Let's Talk About Monsters!

[PsychoBlonde]

I'm going to go off-script.

I do not like MMO-logic-only attacks - things that can't be defended, blocked, saved, etc. through game mechanics. This is D&D. There is too much typical-MMO "monster does tell, you make reaction move" stuff leaking in. Monsters are more fun with things like trip, stun, etc. Sure, give it a huge save - but don't go outside the mechanics.

So, basically you want an action game to pretend it's turn-based?

This "creeping in" of action mechanics is caused by the devs realizing (correctly), that they didn't build a turn-based game. It's why we can move freely instead of being bound to a grid and why we have collision detection on attacks.

The way the mechanics work should always suit the game, and DDO (unlike pnp D&D), is an ACTION game. I'm actually quite proud of how they've converted some of the mechanics like, say, the medusa gaze attacks and trapping (one of the best and most unique features in the game, imo).

Do you equally dislike it that traps can be physically avoided instead of being an impassible mechanics-only barrier unless they're disarmed by a rogue? No?

You can always go play a text-only MUD if this is such a problem for you.

[oradafu]

Best Monsters?

That's easy.

Trolls.

I'm pretty sure No Dice was asking about best mobs in game, not the forum.

[FuzzyDuck81]

I liked the Illusionary Sprites and always wanted to see real ones somewhere in the game.
(the sound they make when the lot of them dies was fun. )

Oh that's probably my single favourite sound effect in the game... i always like to shout "I DON'T BELIEVE IN FARIES!" just as i break the mark

[nibel]

Make sure effects scale in effectiveness for all versions of that monster across levels and difficulties (Like vampire dominate DCS)

So, you are the one we should blame for the overinflated stats in EE monsters? Good to know.

Which non-raid-boss monsters in DDO do you find the most memorable and engaging to interact with, and why?
If you think part of the reason for your answer is your class/build/playstyle, please include that!

The first one is the scorpion. While the burrow movement is extremelly annoying when they get stuck doing only that, they are tougher than regular mobs, have a quick 2-hit combo that is not a slap to the wrist, and the first "called attack" you might actually time out to block (sting). Only need to fix their improper number of legs, and they are perfect.

Second on list are Earth Elementals. I know, they only have two attacks, and is very easy to control their AI to force one of them. But this one is not for the attacks, but the sound and animation. The small dust that drops as they rise, the rock sound they make every time they move or are hit. Animation-wise, I think earth elementals are my favorite non-unique mob in game.

Orthons are great too, because they are a good all-around mob. They have decent melee attacks (including a cleave), good ranged options, can teleport, and are tough as hell. Also, one of the best /dance animation in the game. The death in a burst of maggots is also well done. The only thing I believe should be changed is for their weapon attacks to bypass cold iron DR, as they were supposed to be demon-hunters after all.

Beholders would go higher on my list if they actually had a supressing field (like the one in the Master Artificer's purple titan) instead of a dispelling field. And if we get the black mist around the non-shadow ones to be fixed. The new rays animations are nice too.

Last, but not least, I actually like the shadar-kai mobs. The chain attack is interesting, but it would be better if the first hit could be lessened in some way (less damage, no debuff), so that we actually have time to jump out of there before taking the heavy damage and the debuff. I like mobs that actually use stealth instead of invisibility, so we can see them with high spot/listen, instead of trusting True Seeing.

===================================

Now, I would like to add a personal question. What is the difference, code-wise, between an orc, bugbear, hobgoblin, and gnoll? I know gnolls have a bite attack, but other than skin, those 4 mob types usually works the same way. Is there any benefit of making a mob an orc instead of a bugbear?

If it is skin/animation only, still great for flavor. But I would like the different races to actually behave a little different than the standard AI for all humanoids.

[Thumbed_Servant]

I completely forgot


I should probably PM that to NoDice.

Hey, those little guys can be FEROCIOUS when they get their back up! Don't corner one and expect it to play opossum!

[Vengeance777]

Which non-raid-boss monsters in DDO do you find the most memorable and engaging to interact with, and why?
If you think part of the reason for your answer is your class/build/playstyle, please include that!

The dragon rares in Gianthold, the Underdark, King's Forest, and Stormhorns are great. I like how most have optional ways of getting their chests and they are just plain fun to fight with. The encounter where you fight alongside the Brothers Grimm in Gianthold is great and feels like an epic battle. The white dragon in the Stormhorns that rivals Velah in size is awe inspiring the first time you see him leap from the snow.

I love the kobolds in the game. In a pack they can be challenging, they have various attacks, and a lot of their dialog is laugh out loud funny. The evolution of the Kobolds as you level up is great as well. Revisiting the waterworks clan during Invaders was great.

Flesh Renders, Ice Flensers, and Fire Reavers. I love the design of these mobs and their abilities. They can be really tough yet fun to fight at level. The first time one vorpals you is shocking and really ups your respect for them. Really wish Pen and Paper stats existed for them as I would love to use them in tabletop.

Oozes. The differing varieties that share similar AI is interesting. I have great memories of learning about the different types as I played through the game the first time. Learning which ones split, what elemental damages each takes, and what weapons to use on them was fun. I will always remember my first Muckbane and Muck's doom. Speaking of Muck, I would love to see more of his relatives in the game, Guck in Searing Heights was a great callback. Still hoping for a higher level or EPic Muckbane/Doom with Greater Ooze Bane.

Gelatinous Cubes. Love these guys. The ones with random spawn points in quests are always great as your never sure when you will run into one. Very old school D&D.

Dretch. These guys are great. Always fun to fight them just to see their dialog.

Pretty much all the demons in the game are awesome to fight, Mariliths, Glabrezu, Hezrou, Goristro, and Bebilith
are always fun and memorable fights. Now we just need Vrocks and Balors. Maybe you guys can tweak the Harpie models into Vrocks and the Pit fiends into Balors like the Satyrs are converted gnolls and wood woads are converted hill giants.

Mindflayers and Beholders. These 2 enemies keep you on your toes and make you want to kill them as fast as possible, because during the fight you are always one save away from death while fighting them. Also the multiple types of beholders are great.

I love the monsters that make callbacks to other areas in the game or that make multiple appearances:

Whisperdoom is always memorable the first time you see her and realize you can't win, killing her later as you level is great and really makes it feel like your character has gained a lot of power and come a long way.

I like Lord Ymemrish the Cold showing up in the Necropolis before you face him in the Enemy Within.

The drunk beholder showing up again in Acute Delirium after drinking him under the table in Delirium was great.

The poor prisoner in Tangleroot that dies of scorpion poison deteriorating into less meaty undead as you progress through the quests if you revisit his cell was an awesome easter egg.

Sorjek returning in SOS was fantastic.

I would love to see more monster easter eggs and callbacks like this in the game as they go a long way toward making the game world feel more connected.

[PsychoBlonde]

Would it be too much to ask for you guys to make ONE pack that DID NOT include a "defend this room from spawning mobs for 5 minutes" quest?

It is UNBELIEVABLE how many of these quests there are in the game. Lemme see if I can list them to demonstrate:

The Cannith Crystal
Redemption
Haverdasher
Protect Baudry's Interests (although kudos for making this one better and more interesting than it was by a long shot)
Endgame: Marguerite
Kobold Assault
Stand Your Ground
Guard Duty
Gladewatch Outpost Defense
The Chronoscope
Into the Deep
Hold for Reinforcements
From Beyond the Grave
Desert Caravan
Madstone Crater
The Prison of the Planes
Reaver's Fate
Escape Plan
Sinister Storage
Litany of the Dead
In the Flesh (twice in the same quest!)
Friends in Low Places
Let Sleeping Dust Lie
The Spinner of Shadows
A Stay at the Inn
A Vision of Destruction
Finding the Path
Breaking the Ranks
Eye of the Titan
The Weapons Shipment
Devil Assault
Don't Drink the Water (THREE times!)
In the Belly of the Beast
Tharaask Arena
The Portal Opens
Reclaiming the Rift

I excluded a bunch of ones where there's a substantial number of other mechanics in the quest like, say, Schemes of the Enemy. This is a boring, tedious, repetitive, annoying mechanic. PLEASE STOP PUTTING IT IN EVERY DANG PACK.

Oh, and I forgot 100% of the Eveningstar Challenges.

[FAQ]

Holy ****, that band of squirrels scared me. You see, I used to have a recurring nightmare that the Squirrel from Ice Age would chase me and eat me.

Anyway, back on topic, best monster encounter for me: I really like the dragon in Mired in Kobolds and the dragons in the GH wilderness area (you can see I'm a dragon fan).

[LittleTinSoldier]

Now I get to ask you questions!

Which non-raid-boss monsters in DDO do you find the most memorable and engaging to interact with, and why?
If you think part of the reason for your answer is your class/build/playstyle, please include that!

The Squirrel Video was Epic! You just made my day, thank you.

As for answering your question, I have to say Purple Worms are quite entertaining. Nothing beats the surprise from an unsuspecting first-timer as you come up on a burrow...

Anecdotal-wise, I have a guild member who avoids them as much as possible: knowing that in pnp they could swallow you whole was terrifying enough. He is aware they can't insta-kill you by gobbling you up, but that doesn't change the fact that he will switch to ranged weapons rather than melee with one.

...and then we ran In the Belly of the Beast. I can confidently say he has only run that quest once.

[Sebastrd]

Which non-raid-boss monsters in DDO do you find the most memorable and engaging to interact with, and why?
If you think part of the reason for your answer is your class/build/playstyle, please include that!

In a good way:

• Anything with multiple attack modes, such as Orthons with their teleport, repeater, and halberd. They take a little more thought and preparation.
• Beholders, because they're so iconic and deadly without the proper precaution. I'm actually kind of sorry we have immunity available.
• Giants are one of the best designed monsters in the game. They are everything I could want giants to be.
• Shadows, because I love their chattering.
• I have a soft spot for golems and I'd really like to see some new adamantine and mithril golems as depicted in the Epic Level Handbook.

In a bad way:

• Phase spiders, vampires, and KOBOLDS. The epitome of annoying. Their modes of avoidance simply make them frustrating - not difficult.
• All of the kill-it-twice-because-once-wasn't-good-enough monsters that popped up in the Forgotten Realms, such as priestesses, drow accompanied by necromancers, and trash in CitW.
• Anything with evasion. While some monsters definitely should have it for story or class reasons, it is overused to the point of being ridiculous.
• Vulkoorim Raiders. Why do these guys dispel? They aren't even casters!

[bibliomane]

Howdy forumites!
In future posts I think I’ll do some fun behind-the-scenes videos of how we design and put together monsters. For this post though, here’s a fun video of what happens when there’s a bug that causes squirrels to trigger combat music and I decide to flip a couple switches before we fix it : )

This is the most awesome bug EVER! I would be in heaven if the squirrels attacked me. XD

[Frogger1234]

Levitating Kobold Shamans. I, too, remember Waterworks.
First encounter with lightning bolt, obscuring mist, etc. Not to mention trying to keep up with their hyperactive jumping routine on a melee character. I've learned how to handle it, but the first quite a few times was memorable.

And, of course, all kinds of Trolls and learning the importance of weapon effect selection to deal with regeneration.

[arkonas]

Howdy forumites!

Your friendly neighborhood monster maker here, just stopping by to say hi and give you all an update on some of the things I’ve been working on.

My first big post was about the stealth and detection updates of last year, but I do a little bit of everything on the systems side, with a focus on making monsters (as opposed to character progression.)

Some other things I’ve worked on include:
· Planning which monsters we make with the artists and leads, and designing how they will work
· Creating monsters and behaviors for The Shadowfell Conspiracy and Menace of the Underdark
· Updating monsters that have been in game for some time (giants, dragons, vampires, and air elementals to name a few)
· Improving certain behaviors such as phasing, grease, and trip
· Fixing bugs with CC states, spinning, and sliding, while improving responsiveness, detection, and other core AI systems (making them harder, better, faster, stronger, and smarter!)
· Making monsters easier to use, including a new way for quest designers to quickly and easily vary their AI per-encounter
· Creating monsters that work together (satyr, harpy, and howler group attacks were just a start)

What do I mean by “updating” older monsters? Here’s a look into just some of the things I do with them:
· Make sure all of their attacks use the newest combat scripts
· Make sure attacks hit the proper number of targets, only the proper targets, and things like knockback can be blocked
· Make sure effects scale in effectiveness for all versions of that monster across levels and difficulties (Like vampire dominate DCS)
· Make sure they face their targets before executing attacks
· Make them perform faster by removing old script systems and calls that aren’t used anymore
· Make them do different things if their target is knocked down
· Make them do different things if they are moving, such as different attacks
· Make them do specific attacks when swinging “blind”
· Make them support special attacks in unique situational conditions
· Tune detect sizes, animation speeds, and timing of hits, effects, sounds, and sometimes adding new ones to improve feedback (air elementals!)
· Give them modern systems such as smart weapon-switching
· Fix movement hitches
· Fix any weird bugs I find (vampires having invisible shields and maces but animating as if they had them!?)

In future posts I think I’ll do some fun behind-the-scenes videos of how we design and put together monsters. For this post though, here’s a fun video of what happens when there’s a bug that causes squirrels to trigger combat music and I decide to flip a couple switches before we fix it : )


Now I get to ask you questions!

Which non-raid-boss monsters in DDO do you find the most memorable and engaging to interact with, and why?
If you think part of the reason for your answer is your class/build/playstyle, please include that!

I would like you to look into 2 monsters i see in ddo because their issues really suck. baktor from devils assault. his teleporting is bugged out to hell. once he starts its very hard for him to stop. so could you please look into that one. the other is fire giant from party crashers when you group people might not notice this as much. when you solo him he constantly non stop does that stomp. most of the time you fail and are just on the ground. so i was hoping he could do other stuff besides that stomp over and over.

[sephiroth1084]

I'm liking some of the new explorer area dragons that move around a bit more, take flight a little, and like to chat a bit before attempting to eat me.

I really wish dragons in DDO came closer to what D&D dragons are supposed to be: intelligent, cunning, capable spellcasters with the ability to get out of melee range and stay there while being very deadly. Too many of the dragons in DDO function like winter wolves--they have some basic attacks and a breath weapon, stand toe-to-toe with their opponents and die.

Can you work a little more on getting melee monsters to swap to ranged attacks (and back) more fluidly and effectively, so that kiting isn't the uber-strategy it is currently?

[InsanityIsYourFriend]

There are so many creatures in DDO that just give you a small pang of emotion when you sight them, or kill them

One of the original quests in ddo makes me sad every time I run it, **** that Inquisitor Gnomon for giving me this quest, I run lords of dust just to kill him because of it! Purge The Heretics

Beholders are always a scary sight, one of the few creatures that when I forget that it is there, I immediately recoil when I see it
Scarier still than beholders are Doomspheres. When I see a doomsphere I am hitting sprint boost, abundant step or any other ability I can use to get away (recalls the first time I ran Yaulthoon's Extreme optional, oh the teleport, the quickened teleport)

Illithids scared me after they ate my brain for the first time

The shadow Puppeteers of Wheyloon are really fun due to their charming NPC's, something that you should consider: Having them charm Hirelings, Animal Companions, Iron Defenders, Summoned Creatures, and any other NPC that we may have along (waits to see an Onyx Panther rip her owner to shreds)

Mimics (when they are an actual surprise no hp bar no examine notification etc) are quite scary when you don't know about them

Uniqueness is what gives an enemy their appeal

Now.... for god's sake please tell our friendly little kobold shamans to stop electrocuting every single new adventurer that meets it for the first time. they must have the most kills out of any enemy in this game



(If you can you should see what kills us more often than not and see if there is a reason we die so much from said enemy, our monsters can learn from other monsters)




Dragons.... When you find a dragon that you were not expecting (Storm Horns last night) ... just ask my group they'll tell ya

[sephiroth1084]

Also, I've put in a bug report on this, but I'll post it here, since this is your area of expertise:

Monster aggro is broken. Too often, on my rogue, I approach a monster someone else has already attacked and I have yet to hit, see the Intimidate symbol over its head, and then it turns and focuses on trying to squash me (and often succeeding).

I have, similarly, noticed monsters exhibiting this behavior and aggroing on my rogue despite having as much threat reduction as I can acquire via enhancements, items, and epic destinies, using Shiv to reduce threat, and Diplomacy or Bluff to reduce/shed threat, while some barbarian or archer is dumping Adrenaline on the thing I'm stabbing. There is no reason whatsoever I should be gaining aggro in those cases.

[voodoogroves]

So, basically you want an action game to pretend it's turn-based?

This "creeping in" of action mechanics is caused by the devs realizing (correctly), that they didn't build a turn-based game. It's why we can move freely instead of being bound to a grid and why we have collision detection on attacks.

The way the mechanics work should always suit the game, and DDO (unlike pnp D&D), is an ACTION game. I'm actually quite proud of how they've converted some of the mechanics like, say, the medusa gaze attacks and trapping (one of the best and most unique features in the game, imo).

Do you equally dislike it that traps can be physically avoided instead of being an impassible mechanics-only barrier unless they're disarmed by a rogue? No?

You can always go play a text-only MUD if this is such a problem for you.

No, psycho, I would prefer both - a tell and a character-sheet defense.

Unless your opinion is we should also remove all saves from any targeted spells since you can avoid them in other ways? Fireball, cometfall, etc. ???

[FranOhmsford]

Dretch. These guys are great. Always fun to fight them just to see their dialog.

Honestly my favourite Monster in the game bar none!

The Dev/s who added the Dretch to DDO got them spot on!

We really need to see Dretch pop up in lower level quests though as quite frankly they were never meant to be Epic Lvl Mobs in PnP {Though they would literally turn up in the Thousands!}.
Would be great if as part of the Threnal Re-build that we keep asking for the Devs swapped in Dretch {and Manes} for Rusties/Puddings and Spiders.

[*]Vulkoorim Raiders. Why do these guys dispel? They aren't even casters![/LIST]

Cannot tell you how much this ^ annoys me!

Look...I'm running through Sands and see 1 Scorrow {a Prophet} - Now I know for a fact that there's 2 Raiders Invissed nearby but there's absolutely nothing I can do to save my Buffs because BOTH of them will Spam Dispel BEFORE becoming Visible!

If it was the Prophet who got to cast Dispel - Well at least I can see him and try to attack from downwind.
AND
At least he has a viable reason to have that spell in the first place!
BUT
Raiders! - No...Just No!

Oh and please give Mobs Surprise/Initiative checks at least - Seriously the Spell and Trip Spam is just insane in DDO today!

[Ralmeth]

LOL! That video is awesome

As you asked about non-raid bosses, my vote goes for Bloodknuckles in Kobold's New Ringleader. Yes, he's a simple ogre, but he's the first boss that a lowbie is going to come across who can triple hit and kill you in 1-2 seconds. I've seen parties back in the day get wiped or near wiped because of him. For the unwary / untwinked he can be quite deadly.

Also, I loathe beholders. Please do NOT add more of them. Yes, they are deadly, but level draining and anti-magic are the most annoying debuffs I can think of. Instead, I really enjoy enemy mobs who have special attacks you have to learn to deal with, such as Bloodknuckles triple attack, Assassin's chain whip, medusa's turn to stone, etc.

[Havok.cry]

Also, I've put in a bug report on this, but I'll post it here, since this is your area of expertise:

Monster aggro is broken. Too often, on my rogue, I approach a monster someone else has already attacked and I have yet to hit, see the Intimidate symbol over its head, and then it turns and focuses on trying to squash me (and often succeeding).

I have, similarly, noticed monsters exhibiting this behavior and aggroing on my rogue despite having as much threat reduction as I can acquire via enhancements, items, and epic destinies, using Shiv to reduce threat, and Diplomacy or Bluff to reduce/shed threat, while some barbarian or archer is dumping Adrenaline on the thing I'm stabbing. There is no reason whatsoever I should be gaining aggro in those cases.

From what I have seen it is bluff/deception items that are broken. It enables sneak attack as advertised, but then automatically gives you the aggro also.