The Hounds are Hunting...

[RavenStormclaw]

I have run a few quests solo with hirelings. A few things I was able to observe:

1: Hirelings can be targets of the hunt.
proof: was running retrieve the stolen goods and had a hound but no blue arrows so I thought I missed it. 3-4 minutes later had a second hound and I was the target. fairly sure at that point I didn't miss it. Hirelings can be targets.

2: Not sure what they are yet but at character level 4 elite quest level 2 hounds have around 200 HP. this is based on my max empowered searing light hitting for roughly 150-180 hp and taking the hound bar down to roughly 20% left.

3: Having a caster who can do a ton of spike damage is helpful. You can target them when the first spawn in and get a solid hit in before they even move or attack. that is how I have killed 4 of then with my little hireling group. When the hound only has 20 percent health left when it can finally act it is a lot easier to kill.

Hope this helps keep you alive.

[Amorais]

Problem with putting these random gotcha mobs in every difficulty is the fact the rewards for casual players are far lower but the risk is almost as high. I generally dont have time to do the whole reaper 5000 favour thing so have to stick with the mundane cloak and maybe the cape if I'm lucky or have a bit of time off. Surviving 1-20 solo, even on normal, seems like close to the same challenge as doing everything on elite with a full group. Solo you get zero support, zero second chances and one single mistake and thats it. Yet all I got was this crappy half-cloak :x

That said, I also think what's done is done and nerfing the hounds now would be a mistake. Just have to run with it I guess.

[DAVIDARC]

some drop remies

remies?

[boredGamer]

Problem with putting these random gotcha mobs in every difficulty is the fact the rewards for casual players are far lower but the risk is almost as high. I generally dont have time to do the whole reaper 5000 favour thing so have to stick with the mundane cloak and maybe the cape if I'm lucky or have a bit of time off. Surviving 1-20 solo, even on normal, seems like close to the same challenge as doing everything on elite with a full group. Solo you get zero support, zero second chances and one single mistake and thats it. Yet all I got was this crappy half-cloak :x

That said, I also think what's done is done and nerfing the hounds now would be a mistake. Just have to run with it I guess.

I think all of this forumming will age poorly.

They’re not hard to deal with once you get over The initial panic. Also normal is far easier than elite, still .

I soloed level 2-7 yesterday- I joined a borderlands slayer group to get started.

As per usual , plan and think and play well, it seems just as do able as previous seasons. It’s the same gnashing of teeth as champ season or mimic season. Adjust and play.

And as amazing as I am, yeah I avoid level 1 quests on elite when I’m level 1 or 2. Why would I join them before I’m level 3 with all my ap ? Play smart, it’s hardcore.

Edit: what I love about this mechanic is it makes you think about every ROOM you go in. What if a hound comes ? What will I do during this fight if it does ? Going into any fight without thinking it through could be death. Love that.

[cdbd3rd]

(I'll try to gather all reported info int....

THANK YOU!

I have hunted (get it?) through thread after thread looking for what these hounds are and do.

(Gotta spread my self around...)


No solo + no afk = no HCL. *shrug* IIWII.

[C-Dog]

Also normal is far easier than elite, still.

(To be clear) - you've observed that they are scaling with quest difficulty?

1: Hirelings can be targets of the hunt.
proof: was running retrieve the stolen goods and had a hound but no blue arrows so I thought I missed it. 3-4 minutes later had a second hound and I was the target. fairly sure at that point I didn't miss it. Hirelings can be targets.

Okay, I'm not seeing how this shows that the Hireling was the target.

If they got the blue arrow, if they got attacked first - then sure. A high DPS Hireling could easily steal aggro. But not seeing the arrow... could be several explanations.

Anyone else have an experience w/ a hireling and being hunted?

[RavenStormclaw]

(To be clear) - you've observed that they are scaling with quest difficulty?


Okay, I'm not seeing how this shows that the Hireling was the target.

If they got the blue arrow, if they got attacked first - then sure. A high DPS Hireling could easily steal aggro. But not seeing the arrow... could be several explanations.

Anyone else have an experience w/ a hireling and being hunted?

hunts w
The hound did indeed go after my cleric hireling first. I rechecked everything just to make sure. I am definitely positive it went after my hireling. Time between them was to short for me to be hunted twice. it was less than 5 minutes.

[Amorais]

remies?

Mysterious Remnants

[Aelonwy]

This almost feels exactly like what SSG is aiming for, agree with it or not. To be a bit of a jerk, the C in HCL doesn't mean "casual."

That said, I usually cook in a frying pan at around 70%-80%, which is well above the 50% mark. But if I cook at 90%-100%, I'm going to burn the food.
SSG might want to consider that analogy.

Its Hardcore League not Hardcore Reaper ONLY, which is what it feels like when Reaper-like mobs get shoe-horned into normal difficulty.

[tsotate]

Its Hardcore League not Hardcore Reaper ONLY, which is what it feels like when Reaper-like mobs get shoe-horned into normal difficulty.

This. The whole point of having different tiers of reward is that there should be different tiers of challenge. Having dog-shaped Doom Reapers in every quest and wilderness means that that's no longer the case.

[Jynxxx]

Has anyone figured out what, exactly, they are? Race/type?

Magical Beast - Animal

[C-Dog]

Magical Beast - Animal

Confirmed - trapped one in Baudry 1, had time to /examine.

• Type: Magical Beast
• Race: Wolf

[Elmunsin]

Hearsay say they are 4 levels higher than the highest party member

[cdbd3rd]

If you go Incap, the Hound just sits and stares at you until you stand back up.

I had a stand-off with one at 2nd level where he hit me and I Incapped. (Max Con + Addy toaster so auto-stabilized.) I'd stand back up, he'd knock me back down. Seems Incap lasted just long enough to drop the debuff. About 4-5 rounds later he critted me for the kill.


-------

I have heard there's a 5-minute window before any Hound will spawn in a quest. Not willing to voluntarily die to test this myself. So is this Truth or Myth?

[Phoenicis]

If you go Incap, the Hound just sits and stares at you until you stand back up.

I can verify this, lvl 5 barb in Borderlands wilderness hunting feather for mounts. Parked next to a chest and went AFK (I knew better but did it anyway) so my wife could find the chest (we went separate directions (another nono, but hounds there are CR3 and meh)) he'd knock me to -10, I'd auto stabilize and get back up with 20 or so HP and he'd knock me back to -10. I finally managed to get a blood tribute off and beat him up.

I have heard there's a 5-minute window before any Hound will spawn in a quest. Not willing to voluntarily die to test this myself. So is this Truth or Myth?

This does not seem to be accurate, I've seen a hound less than 3 min (there was 2:05 left in the quest when we saw our first hound of the game. we both died) into Beraudry 1.

[Vespero]

I got my bloody footprints. It wasn't easy. We had close calls. At the end of the favor run, of our dedicated group, only 3 of us were still alive and going for the last 500 or so favor. Now the questing lv cap has been lowered, AND these hounds...I can't even take a bio break? Come on.
Im not the most uber player, but I have played FOREVER. Since launch pretty much. I used to play on Xoriat server. I still call "Stopping the Sahuaghin" > "The Low Road"
I do know what I am doing, but I'm not sure I want to slog through this season just to get bent over by the end of it. Was someone complaining it was too easy to get 5k favor? I don't see how it was.

[Vordax]

Hearsay say they are 4 levels higher than the highest party member

Hearsay is incorrect

[Mynxxx]

These hounds are crazy - died 3 times at level 1 in first dungeon. In a full party - last time I was not even the target of hound. DONE with Hardcore.

This is NOT how to keep players.

Jelliqal

i can report numerous people in game and in discord who have died to the hounds in slayer zones and normal quests are upset and have decided not to participate.

So is that the intention of this event ? to make it so elitist only the 100 on the leaderboard can enjoy it?

I thought, perhaps wrongly, that this was a game wide event open to everyone?

Having reaper strength mobs spawn at level 1 in solo/normal/slayer zones and kill players who are purposefully choosing easy content seems incorrectly balanced, no matter what event or server it is.

And I honestly dont care who disagrees, so save it. I am intending to be rhetorical, not conversational -

this is my 6th event running at 1000+ person guild - i know a lot of players across the spectrum of skill and I can tell you after 5 hours of hounds murdering everyone the consensus is the hound strength presently is tweaked too high

[Ryiah]

Solo you get zero support

I have encountered two hounds. One I was specifically trying to get to spawn in Cerulean Hills to see how fast and how hard hitting it was, and one
randomly in the Borderlands wilderness. For the first one I barely kept ahead of it with Expeditious Retreat scrolls but it also was barely hitting hard
at all and CLW potions kept me alive till I could reach the exit. Second one was killed in just two hits by the hireling Frenzy.

I'm not a fan of the hounds. I was much more a fan of the mimics because they gave you a good choice. If you risked death you would get better
gear but if you didn't you ran the possibility of not having the gear you needed later in your playthrough.

[cdbd3rd]

Re: My 5-minute window question.

...
This does not seem to be accurate, I've seen a hound less than 3 min (there was 2:05 left in the quest when we saw our first hound of the game. we both died) into Beraudry 1.

Duly noted. Ty.