Is there a trick to using Froggo correctly?

[Aelonwy]

There have been numerous times while playing with him by my side in Saltmarsh where he just stands there refusing to do as I ask. He won't hit the levers, he won't disarm the trap or unlock the chest, just stands there as brain-numb as possible. Now usually I can force him to do what I need by standing as close as the game allows to said lever, trap box, lock...teleporting him directly to my position and then using whatever direction necessary to get him to do his job.

But here I stand at:
You are on server 26 at r3 lx1696 ly8 i2049 cInside ox-117.44 oy153.93 oz-231.53 h68.9. Game timestamp 497794070.258.
desperately trying to get him to use the lever in Down You Go and all I get is repeated messages of "Right away. Leave it to me. You've got it." And screen messages of Lever is already being used. Lever is Blocked. Lever is already being used. Lever is Blocked. Lever is already being used. Lever is Blocked.

No DDO you are a liar!!! Lever was in no visible way blocked. Lever was NOT being used.

So my 4th level caster without evasion had to fricking stand in the blade traps, teleport the stupid frog into the traps beside the lever.... like one character length from where he was standing before to finally get him to do what he was meant to do.

Why does he refuse to move forward as directed to ANYTHING? Why must he be teleported directly beside the object needing his attention? Is it always this way with rogue hirelings? I've never used one before... but most platinum hires will at least run across a room to pull a lever.

And why didn't I pull the lever myself you may ask? Because my character did NOT have evasion and the blades kept interrupting her action.

[rabidfox]

No hires path to that lever correctly; it's a common issue where hires will just not path to stuff or they'll try to take some weird route that in the end prevents them from doing what you told them to do.

[Enoach]

I have found this from time to time with levers/doors with hirelings and pets.

What I've found is sometimes it helps to change the path...
Sometimes this means changing the starting position of the Hireling - move a little/call them to you/try again - rinse and repeat until it works

On that, much like spell wards disabling, sometimes the answer is stepping back not getting closer to overcome this.

[LightBear]

Maybe.... wait for traps is set to true?

I've had other rogue hires not willing to disarm a trapbox because pressure plates were in front of them.

[Torc]

There have been numerous times while playing with him by my side in Saltmarsh where he just stands there refusing to do as I ask. He won't hit the levers, he won't disarm the trap or unlock the chest, just stands there as brain-numb as possible. Now usually I can force him to do what I need by standing as close as the game allows to said lever, trap box, lock...teleporting him directly to my position and then using whatever direction necessary to get him to do his job.

But here I stand at:
You are on server 26 at r3 lx1696 ly8 i2049 cInside ox-117.44 oy153.93 oz-231.53 h68.9. Game timestamp 497794070.258.
desperately trying to get him to use the lever in Down You Go and all I get is repeated messages of "Right away. Leave it to me. You've got it." And screen messages of Lever is already being used. Lever is Blocked. Lever is already being used. Lever is Blocked. Lever is already being used. Lever is Blocked.

No DDO you are a liar!!! Lever was in no visible way blocked. Lever was NOT being used.

So my 4th level caster without evasion had to fricking stand in the blade traps, teleport the stupid frog into the traps beside the lever.... like one character length from where he was standing before to finally get him to do what he was meant to do.

Why does he refuse to move forward as directed to ANYTHING? Why must he be teleported directly beside the object needing his attention? Is it always this way with rogue hirelings? I've never used one before... but most platinum hires will at least run across a room to pull a lever.

And why didn't I pull the lever myself you may ask? Because my character did NOT have evasion and the blades kept interrupting her action.

99% likely the area is missing path maps because you had to swim here. Will fix!

-Torc

P.S. If folks happen to recall other areas/objects where henchmen are vexing PM me. The more specific and reproducible the better. (/locs help greatly!)

[rish]

That hireling is a little more junky than some of the others...with that one in particular, I've had the hardest time getting him to unlock doors if he's not facing it, so I generally have to move him into position, then activate it...so in general that Frogo is very buggy for sure.

[SpatzAI2]

There have been numerous times while playing with him by my side in Saltmarsh where he just stands there refusing to do as I ask. He won't hit the levers, he won't disarm the trap or unlock the chest, just stands there as brain-numb as possible. Now usually I can force him to do what I need by standing as close as the game allows to said lever, trap box, lock...teleporting him directly to my position and then using whatever direction necessary to get him to do his job.

I've actually had the better luck with the reverse for chests. If we're both standing right next to the chest when I tell him to unlock, he'll turn to look at the chest for a second, then turn back to me like "did you mean that chest?". If I take a few steps back he'll walk over and unlock properly

[Yvonne_Blacksword]

There is that one rest shrine near the bottom of the Vulkoorim Spiral where the hirelings have trouble. Even the iron defenders can't seem to reach it since it is in a knitch/notch/tiny space on a smallish ledge.

The owlbear's "SIZE" in the programming is so big he cant fit through most doors. It looks like he would fit, a foot or so on either side but he just refuses to go through or interact in any way with things on the other side.

Party members can stand in the same place but hirelings .... don't like to touch each other? they are not very friendly. I wish they wouldn't huddle in front of their master in open spaces, on either side would be ideal. It messes with targeting of spells and missiles.

And you cannot throw potions (remove curse, disease, neutralize poison, repair/cure/heal) from your tool bar, so there is that.

Any 2 valve like handles too close together are freaking out hirelings.

And Froggo seems to have no "trap avoidance" and likes to trigger pressure plates (all of them in an area) before trying to disarm them. So don't stand too close! He mostly survives unscathed but you won't.

The others have trap avoidance but cannot tell when the traps have been disarmed and stand there waiting until they are called forth.

Any lever behind a lamp (like that one in The Last Move: The Way to Yarkuch that requires strength) is very difficult to reach for them. And if you send them to trigger the levers in maze of madness, they often run around the back wall of the lever and try to do it there. Even when it is a far longer path.

I wish they had a longer path reach, sometimes they are within feet of the lever and turn around, saying it is out of range and it is difficult to change their minds.

Working with hirelings has a learning curve. When to turn them off. When to pin them in place. Pinning them in place and turning them off at the same time and forgetting to turn them back on. Running through one doorway, calling the owlbear to your position then immediately running through another narrow part and having to leave him behind as his timer is still timing.

Speaking of hard to reach (but slightly off topic, I know), the entrance to the harbor from the Gatekeepers grove is "triksy", you have to be in the middle of it and running into it to pass through.

I will try to get locations on them, but they are just some of so many. My main account has most of the expansion hirelings and I run Artificers with as many hirelings as I can stand because I like the chaos....I am evil that way ;p!

[Aelonwy]

99% likely the area is missing path maps because you had to swim here. Will fix!

-Torc

P.S. If folks happen to recall other areas/objects where henchmen are vexing PM me. The more specific and reproducible the better. (/locs help greatly!)

Thank you for your time and attention. Now that I think about there are a lot of swimming spots in Saltmarsh quests and he often became brain-dead after a swimming section. In particular I remember getting quite annoyed with him in The Hijacked Haul at the locked and trapped chest on the rock wall ledge. I had to be almost right on top of the traps to get him to disarm them and first he had to hop past me on top of them setting them off. I mean, like he did it on purpose. So there he was closer to the chest than I was after disarming the traps and yet when asked to unlock the chest he just kept turning to face me and ignoring what I wanted him to do. So I had to move up right next to the chest and teleport him one step to the chest to get him to unlock it.

Also had a little trouble getting him to disarm the blade traps in the West hallway of Back to Basics but it was after swimming in the stream in the secret area that gives access to the treasure room. It was another situation of I had to be right next to the trap box and teleport him directly to me facing the trap box to get him to interact with it.

I'll try to get /locs for those when I can.

[cdbd3rd]

Thank you for your time and attention. Now that I think about there are a lot of swimming spots in Saltmarsh quests and he often became brain-dead after a swimming section. In particular I remember getting quite annoyed with him in The Hijacked Haul at the locked and trapped chest on the rock wall ledge. I had to be almost right on top of the traps to get him to disarm them and first he had to hop past me on top of them setting them off. I mean, like he did it on purpose. So there he was closer to the chest than I was after disarming the traps and yet when asked to unlock the chest he just kept turning to face me and ignoring what I wanted him to do. So I had to move up right next to the chest and teleport him one step to the chest to get him to unlock it.

Also had a little trouble getting him to disarm the blade traps in the West hallway of Back to Basics but it was after swimming in the stream in the secret area that gives access to the treasure room. It was another situation of I had to be right next to the trap box and teleport him directly to me facing the trap box to get him to interact with it.

I'll try to get /locs for those when I can.

Sounds like Froggo and my mechno-mutt have been comparing notes.

[Seph1roth5]

Wouldn't it be easier to give the /loc of when hirelings actually work? Seriously. My friend and I were duo-ing gianthold on HC a couple weeks ago, and the gold seal hireling needed to be told 50x to disable a trap, and rarely if ever would go forward (like...through a trap) to do it.

My friend went through a few rogues on HC and all had the same issues. They'd stand next to a box and go "Got it!" and do nothing.

[bracelet]

The third or maybe fourth trap in Spies, the one just below the water level after the underwater swim, cannot be disabled by rogue hirelings.

There is also one in in the air mephit electric ladder climb that you have to try over and over again to get the hire in just the right place to disable it. That particular box can appear in one of several locations. Only one of them is broken. I can’t remember which location.

[Gabrael]

with any hirelings (not talking about any specific instance where it just refuse to work) i usually lock on whatever i need used and spam the interact button, too often they get just close enough to attempt to do what i asked, but end up being short and the come back to me. this include levers, rest shrine, locks, traps. spamming the button often lead them to maybe initially miss the action, but the spam force them to re-atempt quickly while still being close enough, and then it works.

[LightBear]

I feel a "Hey Torc, can you look at hirepathing" thread coming up. ;)

[brian14]

99% likely the area is missing path maps because you had to swim here. Will fix!

A frog refuses to swim? Now that's ironic!

[Aelonwy]

I feel a "Hey Torc, can you look at hirepathing" thread coming up. ;)

I didn't realize it was such a pervasive issue. Since I'd never had rogue hirelings before I assumed it was some problem specific to them. Okay I've never had the arty dog do its job consistently but its not a typical hireling and I don't really play artificier much anyway. The barb, healer, or permanent hires I've used in the past don't seem to have as much problem using levers, opening doors, interacting with the in-game objects to which I direct them as this brainless Frog. Okay...okay... I will say the Owlbears are just as or even more brainless... often just standing there even on active/aggressive not attacking anything or even defending themselves. But those hulking brutes are animals not humanoids like the Bullywug so I chuck it down to a minimal Int score. I seldom use them either.

[krimsonrane]

Just coming through to flaunt my signature. Thassall.

[ZzpxpzZ]

99% likely the area is missing path maps because you had to swim here. Will fix!

-Torc

P.S. If folks happen to recall other areas/objects where henchmen are vexing PM me. The more specific and reproducible the better. (/locs help greatly!)

Are path maps individual to each henchman? I ask because I have personally found frequently similar issues as what the OP is encountering, but most explicitly with Frogo. Generally speaking any other gold seal hireling is vastly superior to Frogo as far as actually performing its commands.

Heck, when just considering general tasks almost all hirelings seem better than Frogo at it, such as opening doors or pulling levers Frogo seems to specifically have a lot of issues on this front.

[Mindos]

Are path maps individual to each henchman? I ask because I have personally found frequently similar issues as what the OP is encountering, but most explicitly with Frogo. Generally speaking any other gold seal hireling is vastly superior to Frogo as far as actually performing its commands.

Heck, when just considering general tasks almost all hirelings seem better than Frogo at it, such as opening doors or pulling levers Frogo seems to specifically have a lot of issues on this front.

i think Froggo takes huge hopping animation steps and it messes up his pathing. But idk.