Master-Blade

To expand on this.. it's been stated by many that actually going out of your way to find an original AEGIA card, and enabling it in game wont do much for your performance or quality. Today's processor speeds and video hardware can already handle what CoH needs without it. The marginal (if any) difference is not worth* trying to find a compatible card for your system, paying too much for it, installing it, and tweaking it just to enable the option ingame.

I'm not saying the dedicated card wont help you in other games/software, but as far as CoH is concerned, you might as well ignore that the option even exists.

*Disclaimer: I never had an AEGIA card myself, so I'm speaking from my experience being on these boards and being part of several discussions about this issue, not from actually seeing it for myself.

I'll take tanking for example. If a teammate is taking damage and you want to save him, you can often target your teammate and /assist them... but if they are attacking something at range and something else is attacking them in Melee, that wont work. This is where using NEXT becomes useful. It'll target the foe right in front of your teammate because it is the NEXT distance away from your current target. Then you can send out an attack or taunt to save the teammate. Same can be done in "protect object" missions when something is attacking the object, though this usually requires having the object itself in a custom target bind as well.. which I actually often use.

I realize this is not the exact circumstance you are talking about, but if they were to code something that makes NEXT check your current target for valid attacks first, then it may break any other uses of the code. The client doesn't know the player's intention. All it knows is that you pressed the key for NEXT, so it goes to the NEXT one. How would it behave if I am targeting a teammate, dead teammate, object, or other item and I want to target the next item? I don't want it to reset in this circumstance. If I did, I'd hit the command for NEAR.

To get back to a direct situation, let's say I'm in a mob, and one of them starts to run. I'll throw my Nemesis Staff (or other ranged power) and usually kill them with it. What if more than one are running away? I might want to target NEXT to fire another power at that one. I don't want my target to reset on the mob surrounding me and have to cycle back through the entire mob if I am trying to finish off the other runner first.

Different toons have different approaches. I agree with you that on my blaster, I might always want to target NEAR a lot of the time.. but that's why there is a key for it.

That's right. They are two different functions, so there are two different commands.

Pressing an attack and pressing TAB do 2 different things. Maybe this is the solution to your problem. If you have a dead foe targeted, and you press TAB (target_enemy_next), it will target the NEXT foe. If you pressed an attack, the client will auto-target the nearest foe to you. If this is the mechanism you are saying is changed or not working correctly for you, it has nothing at all to do with the TAB key or the NEXT/NEAR commands anyway. That would be an issue for whatever part of the client auto-targets powers for you when you have a dead or null target. I just tested and verified that it still works this way for me today, so if I stand by my statement that i17 did not change it.

I have both targeting commands bound to keys right next to each other. If my target dies, I might press an attack for an auto-target (power does not actually fire until you click it again), or I'll use one of my bind keys to get the specific one I want. I also might hit Escape to clear my target if I accidentally NEXT into the following mob like you mentioned before.

I'm not saying it could be used in a bad way. I'm just saying that recoding it may have unintended consequences in other circumstances. Would the code expand to the ally or custom targeting binds? What if it thinks any other target is "invalid" and never even cycles at all and only targets NEAR? You never know what annoying side effect a simple change can bring.


TLDR:
If you kill a foe and want to target the NEAREST foe without changing the "next" functionality of TAB, just press another attack to auto-target NEAR, and then TAB to whatever NEXT target you want from there.

You'll only need 1 key for that, just like you wanted.

Because as mentioned, it does not consider the status of the current target. Following the logic of the command, if you defeated a foe at 20 ft away, and wanted to target the NEXT foe, it makes perfect sense to target the one that is 22 ft away. If you want one closer instead, there is a command for PREVIOUS and for NEAREST.

It shouldn't be up to the game client to decide which one you want. You press the button for NEXT, and that's what you get... and I hope it isn't changed. The way it currently works is the way many of us are already used to. I don't want my range resetting on me automatically. If I want the nearest foe, I'll press my button for it.

Besides, I'm already thinking about the types of bugs and unintended targeting behavior that would result in trying to code such a change. What affect would it have on targetcustomnext, or targeting allies or even targeting the dead foes on purpose? Just leave it alone. It's working the way it is supposed to. I'm sorry it's not the way you seem to remember it, but don't break the commands just because you don't want to use another button like the rest of us do.

The client is free. Anybody can download it... and since you are already playing on a trial, then you already have it and wont need to redownload or install anything else. You just need an active account to be able to log in and play. Buying a retail code and applying it to your existing Trial account is all you need to do.

I think when you log in, it now uses your IP to decide which version to show. Other people in a similar situation have complained about it as well.

The good news is you should be able to use the toggle in the upper-right corner to choose the US version after you log in, and then browse the correct store with that. If that doesn't work, then I for you.

Well just be glad we already have ours. I even have it slotted into [Invincibility] too, even though it's no longer possible and I'd lose it if I ever respec. That extra damage in the aura is fun. lol

On a side note, I actually 4-slot it:
Perfect Zinger: Taunt
Perfect Zinger: Taunt/Recharge
Perfect Zinger: Recharge/Accuracy
Perfect Zinger: Chance for Psi damage

Not all four are really necessary, and maybe the accuracy doesn't really even do anything, but I went to 4 to get the set bonuses. Now that I think about it, maybe the Taunt/Range would have been a better choice? Anyway, 3 from that set give you 10% regen, and slotting 4 grants 5% global recharge bonus. Yum. lol

lol. I don't subscribe to that either. That's almost as bad as telling an Emp to put their Aura on auto and follow everybody around. A "good" player would know how to balance their buffs and attacks and contribute more, rather than focusing on a single power or aspect of the build. We have more than one powerset for a reason.

While each AT or powerset might have a certain role, it doesn't have to be overplayed. If somebody wants to make a "pure Emp" or a "taunt-bot", they certainly can. Everybody has the right to choose their own role for their character. This is also were dual-builds can come in very handy. You might pick different powers for solo/duo situations where a "pure Emp" or a "taunt-bot" wouldn't always be very useful. This is there your personal and team playstyles will decide what you should pick next.

Somebody else's build might not work for you. Everybody is different. That's part of the whole concept of this game.

The point I'm trying to make is that this statement is wrong. A dead foe is still a valid target. Some powers even require you to have a dead foe targeted, or be in range of a dead foe in order to use them.

Your current target should have NO bearing on your next target, other than it's distance. You can have an ally, object, hostage, or anything else targeted and the key will still go to the NEXT distance away. It should not reset unless you actually have "no target" in the widow..

...and like some of you have mentioned, even the distance can be tricky unless you pressed Escaped to physically reset/clear it.

I'm not trying to call you a liar or trying to flame you or argue or cause any other trouble. All I'm saying is that if it was working any differently for you before, then it wasn't working as designed. Nothing was changed with i17, and the current behavior you are describing is the way it is supposed to work, and the way I have always seen it working.

The way you mentioned having 2 buttons to be able to manually target next or nearest is the way many of us have worked for years..

Actually, there kinda is...

Some/most doors are labeled "Dr" and can be targeted with "/targetname Dr" or "/targetcustomnext Dr", however, you'd still have to either click on the door or click on your target window's "Action > Interact" to go inside.

As for glowies, you can use the same commands to find and target them. Personally, I have 2 binds set up for this:

The first command is a quick way to re-program the second command:
/bind Control+TILDE "beginchat /bind TILDE targetcustomnext "

TILDE will be programmed to whatever you designate each time you run the first command. If I press Control+TILDE and type "bomb" and press enter, the following bind will be automatically created:
/bind TILDE targetcustomnext bomb

Then I simply keep pressing TILDE to find the bomb. It can get a little tricky if you don't know the exact name of the mission objective, but it can be done. But then of course to interact with it, you would probably still need to click the target window's "Actions > Interact" to activate it.

The same commands can be used to target hostages, escorts and named bosses... but like you said.. it would be nice to have an /interact or something to bypass actually clicking or using that menu.

Try typing /showbind TAB.
If it says "Key TAB binded to: target_enemy_near" like you say it should, then you did change it at some point because that is not the default. If you are looking down at the enemy's feet to force that target, then you'll find it's probably binded to the actual default of target_enemy_next. If that's the case, then you could probably also press Control+TAB for the nearest foe instead, without having to look down at the enemy's feet.

Hmm.. I know that originally.. the last person to place the bomb, the person who gets the last kill, etc.. was the only one to get credit. I thought I saw talk about it being "fixed", but never really paid attention to it. If that's true, that's a good thing.

Or use the various targeting binds instead of clicking.

That's what it's supposed to do, yes. I think you misunderstood something I said above, so I rephrased it, and I'll further clarify below...

There are two separate commands and both have functioned normally for me, both before and after i17. I have not noticed any changes, and my testing since this thread is not making me feel any different.

The default targeting binds are as follows:
TAB "target_enemy_next"
CTRL+TAB "target_enemy_near"
SHIFT+TAB "target_enemy_prev"

Other people have reported their Control key "sticking". If that were the case, it would lead to the wrong command being issued.

In your OP, your are describing behavior that is supposed to be happening. There is no way your current target being dead should have made the target_enemy_next command turn into target_enemy_near. It should always target the next valid target from your current target's position, regardless what you are targeting or if it is dead or alive. It may be possible you are simply remembering your pre-i17 experience wrong, or your binds have somehow changed on you, or there was something else impacting the behavior between then and now.

Killing something does not cause "no target". It didn't before i17 either. As mentioned above, that only happens when defeating special foes like ghosts or robots that explode and do not leave a body behind.

However, if you have a dead foe targeted, and you use an offensive power, the NEAREST enemy is chosen as your next target.. but that has nothing to do with the TAB or the target commands (since you did not press them). Whether or not this specific functionality is new, I don't think so... but that sounds more like what you are remembering.

The default for TAB is target_enemy_next, which is what you are describing.
target_enemy_near would always target the closest foe. It would not cycle to another foe if pressed again (unless another foe moved in closer range).

It's not supposed to target a dead foe, and shouldn't. I think the OP was referring to if you already had a dead foe targeted. He thinks the command should reset to the closest foe, which is not the case. The commands do not take the status of your current target into consideration, only it's distance.

Edit: rephrased.

If I get time before we start, I'll take a look in DA for Adamastor as well. Maybe we'll get lucky and encounter the Paladin Construction before it's actually built. I'll keep the Hero Zone Event chat open as well. If not, we could possibly have 3 Paladins to kill if somebody else doesn't kill them earlier in the day anyway. Woo! lol

Maybe not, but he can use the option to allow Bosses while solo. This will allow him to have larger spawns with almost no bosses (or downgraded bosses) on the MM, while still having smaller spawns including Bosses on the Stalker.