Warhammer's secondary target innovation

I'm surprised I don't miss playing Warcraft at all. I particularly don't miss the obligation to raid at specific times and days. It's also been nice to be able to play different games, see how they do things differently. Like Warhammer, which in many ways is just "newer WoW" but with some good ideas.

One innovation in Warhammer is the idea of a secondary target. Your primary target is an enemy; a hostile player or a mob. Your secondary target is a friendly, typically yourself or someone in your party. Attacks harm your primary target. Heals and buffs help your secondary target.

What this means is that every class can easily wade in and attack the bad guys while also providing some targeted utility that helps out the good guys. This mechanic is core to my Warrior Priest, a combat healer. I'm one of the few healers on the field so I need to keep folks alive, but I also have to actively attack to generate Righteous Fury in order to cast heals. So I set my secondary target to myself or a friend, then target an enemy player and run into the fray spamming attacks that heal like Divine Strike and Divine Assault. The DPS helps kill the bad guy, the heals keep us alive, and in general it's way more fun than being in the back casting Regrowth and hoping no one notices me. It gets even better when I'm paired with a tank and his Guard buff: he takes half my damage and I heal him and the pair of us are unstoppable.

Warcraft also has two targets, your target and your focus. But focus is tricky to use consistently and it takes a lot of setup if you want to juggle heals between your target and your focus. The Warhammer UI isn't perfect either; it's easy to lose your secondary target and you need an addon like TargetLock to prevent confusion. But in general secondary targeting works pretty well. Having it built into the core of the game is an important enabler for Warhammer's goal of having every class in the thick of battle; everyone can easily direct attacks and buffs all the time.

Comments

[Andrew]

That was one of my favorite innovations in Warhammer .... the other being the PQ system.

I played the destruction-side Warrior Priest - a night elf Disciple of Khaine. Loved the melee healer role - it was very dynamic and rewarding.

[Lennie]

I am finding your format change refreshing. Although I will never be a hardcore raider as you were, I throughly enjoyed your feral information. I also like reading your take on other games. It is nice to know there is a world outside of WoW ;)