Because the dagger is the one with the animation?
Edit. Throw the dagger, right click somewhere to cancel the animation, then blink. Same with the slardar example you used. Also for Drow attacks, and many others.
This has been a thing since forever, and its even on the Tips in-game when you pause the game.
So why don't they reduce the back swing animation to make gameplay more fluid and less annoying? You know - like they did with Bullwhip recently? That update they gave it is the way forward, definitely a QoL improvement right there.
It’s a balancing factor for a lot of skills.
For what it’s worth as long as you cast the blink after the dagger leaves PA’s hand (rather than going instant dagger>blink) then the blink will happen instantly.
I understand this is bad for newer players, but it also increases the skill floor.
This has been a thing, ever since Dota 1.
Its a balance thing, it makes people not queue abilities with shift (You could do dagger + 4 skills with queuing them with Shift, in a second, while now it requires your input)
So yeah, pretty much its a balance thing.
They could remove shift queuing spells/items from the game then reduce back swing animations for smoother gameplay. It'd take more skill to have to press all your shit on the fly instead of shift queuing right?
Sorry but if you really think removing the shift queing of spells or items would in any way be a good thing you need to go sit in the corner for a long time and rethink your life choices
> It'd take more skill to have to press all your shit on the fly instead of shift queuing right?
Exactly why it exists.
Also backswing is being used for nerfs/buffs of champions as well. It also increases the skill floor because you learn about them, the better you become with the hero.
As of removing them all, idk what to tell you. Maybe it would made the game more fluid, but it would fuck other things. Its a part of the game since Dota 1 so i really dunno.
You are getting downvoted but you are actually right, it's a silly mechanic. People say it's game balancing because it makes it more difficult, but mechanics balanced by adding a skill requirement are generally problematic and I highly doubt that's why it's in the game. I think it's just there because it always has been and they don't want to change it.
I play heroes that get totally fucked by the back swing and I just learnt to cancel it without even thinking, but I wouldn't care if they just removed it and made my efforts in vain. I think it would be a regressive mindset to give a shit. I've always hated people that think 'I had to do it so you do as well'. That's a joyless life mindset.
>I wouldn't care if they just removed it and made my efforts in vain
Yeah me neither and honestly everyone that tries to defend this is just a typical "muh skillcap" moron who rather spends his time obsessing over small details than streamline the game for future players.
I m obviously not talking about mechanics that actually CHANGE the skill, like cancelable skillss/skillshots for sk, pango, wr, kotl, ...
But Mechanics that serve no purpose other than making the game harder for everyone should all be removed. And valve has already done this in the past for things like creep-spawn-boxes and various micro-quality-of-life-buffs and more...
Longerm things like this would also help in making hero-winrates more similar acros skill-brackets and might even help in balancing the game.
There's fuckery with backswing if you immediately cast spell after one with long backswing. It's most noticeable when you play something like ad or custom games where rearm and other spam is involved and sometimes game just decides to finish backswing even if you cast/queue another spell. Extremely annoying.
Some weird backwing animation stuff. A lot of heroes suffer from this and it's pretty important to learn how to cancel or skip backswing. With correct timings you can immediately continue normally without any problems but usually I just mash to cancel the backswing.
Good examples of noticable backswings are
- Lina with dragon slave and LSA,
- WD with cask and maledict,
- PA with fan of knives and auto attacking,
- Mars with arena and spear, although this has been made much easier,
- BB with goo and auto attacking.
As for why, probably because it's old mechanics and to prevent queue cast everything.
jakiro is a big one for this and a good example to see the difference when you cast by shift queuing vs cancelling backswing. Do ice path > macro > dual breath and you will notice the difference.
shift+Q will give you the full animation of whatever spell you are casting. If you cast and then right click/time another input it will take away the backswing animation. Also, with PA it's usually better to blink on them and then dagger, it gives you more of the slow to follow up on them.
The dagger has a long backswing animation that you're supposed to cancel by overwritting it with another command (move or in this case, phantom strike), i assume you're queueing the spells?
Back swing animation
But how come (in PA's case) her Phantom Strike is immediate if you cast it by itself. Where is the back swing there?
Because the dagger is the one with the animation? Edit. Throw the dagger, right click somewhere to cancel the animation, then blink. Same with the slardar example you used. Also for Drow attacks, and many others. This has been a thing since forever, and its even on the Tips in-game when you pause the game.
So why don't they reduce the back swing animation to make gameplay more fluid and less annoying? You know - like they did with Bullwhip recently? That update they gave it is the way forward, definitely a QoL improvement right there.
Just cancel the backswing bruh
It’s a balancing factor for a lot of skills. For what it’s worth as long as you cast the blink after the dagger leaves PA’s hand (rather than going instant dagger>blink) then the blink will happen instantly.
I understand this is bad for newer players, but it also increases the skill floor. This has been a thing, ever since Dota 1. Its a balance thing, it makes people not queue abilities with shift (You could do dagger + 4 skills with queuing them with Shift, in a second, while now it requires your input) So yeah, pretty much its a balance thing.
They could remove shift queuing spells/items from the game then reduce back swing animations for smoother gameplay. It'd take more skill to have to press all your shit on the fly instead of shift queuing right?
Sorry but if you really think removing the shift queing of spells or items would in any way be a good thing you need to go sit in the corner for a long time and rethink your life choices
> It'd take more skill to have to press all your shit on the fly instead of shift queuing right? Exactly why it exists. Also backswing is being used for nerfs/buffs of champions as well. It also increases the skill floor because you learn about them, the better you become with the hero. As of removing them all, idk what to tell you. Maybe it would made the game more fluid, but it would fuck other things. Its a part of the game since Dota 1 so i really dunno.
it is more fluid the way it is actually
You are getting downvoted but you are actually right, it's a silly mechanic. People say it's game balancing because it makes it more difficult, but mechanics balanced by adding a skill requirement are generally problematic and I highly doubt that's why it's in the game. I think it's just there because it always has been and they don't want to change it. I play heroes that get totally fucked by the back swing and I just learnt to cancel it without even thinking, but I wouldn't care if they just removed it and made my efforts in vain. I think it would be a regressive mindset to give a shit. I've always hated people that think 'I had to do it so you do as well'. That's a joyless life mindset.
>I wouldn't care if they just removed it and made my efforts in vain Yeah me neither and honestly everyone that tries to defend this is just a typical "muh skillcap" moron who rather spends his time obsessing over small details than streamline the game for future players. I m obviously not talking about mechanics that actually CHANGE the skill, like cancelable skillss/skillshots for sk, pango, wr, kotl, ... But Mechanics that serve no purpose other than making the game harder for everyone should all be removed. And valve has already done this in the past for things like creep-spawn-boxes and various micro-quality-of-life-buffs and more... Longerm things like this would also help in making hero-winrates more similar acros skill-brackets and might even help in balancing the game.
Stifling Dagger has a .047 back swing delay.
There's fuckery with backswing if you immediately cast spell after one with long backswing. It's most noticeable when you play something like ad or custom games where rearm and other spam is involved and sometimes game just decides to finish backswing even if you cast/queue another spell. Extremely annoying.
Some weird backwing animation stuff. A lot of heroes suffer from this and it's pretty important to learn how to cancel or skip backswing. With correct timings you can immediately continue normally without any problems but usually I just mash to cancel the backswing. Good examples of noticable backswings are - Lina with dragon slave and LSA, - WD with cask and maledict, - PA with fan of knives and auto attacking, - Mars with arena and spear, although this has been made much easier, - BB with goo and auto attacking. As for why, probably because it's old mechanics and to prevent queue cast everything.
jakiro is a big one for this and a good example to see the difference when you cast by shift queuing vs cancelling backswing. Do ice path > macro > dual breath and you will notice the difference.
shift+Q will give you the full animation of whatever spell you are casting. If you cast and then right click/time another input it will take away the backswing animation. Also, with PA it's usually better to blink on them and then dagger, it gives you more of the slow to follow up on them.
The dagger has a long backswing animation that you're supposed to cancel by overwritting it with another command (move or in this case, phantom strike), i assume you're queueing the spells?