( FIXED ) Yeti Frost-Howler Shaman Things

[Balkoth]

They really hurt. You can see three or more in a pack (and possibly later packs every more) and they're launching a Firebrand AoE 13d6 each for Fire Damage. That's 140 damage per person getting hit. The good news is that the Crypt Cloak helps soften that, you get a Reflex Save, and you can theoretically also get 5 Damage Resistance to Fire (though it's not working currently at the Forge). Still might be a bit much but you theoretically have some options.

Which brings us to...their ILMS. If you're a solo player (and Tara was telling me how he wanted the server to be soloable up to 20 at least, due to the low playerbase/player count)...three of them means 140 magic damage. No save. And the Forge won't add Magic Resist. 140 damage with no way to mitigate it at all just by having them of them cast is brutal. It might have been assumed that groups would be facing them and thus that 140 damage would be split among the group...but obviously that's not the case for many solo players.

Even as an 8 Fighter/2 Rogue/7 WM that chews through the yeti mostly like tissue paper I will die unless I'm using a middle or best super potion per group unless I'm very lucky...and you can only make one of those potions per hour. So that won't work.

[tarashon]

I'll look into it...

As fore the fire-resist there is an easy to get, findable ring of lesser power you find when doing a certain lowlevel quest so the fire resist is fairly easely obtainable at this time.

The missiles however...

Again we stand in the dilemma you yourself point out, that we want the server to be fairly well soloable to level 20ish, but also at the same time somewhat challanceing , including for a Group. the ballance is hard to obtain to say the least, since before everythign was really geared towards groups in a time where this game had a far more stable and substansial playerbase.

This being said I see no particular reason why Yeti Reign Hills should be, nor were ever designed for, a epic zone and thus it should consequently fall under the "level < 20 solo'able catagory" if any such exists. I'll look into the missiles, or rather I might redesign the encounter so the howlers are more boost minded and spawns together with a Group 1 at the time. That i suppose should do the trick aswell....

/tara

[Balkoth]

As fore the fire-resist there is an easy to get, findable ring of lesser power you find when doing a certain lowlevel quest so the fire resist is fairly easely obtainable at this time.

Oh? Right now I have a level 18, 12, and 8 in terms of "seriously played" character (18 is solo, 12 is with Nyan, 8 is with the group of three). Never seen that ring yet.

Firebrand is also doing 45 damage on a failed save from them to the whole group, 29 on a failed save if you have both the crypt cloak and 5 fire resist. Of course, if there's three of them casting chain Firebrands...

I'll look into the missiles, or rather I might redesign the encounter so the howlers are more boost minded and spawns together with a Group 1 at the time. That i suppose should do the trick aswell....

Well, part of the problem is that the ILMS (and IGMS on other mobs) isn't a huge deal if you have a group with 2 meleers and 3 summons in the mix...but they'll completely destroy a solo player (or even a duo group). IGMS/ILMS have some major problems of their own as is in terms of spell design.

In general, right now the server feels like "Eh, there's a group of 10 melee/archer mobs...not a big deal. Eh, there's a group of 15 melee/archer mobs...not a big deal. Eh, there's a group of 20 melee/archer mobs...not a big deal. Eh, there's a group of 3 melee/archer mobs and 3 caster mobs...OH GOD RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" This has held true across all of my characters -- the server is designed so that you basically HAVE to be able to never be hit except on a 20 for those large packs of mobs...but then you get massacred by unavoidable spell damage. It's not even a matter of those spellcasters buffing friends or using debilitating effects on your group...they just nuke you for massive (often unavoidable/unresistable) damage unless you manage to burst them down super fast.

[Balkoth]

I'll add on the "lair" of Icefang. Like 15 Icy Terrors there which wind up spamming Acid Arrows and Magic Missiles at you. During the rest of the zone you can generally kill them while they're buffing/casting less effective spells. The fact that Acid Arrows and Magic Missiles are more dangerous than Flame Arrow/Lightning Bolt is a bit odd : /

[tarashon]

Howlers come in 1 now and are diffently equipped with spells.

Might upgrade it later though so that more of them can come at ones.

/tara