ZAM Fights Through the Smuggler's Hideout in TERA
This article originally appeared on ZAM on March 7, 2011.
During his time at the Game Developers Conference, Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff got a taste of combat in a new TERA demo.
During my visit to the Game Developers Conference, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a new TERA demo and play through a portion of the Smuggler's Hideout instance with Producer Chris Hager and Associate Producer Stefan Ramirez. With these two guys playing as the main tank and healer, it's safe to say we took down one of the dungeon's huge bosses and emerged victorious. Of course, I like to think my damage-dealing skills helped out a little bit.
Before we dove into the demo, however, the producers took a moment to discuss the depth of TERA's combat. They explained how the team has focused on the enemy AI, the user interface, the combo system and “big ass monsters” to make TERA's skill-based action combat stand out among a sea of other MMOs.
An overview of TERA's combat
Ramirez kicked things off by giving me some enemy AI pointers. Each boss is going to have tells that will warn you of their next move. For example, a change in eye color could mean that you'd better get out of the way to avoid a major attack. Many enemies also have phases, such as becoming enraged.
“Monsters act like us,” Ramirez said, noting that many perform combinations of heals, dodges, blocks and summons. “Our AI creates a dynamic encounter every time.”
For the next lesson, Hager pulled up a screenshot of a cluttered user interface from World of Warcraft. “TERA's UI is much more simple. We have all the stats you need,” he said, referring to items like the health bar, mini-map and the abilities bar.
Players have the option to drag around each piece of the interface and put it anywhere they'd like on the screen. “You can customize the UI for your playstyle,” Hager said. “You eye is drawn to the center of the screen, which is where the action takes place.”
Ramirez then discussed the game's combo system, which allows players to chain together abilities to be faster and hit for more damage. Whenever a combo becomes available, the next ability in the chain pops up in the center of the screen. The player can then either hit the spacebar or press the ability's hotkey to continue the combo. “Our combat has a console feel to it,” Ramirez said, commenting that the game supports the use of controllers.
“TERA puts combat in the players' hands,” Hager said. “No two encounters are exactly alike.” To demonstrate that the game's action is based mainly around skill, Hager rolled a die to show how randomly you could win or lose in other RPGs. Players will need knowledge and practice to survive in TERA.
Lastly, Ramirez showed off some of the “big ass monsters” in the game. Why? Because everyone likes big ass monsters. Some of these creatures truly tower above a party and will make for some interesting fights.
The Smuggler's Hideout demo
Now that the lesson was over, it was time to take what I'd learned and dive into a party. I grabbed the mouse and keyboard and looked at my berserker holding his huge axe. The first thing you'll probably notice when you get your hands on TERA is that the mouse is tied directly to the camera, which allows you to quickly look around the battlefield without clicking or holding down any buttons.
As Ramirez mentioned, combat does have a console feel to it. Clicking the left mouse button will perform a basic attack, while hitting the right one will perform a special attack. As with many other MMOs, pressing hotkeys on your keyboard will give you control of your other abilities. I realized quickly that timing my blocks by hitting the “C” key would keep me alive a bit longer and make my healer happy. Also, my berserker blocked by slamming his axe into the ground, which is an impressive animation.
After taking a few moments to get used to my character, we made our way into the Smuggler's Hideout, which is the first 5-player instance in the game at around level 20. Hager mentioned that there's also a mini-instance that players can try out around level 10. Watch the Smuggler's Hideout trailer to give you a sneak peek at the instance.
Our party consisted of Hager as a lancer tank, Ramirez as a healing priest, a damage-dealing sorcerer and my berserker wielding his massive weapon. In case you're curious, we were all level 22. We started to hack our way through the trash monsters without much difficulty as I practiced my combos. As the producers mentioned in their introduction, my eyes were glued to the action in the middle of the screen. This isn't a game where you can auto-attack, sit back and click abilities; you're going to be kept very busy in combat.
Rather than tabbing through targets like in other MMOs, you need to physically aim at your target by pointing your character in the direction of your enemy. This also means that you can move around to avoid a monster's block and hit it from behind. In a similar fashion, healers will need to aim their heals at other players, which means that priests and mystics must be quick on their feet. However, Ramirez showed me that his priest also had a target-locking heal at his disposal, as well as the ability to cast an AoE healing circle on the ground. “Party members should definitely run to stand in that circle when they see it,” he said.
It was then time to take on Soulcrusher, a massive rock boss that certainly fits the term “big ass monster.” Even with two producers on our side, this creature put up quite a fight. Soulcrusher's glowing eye/orb/thing would change colors as one of his tells to let us know a big attack was on its way. I got knocked down multiple times, but a quick press of the spacebar allowed me to jump back up and knock back the monster.
Hager's lancer was able to hold the hate for most of the battle, which was shown on the screen through a glowing circle around the feet of his character. Other party members should definitely keep an eye out for that circle in case the tank loses hate. It's a quick way to see who's about the get pummeled by the enemy.
For all you healers out there, Ramirez's priest was able to join in on the damage-dealing fun. “Alright, you're all doing good on health, I'm going to focus on damage,” he said more than once during the battle.
As Soulcrusher crumbled and the demo ended, Hager and Ramirez emphasized that the monster was just one one of the bosses in the Smuggler's Hideout. It looks like players will have many more big ass monsters to fight when TERA launches in North America and Europe, hopefully later this year.
During his time at the Game Developers Conference, Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff got a taste of combat in a new TERA demo.
During my visit to the Game Developers Conference, I had the opportunity to get my hands on a new TERA demo and play through a portion of the Smuggler's Hideout instance with Producer Chris Hager and Associate Producer Stefan Ramirez. With these two guys playing as the main tank and healer, it's safe to say we took down one of the dungeon's huge bosses and emerged victorious. Of course, I like to think my damage-dealing skills helped out a little bit.
Before we dove into the demo, however, the producers took a moment to discuss the depth of TERA's combat. They explained how the team has focused on the enemy AI, the user interface, the combo system and “big ass monsters” to make TERA's skill-based action combat stand out among a sea of other MMOs.
An overview of TERA's combat
Ramirez kicked things off by giving me some enemy AI pointers. Each boss is going to have tells that will warn you of their next move. For example, a change in eye color could mean that you'd better get out of the way to avoid a major attack. Many enemies also have phases, such as becoming enraged.
“Monsters act like us,” Ramirez said, noting that many perform combinations of heals, dodges, blocks and summons. “Our AI creates a dynamic encounter every time.”
For the next lesson, Hager pulled up a screenshot of a cluttered user interface from World of Warcraft. “TERA's UI is much more simple. We have all the stats you need,” he said, referring to items like the health bar, mini-map and the abilities bar.
Players have the option to drag around each piece of the interface and put it anywhere they'd like on the screen. “You can customize the UI for your playstyle,” Hager said. “You eye is drawn to the center of the screen, which is where the action takes place.”
Ramirez then discussed the game's combo system, which allows players to chain together abilities to be faster and hit for more damage. Whenever a combo becomes available, the next ability in the chain pops up in the center of the screen. The player can then either hit the spacebar or press the ability's hotkey to continue the combo. “Our combat has a console feel to it,” Ramirez said, commenting that the game supports the use of controllers.
“TERA puts combat in the players' hands,” Hager said. “No two encounters are exactly alike.” To demonstrate that the game's action is based mainly around skill, Hager rolled a die to show how randomly you could win or lose in other RPGs. Players will need knowledge and practice to survive in TERA.
Lastly, Ramirez showed off some of the “big ass monsters” in the game. Why? Because everyone likes big ass monsters. Some of these creatures truly tower above a party and will make for some interesting fights.
The Smuggler's Hideout demo
Now that the lesson was over, it was time to take what I'd learned and dive into a party. I grabbed the mouse and keyboard and looked at my berserker holding his huge axe. The first thing you'll probably notice when you get your hands on TERA is that the mouse is tied directly to the camera, which allows you to quickly look around the battlefield without clicking or holding down any buttons.
As Ramirez mentioned, combat does have a console feel to it. Clicking the left mouse button will perform a basic attack, while hitting the right one will perform a special attack. As with many other MMOs, pressing hotkeys on your keyboard will give you control of your other abilities. I realized quickly that timing my blocks by hitting the “C” key would keep me alive a bit longer and make my healer happy. Also, my berserker blocked by slamming his axe into the ground, which is an impressive animation.
After taking a few moments to get used to my character, we made our way into the Smuggler's Hideout, which is the first 5-player instance in the game at around level 20. Hager mentioned that there's also a mini-instance that players can try out around level 10. Watch the Smuggler's Hideout trailer to give you a sneak peek at the instance.
Our party consisted of Hager as a lancer tank, Ramirez as a healing priest, a damage-dealing sorcerer and my berserker wielding his massive weapon. In case you're curious, we were all level 22. We started to hack our way through the trash monsters without much difficulty as I practiced my combos. As the producers mentioned in their introduction, my eyes were glued to the action in the middle of the screen. This isn't a game where you can auto-attack, sit back and click abilities; you're going to be kept very busy in combat.
Rather than tabbing through targets like in other MMOs, you need to physically aim at your target by pointing your character in the direction of your enemy. This also means that you can move around to avoid a monster's block and hit it from behind. In a similar fashion, healers will need to aim their heals at other players, which means that priests and mystics must be quick on their feet. However, Ramirez showed me that his priest also had a target-locking heal at his disposal, as well as the ability to cast an AoE healing circle on the ground. “Party members should definitely run to stand in that circle when they see it,” he said.
It was then time to take on Soulcrusher, a massive rock boss that certainly fits the term “big ass monster.” Even with two producers on our side, this creature put up quite a fight. Soulcrusher's glowing eye/orb/thing would change colors as one of his tells to let us know a big attack was on its way. I got knocked down multiple times, but a quick press of the spacebar allowed me to jump back up and knock back the monster.
Hager's lancer was able to hold the hate for most of the battle, which was shown on the screen through a glowing circle around the feet of his character. Other party members should definitely keep an eye out for that circle in case the tank loses hate. It's a quick way to see who's about the get pummeled by the enemy.
For all you healers out there, Ramirez's priest was able to join in on the damage-dealing fun. “Alright, you're all doing good on health, I'm going to focus on damage,” he said more than once during the battle.
As Soulcrusher crumbled and the demo ended, Hager and Ramirez emphasized that the monster was just one one of the bosses in the Smuggler's Hideout. It looks like players will have many more big ass monsters to fight when TERA launches in North America and Europe, hopefully later this year.