Switching Target Difficulties

Is there a more reliable way to switch targets than double clicking the specific target I wanna attack? Cause, half the time my character just switches back to the previous target. I'm using bludgeoning and hit multiple targets, so tend to focus more on the closer one with the highest health while my splash damage hits the lower health adds. Also seem to have trouble keeping track of whether or not my target had switched as the indicator isn't very clear to me and half the time I'm attacking when the target isn't even in range.

I'd been playing Archery (which seemed easy to switch between targets) but switched to Wand/Mace and Shield and focusing on Death magic with Fire and Earth AoE thrown in to the mix.

 

And I'd add making it clear to whom you've switched to as it's easy to tab over enemies without it being visually obvious who you're now targeted on.

I constantly have problems vs. a pack of enemies hitting the target I want. Just yesterday soloing in Crag Foothills I had some nasty skeletons mixed in with the more standard variety and was in a pretty hairy fight, getting archered and maged while having 3 melees (and an opportunist wolf) in my face. I was getting low on health and desperately trying to finish off the skellies with lesser health and couldn't hit who I wanted because the "red box" for who you have targeted just isn't obvious enough when you have 4-5 health bars stacked on top of each other and everyone moving around.

Having some solid targeting and highlighting options is one of the really essential to MMO gaming improvements the game could use.

 

On this note, just a side-gripe, but it's impossible for combat to feel fun in this game when so much attention is diverted to watching the UI rather than what you are fighting. Ability CD management, misfires (from not being close enough) and this systems deck shuffling all take away from the action of combat IMO. I honestly haven't bothered with the deck system and when I do get around to using it I'll most likely delegate it to 1 or 2 buttons with abilities I have, but would rather not keep track of.

 

I share some of that sentiment, and you're right, that probably is a factor in having difficulty knowing who I'm hitting at times.

The deck is interesting for me now (initially was simply frustrating as a newer player who hadn't figured out how to make the deck do what you want to do without having to fiddle with an extra sub-mechanic). But even now that I feel like I have the deck mostly down, I'm frequently swinging at archers and mages who have since moved out of my wheelhouse that I didn't notice because of annoyingly watching the UI to drag a combo or see what card has come up on hotbar slot 7-9.

I wouldn't play the game if combat wasn't overall something I found fun (that is to say I do have a lot of fun). But there are aspects of the deck system **requiring so much attention on watching it** that do make for plenty of unfun moments. :/

My instinct had been to try to avoid using the deck and just lock everything down; go more of the fire-and-forget-it route. But this path has some major disadvantages:

1. can't make advantageous combos or stacked glyphs without randomized cards
2. focus cost is higher if a glyph is locked
3. 10 slots really makes it a struggle to get everything you need in your arsenal (I think even 1-2 unlocked slots make this hard to manage)