Guild Wars 2

I’ve played almost every mmo out there(except asian ones) and i don’t remember i had a problem with targeting in any of them.
I am constantly losing my target during fights , sometimes my target just disappears during a channeling spell and i have to double check every time i target someone. is there any kind of sticky targetting in this game?

Well when you move your camera or view off your target the focus or target disappears and you stop fighting.

i have to admit that i dont have any problems with targeting?

If you locked on a target (tab) it should be locked until the enemy goes into stealth or creates mesmer illusions.

Maybe you have a hotkey unintentionality assigned that somehow breaks ur target?

TxJBxT.9370:

Well when you move your camera or view off your target the focus or target disappears and you stop fighting.

but even then the target is still locked on

There are some options for targeting under the combat settings menu. I suggest you use them

Ofc i tried them, I think the problem is when you click your left mouse button to move game just unselect your target. It is very annoying.

may i ask you why you are using ur left mouse button to move ? =)

this game is definitely designed to usw WASD to move that should fix ur problem

eladox.3457:

Ofc i tried them, I think the problem is when you click your left mouse button to move game just unselect your target. It is very annoying.

I don’t have that problem at all. My target stays locked no matter where I move the camera. Also use the right mouse button to move the camera, you shouldn’t be pressing the left button.

Lock target, new target, closest target, camera target – play with the controls and keybinds to set them as your average mmo.

i’ve got the same issue and it’s one of the most annoying things ever, it might have something to do with autotargeting being turned off but i don’t know

Syn.3459:

i’ve got the same issue and it’s one of the most annoying things ever, it might have something to do with autotargeting being turned off but i don’t know

ur using the left mouse button to move ? just curious

eladox.3457:

I’ve played almost every mmo out there(except asian ones) and i don’t remember i had a problem with targeting in any of them.
I am constantly losing my target during fights , sometimes my target just disappears during a channeling spell and i have to double check every time i target someone. is there any kind of sticky targetting in this game?

Ha, yeah I noticed this too. There’s no option to disable target loss when clicking on the ground. I looked all over for it, just not there. Just takes an adjustment to how you play.

i love the combat but reluctantly have to agree with OP, in the middle of a lot of fights, i suddenly notice ive lost my target and have to retab for it. its not super annoying me atm but it does happen a lot.

Deepblue.1237:

may i ask you why you are using ur left mouse button to move ? =)

this game is definitely designed to usw WASD to move that should fix ur problem

we use the mouse to move by holding down both buttons but it often loses target, i cant use WASD because that hand is used for the ability keybinds.

Kaden.3162:

i love the combat but reluctantly have to agree with OP, in the middle of a lot of fights, i suddenly notice ive lost my target and have to retab for it. its not super annoying me atm but it does happen a lot.

Go to the settings menu and:

Untick “Stop Auto attacking on target change”
Tick “Autotargeting”
Tick “Promote skill target”

This way you can run in to a battle and simply start attacking, and the nearest enemy you are facing will become the locked on target. It will not lose focus when moving around unless you do something to change target, such as clicking somewhere with left mouse button or pressing tab.

I have the opposite problem. I tend to lock on random targets further away than what I’m actually fighting (without ever using the tab key). This has killed me many times in PvP.

Wormfodder.2051:

I have the opposite problem. I tend to lock on random targets further away than what I’m actually fighting (without ever using the tab key). This has killed me many times in PvP.

I think that auto-targeting selects the enemy closest to centre-screen, rather than which enemy is actually closest to you. Got me killed a few times as well.

There should be an option to choose how auto-target works in my opinion.

I have seen similar things happen , but I dont know if I lost my lock my movement or by interupt. I use my mouse for movement as well and the mapping of my mouse for movement is in NO way the cause of this issue. GW2 is designed much better than that … and so is the razormouse and razor keyboard I use.

I am also curious if GW2 uses the characters line of sight to determine the auto-target … the player can see the mob standing closer and behind him … but your characters POV would not. I do cursor clk my targets if I notice one really close … it it just more dependable than relying on the tab button in a massive fight.

I experience frequent targeting issues, but not exactly the same kind.

My issue is tab targeting. I play a Necro. I tend to round up 5 or more mobs and fight them all at once. So imagine this scenario if you will: Necro facing 5 mobs. They are all in melee range. About 200 ft away are some more mobs, but they are not currently in combat. I press tab to switch from one of my current 5 targets to another of the 5, and…. I target one of the mobs that was 200 ft away. And even better, all of my minions (why I dont use them anymore) run to the targets that were like 200 feet away.

So yeah… Why doesnt tab targeting just select targets that are close? Like if you already have a target locked and you press tab, it should select the next closest target, not target things that are off screen or target mobs that are more than double my staff’s range from me.

I also have targeting issues in this game.

I’ll often lose my target when moving my camera to get a better view of a fight, or I’ll end up targeting a friendly or something.

Tab targeting often takes me forever to get to the target I want, even though it seems like it should be the next in line.

Wormfodder.2051:

I have the opposite problem. I tend to lock on random targets further away than what I’m actually fighting (without ever using the tab key). This has killed me many times in PvP.

This. I don’t pvp, but during champion boss fights I tend to make things interesting by unintentionally aggroing any and all nearby wildlife during the duration of said fight. On the flip-side, bonus xp.

ituhata.6830:

Wormfodder.2051:

I have the opposite problem. I tend to lock on random targets further away than what I’m actually fighting (without ever using the tab key). This has killed me many times in PvP.

This. I don’t pvp, but during champion boss fights I tend to make things interesting by unintentionally aggroing any and all nearby wildlife during the duration of said fight. On the flip-side, bonus xp.

Same thing happens here. I’ll have to take a more indepth look at my views, because I keybind and don’t keyboard turn. It sucks being locked on and kiting someone, and then just randomly pulling extra things as an elementalist. ): Normally means death to squishy.

for ARENA-NET, a suggested fix:
make it so that if a player HOLDS DOWN the left mouse button, no target is selected.

I wish targeting was taken away! I just came out of Tera and I have to say their combat is exceptional.

No targeting = good. This game almost does it – if I am attacking something I have targeted and I move closer to another target it seems to re-acquire the closest one which I do like.

I’ll admit, I’m using XPadder with my old sidewinder joypad which has made combat a lot easier – not a big fan of extensive keyboard use.
Targeting’s still not perfect, but the Dpad seems more natural than the keyboard.

The targeting and camera drives me up the wall in this game.
I kind of wish there was a more Action-RPG alternative to the control scheme.

I will say, though, taking off ‘Autotarget’ and instead binding the ‘Autotarget Lock’ hotkey added alot to my quality of life for this game. It locks the targeting onto whatever is being blue highlighted by the center of your camera, for however long you hold down the button. If you hit something else during this time, you’ll still keep that target. When you let it go or click it while hovering your center screen over an empty space, the target clears.

There’s still some kinks, (esp: it’s range limit), but for the most part I like it more. It’s a very ‘binary’ targeting system, for lack of a better word. Your default state is targeting nothing just throwing skills off the hip onto whatever has the grave misfortune of being in your way, but once you do commit to a target you can’t accidentally shake it for nothing. Since adopting it, I no longer find myself randomly unloading a burst skill onto a mob minding it’s own business on the horizon while kiting something nasty, or trying to leap away from trouble only to go sailing back into the fray.

Kaden.3162:

i love the combat but reluctantly have to agree with OP, in the middle of a lot of fights, i suddenly notice ive lost my target and have to retab for it. its not super annoying me atm but it does happen a lot.

As a horrifyingly reckless low level (17) warrior, I find that I can kill entire groups without ever actually targeting something. Depending on my location relative to mobs, my autoattack and burst skills when either dual wielding or using a 2H sword often hit more than one mob.

eladox.3457:

I’ve played almost every mmo out there(except asian ones) and i don’t remember i had a problem with targeting in any of them.
I am constantly losing my target during fights , sometimes my target just disappears during a channeling spell and i have to double check every time i target someone. is there any kind of sticky targetting in this game?

I’m going to assume something here, that the “better” players are the ones with the problem. I’m really not trying to sound egotistical here, but I’ve done pretty well in most games I’ve played, I also find the targetting system a bit dodgy. There’s some in the guild who say they don’t have a problem, then there’s other’s who do, who also are generally pretty decent gamers.

I see some here saying move with your keys not mouse, I see others saying use RMB not LMB. Firstly sure, no issue if I back peddle. Secondly, same issue no matter which mouse you use to turn.

As a ranger, it makes it very hard to do 180/360 jump shots to kite with. In fact, they are pretty impossible since it slows you down in the air when you turn direction. There is a cone of fire in which you can strafe and keep firing but obviously there’s a deadzone to that cone, and keeping it even at the max possible degree before you start to stop shooting, means anyone can catch up. The further you are into the cone the quicker they will catch you. Some abilities even allow you to jump backwards but again, if you run away and do a 180 to use the ability, you’ll either halt for a second before you turn to run, or again, slow down.

So as I said, it seems the higher the skill cap, the harder it is to keep the same target, I’ve also found on occasion someone/something blocking your LoS can switch the target, but I’m yet to test that extensively, more an observation. If however, I play in a casual sense, and back peddle, or stop and shoot or anything along those lines, you can keep your target with no issue. It’s not so bad on full endurance, but when you’ve rolled a couple times, you need to slow down and lower your skill level :P

Sounds weird I know. I’m sure people will disagree but so far, that seems the case regardless. I don’t find it much of a coincidence that the better players are having this issue while others are not either. Still, each has their own opinion, none more valid than an others since that’s all it is, an opinion, and as of yet, no hard evidence to prove either way.

Major issue in this game compared to others is that holding click to turn the camera will target players (or change targets in general) if the mouse is over a target when you start. Targeting needs to be the release of the mouse button to avoid this problem; it makes targeting extremely difficult in combat in a game where mobility and control of your camera is very crucial. I have many carmera/targeting issues during siege in WvW.

never had this issue. if you truly want to fix the problem then start with your keybinds, playstyle, mouse

if you wanna complain to feel better then just keep on in this thread i guess, just won’t fix anything because nothing in gw2 is broken.

I don’t have any issues with the targeting myself. I do notice however that sometimes I lose the targets portrait but still have the right mob targeted and taking damage.

….not broken exactly.
But something can be entirely functional and still not fluid or comfortable. After a while the targeting should start to seep into your subconscious and be a thing of muscle memory you just don’t think about. But I still hollar indignantly at my screen like it’s some blonde trick walking down a dark alley in a horror movie, when comparatively at this point, I’d reached that autopilot state of mind in WoW, LoL, and TF2.

I’m actually wondering if we can swap some Autohotkey or Fancy Programmable Mouse advice over here or is that sort of thing just not kosher on the O-boards? I don’t want to condone waltzing on any kind of slippery slopes, but putting some basic jerry-riggable control options on the table might help some folks get comfortable.

I have camera problems all the time, targeting…. not so much

Lazrial.1083:

Deepblue.1237:

may i ask you why you are using ur left mouse button to move ? =)

this game is definitely designed to usw WASD to move that should fix ur problem

we use the mouse to move by holding down both buttons but it often loses target, i cant use WASD because that hand is used for the ability keybinds.

Wow – I guess each player handles their character differently, but this seems incredibly awkward to me.

I generally use WASD (forward, strafing, and rarely backward), using the mouse to turn if I need to. This is in addition to left hand keybinds 1-0.

Having PvPed in MMOs for the past decade, I can’t imagine relying on WASD alone to move. I use them in conjuction with holding the right mouse button to be able to have total and extremely quick control over my character.

That said, I do have some issue with the targetting in the game. Not gamebreaking, but it does frustrate me sometimes. Luckily, I can tab target back quickly enough. BUT… I would like it if they made it a little harder to actually lose your target and go targetless.

Amos.8760:

Lazrial.1083:

Deepblue.1237:

may i ask you why you are using ur left mouse button to move ? =)

this game is definitely designed to usw WASD to move that should fix ur problem

we use the mouse to move by holding down both buttons but it often loses target, i cant use WASD because that hand is used for the ability keybinds.

Wow – I guess each player handles their character differently, but this seems incredibly awkward to me.

I generally use WASD (forward, strafing, and rarely backward), using the mouse to turn if I need to. This is in addition to left hand keybinds 1-0.

It is a little awkward. But so is trying to run forward and cast a certain spell, 2 or 5 for example.

I’ll use both mouse buttons to move on occasion when I need to keep moving and cast a certain spell, but 95% of the time I use WASD.

Izziee.8392:

eladox.3457:

I’ve played almost every mmo out there(except asian ones) and i don’t remember i had a problem with targeting in any of them.
I am constantly losing my target during fights , sometimes my target just disappears during a channeling spell and i have to double check every time i target someone. is there any kind of sticky targetting in this game?

I’m going to assume something here, that the “better” players are the ones with the problem. I’m really not trying to sound egotistical here, but I’ve done pretty well in most games I’ve played, I also find the targetting system a bit dodgy. There’s some in the guild who say they don’t have a problem, then there’s other’s who do, who also are generally pretty decent gamers.

I see some here saying move with your keys not mouse, I see others saying use RMB not LMB. Firstly sure, no issue if I back peddle. Secondly, same issue no matter which mouse you use to turn.

As a ranger, it makes it very hard to do 180/360 jump shots to kite with. In fact, they are pretty impossible since it slows you down in the air when you turn direction. There is a cone of fire in which you can strafe and keep firing but obviously there’s a deadzone to that cone, and keeping it even at the max possible degree before you start to stop shooting, means anyone can catch up. The further you are into the cone the quicker they will catch you. Some abilities even allow you to jump backwards but again, if you run away and do a 180 to use the ability, you’ll either halt for a second before you turn to run, or again, slow down.

So as I said, it seems the higher the skill cap, the harder it is to keep the same target, I’ve also found on occasion someone/something blocking your LoS can switch the target, but I’m yet to test that extensively, more an observation. If however, I play in a casual sense, and back peddle, or stop and shoot or anything along those lines, you can keep your target with no issue. It’s not so bad on full endurance, but when you’ve rolled a couple times, you need to slow down and lower your skill level :P

Sounds weird I know. I’m sure people will disagree but so far, that seems the case regardless. I don’t find it much of a coincidence that the better players are having this issue while others are not either. Still, each has their own opinion, none more valid than an others since that’s all it is, an opinion, and as of yet, no hard evidence to prove either way.

WTF is a “better player” btw a “better player” would know that doing “spin jumps” does not make you immune to damage, and also dosent make you any harder to hit than just turning around without jumping.

also…..i keybind like anyone else but in this game it is necessary to strafe with q and e so instead of using both mouse buttons to move forward like i would normally do i use q w e plus right mb for turning. middle finger and ring finger for skills 12345.

so plz dont give me this “better player” crap

bottom line….stop hilding both lmb and rmb, you are doing it wrong.

i mean really you should be adapting, i would strafe circles around your corpse in wvw

@OP , have you tried this?

Under hotkeys if you scroll down to targeting, by default tab is bound to target NEXT enemy, this cycles through targets and if you hit it twice by mistake it will target the next enemy, and the only way to reacquire your nearest target will be to clear your target and start again. You will probably want to change Tab to Target NEAREST enemy. This will allow you to easily and more consistently target the one you are pursuing and not the one to the far left of him.

I think what needs to happen is, selecting a new target needs to happen on key RELEASE instead of key PRESS. So when you are attacking something and you wanna look around, you left click to move your camera. As of right now if you do that and your mouse was over anything thing else at all, whether it be friendly, pet, or object. It will select what ever your mouse was over as well as turn your camera. Very unintuitive/

Dortmunder.9572:

Amos.8760:

Lazrial.1083:

Deepblue.1237:

may i ask you why you are using ur left mouse button to move ? =)

this game is definitely designed to usw WASD to move that should fix ur problem

we use the mouse to move by holding down both buttons but it often loses target, i cant use WASD because that hand is used for the ability keybinds.

Wow – I guess each player handles their character differently, but this seems incredibly awkward to me.

I generally use WASD (forward, strafing, and rarely backward), using the mouse to turn if I need to. This is in addition to left hand keybinds 1-0.

It is a little awkward. But so is trying to run forward and cast a certain spell, 2 or 5 for example.

I’ll use both mouse buttons to move on occasion when I need to keep moving and cast a certain spell, but 95% of the time I use WASD.

I can do that without any problems, but I have a wicked combination of a gaming keyboard and long piano-player fingers. My 7 through = keys are right above my 1-6 keys, making for easy ability use. and they are far enough from W that I only get slight interference when using 3.

Welcome to Action-driven combat within MMORPG!
What if you set your target to middle mouse button?
On PvP especially, movement is indeed a key!

tldr: yes a targeting radius is needed.

vrgadin.1943:

Izziee.8392:

eladox.3457:

I’ve played almost every mmo out there(except asian ones) and i don’t remember i had a problem with targeting in any of them.
I am constantly losing my target during fights , sometimes my target just disappears during a channeling spell and i have to double check every time i target someone. is there any kind of sticky targetting in this game?

I’m going to assume something here, that the “better” players are the ones with the problem. I’m really not trying to sound egotistical here, but I’ve done pretty well in most games I’ve played, I also find the targetting system a bit dodgy. There’s some in the guild who say they don’t have a problem, then there’s other’s who do, who also are generally pretty decent gamers.

I see some here saying move with your keys not mouse, I see others saying use RMB not LMB. Firstly sure, no issue if I back peddle. Secondly, same issue no matter which mouse you use to turn.

As a ranger, it makes it very hard to do 180/360 jump shots to kite with. In fact, they are pretty impossible since it slows you down in the air when you turn direction. There is a cone of fire in which you can strafe and keep firing but obviously there’s a deadzone to that cone, and keeping it even at the max possible degree before you start to stop shooting, means anyone can catch up. The further you are into the cone the quicker they will catch you. Some abilities even allow you to jump backwards but again, if you run away and do a 180 to use the ability, you’ll either halt for a second before you turn to run, or again, slow down.

So as I said, it seems the higher the skill cap, the harder it is to keep the same target, I’ve also found on occasion someone/something blocking your LoS can switch the target, but I’m yet to test that extensively, more an observation. If however, I play in a casual sense, and back peddle, or stop and shoot or anything along those lines, you can keep your target with no issue. It’s not so bad on full endurance, but when you’ve rolled a couple times, you need to slow down and lower your skill level :P

Sounds weird I know. I’m sure people will disagree but so far, that seems the case regardless. I don’t find it much of a coincidence that the better players are having this issue while others are not either. Still, each has their own opinion, none more valid than an others since that’s all it is, an opinion, and as of yet, no hard evidence to prove either way.

WTF is a “better player” btw a “better player” would know that doing “spin jumps” does not make you immune to damage, and also dosent make you any harder to hit than just turning around without jumping.

also…..i keybind like anyone else but in this game it is necessary to strafe with q and e so instead of using both mouse buttons to move forward like i would normally do i use q w e plus right mb for turning. middle finger and ring finger for skills 12345.

so plz dont give me this “better player” crap

bottom line….stop hilding both lmb and rmb, you are doing it wrong.

i mean really you should be adapting, i would strafe circles around your corpse in wvw

I’m sorry? Where did I say spin jumps make you immune to damage? That’s a prime example, a better player would understand that being able to do a 360 while firing on the 180 means you can kite easily. Just so we’re clear hear, kiting does not mean “immune to damage” lol. It means you can fluidly keep running in the same direction (You know, away from the player?) while still being able to fire. You pretty much proved my point.

Tolmos.8395:

Having PvPed in MMOs for the past decade, I can’t imagine relying on WASD alone to move. I use them in conjuction with holding the right mouse button to be able to have total and extremely quick control over my character.

That said, I do have some issue with the targetting in the game. Not gamebreaking, but it does frustrate me sometimes. Luckily, I can tab target back quickly enough. BUT… I would like it if they made it a little harder to actually lose your target and go targetless.

WASD is garbage for movement and games should just get rid of it as default movement keys already. This is 2012 where mice come standard wit at least a mouse 4 and 5 buttons (mouse 4 is great for left strafing for example). WASD being binded to abilities during beta before I got my Razer Naga worked out really well.

Just an FYI … looked at the game settings. Tab defaults to “target next” and not “target closest”… anyone checked this little nugget out?

Izziee.8392:

I’m sorry? Where did I say spin jumps make you immune to damage? That’s a prime example, a better player would understand that being able to do a 360 while firing on the 180 means you can kite easily. Just so we’re clear hear, kiting does not mean “immune to damage” lol. It means you can fluidly keep running in the same direction (You know, away from the player?) while still being able to fire. You pretty much proved my point.

Fascinating, it actually let me log in…

Have you tried the turn around key? I forget its name… found it unbound, and put it on my mouse 4 button. ‘About face,’ or just ‘turn around’ – something like that. Basically does an instant 180, no cooldown, I guess to make up for the people using keyboard turning.

I don’t really kite though, I just use it for skills like Rush that consistently overshoot even a stationary target.

Why are you even locking onto mobs when you can just hold down your right mouse button and use it as a crosshair to highlight mobs? Gives you a lot more freedom to just whack away at anything, but sure I can understand if you’re in a boss fight that locking onto the boss is a good idea. I can recommend trying it.

To each his own though.

Didnt read all the responces because I am lazy and at work.

Dont tab target, you can lock onto mobs by looking at them and using a skill. There are times you will have to clear your target and take another one, but most of the time the auto-targetting works quite well.

Also skills in GW2 all have a very specific area of effect. What this means is that even if you have some dude 50 yards away targetted, when you hit auto-attack or another skill (with the exception of a few such as a Charge) you will hit whatever is directly in front of you.