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Guide to Using Weaknesses
style="font-style: italic;">by Dalmarus
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QUESTION
I've heard there is (or was) a "weakness" system that would allow you
to do more damage to targets? Is this true?
ANSWER
Yes, there is a system of weaknesses in the game that you can exploit
as designed by the game developers. Enjoy.
...No, of course I'm not going to leave the answer at that. I think if
I did that would make for the shortest "guide" ever!
What IS the Weakness System?
Basically,
every class within the game has the ability to cause a weakness on a
target with various attacks. Every character also has the ability to
exploit a caused weakness. In your Abilities book, under the General
tab, you'll see an icon that
says, "Using Weaknesses." This is actually a pretty good description of
what it is, and what you need to do, but when the system is brand new
to you, I think the instructions need to be expanded just a bit. That's
where I come in.
Where Do You Start?
alt="Weaknesses"
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hspace="11" vspace="3">The
first thing you need to do is figure out which abilities you have
that can cause a weakness, and what they are. Any ability you have that
can cause a weakness can exploit a different one. Sound
confusing?
Don't worry. It
won't be for long. The easiest way to determine which abilities can
cause a weakness is to read the tool tips that pop up when you run your
mouse over an ability's icon. Any icon/effect beside a downward red
arrow is what you're looking for. If the arrow also has a plus sign
beside it, then this is a weakness you cause. The arrow without a plus
sign is a weakness you can exploit.
The Nuts And Bolts
Let's take a look at the abilities used to test the system this
weekend. A friendly bard was kind enough to assist me after discovering
we had at least one effect in common, so many thanks to him!
To cause a weakness, you simply have to use an ability that has the
weakness you wish to affect your target with. For example, a bard has
the ability to cause Lethargic by using an ability called
Thread
the Needle. As a necromancer, I have a couple of different abilities
that I can use to exploit Lethargic. For this example, I'll be using an
ability called Devouring Shadows III.
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How To Tell A Target Is Affected
There are a couple of different ways to tell if the target you are
fighting has been affected by a weakness. Each has their advantages and
disadvantages. I'd like to say that by the end of the weekend, one had
emerged as a clear victor, but that just wouldn't be true.
1) The
easiest way to tell is
to right click on your chat tab and select "Weaknesses" as one of the
messages that will now appear in your window. The plus side of this
system is that it is very easy to read the message when it pops up. Not
only does it let you know that you've recognized that a target has been
affected by a weakness, it also tells you exactly what the target is
affected with. This makes choosing which spell to cast (or ability to
use) next very easy. Unfortunately, there is a huge downside to this
method - a message doesn't always show up. In fact, it seemed to go in
streaks for me. Sometimes it would let me know all the time, while
other times, I could go through 10 battles without seeing a single
message. If this was related to some aspect of not always being able to
recognize a target has been affected by a weakness, similar to the
Spell Identification skill, I could understand, and even applaud it.
See number 2 for why this isn't the case though.
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2) The other
way to tell is to
look for the small "mini-icons" underneath whatever effects have been
stacked onto your target. If you run your mouse over them, a tool tip
will pop up letting you know what they are. The reason I have an issue
with the solution listed in number one is that the method listed here
always works. Yes, I said always. At any time, I can run my mouse over
the icon and see what it is without fail.
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So you have a bit of a dilemma here. Do you use the first method so you
can clearly see what you need without running your mouse cursor
everywhere while you're in the middle of combat? Do you try and get the
point of your cursor on a miniscule icon in the heat of battle to see
what you can exploit? Eventually, a method of both seemed to work
fairly well for me. Even though there are a number of possible
weaknesses (19 at last count) to exploit, you'll only be dealing with a
handful within any given group, so it doesn't take too long to
recognize the small icons by sight.
So What Happens Now?
When you exploit a weakness, unless you have the right combat message
going to your chat window, if you want to see what happened, you'll
need to go into your combat log. Here you can see just what kind of
extra damage you pulled off, just by taking an extra second to see
which ability would be the most beneficial to your group at that
moment. Behold...
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Just by taking a few extra moments to choose, an extra 337 points of
damage were dealt to our target. After a short time of using these
weaknesses and exploits within a group, you'll start to see patterns
emerge. And when everybody (that can, depending on class) gets into the
groove, you'll see some battles becoming much shorter than they were in
the past. A good group with a string of chaining weaknesses and
exploits can deal a lot of damage, very quickly.
Who Should I Group With?
Whether your group (or pair) can exploit each other's weaknesses
shouldn't be the deciding factor in choosing to play with them.
However, there is something to be said for effectiveness. In a full
group, this isn't normally an issue, as the chances are pretty high
that the classes will be able to feed each other. There are some
classes that make better duo teams than others, and you may be
surprised by some of them. For example, a monk and a necromancer cannot
create any weaknesses the other is able to exploit. A shaman or ranger
on the other hand, makes a very effective partner for a necromancer, as
there are a number of effects they can both use to set each other up.
Below, I've created a chart to help people figure out what may be a
good class to hook up with sometime to test this whole "weakness thing"
out. If a class can cause a weakness, there is a "C" in their column.
If they can exploit a weakness, then there is a large "E" in their
column.
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The Rules of Engagement
There are only a couple of rules to keep in mind when using the
weakness system.
- After a weakness has been applied to a target, it can be
exploited for approximately 8 seconds afterwards. - A group is not limited to how many party members can
exploit a weakness. If 3 party members have the ability to exploit a
weakness, they can all do so. A weakness doesn't go away just because
someone exploited it (as long as there's still time - see the 8 seconds
above).
Conclusion
There you go everyone. I certainly hope this helps spread the word that
weaknesses are not only in the game and working, but that
they're also
very advantageous to play with. While it's great to use in small
hunting parties, the real value may be seen when coordinated raid
groups start hitting the Ancient Port Warehouse soon. While I've tried
to gather as much information for this guide as I could, it appears to
be a pretty deep system. If I've missed anything you've discovered and
would like to share, send us an email
href="mailto:[email protected]">here!
style="font-weight: bold;">Got a newb question you'd like
answered in Tuesday's Tips? Or maybe you're the resident
answer person and you've made it your mission in life to help new
players. Head on over to href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=340">The
Newb Haven on our forum. We just may feature your question or
answer!
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