Love the new VFX, but...

There comes a point when buffs, gear (like bonesteel crown, heart of sorrow) and magic shields make it hard to see what's going on in the moment and become a bit distracting. There's a lot of activity when air's embrace, strength of earth, celestial blessing, and enlightenment are triggered - makes it hard to target and focus in tight quarters with mobs who like to swarm. Toss in soothing rain or elysian illumination and its definitely harder to see what's happening around ya, especially in the dark.

Not sure what the answer is - maybe there's a way to tone down the VFX? Just my two cents.

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I thought it was pretty bad last release and hoped it wouldn't get worse. I could barely see my toon with all the buffs on.

 

Celestial Blessings seems to be the most obtrusive one to me. I like the purple color and the overall concept, but it's way too egg shaped and defined. Ice Shield and Death Shield are great in comparison, but any combination of VFX seems to be muted by Celestial Blessings. When they first created the CB VFX I thought it was just a first pass, but it appears (after several months) to be working as intended. I'd love for them to go through and tone down CB VFX removing the egg effect and making it less defined.

 

One answer is make the VFX short-lived - don't really see the need to see the buffs on character for 15-20 minutes for the duration of the spell (unless there is a PVP reason to see what you're opponent is buffing I'm not thinking about). Magic shields would make sense to see for the duration - embrace, strength, enlightment, celestial - not so much.

 

I love seeing the visuals (it's great for pvp but also immersion).

I think seeing all the shields (and celestial blessing is one of them) makes the most sense. I agree that there's not much value in seeing the STR, DEX, or INT buffs though. Especially since 80% of the player base has them on 24/7 anyway. If the combat system were more balanced and players were not using all buffs at once, this would be less of a concern, but until then I agree with removing the VFX for them over a long period of time.

 

I really hate Air's embrace .effects... it is horrible ....

 

Heck! Is that pic at the top something that was taken indoors or outdoors?

 

Outdoors Indoors is even harder to see (especially if its dark in the dungeon).

 

Please do away with this one... the constant tornado is horrible...

 

Sometimes less is more.

 

Thanks for the feedback. We often test against only 1-3 at a time so we don't see this problem during implementation.

We are currently discussing several solutions.

Some we can solve by toning down individual VFX but we are also talking about systemic solutions like toning down the visibility as you stack them.

BTW you look like a badass with all those powers!

 

I will definitely make a pass at toning down all the persistent buffs -- we have some good ideas for solutions to the overall problem. Thanks for the good feedback. And I agree with Starr, your character does look like a badass with all that magic going on!

 

The new Air's embrace is cool looking, but it's way too strong visual for a utility buff that's usually always on. Even if it's the only buff running, it dominates the screen.

 

I reported these early in QA and was told they were WIP so I expect some will be toned down or max number of buff displays perhaps.

I think a shield spell effect should stay up all the time but not something like buffing int.

 

I like this option.

 

Just noticed the new VFX for enlightenment. Very cool!

I hope the STR and DEX buffs get passes like this one.

 

They do have effects now. I think we have encountered the place where you can get too much "lens flare" now.

 

Wow, those look great too! Love the DEX buff now.

 

So zone in blue sparkle quadruples with the dex buff.

 

Thanks for the compliment - as you know, battle mages must look good, whilst immolating the weak.

Here's a list of buffs & spells I run simultaneously most of the time (all have VFX):

Buffs:
Strength of Earth
Enlightenment
Air's Embrace
Celestial Blessing

Regenerative Healing:
Soothing Rain
Elysian Illumination

Magic Shield:
Death
-or-
Immolate

Other:
Chaotic Feedback
Light Spell

VFX Gear:
Bonesteel Crown

A lot of the time I'm standing in a Ring of Fire, stacked with a Meteor Shower...

So that's roughly 10-13 heavily VFX-enabled abilities for one deck going at the same time.

And yeah, its a maelstrom of badassitry - but...sometimes its all I can see. Compound that with other party members all similarly buffed.

Hope that info helps. Thanks for looking into it.