Skill CD upon entering combat limits strategy

The problem with having all your skills start on CD when you switch to combat is really limiting play style.

For instance: There is a group of 4 targets. I want to pull them from a distance by Rooting one. Well, when I enter combat I have to stand there and wait...and wait...for my Root's CD to finish. Prior to that actually I would want to apply my buffs. So I have to wait for those as well. I am a patient person, so it's fine. I don't mind standing there waiting on my opening skills to be ready even though it's a pain in the bum. But what about if I'm in a group? "Oh, hang on everyone. I'm waiting on my cooldowns so we can go. Just 45 more seconds." That isn't going to fly.

So right now as it stands, my play style revolves around which skills I don't have to wait on CD at the start of combat. And that should not be. It is limiting strategy and opening pulls. And nobody wants to stand around waiting for all their skills to finish cooling down before they've even fought.

Can we please change this in R23?

Also, when I want to switch out of combat, I've noticed that it won't switch until some of my skills' CD have finished. Or something prevents it from immediately switching back and the only thing I can visually see it corresponds with is my CD timer on combat skills.

 

Um if know you are going to a fight why not just enter combat mode earlier, I understand this is a problem if I am running around and get yoinked into a instance and into combat but not yet ready to fight.

The cool downs are there for valid reasons

I don't like the unprepared fight one but that is why it is there, because you are unprepared

 

Um, I always enter combat earlier. My point is, it should not take that long to get prepared. I understand what cooldowns are for, thank you. But the initial CD when switching from non-combat to combat should be a set global, not individual.

Example: If I enter Greymark. I immediately switch to combat mode. It's a long run to the first group of mobs as we know, right? My buffs are STILL not ready by the time I get there or I am waiting on one or two. So I'm all pumped. I'm ready to go. I want to pop my buffs before I charge in. But oh, I still need to stand there for several more seconds waiting on them to be ready. But if I don't want to stand there and wait on those skills and I simply rush in...this forcing me to limit my opening pull or CC strategies.

 

What is the point of the initial cooldown?

I thought it was intended as a penalty for a locked deck (penalties which nobody liked), but I also thought that locked deck penalties were meant to be gone now. Is it a legacy thing that hasn't cleared away yet?

 

I assumed it was a consequence of switching in and out of combat, regardless of deck type. I do not think there should be NO consequence to switching, but that the first CD upon entering should just be a global amount of time across the bar. But I am not for certain Quenton. It could be something that just hasn't been re-adjusted yet so having the skills use their individual normal CDs could be a placeholder? I hope that is the case.

 

Locked decks are not gone, I have ALL my skills locked on one of my decks.

The penalty is preparedness, that is about it :-(

 

Defense stance has a 60 30 second cooldown. That is a lot of time for preparation and makes no sense.

 

That's a good example. Also, they only do this if they're locked. When I enter combat all my buffs that are locked are on their CDs right away. While my unlocked spells start popping up, ready to go and no CD. A global CD of like 10 seconds on the locked glyphs would make better sense for switching into combat mode.

 

I agree that it is troublesome not to have all your glyphs immediately available when you enter combat mode. As you say, in a place like Greymark Forest you don't get immediately attacked when you enter the scene, so it is only a slight annoyance. But when you enter the outskirts of Owl's Nest, for example, you are attacked immediately by a bear and several spiders with no ability to retaliate other than using the weapon you draw (via free or auto attack). Of course, this need only happen once per such area. Now when I enter the Owl's Nest scene I hit the ground running

There still needs to be some kind of delay when switching from combat to non-combat mode and back, otherwise players could avoid cooldowns altogether by pressing "Z" twice in rapid succession.

 

Errr defensive stance has 30 seconds cool down....
Putting long cool down spells locked is bad. By expérimentations and training you could balance your deck and make it much more effective.
For example, keep defensive stance unlocked; if you train it, you will have more glyphs so it will increase the probability that the defensive stance will appear on your bar and so you could cast it well before than if it was locked.

I dont know the true reason why locked glyphs have a cool down beginning when you enter in combat mode... It surely must be related to some exploit...

 

30 seconds is still too long but thanks for the correction

The effects of the stance do not last more than 1 battle so every battle I should wait 30 seconds before getting started...seem punishing for no reason.

 

The spells on your non-combat bar should have a global CD as well of maybe 5 secs, so switching back and forth to heal and gain focus faster is less convenient, carries more of a penalty. Then when you switch back to combat again...the first CD for all the locked skills=a set, global amount too of say 5 secs. I think 5 secs either direction seems fair.

 

I believe the reason for the cooldown is because you can have heal spells, foods, potions, etc on your non-combat bar and simply switching in and out of combat gives you access to those static (locked if you will) skills without many negative impacts. The only negative really is the cooldown when returning to combat mode.

I think a better solution to this issue would be to place cooldowns on the non-combat bar instead. This should include the start of the faster regens as well as hot bar icons. That way, if you get jumped and go into combat mode, you have options right away. But if you want to switch out for the faster regen and/or heals and potions... there should be like a 10-20 second cooldown before those things become available after a fight. This basically produces the same result, only in a more flexible way to handle the surprise attacks.