Thoughts on hot-swapping armor / armor feats mid-battle?

[Doc || GenAknosc]

I've been looking more closely at some of the benefits of the various armor feats while keying them into pathfinderonlinehq.com

I'm not really sure if I want to focus on just one track with the same character and was trying to wrap my brain around the feasibility of swapping out armor and armor feats mid-battle or right before an engagement.

My thinking is, maybe I want more defensiveness if I am solo, or maybe if in a group setting I may use a more support-oriented build.

I'm curious about what other people think about swapping out armor/feats like that to change your capabilities on-the-fly. Gamey? Smart?

[Giorgo]

Smart! I don't know how things work, understand much, and I am highly confused, but being able to switch feats for my fighter from heavy melee focused to ranged focuses is something I want to learn how to do well. :)

For example, I have both the "Axe" and "Bow" fighter specializations trained. When I am playing "tank" I slot the "Axe" one on the paper doll, and when I am playing "ranged support" I slot the "Bow" on instead. Hope that makes sense...

[Nihimon]

Doc || GenAknosc wrote:

... the feasibility of swapping out armor and armor feats mid-battle or right before an engagement.

Impossible while you're in combat. Difficult to do quickly just because of the UI, but honestly, if people started macroing it, I would hope GW would put in some more requirements to ensure it doesn't happen quickly. Changing your armor shouldn't be as simple as drawing a weapon, although I don't have a problem with being able to do it in the field - just not instantly.

[T7V Jazzlvraz]

It's no different from the ability to swap out weapon Feats, cantrips, or orisons. It's part of the game, and you'll be making meaningful decisions about whether to slot abilities that'll get or surrender the dedication bonus, so go right ahead.

[Nihimon]

Thinking about it a bit more, I think it would be cool if GW supported different pre-configured loadouts (basically, different paperdolls and ability bars) that you could easily (but not instantly) switch between.

[Doc || GenAknosc]

Yeah, exactly, that's the kind of thing I'm thinking about. I'm wondering how feasible it will be, if let's say I'm jumped by 3 people and I was in my ranged support load-out - to switch to a melee defensive load-out mid battle.

[T7V Jazzlvraz]

Mid-battle, I hope you can't change at all. In downtime, absolutely.

Remember, Ryan wants running away to be a perfectly viable--and acceptable--solution if we're jumped. The trick is getting starting on it right away :-).

[Nihimon]

T7V Jazzlvraz wrote:

Mid-battle, I hope you can't change at all. In downtime, absolutely.

This.

It's obvious that you shouldn't be able to instantly change armor while you're getting hit. I think it's also important that you not be able to change your Armor Feat, Feature Feat, Expendables, Attacks, Utilities, etc. either.

That said, I'd really like to be able to save and re-load specific configurations without having to manually rebuild them every time.

In fact... Ideascale - Save build loadouts for easy Role-switching during downtime.

[T7V Jazzlvraz]

Today's patch notes have the beginning: weapon-Feat loadouts get saved.

[Stephen Cheney]

We want you to be able to save builds and reapply them with a simple selection. Guild Wars 1 offered this and it was very useful. No idea on where getting that will fit in the grand feature plan, so it could be a while.

We do not want you to be able to make changes during combat, as choosing your fights based on your current capabilities and the perceived capabilities of your targets is a major part of combat strategy.

[Nihimon]

I feel bad sometimes posting to Ideascale for things that y'all are already planning on, but I guess it doesn't hurt, and it gives people a place to have a conversation about it.

[Probitas]

You haven't been able to change armor in the middle of battle in any RPG since they started, that hot swapping is an MMO occurrence due to the total lack of certain rules being applied in favor of ease of play.

In a sandbox, there must be limits. It can be instant outside of combat, but there must definitely be a requirement to not be in combat. It's just not realistic at all to claim you can swap out plate for leather while fighting; after all, how many hands do you got?

As far as feats go, I wouldn't have a problem with it as long is it takes time, say an attack round or whatever the game simulates for that, so you forgo being able to fight while doing it, until a certain cd has passed. I suppose you could do the same with armor, but then it would have to take an attack for each piece of a set that gets changed.

I think most people would be DEAD at that point, so I think players need to learn to plan ahead and not expect the game to hold their hand on this.

[Giorgo]

Bookmarked for inclusion in the soon to be updated EE FAQ thread; and for new people to add new insight to the topic on hand. :)

I have noticed that in EE I can switch from Longbow to Spear much faster than before, but I still need to get the timing down so I wont get hit some much...