent role-playing games, AoE spells are cast on a location in the environment. In Guildwars, (yes I consider it a stupid thing) that is not the case, you have to actually target someone by the enemy and then you can cast the spell. I believe that is worth mentioning and worth mentioning clearly. --Karlos 21:35, 16 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * What online RPGs can one target a location in? Only one I can think of are the Infinity Engine games, and, really, those are hardly online.  &mdash;Tanaric 21:56, 16 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * How did "online" slip into the conversation? :) And all Infinity engine games as well as NWN have AoE spells target an area, not a person; and these games defined what RPG is. This is not only "cool," it is the logical and correct implementation. I think the design in Guild Wars is one of "technical convenience." Programmers do it all the time. It was easier to implement the AoE skills that way then develop an entire new targeting system that relied on clicking on the environment. --Karlos 15:13, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * Online slipped in because it defines this genre. You can't argue Guild Wars vs. AD&D either.  While I understand how the Infinity engine games work, and I agree with their implementation, no online RPG uses that sort of implementation to my knowledge, and thus confusion isn't likely to abound.  Either way, I did explicitly state what you wished in the article, though I removed the paragraph that points it out.  And, I disagree about technical convenience; I'd say more ease-of-use.  It'd be a pain in the ass to use AoE spells with the camera angles provided in Guild Wars.  You'd have to allow a top-down mechanic to allow precise placement, and that's something ArenaNet didn't want us to have, as far as I can tell. &mdash;Tanaric 15:30, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * Well, there is Ultima Online for instance, which is the mother of all modern MMORPG, so to say. There you have spells like Earthquake, Meteor Shower and Chain Lightning, that can be targeted anywhere on the ground as well as on mobs and characters. --Eightyfour-onesevenfive 20:18, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * Man, I feel dirty for forgeting UO... I loved that game, before Trammel came about. Regardless, of the 3d, sorta-like-Guild Wars MMORPGs out there, none of them use location-based spells.  Moreso, the point is moot.  UO used reagents to cast spells, and so do some spells in EQ/EQ2; must we specifically mention that Guild Wars spells require no material components?  I think that as long as our article is clear and to the point, game-specific crossing-over notes in individual articles aren't necessary.  However, perhaps crossing over guides, as their own articles, would have merit.  &mdash;Tanaric 21:10, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * Look, somewhere out there, we NEED to mention that in Guild Wars ALL spells (and skillS) have to be targeting someone (either player or another person). You might think this is intuitive and clear and a piece of cake. But it is not... My frist run in the game (and I am not crossing over from any other MMORPG) I had a lot of the "clickity" sound followed by "Invalid Target" on my screen. Now, maybe I am just dumb and should catch up on my MMORPG, or maybe it is a pertinent point to have there. That ALL spells in the game need to target someone, no matter if the spell says that it causes the sun to shine and has nothing to do with any one person. Earth Shaker is a prime example, the description says "all adjacent foes." You'd think it is centered around yourself. But it is not! You have to actually be attacking someone, in which case, the description should read "target foe and all adjacent foes" but the description doesn't say that. Same thing with Crude Swing. This is not as intuitive as you make it sound. --Karlos 21:33, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * What about Heal Area? You don't have to be targeting something to cast this spell. ;) But I tend to areee with you, Karlos. --Eightyfour-onesevenfive 22:28, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * As well as Inferno, and Heal Party, and all corpse spells. I'm not arguing that we shouldn't mention that spells require a target&mdash;please notices that I did add text that states so to this article.  I simply removed the bit comparing it to other games, as, in many cases, it's not a valid nor relevant comparison. &mdash;Tanaric 18:26, 18 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * As a useless aside, all those spells (not counting putrid in with corpse spells) are actually self-targetting, even if you don't have to do the targetting manually. --Fyren 18:29, 18 Aug 2005 (EST)


 * Agreed; that was incredibly useless. :) &mdash;Tanaric 18:38, 18 Aug 2005 (EST)

Nice work on the ranges Geeman. I think it should be in an article about ranged separate from this. But I think it is better than all the linking to nearby and adjacent that Ollj was doing.--Karlos 08:31, 18 Aug 2005 (EST)

The article currently states that AI runs from AoE DoT and says that Spiteful Spirit is an exception. SS is not a DoT Skill. It affects adjacent foes, but not over time, it is based on the actions of the target foe. That being said, Mark of Pain is not DoT either, but I am told that it does trigger most AI to flee. Not sure how to clear this up, but it is a little misleading to call SS a DoT spell.--DZwart 13:22, 24 Feb 2006 (EST)

Article Name
Does GuildWars actually capitalize this in game? Should this be "Area of Effect" or "area of effect" (per GuildWiki policies)? --JoDiamonds 14:04, 26 June 2006 (CDT)

Bug
It's not a very well-known one, but it's abusable in missions like Abbadon's Mouth or Ring of Fire. Not sure if I'm the first to discover it, but I've yet to see anyone else who's known of this bug. &mdash; Rapta   (talk|contribs) 18:27, 5 August 2006 (CDT)
 * Personaly, I don't view it as a bug, since most of human-controlled characters will do the same in those body-blocking circumstances : trying to find a way without really doing anything except taking damage. And the problem you state is a simple effective body-blocking example against any melee attackers (especially when trying to pass through a minion army while having the necro as target). All I can say is good job aginst a boss, but do not try this trick on a nuker. :p --Leonim 07:14, 29 September 2006 (CDT)

Enemies
Hello

I'd like to say that in this section: "Area of Effect (AoE) skills affect a given area of the playfield, and not any one specific enemy; any enemy inside of the area will be affected by the skill." "enemy" should be changed to something else. Let's say Heal Area spell is AoE spell but it does take effect on allies, party members... Same thing going for wards, spirits and the like. For me, all these spells (abilities, chants, whatever) do some kind of effect (damage, enchantment, hex) over the entire area, and as is, in my humble opinion they are to be considered as AoE spells.

But then i may be just dumb ^^ --80.3.64.13 01:02, 22 November 2006 (CST)

HOW LONG?
how long do enemies stay in the AoE. i need an exact number, please test this. i dont want 2-3!!! either 2 or 3 i need! its a savannah heat question =P
 * It really depends upon how much damage they've already taken. If a monster is healthy when the AoE starts up, then they will more than likely linger for slightly longer than a monster who's already taken a beating.  I am bobo 16:09, 2 May 2007 (CDT)
 * Normal mode: Enemies flee at around 30-40% of their hp. Hard mode:50-70% of their hp. Monsters also tend to stay in the aoe if their target has very low hp. The Hobo 23:03, 23 June 2007 (CDT)
 * If you realy want the mobs to stay in your AoE (if they are attacking you) i found that if you have 20% health or lower, they tend to not flee.Veliisx 10:09, 9 August 2007 (CDT)

Difference between NM and HM
In Normal Mode, the enemies flee and come back after a couple of seconds. In Hard Mode, the enemies flee and come back until they hit under 50%, then they keep fleeing fleeing rom you until they've healed to seomthing over 75% before coming back to attack. This is pretty much only noticed during farming. Anyone think this should e added to notes?--24.16.163.73 17:35, 7 September 2007 (CDT)

AOE Tactical use
I think we could mention the fact that AOE skills can also be used to force the mob to scatter, ie : 1) stop attacking and 2) start moving (which makes them vulnerable to critical hits and some nasty anti-flee skills). This is from a primary mesmer franticaly spamming fire and Mark of Rodgort all over the place while watching mobs run around not seeing that it doesn't hurt at all. --PatRedway 16:10, 27 November 2007 (UTC)