(04-14-2015, 01:01 PM)Melkire Wrote:(04-14-2015, 12:48 PM)Zelmanov Wrote: ...can change direction midair...
I would advise re-watching the Heavensward opening cinematic. Nowhere in there does this happen. What you're likely seeing is the sudden cut from one airborn dragoon hurling his polearm to another dragoon leaping in a certain direction only to be taken midair by a dragon's maw (if what you're looking at instead is the sudden "jerking" motion of the first dragoon hurling said polearm, note that aerodynamically speaking, a sudden change in profile can result in increased drag that consequently results in a loss of airspeed and a sudden drop in altitude).
Also the "instant liftoff" looks more like a leap to me. Yes, granted, more likely aetherically assisted than not, "anime-style" powered jumps, if you will.
Interesting side-note: the first major "bolt" that hits the dragon in the opening cinematic is actually a dragoon impacting the dragon's back. Close inspection of its subsequent flailing reveals a dragoon with his polearm embedded in the beast's spine.
What we do see in the cinematic, at the point of the links provided by Zelmanov, is a person shooting into the air, literally arresting or transferring all the momentum of that jump and altering their direction. He wasn't at the peak of his 'arc', he shot up, practically stopped with some acrobatic stuff, and shot down like a lightning bolt. Of course when he leaps off the dragon again he's caught in its mouth. Dragoons may be elite and specialized but the job is still dangerous otherwise there'd be a thousand dragoons all over and no dragons.