Guild Wars 2

a rough estimate of my experience says that tab on target has a success rate (targeting the correct enemy) of about 60%. This is abysmal.

There also doesn’t seem to be any way to prioritize your preferred targets in any way.

You’d think that tab on target would target the enemy closest to you but it can’t even manage to do that.

Is target on tab run by RNG? Anet seems to love RNG so I can see this.

Q: “Why don’t you just click your targets, huh? l2p scrub”

A: Because necro pets and other various targets clutter the screen. Good luck trying to target a brown asura necro blobbled up in his minions.

It seems I’ve posted to the wrong Forum.

My apologies. Would a mod be able to move it someplace more suitable?

Tab: Pick the farthest object.

Closest Target: Pick the farthest object.

Auto Target: Pick the farthest object.

If no object is near:

Tab: Pick the farthest enemy.

Closest Target: Pick the farthest enemy.

Auto Target: Pick the farthest enemy.

Seriously, give us an option to prioritize whatever we want (Champs, Vets, Closest Enemy [regardless of rank and ignoring objects], Objects).

Let’s also not forget to mention that for some unknown reason targets will drop. And this has been happening for at least 6 months.

And then you try to tab target to get back to the thing right in front of you and instead select a target that may as well be on a different continent.

The targeting fixes they introduced an update or two ago didn’t help things at all.

The target drops when you use done ground targeting moves. Annoys me to no end on a mesmer.

The targeting system does prioritise. It goes something like players, champions, etc.

Wonky targeting system over a year from launch? No problem!
Living story bro. It’s totally worth every programmer and developer’s attention.
Who needs to fix bugs when nothing in the game lasts longer than a month?

I’ll admit the targeting system is not as good as it should be.

I adapted to click tab rapidly till i get right target. Bad thing is, my toon continues to attack old targets for a second or so

And your suggestions are…?

Phy.2913:

And your suggestions are…?

Target highlighting.

When your crosshair (center of the screen) falls on a mob, it glows a faint color to let you know you will target THIS exact enemy when you hit Tab.

Tab targeting is so wonky because it ignores targets which aren’t in your PoV and you cycle through all targets in that area.
In my experience alot of mmos don’t have a combination of those three factors (Closest target+cycle through every target+ only targets in your PoV) with Tab targeting usually you are stuck with your closest target. I guess they thought it makes everything easier.

If you can manage with that it gets a bit easier. In addition to that i use next/previous target in case i want to “re-adjust”.

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

And your suggestions are…?

Target highlighting.

When your crosshair (center of the screen) falls on a mob, it glows a faint color to let you know you will target THIS exact enemy when you hit Tab.

That would be just as wonky as the current system.

The targeting system is much worse since they improved it. It will even prioritise some non-aggressive (yellow) targets over hostiles! I could live with some of the mad quirks of the auto-targeting system if there were alternatives, but the only alternative of target closest now does’t do that, it just does the same stupid ANet-knows best silly system.

Ideally we need to have:

Target closest
Target next (closest)
Target highest priority (ANet crazy rules; they are sometimes useful)

Currently we only have ANet crazy target.

Its your preference really, I dont really like the closest target system because I rank enemies in terms of threat, and I dont want to target the trash mob next to me.

I find that the targeting system never does what you think it will. Even after all this time of playing with it, i would say 90% of time it has a mind of its own. It really does make some fights a lot harder than they have to be. Also, mouse targeting seems to be just as bad.

I think one of the problems is that in all the booms and bangs of battles you cant tell what you actually have targeted.

I have re-written the the auto-targeting description to more accurately describe it’s effect. You’re welcome ANet.

“If you use a skill with nothing targeted, the game will automatically select an obstructed or out of range target for you.”

I wish I was joking but 90% of the time, that’s what it does.

Also clicking the monsters isn’t any easier because more often than not there will be players, minions or pets in the way. Why no option to disable clicking these? I’m not a Monk so why would I want to click players or there pets etc. in PvE? Then after not being able to click the monster because friendlies are in the way, resorting to using auto-target which then selects anything but the monster in front of you is infuriating. All the while you are getting battered by monsters without this problem.

I honestly wish there was a “target enemy with least health” option-would be so useful as a solo player when dealing with tons of enemies while in downed state (targeting while in downed state is a pain, never mind clicking on enemies.)

The current POV targeting system is uber restrictive-it’s incredible that GW1, with such low tech (in comparison) had a much better targeting system (and I am not one of the nostalgic players that complain all the time about how “better” GW1 is.) Targeting nearest often doesn’t work, because it doesn’t allows you to target enemies you don’t see (not talking about stealth, but clearly up-close enemies that somehow you are “not supposed” to see, much like FPS games, which this game isn’t, and GW1 wasn’t-even worse when you know the enemy is there hitting you but because of camera limitations you are not allowed to “see”/target this hostile.)

Perhaps some of these problems would improve if they work on their camera/POV issues. If I was going to “complain” about one technical aspect of GW2 it is the camera, making some areas/aspects of the game way more difficult than they should be (basically forcing players to overcome the technical limitations of the game in addition to the encounter in question.) From jumping puzzles to battles in close quarters, this shouldn’t be-a bird’s eye view is WAY better than an up-close view when in close-quarters or behind walls.

(In short, there’s no excuse for letting the camera view get in the way of gameplay-it’s not fun and shouldn’t be part of the challenge. A big Charr shouldn’t have a harder time with jumping puzzles than a tiny Asura JUST because of these camera issues.)

(Added the camera issue above because I feel it is also currently affecting how targeting works, especially in messy battles. Other than it being a technical limitation, I can’t believe it could be logically excused as “part of the game” or intended gameplay.)

Paul.4081:

I have re-written the the auto-targeting description to more accurately describe it’s effect. You’re welcome ANet.

“If you use a skill with nothing targeted, the game will automatically select an obstructed or out of range target for you.”

I wish I was joking but 90% of the time, that’s what it does.

Also clicking the monsters isn’t any easier because more often than not there will be players, minions or pets in the way. Why no option to disable clicking these? I’m not a Monk so why would I want to click players or there pets etc. in PvE? Then after not being able to click the monster because friendlies are in the way, resorting to using auto-target which then selects anything but the monster in front of you is infuriating. All the while you are getting battered by monsters without this problem.

Lol true +1
You forgot one thing:
“If you use a skill with nothing targeted, the game will automatically select an obstructed or out of range target for you.”
… or neutral monster for you.

The one troublesome thing about targeting is that it uses center of screen as a priority in both Next (tab) and Nearest. And that priority is locked at 1200 range, no matter what your furthest range skill is.

Also this priority target uses line of sight, so if a projectile would be obscured, the target is ignored and another is selected instead.

I am not sure, but once no target is within a certain radius of screen center, the targeting priority of Next becomes from right to left across screen.

ANet kinda mucked up all this with their recent prioritized targeting, putting hostile characters and champions on top of the list if no target is selected.

Phy.2913:

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

And your suggestions are…?

Target highlighting.

When your crosshair (center of the screen) falls on a mob, it glows a faint color to let you know you will target THIS exact enemy when you hit Tab.

That would be just as wonky as the current system.

What kind of sense does that even make?

Why is there always someone on this forum opposing any sort of obvious improvements to the game? Like that crowd that opposed the LFG tool or Autoloot?

It’s just – What.

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

And your suggestions are…?

Target highlighting.

When your crosshair (center of the screen) falls on a mob, it glows a faint color to let you know you will target THIS exact enemy when you hit Tab.

That would be just as wonky as the current system.

What kind of sense does that even make?

Why is there always someone on this forum opposing any sort of obvious improvements to the game? Like that crowd that opposed the LFG tool or Autoloot?

It’s just – What.

Because if there’s an enemy in front of you, but you want to target a smaller enemy 20ft behind them, that target system wont be able to do it.

Phy.2913:

Because if there’s an enemy in front of you, but you want to target a smaller enemy 20ft behind them, that target system wont be able to do it.

But if you can see the enemy, you’d be able to target them by hovering over them. That’s the whole point.

That’s actually the exact type of problem that would go away if you use manual targeting instead of automatic.

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

Because if there’s an enemy in front of you, but you want to target a smaller enemy 20ft behind them, that target system wont be able to do it.

But if you can see the enemy, you’d be able to target them by hovering over them. That’s the whole point.

That’s actually the exact type of problem that would go away if you use manual targeting instead of automatic.

Manual selecting only works for same people who always spam skills in /map chat. Guess why?

ezd.6359:

Manual selecting only works for same people who always spam skills in /map chat. Guess why?

What?..

I wrote something wrong or you just don’t understand why?

Mostly I have no idea what you’re saying there.

I agree that targeting is messed up. I was hoping it would improve with the patch but it’s actually worse than ever. Really… ANet HAS to look at this and fix it. The problem is incredibly frustrating and has caused me to die because I end up hitting mobs I never intended nor wanted to.

If you use your skills with mouse, it is not a problem for you, you have no character control, so you dont lose anything. I always move, i hold right mouse button and use skills from keyboard. To select someone manually i must release right mouse button. It means – i will lose control and in many cases i will not be able to select right target because the camera will change its angle and i will lose the target from my field of view any way.

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

Because if there’s an enemy in front of you, but you want to target a smaller enemy 20ft behind them, that target system wont be able to do it.

But if you can see the enemy, you’d be able to target them by hovering over them. That’s the whole point.

That’s actually the exact type of problem that would go away if you use manual targeting instead of automatic.

You can do that now, why would your idea be any better. You’re just adding another layer of unreliability to the system.

Phy.2913:

Draco.2806:

Phy.2913:

Because if there’s an enemy in front of you, but you want to target a smaller enemy 20ft behind them, that target system wont be able to do it.

But if you can see the enemy, you’d be able to target them by hovering over them. That’s the whole point.

That’s actually the exact type of problem that would go away if you use manual targeting instead of automatic.

You can do that now, why would your idea be any better. You’re just adding another layer of unreliability to the system.

Yep, this is the exact behavior of the current system. It is just very subtle about it if you have names set to always show. The only way to tell then is by watching for a health bar popping up (and perhaps a faint glow if you have the FX settings high enough, but i leave it off because of that excessive bloom).

The problem, imo, is that the game mixes action targeting (crosshair/center of screen) with locked targeting (next/nearest/mouse). The controls seems to be in some half way state between a over the shoulder action mmo (with permanent mouse look, like you find in a first person shooter) and a classic mmo. End result is that we get the worst of both.

ezd.6359:

If you use your skills with mouse, it is not a problem for you, you have no character control, so you dont lose anything…

Exactly.

Standing still is almost never an option in this game, so pausing even for a second to manually select your target can easily spell your death.

Phy.2913:

You can do that now, why would your idea be any better.

Because this way you don’t have to drop everything and stay still to select your target while the mobs wail on you.

Also it’s better, faster and more precise. It’s called “mouselook”. It’s the hottest innovation of 1996.

I thought it was just me.Targeting is a kitten joke now.I have to click on target it is so bad.

For instance,I did not target an enemy infront of me,but one on a lower floor with a wall of rock between.The most frustrating thing for me in game at moment.Do they test this stuff out before making us swallow it?

digiowl.9620:

Yep, this is the exact behavior of the current system.

It isn’t though.

Right now it highlights the auto-selected target, whichever one it decides that’d be, rather than the one that’s actually in your crosshairs. You don’t get the same results when you use the mouse cursor.

Draco.2806:

ezd.6359:

If you use your skills with mouse, it is not a problem for you, you have no character control, so you dont lose anything…

Exactly.

Standing still is almost never an option in this game, so pausing even for a second to manually select your target can easily spell your death.

Phy.2913:

You can do that now, why would your idea be any better.

Because this way you don’t have to drop everything and stay still to select your target while the mobs wail on you.

Come on. It’s called “mouselook”. It’s the hottest innovation of 1996.

Yes, because mouse look will totally give you the ability to target 1 of 2 people standing on the same spot, or target the much smaller enemy behind the large melee enemy in your face. Think about how annoying your idea would be in the cramped confines of the tower.

It’s not the holy grail you think it would be.

Draco.2806:

digiowl.9620:

Yep, this is the exact behavior of the current system.

It isn’t. Right now highlights the auto-selected target, whichever one it decides that’d be, rather than the one that’s in your crosshairs. You don’t get the same results when you use the mouse cursor.

Define crosshair. Currently the game prioritize the mob nearest the center of screen unless you use mouse to click a different one, be it using Next, Nearest, or attacking with a skill (as long as within range, if not then the skill will fire in whatever direction the character is facing). To me that is crosshair based selection even tho there is no graphic on the screen to represent said crosshair.

I tested this months ago, and the behavior was consistent. The only thing that could muck it up was that the crosshair code behaved pretty much like a fired projectile, and so anything that would produce a “obscured” message (tree, wall, you name it) would make it go for a target further from the center.

Phy.2913:

Yes, because mouse look will totally give you the ability to target 1 of 2 people standing on the same spot

That it won’t. Nothing will.

Phy.2913:

or target the much smaller enemy behind the large melee enemy in your face.

That will work just fine.

Phy.2913:

Think about how annoying your idea would be in the cramped confines of the tower.

I think you somehow managed not to know what mouselook even is, or you wouldn’t be saying any of the above.

How. Why.

digiowl.9620:

Define crosshair.

Exact center of your screen. Usually marked with a dot in most action games.

digiowl.9620:

Currently the game prioritize the mob nearest the center of screen…

Prioritizes, but does not follow exactly. That’s why you often end up targeting things you didn’t mean to when there’s more than two targets on-screen.

With mouse cursor targeting you might make a mistake and pick the wrong target, but you can also always select the right one.

Not so much with tab-targetting. It always tries to assist you in selecting what it thinks is the “right” target, rather than the one you’re actually looking at.

digiowl.9620:

I tested this months ago, and the behavior was consistent.

I used to rely on it too. But you often end up in a situation where you can straight up NOT select the target in the center on your view because the targeting doesn’t want you to.

Also, tracking the faint glow of the highlight is really annoying.