melee system of Age of conan
DateTime:7/21/2009 11:56:42 AM

I'll admit I was pretty skeptical about the whole melee system when I first started playing. Would it get tiresome after only a few levels? Would it turn combat into a frenzied mess? While large-scale group combat can seem to devolve into a frantic kind of slug-fest, the melee system has definitely remained engaging. In fact it's proven so much fun to use that it makes the more traditional spellcasting classes seem like a step down in terms of entertainment value.

The system works by letting you use keys to make melee swings; using the 1, 2, 3 and eventually Q and E, keys to pick which direction the weapon attack will come from. Since there's no auto-attack, you have to continuously hit these keys to deal damage. By leveling up, melee classes gradually learn a variety of combo attacks which require you to input specific sequences of directional attacks that then unleash a more powerful swing or series of swings that usually grant you a buff or debuff the target. The system proves to be more enjoyable than simply clicking once to initiate an auto-attack, in part because it lets you mix in other special abilities while you're doing combos.