At the Gamescom we were invited to a closed doors presentation with Chris Lynch the Lead Combat Designer for WildStar who showed us a video where we have seen what we can expect from PvE as players advance in level and that taught us the fundamental basics of combat tactics in preparation for the challenges that the players will face in later levels.

The video was centered on a level 20 Dungeon, which is usually completed in 30 minutes, named Ruins of Kel Voreth, a bizarre dungeon that combines science fiction and industrial elements. Lynch told us that the pacing of the of the dungeon was important, where players don’t go ten or fifteen minutes without having an epic boss fight; the dungeons are complicated, they require a balanced group, but the rewards are gratifying.

Let's talk now about the "Telegraphs", one of the main elements of WildStar's combat; coloured reticules that appear on the floor showing where a creature or player is going to make an attack. These telegrafts can be of five colors: the blue sign shows where are you aiming, the green shows the beneficial spells and Red announces an enemy atack. The other two colors are: purple which shows an enemies’ beneficial cast (their greens) and orange which announces allies damage casts.

The "Telegraphs" may seem complicated and in high levels they become incredibly sophisticated, but Lynch says “We’ve been training this into you since level 1, red is bad... get out of the red. When it starts getting tougher it’s almost second nature on how to react.”

In combat we will also find other intriguing combat manoeuvres such as disarms attacks, with which players can pull the enemy's weapon to the ground. We can also find stun attacks which are really useful, but using them is not as simple as it seems, because players will have to choose the most appropriate moment to use them, as for example when the bosses threaten to launch powerful attacks.

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