Were hirelings nerfed?

[Keylon]

I remember FVS hires beind a lot more trigger happy a while back now they just seem like wannabe melees. It's okay if they are melee spec'd but its just annoying to spend 1k plat on a lvl 24 hire and have it try to melee stuff with its one handed weapon and not cast a single cometfall or firestorm despite clearly having one of those spells in the options menu.

[Lonnbeimnech]

I remember FVS hires beind a lot more trigger happy a while back now they just seem like wannabe melees. It's okay if they are melee spec'd but its just annoying to spend 1k plat on a lvl 24 hire and have it try to melee stuff with its one handed weapon and not cast a single cometfall or firestorm despite clearly having one of those spells in the options menu.

They all have different 'personalities', larafay for example is extremely aggressive but to say fvs hirelings as a whole were like this is incorrect.

The level 24 hire might be, yet-another-useless-hireling, as most of them are.

[FranOhmsford]

They all have different 'personalities', larafay for example is extremely aggressive but to say fvs hirelings as a whole were like this is incorrect.

The level 24 hire might be, yet-another-useless-hireling, as most of them are.

The Lvl 19 FavSoul - Caraneth got hit hard with the nerf bat some time ago - She used to spam Implosion!

Other Caster Souls are:

Aunidil {Lvl 5}
Nimeth {Lvl 8}
Tanya {Lvl 12}
And of course - Larafay!

[stretchcore]

Slightly off topic, I've noticed hirelings in general are rubbish at holding onto soul stones now. When did they all get such a bad case of butterfingers?

[Gremmlynn]

The Lvl 19 FavSoul - Caraneth got hit hard with the nerf bat some time ago - She used to spam Implosion!

She had a problem with spamming implosion regardless of whether there was anything to implode.

[FranOhmsford]

She had a problem with spamming implosion regardless of whether there was anything to implode.

Still counts as a nerf!

Especially as her kill counts dropped by 9/10ths afterwards!

[Gremmlynn]

Still counts as a nerf!

Especially as her kill counts dropped by 9/10ths afterwards!What you consider a nerf will always count as a nerf to you. Personally, I have no use for a healer hire that uses all their SPs spamming implosion before we even get to the first mob and see it as a big improvement. Also, if I see a hire with more than a token kill count I question my own ability to play my character anyway.

[FranOhmsford]

What you consider a nerf will always count as a nerf to you. Personally, I have no use for a healer hire that uses all their SPs spamming implosion before we even get to the first mob and see it as a bid improvement. Also, if I see a hire with more than a token kill count I question my own ability to play my character anyway.

If I'm playing a support character and I'm soloing {which I do quite often} then I want a hireling that can do some dmg.
And frankly the high lvl Arcane Casters and Melees are in the main - Useless!

If I want a Healer I have Klin, Heystack and Merenon to choose from at Lvl 19
If I need DV I'll grab the Lvl 16 Cleric Natasha {the lvl 17 - Ayron - is way too squishy}.

However: If I feel I can cover the majority of the healing then Caraneth WAS a d@rn good choice!

Not any more!

P.S. Before the nerf I took Caraneth, Larafay and Ulga {Lvl 20 wiz} into The Western Excavation for fun.

Caraneth had by far the most kills!

After the nerf I went back and did it again with the same 3 hires!

Larafay had the Most kills!
Yes the Lvl 15 FavSoul beat the Lvl 19 FavSoul {who's still a useless healer} AND the Lvl 20 Wizard!

I was on a melee so didn't get a look in - by the time I got to a mob it was dead!

[Standal]

Still counts as a nerf!

Especially as her kill counts dropped by 9/10ths afterwards!

I suppose this is why hirelings will never work correctly. I don't want any kills at all from my healing hire when I'm on a melee. I want it to heal and remove harmfull effects and nothing else. Ideally it would always maintain a normal safe distance unless I told it to hold position. Hold position would ideally mean that it actually quit moving. Under no circumstances would it take any offensive action. If you invis it at the door, it should remain invisible for the entire quest unless you tell it to do something that breaks invis.

The only drawback that I see to the above hireling AI is that it's probably grossly overpowered. Given divine hirelings SP pool and mana pots, a melee toon would have essentially unlimited damage potential and survivability when using a hireling.

[Jeromio]

Slightly off topic, I've noticed hirelings in general are rubbish at holding onto soul stones now. When did they all get such a bad case of butterfingers?

Not sure exactly when it was... maybe in U15 or U16. I think the reason was to prevent people from managing the Crucible swim with help of a hireling/dog.

[stretchcore]

Not sure exactly when it was... maybe in U15 or U16. I think the reason was to prevent people from managing the Crucible swim with help of a hireling/dog.

Figures it'd be something like that. Shame I can't get a hireling to carry my stone to a shrine any more.

[danzig138]

Personally, I have no use for a healer hire that uses all their SPs spamming implosion
The issue here is on your end then. Clearly, some of the hires, even though in divine classes, are not healers and you shouldn't think of them as such.

[smeggy1384]

Figures it'd be something like that. Shame I can't get a hireling to carry my stone to a shrine any more.

They drop soulstones when forced to teleport to you or climb a ladder. Some dungeon floors they cannot navigate across and will teleport instead, despite it looking like an even surface to the rest of us. One example is a few spots in the Lords of Dust quest that cause this, a bit after the traps.

[Qhualor]

The issue here is on your end then. Clearly, some of the hires, even though in divine classes, are not healers and you shouldn't think of them as such.

Lol. This reads like a post from a BYOH thread :D

[Gremmlynn]

The issue here is on your end then. Clearly, some of the hires, even though in divine classes, are not healers and you shouldn't think of them as such.No, the issue here was that she would cast implosion whether there was a hostile around or not. So to fix this they simply quit having her spontaneously cast the spell.

[FranOhmsford]

No, the issue here was that she would cast implosion whether there was a hostile around or not. So to fix this they simply quit having her spontaneously cast the spell.

No other caster hirelings have any such issue though with any spell!

Just Caraneth!

The fact is that the devs didn't fix the problem! They ignored the problem and in the process nerfed the hireling!

Caraneth is Not now and never has been a HEALER! She doesn't even have Raise Dead/Resurrection available on her bar!
She is a Caster hire!
From DDO Wiki "Caraneth commands fearsome divine energies, laying waste to those who oppose her with storm of fire and light. "


And to reinforce my view that this was in fact a nerf:

K'Zurth Qarab {Lvl 7 Wizard} used to cast Firewall on his own - At the time {despite his 6 con} he was a truly magnificent hireling!
The Devs of course decided this was OP and instead told him to spam Enervate!
So he then caused just as much aggro with the same HP total and no actual dps!

Yes the latest hireling upgrade has given him a boost in the HP department {and hopefully also in the DC department} BUT Enervate at Lvl 7 is a heck of a lot less useful than Firewall!


What stuns me is that Zeran Hamsterherder {Lvl 5 Wizard} is still Broken!
Acid Blast, Displacement, Haste {3 Level 3 spells on his bar!} Oh and he spams Chain Missiles too {In amongst standard Magic Missiles}.

A Hireling Caster, Melee, Divine or Rogue will NEVER be as good as a competent player of any class!
I just don't understand why certain hirelings get nerfed when they were working as intended* whilst others clearly have spells/abilities they should not have and have not been touched?
Another example of this being Kelorn Gossinar {Lvl 5 Rogue Mechanic} - Yes Rogue Mech Prestige at Lvl 5!

*Caraneth spammed Implosion yes BUT I never saw her cast it when we weren't in combat at all!
She may have been quick on the trigger!
She may have hit it one more time at the end of a battle!
But not when no enemies were around - ignoring times & places where we all know hirelings attack mobs on the other side of walls!

And if u want a full on healing hireling at Lvl 19/20 u pick up Heystack, Merenon, Klin, Wyoh, Albus {or for DV - Natasha, Ayron} NOT the FavSoul with Fire Storm and Implosion on her bar and NO Raise!

Hirelings like Aunidil, Nimeth, Tanya, Larafay and Caraneth are a different type of hireling - Don't think of them as Main healers!
As someone else mentioned - Think of them as BYOH FavSouls!

[Xynot2]

If you came in post u14 then no.

[tfangel]

Figures it'd be something like that. Shame I can't get a hireling to carry my stone to a shrine any more.

I was wondering what was going on. I had been away from the game for a while, and was in a quest and got killed, but a hireling and my dog were there, but i couldn't get to the shrine, the stone kept dropping, and the dog wouldn't pick it up. :\ I used to be able to get either to carry me to a shrine, being solo a lot this upsets me, since if i recall i have to start the whole thing over again. :(

[Gremmlynn]

*Caraneth spammed Implosion yes BUT I never saw her cast it when we weren't in combat at all!

I did.

[Eelpout]

I was wondering what was going on. I had been away from the game for a while, and was in a quest and got killed, but a hireling and my dog were there, but i couldn't get to the shrine, the stone kept dropping, and the dog wouldn't pick it up. :\ I used to be able to get either to carry me to a shrine, being solo a lot this upsets me, since if i recall i have to start the whole thing over again. :(

The only thing missing now is when you click on the hireling/pet interaction icon on the toolbar to pick up your soul stone, an advert with a link to the DDO STORE and the res cake page doesn't appear. I am sure that will get here before U17 and/or Epic Gianthold though! :)

[fco-karatekid]

Soulstone drops are indeed caused by teleporting... dying under water messes with them because of this.
I cannot notice any nerf, but then again, I am on a second life arty with both druid past life and augment summons - that's really nice, BTW.

I haven;t noticed any of them getting zergy at all, in fact, most still stay back right between me and the "camera" where I cannot see a **** thing. :D

The panther and my arty pet, otoh, CANNOT LEAVE IT ALONE! I can click "c'mere", and they will, but then they march RIGHT back into the three spell wards ahead. Gotta be quick on the "c'mere" , "stay here", and "go passive" triumvirate with those two.

[Kaytis]

They all have different 'personalities', larafay for example is extremely aggressive....

This is an under-statement. Larafay is a complete psycho. She will commit whole-sale genocide with comet-fall and destruction and when she runs out of spell points (as she frequently does), she will wade in with her mace. I was joking with guildies the other day that they should add the sound effect of her screaming in rage as she tries to kill as much stuff as quickly as possible. She's a bit scary actually.

[voxson5]

Secretly, every hireling wishes they were Larafey

[Ryiah]

Not sure exactly when it was... maybe in U15 or U16. I think the reason was to prevent people from managing the Crucible swim with help of a hireling/dog.

Well they apparently didn't fix it. Because I did the Crucible swim a couple days ago with a hireling. It worked just fine.

[JustWinBaby]

Yay a Doo0o0o0o0000mm thread about Hires! Also, Larafay is BEAST.

And If I remember correctly, U16 gave hires a buff. Or maybe U15.

[FrancisP.Fancypants]

Yay a Doo0o0o0o0000mm thread about Hires! Also, Larafay is BEAST.

And If I remember correctly, U16 gave hires a buff. Or maybe U15.

It was one of the two.

Hires have been under a few adjustments since arties came out. Some I believe were an accidental "feature" of the numerous dog fixes- namely the one that pushed Larafay and co. into Rambo-level aggressive behavior.

The "nuke it from space" mode got tempered later on, and then they were given another gear boost (level-appropriate weapons) most recently. Larafay is still a beast, but she used to be EVEN BEASTIER. I liked to pop her out and start a stream of old wrestling catchphrases over the mic.