Combat

The team at Wildstar has published a youtube video explaining their combat system Wildstar: Combat Telegraph

This information below was mostly compiled by the amazingly talented team over at Wildstarfans.net Some additions and modifications have been made by the contributors of this wiki.

Free-Form abilities
You can use most abilities regardless of selecting a target. For example, a melee sword-swing will often hit multiple targets, so long as they are within the range of the "telegraph." This will add an extra element of danger, since some classes like the Spellslinger have extremely long range spells that make it very, very easy to aggro more monsters than you can safely handle. It also adds an element of strategy, as maximizing your DPS is heavily reliant on your positioning, as is dodging enemy fire and keeping yourself alive.

Active dodge
Your character will have the ability to use active dodge to escape damage from enemies, environments and other players. Using dodge will consume a resource that will automatically recharge, so you may want to save your dodge until you know you really need it to be sure that it's available.

There are also some AMPs (passive upgrades) that give bonuses upon dodging, such as increased damage, or increased defense. They may also improve upon the base dodge, by increasing the recharge rate or granting you free charges in certain conditions, like after a CC break.

Double-jump
When you hit the space-bar to jump, you can hit it again to gain extra height and distance. This can add an interesting component of many types of combat. Low gravity zones (such as the Halon Ring) will make this very interesting to play with. Double-jumping could also add some interesting flavor to PvP as well, such as jumping over a large wall to deny your enemy LOS, or ambush an unsuspecting player.

Shift to sprint
By holding down shift key, you can run faster for a period of time. Again, this consumes a resource and is not unlimited so use wisely! Without a special AMP, you can also be "dazed" if you are struck while sprinting, reducing your movement speed to a crawl for 2-3 seconds. Timing is key.

Targeting
Some action MMOs don’t actually allow the player to select a target, but simply will cause your player to attack in the direction of the camera. That’s not how WildStar works. You can select an enemy with your mouse and focus your attack, if you have the option enabled. (It is disabled for PvP.)

Once again, keep in mind, if you use a skill that has a free-form or AOE attack, other targets might get hit and this might mean extra enemies for you to fight off, so position yourself wisely.

Free-camera
Some action MMOs use the camera to control targeting, locking its movements to your mouse. WildStar does not do this. (Though there is an addon that does this, if you are interested.)

At any time in combat, you may move the camera to whatever angle desire, to get a better look of the battlefield. This is especially helpful on a PvP server when you might want to be watching your back! You are also able to quickly go back to aiming with your mouse, during which the camera snaps to behind your character.

Action bar
Like most MMORPGs, WildStar will have an action bar that you can bind to specific keys utilize your skills. WildStar will inspire players to use strategy in choosing which skills to use, since there is a 'limited action set' that a player can use at one time. Instead of having a screen filled with several action bars, there will be one with a limited set of options that the player decides. Not limited to weapon type, a player can select the skills they want to use, but this choice matters. This means that strategy and planning is required before entering battle.

In PvP, this means that you never know what skills your opponent will have at their disposal. Again, choice matters in WildStar, and the way the Action Bar works is no exception.

Unique elements
The following combat elements weren't invented by Wildstar, but are important to understanding combat:

Telegraphs
Telegraphing in WildStar is the system that allows for creative strategy on the battlefield. It is coloured shapes on the ground that tell you what will happen or is going on in that area. They are divided into 2 types: And they are further divided into 5 colours:
 * A telegraph with a line that moves from one side to the other is a "Cast Time" telegraph, which will fire off once the line reaches the other side
 * A telegraph with a circle rapidly shrinking to the center is a "Channel" telegraph, which will do continuous damage/healing/give their effect as long as someone is standing in it.
 * A Red is a hostile damage telegraph--staying in it until it fires off, or while it is channeling will harm you or debuff you
 * A Blue telegraph is your own damage--use it to aim your abilities
 * A Green telegraph is a friendly healing/buff telegraph, either your own, or your allies--get in them as much as possible!
 * An Orange telegraph is a friendly damage telegraph--it will not harm you, but it will harm your enemies, so lure your foes into them, and watch enjoy the show!
 * A Purple telegraph is a hostile healing/buff telegraph: make sure to get your enemies out of it! (or you will find yourself next to a respawn point within a matter of minutes)

At low levels, these will be simple shapes, easy to tell, avoid, or get into. At higher levels, they will be much more complicated and more strategy will need to be involved, as they will take on more complicated shapes, have evolving patterns, or start moving, and generally fire off faster and hit much harder.

Moment of Opportunity (MoO)
A Moment of Opportunity ("MoO," for short) is triggered by interrupting a mob--casting a Hard CC like Stun, Knockdown, or Knockback on them while they are telegraphing. It is symbolized by a purple health bar, along with a timer at the bottom.

During this time, a mob is stunned and unable to defend itself, and will also take bonus damage, so make sure to time your stuns and your hardest hitting abilities for these moments!

Interrupt Armour
Unlike other games where bosses are automatically immune to CC like Stun and Knockdown, very powerful mobs instead have Interrupt Armour--a number to the right of their health bar, that signifies how many consecutive CCs you must land on them before they are affected.

For example, a boss has 2 IA. If your team uses a Stun and a Knockdown on them, it will completely break their interrupt armour--but they still won't be stunned or knocked down. The 3rd CC--like a Knockback--will be the one that affects the boss, and you better be quick about it! Interrupt Armour regenerates very quickly; you will oftentimes need to dump your CC all at once, within a second or a half of each other.

During some phases or telegraphs, a mob may have Full IA, symbolized by a golden shield. Any CC will have no effect on them, so wait until they are vulnerable again.

Players may also gain interrupt armour. It works the same as bosses.

Press-and-Hold and Rapid Tap
In WildStar, there are abilities that are triggered for the duration that a player holds a particular key; these abilities are called "Press-and-Hold" abilities. The Warrior skill "Whirlwind" is an example; it is triggered by holding its hotkey down, and will stop once the key is released. Some skills like this will allow you to move during the channel, others require you to stand still, like the Spellslinger's "Charged Shot."

You may also change it to press to start charging/channeling, then press again to fire/stop.

A second mechanic is called "Rapid Tap." Once you trigger a Rapid Tap ability, you will see a bar timer and the amount of charges the skill has left. With each press of the button, you will fire off one charge. The skill will end and go into a cooldown after all charges have been consumed, or the timer is depleted, whichever comes first.

Breakout Gameplay
In WildStar, getting "Blinded" will not result in your character magically missing all of their attacks--your entire screen will be blacked out, save for a small slit. You will still be able to fire off abilities and move while blinded, but good luck actually hitting anything!

This is an example of Breakout Gameplay, a system where you are not rendered completely helpless by Crowd Control abilities, but will require a lot of effort on your part to overcome.
 * As mentioned above, Blind will black out the top and bottom of your screen, leaving a small slit still visible.
 * Stun will prompt you to hold down one of the WASD keys.
 * Knockdown can be broken out of by dodging, consuming a charge and bringing your character back on their feet.
 * Subdue will shoot your weapon out in the world; you can run over to pick it up, or wait for it to come back on its own. And,
 * Disorient will rearrange your movement keys. Left might be forward, forward might be right, and so on.