Give monsters/mobs - BRAINS!!

[Frons Von Frik]

The mobs in Istaria are a joke.. every single one is predictable to a T.. you pull- they run after you.. you run left- they run left.. you run right- they run right.. you do circles , figure eights or even backflips[;)] and they mimic your exact movement..

Lets flip roles for a minute.. Say I wasa moband a PC tried to pull me.. at first im going to consider who is attacking me.. is it worth attempting to kill and how am I going to do it... Now the mobs in Istaria do not do any of this.. you pull something they run right at you and thats it.. they do some generic moves and the fight is over..

Mobs need more brains... everything is so random...What ever happened to mobs running from battle if they are about to die.. they run away, call for help and come back with more mobs..

I know if im about to die im not going to stand there and keep swinging im going to run, get my health up and come back and kill...

I find it odd that if I pull 20+ mobs theyall follow me like we were in a congo line... mob movement really needs to be looked at and adjusted..

[Aquarius]

Agree 100 %!!

right now after ARoP + lairsgets done i think there is 3 things that the crew should be doing... actually 4 things.

1. Mob AI
2. A functioning world model.
3. NPC AI

4. Fixing existing bugs.

Next step:

Once these things get up to speed. there should be more things getting prioritized such asadding new quests, more lore, new items (books, lootable items etc.), new mobs. adjusting adventure schools etc..
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Thats how i would prioritize i guess.. but maybe there is something ive forgotten about.. but at step 4 or 5 there game should be ready for a re-launch with a Gold Edition or Horizons 1.5 to be put on every store shelf.

[Phillip]

i agree 100%.

this was in the framework however i believe it got left behind:

"It would depend entirely on the nature of the one undead scamp that escaped your destructive tendencies. If it is a zombie warrior that escapes you, then it will probably wander the land looking for more flesh to maintain its energy and it would only return to attack you if you happened to be the closest morsel of which it was aware. If one of the more powerful, intelligent Undead were to elude you, it would most certainly mark your name and attempt to rebuild its forces. If it became aware of you again in the future, it would use the fact that you had affronted it in the past during its planning of attack. If it managed to rebuild its forces prior to your departure from the area of your initial battle, it would most certainly attempt to defeat you the second time."

http://horizonsvault.ign.com/View.ph...tail&id=51

[imported_Lycaunoss]

The mobs in Istaria are a joke.. every single one is predictable to a T.. you pull- they run after you.. you run left- they run left.. you run right- they run right.. you do circles , figure eights or even backflips[img]/Web//emoticons/emotion-5.gif[/img] and they mimic your exact movement..

Lets flip roles for a minute.. Say I wasa moband a PC tried to pull me.. at first im going to consider who is attacking me.. is it worth attempting to kill and how am I going to do it... Now the mobs in Istaria do not do any of this.. you pull something they run right at you and thats it.. they do some generic moves and the fight is over..

Mobs need more brains... everything is so random...What ever happened to mobs running from battle if they are about to die.. they run away, call for help and come back with more mobs..

I know if im about to die im not going to stand there and keep swinging im going to run, get my health up and come back and kill...

I find it odd that if I pull 20+ mobs theyall follow me like we were in a congo line... mob movement really needs to be looked at and adjusted..

They would have to fix the code for mobs running away. Mobs are way fast when they book out of a fight. They used to do that when a dragon took to the air and there was no way to keep them in sight long enough to finish them. While being realistic it would be terrible frustrating. Calling for help seems like a decent solution and with the new mob spawn might pose a bigger problem for the lucky adventurer who got caught in the middle of a sudden spawn.

I think what Phillip said would make a better solution. Smart mobs will run or call for help. Dumb ones shouldn't.

[Sajid]

The MOB, like the player needs some advice from Kenny Rogers - "You gotta know when to run" - MOBs simply do not realize when they stand no chance in hadies of walking away from a fight.

Simple - group class/rating check for MOB AI to consider if the fight is reasonable or flee for help. Melee should consider Daunting Mist and Cloak of Thorns as high risk as well and a pile of dead MOBs should discourage new MOBs from attacking.

Lastly, give all MOBs the revit line of spells. Really... how many adventurers don't have it?

[Jaraiden]

Lastly, give all MOBs the revit line of spells. Really... how many adventurers don't have it?

Oh, some adventurers don't have those revitilize spells (nor HoT equivalents for similar heal/time per use and recycle).

Other than that, I'd think most monsters able to get some skill in Life (or monster schoolequivalent) should be casting Revitilize and Imp. Revitilize on themselves (and repeat the castings when the spells recycle). I've also wondered why the monster cleric-types did not stay and continue to heal a monster (or one of its kind, as in WA) being attacked.

I've argued for smarter monsters in this:
Monsters run away and tier III golems on the northern continent Posted by: Jaraiden
Posted: 11-21-2004
in the Suggestions forum. Monsters should be smart if they sense a character (or highest member in a group) rated 20levels above them and run away. This serves another purpose - limits how fast a player can ... More ...

Monsters should be smart if they sense a character (or highest member in a group) rated 20levels above them and run away. This serves another purpose - limits how fast a player can powerlevel other toons.
and I still believe they should have some AI to flee and also a power to "spawn" or pull in nearby monsters to aid them.

I saw that feature in WoW of monsters fleeing. Would certainly add a bit of challenge in combat instead of a doomed monster just attacking senselessly until it dies.

[evilkarl]

Some slightly smarter mobs would be greatly appreciated but unfortunately it is easier said than done.

[Safire]

actually smart mobs kinda arent a good thing

[Lffayen]

actually smart mobs kinda arent a good thing

yeah, cause I die all the time anyhow. :)I prefer to run over using the portals, so I die in ways that just get hilarious. (24 documented Avatar of _____ deaths to date :) )

[Montec]

There should be two main mob categories, ie. smart and dumb.

Smart mobs: WA and the like.
Higher level mobs should not attack lower level, within a certain range,PCs unless:
The PCs attack them first. (Watchout for those area affects)
The mob is hurt ( how much lower depends on the mobs current health).
Defending an important structure or place.
This means of course that the smart mob allways has lower level friends in tow or can call in lower level mobs for some training. There is also a chance that a higher level mob will show up to observe or help out if the attacking PC's level is to high.

Dumb mobs: Swarming and solo.
Swarming mobs should have attacks that get stonger as the swarm gets bigger. How much stonger depends on the type of mob.
Solo mobs should not chase after a PCwhen the PCleaves its territory. The territory can be bigger than its normal patrol route.

I also like the idea of dynamic level mobs. The skill sets and toughness of the mob should match the attacking PC or PCs skill sets for a given level mob. This would allow uber multi-class PCs ,or a PC group, a bit of a challenge while not over challenging a single class PC.