Guild Wars 2

I tried to get this answered in the AMA. It was either the wrong question for the type or got buried too fast.

Short version is, how does LOS work in this game? I have yet to figure it out. It seems every skill and every race have different LOS areas. So some can shoot over that rock with one skill and others can’t, even standing in the same spot.

Long Version:
I want to know how it should work so I can give meaningful feedback when it doesn’t. Honestly, I don’t know what is a bug.

I come from a game where I knew what line of sight was. “Feet to Feet”. It was that simple for every one. It was frustrating sometimes, but you knew if you got “Can’t see target” your feet couldn’t see your targets feet.

Here I can stand in one spot and target a mob/player/structure. Neither of us move, but one ability can hit and another will be obstructed. I also play a mesmer and I think phantoms line of sight is “Can I see the target? Okay, if I can see the target can I see the random spot the Phantom is summoned at? Okay, if those are true, can the phantom see the target from where it’s summoned? If so, summon the phantom.”

If that’s how it’s supposed to be? That’s all well and good. It feels like a bug though.

Phantom Summoning feels like a bug. Two abilities, that aren’t phantoms, where one hits and the other is obstructed feels like a bug. Different races having different “centers” of where it feels like LOS is feels like a bug. That’s not even counting AOEs.

All of this could be game features and just how the game goes, but I honestly don’t know. A short explanation would be nice of how LOS works for:
Phantoms, Projectiles, Ground Targeted Attacks, Basic Ranged/Melee, Anything else I didn’t include as of right now these all work differently even amongst the same category.

It’s an annoying fact of life that some skills have very different rules for LOS. I am by no means an expert on them all but the various pull skills are a good example. I can be standing on the wall of a keep in a spot where my staff skills are obstructed, but that doesn’t stop those on the ground from pulling me off the wall. This happens even when I’m well back using an arrow cart or other siege.

Yes, it’s a fact, but we should know how it works.

This works based on projectiles.

You’ll notice that projectiles hit certain parts of everything, being it a creature, or an object. No matter where you hit it, if your AoEs or projectiles do not hit that spot, you’ll get “misses”.

If there’s something in the way of a projectile from your characters ‘firing spot’ to the target’s ‘target pot’, it’ll be “obstructed”.

Eery model has a different spot set. While playable races try to keep that spot more or less in the same place regarldess of size and race, it does not happen for any race or object.
For example, Trebuchets have the ‘hit spot’ quite high, so you’ll often get misses with melee weapons as you don’t reach it, and “obstructed” with ranged as its own very model is preventing you from hitting its own ‘target’ spot.

What you’re saying matches what I’m seeing. Sadly, that means there’s no way to tell if something is obstructed or not per race you are per skill you’re using.

Could be the target spot is auto calculated based on the shape of the model, using a formula that would place it roughly chest height on a human. End result is that tall targets, unless manually relocated, get their spot placed overly high and so on.

Almost like the engine was built for PVP with roughly humanoid models first, and then extended to do open world PVE later…

I get obstructed when fireing at a gate in wvw.

I get obstructed while fighting underwater, while going up a low inclined slowly backwards (happened to me in dredgehaunts last night) while standing still on a hill that enemies can easily run up which usually ends up with the same result.

Invulnerable. Invulnerable. Invulnerable. Invulnerable. Invulnerable.

An excellent example is a Short Bow Thief.

Infiltrators Arrow is a direct ability. Wherever it lands, we teleport to.

Cluster Bomb is an indirect ability. The ability arcs, so we can hit objects behind something.

But like you said; abilities, even of similar nature, act differently across professions. Maybe it’s another bug that can be added to the already “lengthy” list.

Vexrm.6134:

I come from a game where I knew what line of sight was. “Feet to Feet”. It was that simple for every one. It was frustrating sometimes, but you knew if you got “Can’t see target” your feet couldn’t see your targets feet.

.

Lol sounds like an EQ2 player, the joys of sneaking past some thing by hiding behind a rock that just covered your toes.

LOS is easy, rangers are blind, no matter how clear the shot seems the mantra of obstructed will appear as your arrows fly through clean air.
Mobs in Orr can see the dust speck on the wing of a gnat in LA through a sheet of lead.
Plan accordingly.