Are animations better for some power sets?

[SirCowdog]

This is something that really only matters if you're trying to go crazy with min/maxing. But it seems to me that some powersets have excessively long animations for certain abilities.  A good example is dual pistols.  Like....holy crap does it look cool,  but when you're trying to do good DPS, it kind of sucks when your hero spends most of his/her time twirling the damn pistols and firing an excessive amount of rounds.  Whereas something like Ice Blast is mostly VERY short and utilitarian animations.

 

So...my question is this: Do you think this makes a difference? Is this just my personal perception, and damage of each power is taken into account with how long its animation takes? Or what?

 

 

[Wolf Bonne]

The intention on some sets is that their animations are balanced with their damage output, so slower gives you heavier attacks. Unfortunately it is a bit all over the place and some sets suffer more than others, though this is usually on context. For instance, Brutes will have a rougher time with slower sets like Staff and Broad Sword. Stalkers also favor faster attack speeds for the stealth crit bonus. Scrappers tend to be indifferent.

 

So yeah, it does matter, though it is a bit all over the place whether it's a feel/perception thing, or something that is actually affecting you in a negative way.

[XsorrowerX]

Go into character customization and change the pistol animations to no redraw. It seems to help. You are right though, some powers do feel kind of slow compared to others.

[SirCowdog]

Go into character customization and change the pistol animations to no redraw. It seems to help. You are right though, some powers do feel kind of slow compared to others.

 

No redraw? What does that do?

[Prototelis]

Go into character customization and change the pistol animations to no redraw. It seems to help. You are right though, some powers do feel kind of slow compared to others.

 

No redraw? What does that do?

 

Basically, if you use a different power/attack that would normally cause you to holster a weapon you don't. This saves you a little bit of time on the casting because your character won't draw the weapon again.

[srmalloy]

Scrappers tend to be indifferent.

 

Scrappers tend to be more "They're all down; what are you all doing looking at the bodies like you're waiting for them to despawn? There are more enemies to defeat over here!" Scrapperlock can be a terrible thing.

[Healix]

---Scrappers---

A Scrapper is a whole lot like a chainsaw. Somewhat hard to handle, incredibly dangerous, and most fun when wielded by the slightly insane.

 

Running a scrapper is similar to fueling up a lawn mower with nitro-methane, and then aiming it at the bad guys.

 

 

Every scrapper should have an army trying to kill him, it's the only way the scrapper might have a chance to die.

 

 

Scrappers do not view "Run!" as an imperative. They view it as a notification that they are now fighting alone.

[Charistoph]

Brutes are similar in that regard due to the Rage mechanic.  It's always rough when people want to stand around while your Rage is running low.

[Riverdusk]

 

 

So...my question is this: Do you think this makes a difference? Is this just my personal perception, and damage of each power is taken into account with how long its animation takes? Or what?

 

You can actually see this on the power descriptions, "Damage per activation time:" listed right below damage.  Early on before you have a lot of attacks or recharge it doesn't make much difference, but at the end game it can certainly make a difference.