U55/Dread: Kopru => 2,416 points of force

[Bjond]

There's a new boss/mini-boss critter (Kopru) in Isle of Dread with a pretty mean anti-melee ability called "Mind Seeker". It pumps out no-save no-spell-absorb force orbs about every 15~20s. They're highly likely to one-shot most characters.

Really bad design on that one there. It boils down to an anti-melee attack.

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Some other notes that you might find helpful.

I never saw the attacks and assumed it was just a "reach out and kill you" kind of thing UNTIL I fought a Kopru on brightly lit white stone. THEN I saw what it was doing. It's a dark mauve nearly transparent orb that chases you much like a flame sphere, but faster and not forever.

If I was not in melee range (maybe cone distance?), I could see it and flee from it. But, as my char was melee and there's no telegraph or warning, it's essentially an instant-kill unless you happen to be 100% HP when it hits and able to instantly stack on something to save you (eg. guard-up TMP hp) and heal back.

IMHO, it's a decent way to spice up the game for ranged. Dark/dim surroundings or heavy flash/bang from group might make it VERY hard to notice, but there's a chance to spot and avoid.

Melee haven't a prayer. No save. Spell absorb doesn't work. No chance to see it before it hits.

BTW, that 2400 was non-crit on R4. Scaled up to R8~10, it will kill all but a soak tank or maybe a really beefy barbarian. My char was a rather stocky rogue with ~2800 HP.

How I worked around it solo'ing on R4 was to summon a herd of hires. If you stand a few inches behind the hires as you melee, the hire will eat the seeker. Ironically, the bad hire "AI" of crowding in between you and the boss actually works to your advantage here.

Now pray you can kill it before you run out of hires. Bosses in Dread have big HP -- 60~80s of hires might not be enough. Suggest planting a hire outside fight that you can run to for rez.

[Dandonk]

Yes, very annoying mechanic for me as a melee. 8k of force damage is nasty, and as a melee, I have very limited ability to out-maneuver the attack.

We had to resort to exploiting the fact that one of the bosses kept attacking dead people to get it down.

If it had an animation that I could watch for, that would be helpful. Didn't notice any, though.

[Halciet]

every 15~20s.

When ranged aggro they were doing it about every 5-6 seconds. When in melee range they were also making melee sounds without any animation and dealt no melee damage.

[droid327]

You'd think Mind Seeker would at least have a Will save, right?

[Aelonwy]

Yeah. Hubby mostly plays melees and a couple ranged. This mechanic on Lammania was one of his reasons for NOT enjoying IoD. It needs a save or to work with Spell Abs or be toned the heck down.

[Rakehell]

Ok... that explains what happened to my melee. I wasnt able to figure out why I was getting instakilled by the kopru.

A little bit better ability to avoid would be helpful.

Like the exploding spiders in sharn, etc... there is a decent visual cue to give you some warning.

[Jerevth]

Poor execution, and agreed it should have a save or a means to reduce the damage otherwise (MRR/Force Absorption).

Better idea might be that it builds in strength and speed the farther it travels (or longer it exists)- Melee takes a few hundred when it manifests, but if it chases a ranged or caster, it starts building in strength to achieve the big boom. You'd see people running in to take the hit, instead of a DB-Z'esque three episode build up.

Suddenly kiting would carry a danger all its own.

Kiting is a valid tactic and I wouldn't begrudge someone using it, but this has the potential of a finely honed caveat for when kiting is a weakness. Run up on it and take the hit or maybe a sufficiently high dispel DC to negate it.

I'd rather believe the impact this would have on melees was an oversight rather than intentional anti-paladin thinking.

[Tilomere]

Now pray you can kill it before you run out of hires.

Monsters like to attack the lowest hp target, so you can also try summoning anything low level repeatedly. A flaming sphere of your own may work.

[Orangine]

Perhaps you need the play the game as intended and that means stop playing melee.
Roll a caster or thrower and just jump around in circles while doing DPS. This is 100% safe and effective and it works against all bosses on R10.
Why would you worry about taking damage while dealing damage? EW

[EinarMal]

Perhaps you need the play the game as intended and that means stop playing melee.
Roll a caster or thrower and just jump around in circles while doing DPS. This is 100% safe and effective and it works against all bosses on R10.
Why would you worry about taking damage while dealing damage? EW

Do you have any vids of you running quests on R10 on a sorc and employing this amazing kiting where you never get hit? It is quite an incredible feat you should post these on YouTube. To never get hit by anything ever wow that is incredible.

In the R10 groups I am in people die all the time including casters. Above R6 I find soloing many quests very difficult on a caster. I would love to see how you solo all these quests without ever getting hit, 100% safe and effective.

[Bjond]

Doe Globe of Invulnerability block it?

Not tested, but I'd say "no" because spell-absorption does not work. My guess is it's not a spell. It would be worth testing, though. Let us know.

Monsters like to attack the lowest hp target, so you can also try summoning anything low level repeatedly. A flaming sphere of your own may work.

It was my own fault really for not playing playing a sorc; the pendulum has yet to reach apogee for blasters.

[Tilomere]

It was my own fault really for not playing playing a sorc; the pendulum has yet to reach apogee for blasters.

It's certainly not my fault. I even laid out the build to help you. But if you don't like that, maybe this helps!

[Tilomere]

Hmm, if it really is summons, you should be able to beat the boss with a wand of dispel magic, dispelling control over the summons should cause them to attack randomly, including back into boss.

[user110000]

The first time i went i was tanking R10, so yes, i was stood right next to it. Unfortunately didnt see a thing except my death from what I can remember was 10k of damage lol
Now I either run around or try to hide behind a tent while holding its agro, fun times

[Anuulified]

There's a new boss/mini-boss critter (Kopru) in Isle of Dread with a pretty mean anti-melee ability called "Mind Seeker". It pumps out no-save no-spell-absorb force orbs about every 15~20s. They're highly likely to one-shot most characters.

Really bad design on that one there. It boils down to an anti-melee attack.

---

Some other notes that you might find helpful.

I never saw the attacks and assumed it was just a "reach out and kill you" kind of thing UNTIL I fought a Kopru on brightly lit white stone. THEN I saw what it was doing. It's a dark mauve nearly transparent orb that chases you much like a flame sphere, but faster and not forever.

If I was not in melee range (maybe cone distance?), I could see it and flee from it. But, as my char was melee and there's no telegraph or warning, it's essentially an instant-kill unless you happen to be 100% HP when it hits and able to instantly stack on something to save you (eg. guard-up TMP hp) and heal back.

IMHO, it's a decent way to spice up the game for ranged. Dark/dim surroundings or heavy flash/bang from group might make it VERY hard to notice, but there's a chance to spot and avoid.

Melee haven't a prayer. No save. Spell absorb doesn't work. No chance to see it before it hits.

BTW, that 2400 was non-crit on R4. Scaled up to R8~10, it will kill all but a soak tank or maybe a really beefy barbarian. My char was a rather stocky rogue with ~2800 HP.

How I worked around it solo'ing on R4 was to summon a herd of hires. If you stand a few inches behind the hires as you melee, the hire will eat the seeker. Ironically, the bad hire "AI" of crowding in between you and the boss actually works to your advantage here.

Now pray you can kill it before you run out of hires. Bosses in Dread have big HP -- 60~80s of hires might not be enough. Suggest planting a hire outside fight that you can run to for rez.

Not sure about the 15 to 20 secs. I watched one pump it out every 6 secs or so while I spun around it avoiding it. It's OP as hell even on R1 at about 800 a blast. R6 was nearly 4k damage each.