Spinning mobs? Bug or intended

[Greyhawk6]

This is really frustrating...I'm getting mobs spinning round and round my hireling or summoned monster at full speed unless I can taunt it off them. With fast moving mobs its crazy with a spin at least every second.

I cant fight them because I start getting vertigo spinning my character around trying to hit the mobs. I play with three monitors but I still get vertigo just playing on one.

I can try ranged or standing away and hoping I hit them but its not much fun doing that :(

Is this a bug with pathing or intended?

[drathdragon]

looks like some AI improvement, nice.
btw i didn't yet see what you wrote and it sounds really strange to me.

anyone else can confirm it ?

p.s. haha

[Qhualor]

this is pretty annoying. the best way i handle this problem is hit them as they spin by me. after a couple hits they turn back to me. even if you have aggro and stand on top of the hire, the mobs still can spin around the both of you trying to get at you, which than causes your hire to take unnecessary damage.

[LOOON375]

While I think it's a PITA at times, I like it overall. Change your position by moving a little bit away from the mob and the mob will stop spinning around you.

[Arnhelm]

Always steer in the opposite direction to the spin. ;)

[AZgreentea]

While I think it's a PITA at times, I like it overall. Change your position by moving a little bit away from the mob and the mob will stop spinning around you.

That was my experience. Its like they are either having problems trying to "reach" your position or their "flanking attempt" logic is somehow making them constantly try. Simply moving a few steps backwards and making them reevaluate breaks their loop.

[fco-karatekid]

That was my experience. Its like they are either having problems trying to "reach" your position or their "flanking attempt" logic is somehow making them constantly try. Simply moving a few steps backwards and making them reevaluate breaks their loop.

Yah, this is similar to Jack Jibbers' ballet in Cove events - it's not so much a bug as a function of the ai trying to flank. I get annoyed, too; but it makes sense. Smack it a couple times or intim as you've already discovered.

EDIT: if they're doing it to YOU, I find stepping or tumbling back 3 or 4 steps makes them cut it out.

EDIT 2: I WAS WRONG, bug report it as the dev post below says.

[Hambo]

I think this was an addition to the AI... They try for a flanking attack now. The way I deal with it is auto-target (for my xbow) and aim at my Iron Mutt with the Khyber's Fury Runearm and let splash damage do the work.

Assuming of course that the mob isn't immune to fire damage, that is. Otherwise I just aim as best as I can with Coronach (light) or Thoughtspike (force). There may be better RA's available but at level 10 I haven't seen them yet... :D

[Cernunan]

Yes they are working on incorporating new ai models in the game.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcs0ahs0Rt1ro2d43.gif

[blerkington]

Hi,

Yes, I've noticed this too.

The mobs do it to me sometimes, but the worst cases I've seen have been with monsters trying to flank my summoned air elemental.

There has been a change to the AI, and it's a change for the worse. It is very annoying and it reduces dps, especially on a melee. I have no objection to mobs moving around, like they did pre-change, but this circle kiting just makes the game less enjoyable to play.

The kiting also makes the game considerably harder on the wrists. I wonder if there is anyone at Turbine who thinks about the effect on their players' bodies when they design things like this and one at a time essence sundering. Somehow I doubt it.

Thanks.

[MindCake]

Getting in their way while waving your weapons at random seems to get their attention quite fast.
Still annoying because they usually get to orbit the hire a couple times before you decide to step in, and then a couple more before they switch aggro.

[sandypaws]

Not quite sure it's flanking AI. In Mabar, I've seen a few cases where critters just keep running in circles around each other once I've hit them with an AoE spell. Bit funny, actually.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Wraiths & Spectres nowadays deliberately try to attack me from behind - with spells !

[Kmnh]

They taught the AI how to circle-kite. I love it.

[Darkfury]

Have noticed this too and its just annoying. If anything they appear less intelligent than before, if that is possible.

[ddo.rsmo.pt]

I can confirm this, and doesn't seem working as intended, as it only happens rarely, mostly I see this when the monsters are attacking the hirelings. Seems some kind of consequence of the AI pathing they tried to fix, after they broke hireling pathing 2 ou 3 updates ago, which in turn was working fine before that.

Let's hope a fix to this issue doesn't result in every monster getting teleport. Or a repulsion shield. Or both.

Carry on.

[MrkGrismer]

They've done this for a long time, it is (as far as I know) WAI. They get a +2 to hit bonus for hitting you from behind. It is more noticeable now because hirelings and pets don't do anything to stop it, so you will notice it on your hirelings and pets more often than on yourself. But it will happen on your character as well, Tangleroot hobgoblins especially like doing it.

If they do it to me, I just take a step or two back and that usually breaks them of it (or the couple of hits do). If they are doing it to a pet or hireling just moving into their way will stop them, they can't move thru you.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

They've done this for a long time, it is (as far as I know) WAI. They get a +2 to hit bonus for hitting you from behind.

With spells, too ? ;)

I ask because of my above comment. ;)

[Greyhawk6]

With slow moving mobs its not such a bad thing but with fast mobs they are spinning so quickly I have to look away from the screen. The dogs in Vale of Twilight for instance. Especially the ones that knock you over every half second.

If they keep this in can I just ask that they slow the rate of spin by about half so people dont get vertigo? This isnt a joke by the way, I literally have to look away or close my eyes and wave my sword around or start to feel sick. :(

[Theolin]

This happens all the time to me, I don't use summon/hires much ... so don't know about them.

It is really annoying when the only way I can hit the is to be constantly moving slowly backwards as I swing, if I stand still they spin around me and cannot be hit due to the slight delay between where they really are and where they apppear on my screen

There was a thread on this not long ago where it was surmised that it was them trying to be in the same spot as you are but cannot due to things having a radius

[MrkGrismer]

With spells, too ? ;)

I ask because of my above comment. ;)

I believe they are only supposed to get the +2 with melee. It is exceptionally rare for a spellcaster to manage to circle any of my characters to cast a spell from behind, spellcasters are always my primary targets (with very, very few exceptions). I jump over the melees to get to the spellcasters much of the time.

[rfachini]

This is very annoying, and happens to me very often with a hireling, pet, or summons. It happens less often to my character. You can't easily re-position a hireling or pet to fix this issue.

[No_Dice]

There was a thread on this not long ago where it was surmised that it was them trying to be in the same spot as you are but cannot due to things having a radius

Sounds like that thread was close to correct... It's caused by physics sizes combined with desired attack distances, and sometimes avoidance pathing.
This is definitely not intended behavior, although it can certainly look like it, especially when wolves or dogs are doing it :P

Any matchup of monsters trying to attack each-other can cause this, making it very hard to track down... Especially with all of the new pets we've created, new monster types, and charmed enemies factored in.

What y'all can do to help me http://img.skitch.com/20120411-c51xaaqsfm8wmaaq4dw4fbx7px.jpg is a bug report for each specific match up- such as:

BUG: summoned hezrou circling a specific wood woad in a specific quest on a specific difficulty.

OR

If one monster seems to have this problem with quite a few matchups, such as:
BUG: Druid wolf pet runs circles around most large monsters

[Missing_Minds]

If one monster seems to have this problem with quite a few matchups, such as:
BUG: Druid wolf pet runs circles around most large monsters

answer, test every critter against a pre order Panther and your character. Your character is a melee character.

Result: EVERY MOB will circle.

[Partydeluxe]

I see it happen 9 out of 10 times in the eveningstar grove challenge: The great tree (the 10min one)

Drow warrior circling the defense trees (eastern and centre for sure, think western too)

I learned to stop running after them and just hit em with a well-timed stun instead.

Sightings while on my human melee, although I doubt that has anything to do with it since they are trying to attack the tree and I dont even have to be anywhere near them for it to happen.

[Qhualor]

Sounds like that thread was close to correct... It's caused by physics sizes combined with desired attack distances, and sometimes avoidance pathing.
This is definitely not intended behavior, although it can certainly look like it, especially when wolves or dogs are doing it :P

Any matchup of monsters trying to attack each-other can cause this, making it very hard to track down... Especially with all of the new pets we've created, new monster types, and charmed enemies factored in.

What y'all can do to help me http://img.skitch.com/20120411-c51xaaqsfm8wmaaq4dw4fbx7px.jpg is a bug report for each specific match up- such as:

BUG: summoned hezrou circling a specific wood woad in a specific quest on a specific difficulty.

OR

If one monster seems to have this problem with quite a few matchups, such as:
BUG: Druid wolf pet runs circles around most large monsters

thanks for a response on this matter.

if you want bug reports, i will submit them, but im afraid i would be submitting at least several in every quest i run. i havent been in a quest where there were no spinning mobs. just a heads up that there could be a flood of bug reports :)

[rsking]

ya i had that happen allot in allot of quests but i didn't see it in mabar that i can remember then again i just ran up and turned the mobs or i just meteor swarmed them. but ya its annoying its a PITA for melee to deal with.

[Sonos]

Mobs that spin around you should get large decrease to saves vs. trip. :D

[bloodnose13]

that problem was always only with mephits, now its with lot of other creatures too (since like 2 updates ago), personaly i think they try to get in attack range and that means they dont have minimal attack range, meaning they dont know when to stop getting in range.

just a thing i observed about that problem, maybe its worth to check?

[blerkington]

Hi,

No_Dice, thank you for posting in this thread and providing some information.

I most recently encountered this in ADQ1 on elite, while running it with my Level 14 main, a hireling and a summoned earth elemental.

In the first encounter with Lailat, she went for the elemental first. It was both amusing and alarming to see her circle kite the elemental as she overran it and then hacked it to death. She was spinning like a mad thing.

Thanks.