Curse

Windseeker · Feb 27, 2007, 11:30 AM // 11:30

Hi there, I'v been reading through the farming forum alot recently, and have started my own tinkering with it to try and have some fun wqith it (and earn some cash on the side). Having read through alot of stuff, I'v been tinkering with AOEing down the bunch of minotaurs in Elona's Reach (i'm an ele). I understand it probably isn't the best place to farm, but it's where I'm going to start. I don't care overly about the drops, I just enjoy learning how to use new builds for different things.

One major thing thats been bugging me has been mob AI. Alot of the time, i'm running into a group of monsters, start hammering off spells and _at some point_ they all start running around. Now, I understand that they do this as a half hearted attempt to avoid AOE.

However, what's bugging me is that I couldn't find a decent explanation of the mechanics at work here that is making them do this. It would help immensly if anyone could shed some light on the matter. I'm mostly wondering about things such as:

- how effects from my spells (knockdown, slow, burning) affect when the mobs start running off

- how the amount of damage affects their running

Sometimes, using the same combo of spells, mobs run off after i pop the first spell, soemtimes they stay until theyre all dead. I don't know if it's completely random, but any information you could provide would help greatly. I'm not after a great build, or a great place to farm, just want some insight into how it works, as I think understanding the principles of this wil help alot more in the future than reading a build, using it once and having no idea why it's working

Thanks in advance,

Tia.

Shadow_FC3S · Feb 27, 2007, 02:01 PM // 14:01

Here's what I've noticed

There are 2 type of scattering

-AoE Scattering, where by if you set off an AoE they will start it run regardless of group size
-Mob Scattering, this is the case where you have aggroed more then 3 monsters and lets say you start to attack only one in the group that is attacking you, once the monster you are hitting hp gets down to a certain level they will back off from attacking (in a sense, run off) and start to heal, once fully healed they will come back to the fight. Now there is a way for you to get them back by hitting them with something (eg. wand) but that's not really what you want to do when you farm.

In the Ele's case, do as much damage as possible in very little time, by knockdown, to slow them and keep them in the AoE as long as possible, burning, and anything else that would kill them faster.

Rangers use traps but this method was out way before the Ele's method got popular due to speed

Windseeker · Feb 27, 2007, 03:29 PM // 15:29

Hmm, ok. I hadn't noticed a difference between 3 and 4 mobs but i'l lgo back and play around with it.

i understand aoe makes them scatter, but it seems to me that different aoes have different effects. like fireball doesnt affect their pathing any more than a flare does, whereas firestorm has them running about. do aoes come into certian categories which affect mob behavior?

My Green Storage · Feb 27, 2007, 07:13 PM // 19:13

Fireball and Flare arent AoE spells.
AoE = Area of Effect, Fireball and flare are only directed towards one thing, not a group. Where as Firestorm / Teinai's Heat / Bed of coals /etc etc affect an area.
I've also had a few (not farming) run from Meteor Shower when they could .. hopefully the AI isn't improved to make them run when MS is cast or after the first stone or 2 comes down ..

If you're going for Minotaurs for practice.
http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Build:E...st_Form_Farmer

"This build allows a player to farm large numbers of Minotaur in the Elona Reach mission, Trolls and Kirin on the Pongmei Valley."
(The Droks Trolls..)

Levi Garett · Feb 27, 2007, 08:33 PM // 20:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by My Green Storage

Fireball and Flare arent AoE spells.
AoE = Area of Effect, Fireball and flare are only directed towards one thing, not a group. Where as Firestorm / Teinai's Heat / Bed of coals /etc etc affect an area.

Just to clarify-Fireball is AOE. It hits target foe and adjacent foes.

OP: Have you read up www.guildwiki.org?

Look under glossary and read the descriptions for AoE, DoT, PbAoE, etc. This should get you on the right track.

leguma · Feb 28, 2007, 08:42 AM // 08:42

As previously stated, there are 2 kinds of scatter.

The first is AoE scatter.
This kicks in when monsters have lost some of their health due to damage from AoE skills, and applies to both mellee and ranged creatures. The way this works behind the scenes can often be confusing as it produces what can be intepreted as random scattering. In a nutshell, a group of creatures will scatter after being hit by damage from the same AoE source repeatedly over a short period of time. Now, while both Fireball and Firestorm are AoE, the difference between them is that Fireball is a one-shot thing while Firestorm pulses, delivering damage each time. Behind the scene, the game makes no differentiation betwen the two in terms of how cretures scatter, however, in practice the difference lies in how fast the damage can be reapplied. Take for example a skill like Zealot's Fire, which does AoE damage whenever you use a skill on yourself. Casting a spell once while under it's effect will not cause scattering. However, casting many spells in quick succession will cause monsters to scatter. If Fireball had no recharge, and you kept spamming it, you will see monsters starting to run from it. There is no hard and fast number for how often such AoE needs to trigger before scattering starts but from what I remember, Meteor Shower, which hits every 3 seconds will never cause AoE scatter on it's own, but spells that pulse every second such as Firestorm will always cause scatter.

The second is Mellee scatter.
This type of scattering occurs when you have more than 3 mellee creatures aggroed on you at teh same time. What happens is that the creatures will "take turns" fighting you, retreating a little whenever their health drops below a certain point. Whenever the number of creatures changes, or one of them has regened enough to feel brave enough to come in, they will resettle.
Melle scatter is very different to AoE scatter. It does not matter where the damage comes from or how fast it comes, the only factors that come into play are the number of creatures and their current health. Also, this only applies to melle creatures, which can include some casters. The more creatures you aggro, the more sensitive they are about running away, when they get low on health. Also, the health margin for retreat seems to be influenced by the number of creatures agrroed. Certain mellee casters, while being subject to scattering will get no benefit from it because while they retreat, why will continue to spam their spells, thus still being considered "in combat" and never starting to regen, however this varies from mob to mob.

Flightmare · Feb 28, 2007, 04:59 PM // 16:59

You can avoid scatter of melee mobs by getting them stuck in a narrow corner or something like that. If you know a zone well you might find some good spots.