Guild Wars 2

Been trying to do a boss event (Defeat the inquest’s golem mark II) and have been getting VERY frustrated with the targetting system in this game. Despite me clicking on the boss with my mouse, it keeps switching targets to the other golems and inquest agents, or lose targetting.

I am getting very annoyed by the targetting system switching targets when not being told to, even more annoyed that the click targetting which is ment to “lock” targets still manages to switch/lose targets.

This is a constant frustration for me in this game. Please fix it.

Note: this often occurs when I’m mashing #1 key cause auto-fire wont trigger for some reason. But also happens in close quarter fights, like just now, fighting 2 inquest agents, the targetting kept losing target despite being right there, and auto-fire working (so no key mashing).

as an addition pressing “Tab” to select target usually targets farthest mob instead of nearest one (actually it targets anything but nearest monster).

No I dont but have now turned it on to see what happens.

From the Wiki

Promote Skill Target — if you do not have a specific target selected, foes stepping into areas-of-effect created by your skills become your new target. (note: targeting a harvesting node/ally when trying to use a skill on a nearby foe will change the target to that foe with this option on) .

I’ll be checking that option, looks like it I’ll be turning it off.
Thanks for the info Jeffrey.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

Do you have “Promote skill target” turned on in Options?

Even if problem is in this option, then it is not working properly because you often change targets to allied players, pets, illusions etc (happens on warrior with GS#3 skill with simplified ground targeting).

Turn off Promote skill target “AND” Auto-Targeting

Let me see if I can explain this in full, as I understand targeting very well (minus what logic Tabbing through multiple enemies cycles by…).

There are two types of targets as I understand it: Skill Targets and Lock Targets.

When you have no target, using any skill that requires a target (anything not ground-targeted or self-AoE) will automatically acquire a Skill Target. This targeting is generally reliable as it usually locks on to whichever enemy you’re most looking at (is centered) (in contrast to Tab targeting not focusing on what’s centered). Your enemy will have the red marks associated with targeting, but it is intended as a quick and temporary targeting and can be broken by many means. If you look away far enough from your Skill Target, the lock will be removed and you’ll cease having it as a target to attack. If your current Skill Target is less centered than another enemy and you activate a skill requiring a target, a the new more-centered enemy will become your Skill Target, losing your previous target.

When you acquire a target by means outside of what makes a Skill Target, you will have a Lock Target. The difference is that it is intended to be far more permanent. You will not change to new targets even if you’re deliberately aiming skills at enemies other than the target. A Lock Target will not be broken by anything other than choosing a new target, going out of targeting range, or rare cases where the enemy can go into an untargetable state. This means you can even look away and move away and still fire skills behind you at your target (for the limited skills that can do so at least).

That’s the extent of my understanding that I trust is accurate. I think Tab-targeting is Lock Targets, but I don’t use it enough to confirm. I’m not sure about single clicks, I double click when I want a Lock Target.

The reason your auto attack is not working is because you’re breaking your target. Probably looking too far in one direction (this includes down, tough to maintain a Skill Target on dragons). Then when you start mashing your skill button, a new Skill Target is acquired on whoever you happen to be most looking at. Only tap your auto skill when you want to change targets, otherwise be mindful and careful of that. Learning to manage the two targeting types will help (and in case you did have a Lock Target, mind that enemies in special cases can break it. The dragons do it the most, flying up and being briefly unattackable for example, breaking the lock).

I personally like the Skill Target system. I change targets a lot, so I deliberately mash 1 in larger battles (in PvE).

Actually I read that they have fixed the problem when using camera sometimes you accedently “clicks” on another target.

This in my experience isn’t fixed and could be OP’s problem, as zbrkesbr said I now and then accidently target NPC’s, allies, pet’s, other enemies and well something different than what I was supposed to hit.

Sometimes I have to cyckle tab through targets until a get the little sucker I realy wanna wack and when I have my target I notice something is going to hit me, I press in right mouse button and duble tap A to dodge left and release right mouse button and oh I lost my target and I have to cycle through all targets again.
This has bothered me since release of the game and actually it seems to be a common problem in many other MMO’s.
I think my problem is that I usually use the right mouse button to move the camera and sometimes i click the mouse button not moving the camera since I change my mind kinda. (I usually deleate the option to rightclick-choose target but I havent found this in this game)

‘Target nearest’ targets the object that is closest to your mouse icon position. Right-click-turners may notice this more often.

This is a constant frustration to me as well, but I’ll see if the mentioned option resolves the issue for me.

Still I had other issues with the targeting yesterday when fighting the boss at the Temple of Melandru. Now that is a pretty big boss, but I was clicking on him for at least 15 minutes, and the game simply refused to select the boss. I must have selected every player, every ally and every pet surrounding him in the process of clicking this huge boss. I even tried specifically clicking on the upper half of his torso, so there could be no mistake in what I was trying to target. But still I could only select everything but the boss, even things my mouse wasn’t directly over.

Perhaps enemies should always have priority when targeting above allies? Or is it perhaps a latency issue? Lots of players at the same time hitting the same enemy, slowing down the game, making targeting unreliable?

I don’t have a problem losing targets – I generally use 1 (or another skill) to initiate combat, and sometimes single-click a mob to switch targets. I’ve recently tried using “target nearest” as well, and it works mostly.

My problem is this. When I press 1, facing a mob, (or sometimes in the middle of being attacked by one) – my ranger will target (with a bow) just about anything other than the mob directly in front of me or attacking me. Sometimes it will be an enemy too far away to hit, sometimes the furthest one in a group (meaning I get aggro from all of them) and sometimes (usually when I’m being attacked) a non-hostile critter or static target (supplies or something similar).

When using “target nearest” I understand that I will get static targets sometimes (although I’d rather they were excluded from this to be honest) – but when pressing 1 (or another attack key) to target the enemy directly ahead (or attacking me) I’d really prefer it NOT to auto-target something off-screen to the right that wasn’t hostile!

Using promote skill target does seemed to have solved my switching/losing target issue, BUT I had several issues of targetting selecting targets outside my line of sight or field of vision(FoV). For example I was killing a foe, once it died mashed #1 to get the next foe in my FoV, and it targetted a foe around the corner, well beyond line of sight, and the only way it would of been in my FoV is if the mountain was not in the way. As a result my pet agroed everything along its path to attack what I had auto-targetted.

I have also had the random occassion of auto-targeting selecting a target outside my FoV but within line of sight, so I’ll be looking at a mob, shoot, arrow goes off to the side, find I hit something off screen so now I have to fight it as well.

While the tergetting system as a whole seems ok, it is the odd occassions where it is way off what you expected that makes it annoying.

One issue many people is getting comes from right-click target and activation.

Those who move the camera a lot experience this often, as moving the camera quickly will make you target and activate stuff.

I keep losing targets when I move the camera, and I do that a lot.
I keep picking my turrets when I don’t want to pick them.
The last time I did Twilight Armor, I inadvertently opened countless buds.

I simply can’t understand why they won’t add such an option, as many people are only annoyed by the right mouse activating stuff, since they never, ever activate anything with right click.