by Karl G. » Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:31 am
So here's the deal: clicking on a player doesn't attack them. Depending on some factor, such as whether you right-click or left-click or maybe depending on your weapon, (I haven't nailed this part down yet) you will either follow them closely or stay in place but always face the player you select.
So here's the second part: attacking works by pressing a key. Think "Mortal Kombat"--jam a key to do your basic sword-swing while you're following your enemy, or tap another key while holding a bow to shoot an arrow.
The big benefit here is that you can do REALLY awesome moves this way--each weapon can have multiple attack modes which can even depend on your character's abilities. For example, if you get the "whirlwind" ability but decide your fighter should use a bow, the bow will allow you to do a low-level multishot instead. Thieves get the higher level multishot innately with bows, but other classes don't. Plus, this makes battle moves (such as "jump"--think teleport for melee-types, or "slash" a 45 degree spread short-range area effect) much more easy and intuitive to use. You don't have to select targets for them.
On top of that, there's no more accidental attacking. Only attack when you want to.