Playing around on Legacy of Froststone last night, I had a rather disappointing experience. My Dark Elf Enchanter in old Nektulos managed to take down two level 1 creatures, but was killed by level 1 creatures at least 10 times in a row afterwards. Them's bad odds.
I thought I'd do some experimenting on my own default EQEmu install. See if it's just a fluke or happens rarely. Looks like it's not...
I created five Level 1 characters, got them their starting chest piece and cast their starting buffs, and went to kill Level 1 creatures in their newbie areas.
Here's how things went:
Code:
1) Dark Elf Enchanter, Nektulos
a black wolf - 19secs, npc: 33dmg, player: 14dmg, player won
a garter snake - 27secs, npc: 44dmg, player: 10dmg, npc won
2) Wood Elf Druid, GFaydark
a sylvan bat - 18secs, npc: 22dmg, player: 17dmg, player won
a decaying skeleton - 18secs, npc: 24dmg, player: 20dmg, player won
a sylvan bat - 33secs, npc: 49dmg, player: 15dmg, npc won
3) Halfling Cleric, Misty
a black wolf - 13secs, npc: 14dmg, player: 14dmg, player won
a mangy rat - 12secs, npc: 12dmg, player: 16dmg, player won
a black wolf - 16secs, npc: 25dmg, player: 14dmg, player won
4) Ogre Berzerker, Feerott, 6/33 starter 2HS felt OP
a decaying skeleton - 0secs, npc: 0dmg, player: 12dmg, player won
a froglok tad - 3secs, npc: 6dmg, player: 19dmg, player won
5) Human Necro, NRo
a decaying skeleton - 12secs, npc: 21dmg, player: 13dmg, player won
a decaying skeleton - 14secs, npc: 22dmg, player: 17dmg, player won
a coyote - 10secs, npc: 19dmg, player: 13dmg, player won
I know it's a small sampling, but one thing really stood out during every fight... the NPC was hitting for 50%-100% of its max damage with nearly every hit.
That first black wolf? Hit my enchanter for 6, 3, 6, 4, 6, 4, 4.
I hit back for 2, 1, 1, 3, 2, 1, 0, 1, 3.
Fortunately, Level 1 NPCs have like a dozen HP, so my enchanter survived the encounter with about 20% health left.
Next was the garter snake. It hit for 0, 6, 6, 6, 3, 4, 6, 3, 4, 6, 6, 6.
I hit back for 0, 0, 2, 2, 1, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, and was knocked down and killed.
Even after just two fights, there was some definite strangeness about the NPC's hit rate and damage. Just like someone else had reported a little while ago, every hit played the "big hit" sound effect instead of the little hit one, and almost never did it hit for less than 50% of its max damage.
Through the rest of the fights, the way for a Level 1 character to beat a Level 1 creature came down to one thing: getting lucky with big hits from their starter weapon, and taking out the enemy before it could hit back with all those half to max hits.
If the player's hits were unlucky and low, the fight lasted too long, and the enemy's big hits took them down. Only if the player was fast enough to kill the enemy did they win, and that really came down to pure dumb luck with the autoattack rolls.
I know the number of wins and losses in the table above doesn't look too bad, but it really felt off in the game. Those enemies are doing twice the damage I would expect them to.
I do not remember my level 1 character being killed 10 times in a row by a level 1 enemy even back in 2000.
Something's off with their ATK, or STR, or their rolls, and it's likely not limited to Level 1 NPCs.
Oh, and the 6/33 starter 2HS for the Ogre Berzerker just felt silly. It killed everything in 1 or 2 hits. Hahaha.
Level 1 NPCs may be overpowered after all
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