Crowd control (MMORPG)

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Contents 1 Types of Crowd Control 1.1 Movement Modifiers 1.2 Action/Ability Rate Modifiers 1.3 Other Action/Ability Effectiveness Modifiers 1.4 Forced Action Modifiers 2 EverQuest 3 World of Warcraft 4 City of Heroes and City of Villains 5 Final Fantasy XI 5.1 Immobilize 5.2 Kiting 5.3 Temporary Tank 5.4 Alternatives 6 Ultima Online

In a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) game, Crowd Control (also called CC) is the ability of one character to influence or prevent the abilities or actions of another character(s). Crowd control can be extremely powerful because possible future action trees can be completely eliminated. Thus, the Crowd control user (crowd controller or CCer) can control possible outcomes, forcing or controlling the opponent(s) to use an even fewer set of available abilities/actions. Used properly, CC often renders an opponent(s) nearly useless, allowing the CCer to use abilities/actions against an opponent(s) without fear of retaliation or response. Players use crowd control to create offense/defense ratio imbalances between themselves and their opponent(s). Noteworthily, in a group setting, crowd control is often used to reduce the number of opponents that one has to fight at once, which makes combat safer, easier, or possible at all.

[edit] Types of Crowd Control

All crowd controly abilities follow some categorical guidelines. Some partake of a number of crowd control types, others are singular.why

[edit] Movement Modifiers

The ability to move faster than an opponent(s) provides a form of crowd control, often through kiting. Technically speaking, this is an effectiveness modifier, but is so widely used that it is usually given its own CC-type. Any modifier that increases the CCer's speed or decreases an opponent(s) speed will allow kiting. Noteworthy: movement rate buffs (as in the case of "Spirit of Wolf" in Everquest), while not always traditionally considered a form of CC, would still fall into the crowd control category.

In the end, many forms of crowd control will use this type of modifier. Traditionally, "root" and "snare" effects that prevent or simply lower movement rates of opponent(s) have been the staple of this type of crowd control. These are the purest forms of direct modifiers to opponents' movement rates.

The abilities include, but are not limited to:

• Root (immobilizes character while allowing all other actions to occur)
• Snare (lowers movement rates while allowing all other actions to occur)
• Increase Movement Speed Buffs
• Teleport (moves the CCer a distance away, usually further than could be reached by regular movement in the same time frame)
• Knockback (teleports opponent(s) away from CCer)
• Levitate (allows CCer to use terrain advantages in a B-line or safefall to cover more ground than usually possible otherwise)
• Direction Changes (forces opponents into another direction, often resulting in tempo or distance gains for the CCer)
• Fear/Stun/Mez/Charm (robust CC abilities, usually including other types of CC alongside the above list)

[edit] Action/Ability Rate Modifiers

Not traditionally referred to as a CC ability, this branch either enhances the CCers' ability/action rates or decreases an opponent(s) ability/action rates. Through this method, CCers gain better offense/defense ratios as compared to their opponent(s) in virtue of allowing the CCer to use more actions/abilities per time unit and/or preventing an opponent from using as many actions/abilities per time unit. There are varying degrees of this type of crowd control. It can range from a small percentage to a complete shutdown of future ability/action trees.

The abilities include, but are not limited to:

• Slow (usually lowers melee attacks rates, but can also slow casting rates)
• Silence (prevents all casting, thus temporarily lowering all casting rates to be infinitely long--possibily a hybrid of an effectiness modifier )
• Disarm (prevents all melee, thus temporarily lowering all melee rates to be infinitely long--possibly a hybrid of an effectiveness modifier)

[edit] Other Action/Ability Effectiveness Modifiers

Effectiveness crowd control is probably the broadest and least recognized type of crowd control. It includes buffs and debuffs. This branch of crowd control either enhances the CCers' ability/action effectivness or decreases an opponent(s) ability/action effectivness. Through this method, CCers gain better offense/defense ratios as compared to their opponent(s) in virtue of allowing the CCer to use more effective actions/abilities per time unit and/or preventing an opponent from using as effective actions/abilities per time unit. There are varying degrees of this type of crowd control. It can range from a small percentage to a complete shutdown of future ability/action trees.

For example: if two melee duel, and one melee buffs their avoidance to 100%, then throughout the duration of that buff, the buffed melee has a form of crowd control that eliminates the possible effectiveness of their melee opponent, thus limiting future action trees. Conversely, decreasing an opponent's overall damage effectiveness (via a debuff) would temporarily limit the viability of a damage-based future action tree, thus this would also be a form of crowd control. As the CCed opponent's future action trees are further limited, he or she will often choose to kite the CCer, while the CCer will know this, and attempt to prevent the kite (through other CC methods) to ensure the benefits and advantages of the initial Crowd control ability.

Effectiveness modifiers are as diverse as the number of offense and defense variables in an equation. Nearly every ability that can be buffed can also be debuffed. Listed are 'buff'-Effectiveness abilities, which can all be inverted as 'debuff'- effectiveness abilities, including, but not limited to:

• HP Buffs (increasing hitpoints, allowing longer fights, different types of combat and strategies, etc.)
• Mana/Energy Buffs (allows more abilities to be used over time, or even a different set of abilities over time)
• Regeneration (hp/mana/energy/etc.)
• Spell/Melee damage Mitigation (damage prevention scaling by percentages usually, but sometimes by a flat rate)
• Spell/Melee damage Avoidance (Total damage prevention, technically 100% mitigation)
• Increases in total damage (percentage or flat rate)
• Nullify effects (prevent others from using a specific ability or stripping them of a specific ability)
• Stun/Mez/Fear (temporary 100% decrease in effectiveness of future action trees)
• Blind (your opponent cannot see anything on the screen)
• Stealth/Invis (your opponent cannot see you, thus netting you an opener)
• Invincibility (prevents all offensive abilities, giving you time to do certain things)
• Time Distortion (increases action effectiveness ratios as compared to opponents)

[edit] Forced Action Modifiers

This is the oddest of all the Crowd Control spells, but often considered the most powerful. These are the CC abilities that force an opponent to use certain abilities without the consent of the opponent.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Charm (taking control of target opponent, using some or all of their abilities)
• Fear (forcing opponent(s) to run away from you)
• Feign Death (in varying degrees, this either makes it less likely or impossible for an opponent(s) to attack you)
• Taunt (Forces opponent(s) to attack you)

[edit] EverQuest

In the EverQuest game, crowd control is usually handled by the Enchanter and Bard classes, who can mesmerize ("mez") opponents through spells or songs. These will stop a monster from being able to attack the player; however, if the monster is affected in such a way that its hit points are reduced, the mesmerization is broken and the monster will immediately begin to attack. The duration of these effects varies by class and level. Bards can generally only mesmerize for 18 seconds at a time, but higher level Enchanters can mesmerize monsters for upwards of 72 seconds. Several types of monsters are entirely immune to this effect, and all mesmerization spells have limits on how high of level of monster can be affected by them.

Stuns can be used for crowd control in EQ as well. Enchanters are the primary class for this method, with a full range of point blank AOE stuns. With three or more loaded PBAOE stuns, they can "stun lock" opponents by casting the next stun before the timer expires on the previous. Some other classes, such as the Cleric and Necromancer, have a limited ability to perform crowd control as well, generally by using short-duration targeted stuns.

Another method of Everquest crowd control is to keep the monster occupied, such as assigning a player to "tank" it. This is made much more effective by the use of abilities that Taunt targets, forcing them to attack the user. Only certain classes can Taunt, however.

Monsters can also be charmed and sent against other MOBs. There are level limits on how powerful a creature can be charmed, and charms are usually of random duration. With additional skills, charms can be made fixed duration or even permanent. Charms generate a lot of hate, so the character doing the charming runs the risk of becoming the target of attacks from the MOB.

Crowd control is generally considered critical in EverQuest, because most monsters in the modern version of the game are a match for an entire group of player characters.

[edit] World of Warcraft

In the World of Warcraft game, the mage class can use a spell called Polymorph to change monsters and other players into harmless sheep for a short period of time, although they will regenerate health very quickly in this state. Mages can cripple their opponents spell casting ability through Counterspell, an interrupt. They are also able to cast Polymorph on a non-player target several times, thus they may "resheep" a non-player target as often as they like, effectively taking it out of the fray for as long as necessary (as long as said target takes no damage). Hunters are able to set up Freeze Traps that can encase an opponent in a solid block of ice as they walk over it, Frost Traps to slow movement considerably in a small radius, and Snake Traps which slow movement and cause damage. They can also fear beasts. Some Hunters can also cast a scatter shot which disorients the target or wyvern sting which puts the target to sleep. Druids can sleep beast and dragonkin type monsters, and, when outdoors, can root enemies in place with a vine spell. Shamans have the ability to reduce both a single opponent's movement speed (Frost Shock) and a group of opponent's movement speed (Earthbind Totem). They can also interrupt abilities using Earth Shock. It is important to note that Frost Shock and Earth Shock both share a cooldown and Frost Shock is subject to diminishing returns. Earthbind is also limited in that it is cast by a dropped totem which only has 5 hitpoints. Warlocks can banish elementals and demons, making them immune to everything, but unable to act. Using a succubus (a summoned demon), warlocks can seduce humanoids, causing them to stand love struck and unable to act. Warlocks can also fear opponents, making them to run around in a panic; Priests and Warriors also have Fear abilities, however they are somewhat less powerful. Priests and Paladins can root and sometimes fear Undead monsters, and Priests have the ability to Mind Control enemies. Rogues are able to Sap a humanoid opponent, taking it out of combat for a set amount of time. Most methods of crowd control in WoW, with the notable exception of sap, will initiate combat with the target and cause it to come running at you as soon as it is free of your CC effect. Most crowd control effects will be broken by any damage, though root and fear have a chance to continue through damage.

[edit] City of Heroes and City of Villains

In the game City of Heroes and its expansion, City of Villains, the Controller archetype is the primary provider of crowd control effects. Controllers, depending on their primary power set, have a variety of options for crowd control -- essentially all of the effects in the above list -- but the most commonly used effect is the Hold, which prevents an opponent from attacking or moving at all for a time. Dominators, a City of Villains archetype, share the Controllers' crowd control abilities, but with substantially reduced duration under most circumstances. To balance this limitation, a Dominator has access to an inherent power called "Domination." After a Dominator has inflicted enough damage with his or her attacks, this power can be activated, which doubles the duration and "magnitude" of his crowd control effects for a short time. Domination allows the Dominator, when it is most needed, to provide considerable crowd control and damage.

However, while Controllers and Dominators are designed to provide crowd control, all other archetypes have access to some crowd control effects; for instance, all Blasters have access to Immobilization effects in their secondary power sets. Crowd control in City of Heroes is generally very short in duration and not particularly effective on large groups of opponents or powerful opponents (such as Bosses, Archvillains, and Giant Monsters), in keeping with the game's design principles. This limitation is a function of "magnitude," which can be circumvented to a degree by using multiple crowd control effects or by augmenting magnitude using Domination. Because of these problems, crowd control is not considered an essential function in City of Heroes, and many groups operate effectively without a Controller or any appreciable use of crowd control effects by simply overwhelming their opponents with massive force. In Issue 5, all crowd control was substantially weakened by reducing the duration and increasing the recharge of powers that offer it, especially if those powers could affect multiple targets. This has further deemphasized its role in gameplay.

As in EverQuest, crowd control can also be provided by having a sufficiently resistant character, such as a Tanker, Scrapper, or Brute archetype character, keep the opponents occupied by "tanking" them. Tankers and Brutes are intended to be much more effective in this role, and it is not unheard of for a Tanker to "tank" upwards of 10 opponents at once and survive. Tankers, Scrappers, and Brutes all have powers that Taunt, which makes this task easier, but changes to the game in Issue 5 limit the number of targets that can be effectively controlled in this fashion, and the overall reduction in character defense makes tanking more dangerous. As of Issue 7, the Mastermind archetype has an inherent power called "Bodyguard" that, under specific circumstances, allows him to redistribute damage taken to his pets. Despite his limited hit points, a Mastermind can act as a "tank" using this power if carefully played.

In PvP combat in City of Heroes, Controllers and Dominators who successfully Hold an opponent inflict triple normal damage with their powers. In Issue 5, Controllers gained a similar version of this advantage in the rest of the game through a new inherent power called "Containment." This power allows a Controller to inflict double damage against any target that is suffering from a Hold, Immobilize, Sleep, or Disorient effect. A similar version of Containment is part of the inherent power of Stalkers, Assassination. These characters have a chance to land a critical hit for double damage against any target under a Hold or Sleep effect in both PvP and PvE combat.

[edit] Final Fantasy XI

All or part of this article may be confusing or unclear. Please help clarify the article. Suggestions may be on the talk page. (December 2006)

In Final Fantasy XI crowd control is handling of one or more links on pulls or aggressive monster pops in both exp parties and special situation like Dynamis. The idea is to neutralize all but one monster so the party or alliance only has to deal with one battle target at a time. Or, at the very least, buy enough time to exit the zone safely via Escape or running across the zone line. The most common methods are as follows:

[edit] Immobilize

Most often, this is done by immobilizing the extra monster(s) with various versions of Sleep, Sleepga, Lullaby, and sometimes using Shadowbind, Bind, Nightmare, or even Sleep Bolt. This method is popular in EXP parties and Dynamis.

[edit] Kiting

Another method is to kite the monster(s) using characters with high evasion or defense, or some other methods to avoid taking massive damage. This is often used in conjunction with Utsusemi, Flee, Bind, and Gravity, and sometimes Charm. This method is popular for some special mission (such as Promathia Mission 2-5) fights and HNM battles.

[edit] Temporary Tank

Since melees generally have stronger armor than mages and often have Warrior as subjob, they can use Provoke on the extra monster, while keep attacking the current battle target. While usually not the best solution, it is often used by EXP party as a stop gap measure until mages or Bard can (re)neutralize the extra monster.

One variation would be Paladin tanking two monsters at once by tossing an extra Provoke or Flash at the second monster. A Thief also can single-handedly hold off a variety of monsters with a combination of Sleep Bolt and Utsusemi as well. For these two alternatives, it may not be necessary to use Sleep or Lullaby.

[edit] Alternatives

A Summoner also has the option to use an avatar to stall or kite the extra monster. Beastmaster and Puppetmaster also can use a pet or Automaton to distract the monster. On some monsters, Beastmaster can attempt Charm, as could high level Bard using Maiden's Virelai--but both are extremely dangerous on monsters typically hunted by exp parties.

[edit] Ultima Online

Ultima Online most known CC spells are Paralize and Poison (although Poison is meant to be a debuff or damage over time, it also prevent a character from healing himself with certain methods), there are also CC abilities (also that prevent healing), and a spell known as force field, ment only to block passage, two skilled players can create a "cross", casting this spell in both directions possible (along X axis of the map and along Y axis of the map), locking the target in place for a time much longer than Paralize, allowing them to subsequently casts spells with longer cast time without fear of retaliation (unless the target can attack from far, like archers and magical users)