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Server-client stagger duration/animation desync

NerezzaNerezza
Mabinogi Rep: 685
Posts: 22
Member
in Bugs and Glitches
Let me preface this with the following: This is a bug I first observed years ago. I've observed it often on multiple different computers connected to the game over multiple different ISPs as my hardware and home changed since my first observation, so it's likely unrelated to my hardware or internet connection.

The bug:
Basically I've observed that the game client has a limit to how short the standard stagger animation for mobiles can be. For almost all weapon types in the game this isn't an issue; in fact I would bet that the original developers knew about this limit but left it as-is because they never intended to implement a weapon with negligible stagger.
Eventually, though, Dual Guns were implemented and became that weapon with negligible stagger that the game client's stagger animation wasn't planned for.
For non-critical attacks with dual guns the stagger is incredibly smaller, much smaller than any other weapon type in the game. The stagger applied to an enemy is only enough to stun them for just a moment, but because of the game client's stagger animation limitations the animations plays for longer than the enemy is actually stunned. Because of how mobile movement and animations interact the game client can't move an enemy during their stagger animation, but the server simulation isn't being limited by a system to display animations so it doesn't prolong the stagger like the game client. This creates desync as the enemy starts moving server-side before it starts moving client-side, and what ends up happening is that the enemy appears to teleport to the player to pull off an attack when the client was showing them still a few meters out of range of the player.

For critical attacks with dual guns, it seems the game gives a flat bonus to stagger duration that pushes the duration to beyond the shortest duration the game client can show the stagger animation for, so this bug only happens during attacks that don't proc as a critical.

Observing this bug:
This bug can be most easily reproduced using Dowras upgraded for increased range, used against enemies with high protection to reduce the odds of getting a critical hit in.

Final notes:
I ended up primarily using dual guns for a few years; during those years I had to devise a number of methods to keep enemies beyond arm's length if/when they didn't die quickly. The above bug was something I learned I had to anticipate in every single fight, seeing enemies as if they were much closer to me than my game client was showing me. I fought and defended against these desynced enemies a thousand times, over time learning that when my shots weren't criticals the enemy was really much closer than if I managed multiple criticals.
I don't think Mabinogi's combat system should involve anticipating guaranteed desync like I had to learn to do when I mained dual guns.