Is trying to run away pointless?

bioshrike

So I've been playing as my guardian fighter, but what I've found is that trying to run away is basically pointless, and enemies will keep following you for what seems like the entire area you're in.


Now, I realize that the guardian fighter doesn't have any sort of sprint/dash/teleport ability, but otherwise, if I'm not winning a fight against some monsters, should I just consign myself to defeat? Is there something i'm missing here? I've tried to use terrain to get enemies off my back, but it seems they can move faster than I, or don't otherwise get hung up on terrain like players do.

Any advise or insight into this issue?

Thanks.

*Edit: d'oh at bad thread title

deurkier1

Play rogue and destroy them all!

infi321

A Guardian Fighter arguing about having too much aggro...thats a first!

bioshrike

Because of the hours I play, I mostly solo. I've wanted to be able to use a weapon + shield in Champions Online, which is why I went for the Guardian Fighter. Regardless, is it simply pointless to try and run if I'm not doing well in a fight? I can't run, I can't drop aggro, so is my only choice to die? Is there some tactic or strategy that I'm just missing here?

Thanks.

rokis10

You are a warrior. Die with honor.

sho9836

Of course we all die more often then not. I am also primarily a solo player and when someone drags a herd of orcs by me i can figure to die most of the time. and no as far as I have been able to find it does not matter how far u run expect to die even if u reach hollowed ground.

labbb

drink potions .. and stand and fight

ohh and block too

bioshrike

I'm using potions, I'm blocking, I'm doing all that stuff. My question/comment is that, basically, this game doesn't seem to want you to try to run away from an encounter - you push ahead and just deal with any aggro you get - there isn't the sort of escaping and maneuvering that I am accustomed to, (specifically having played CoX and CO for many years).

derressh

I'm not entirely sure about this subject. There are times I've had mobs give up chasing me and run back to where they were (after quite a while), but other times they just stick to you like glue. The amount of damage you've done/taken in the fight may have something to do with it, which could be why it seems like they won't ever give up if you run from a fight that's gone sour.

If there's nearby Neverwinter Guards you could drag the mobs to them, since they'll attack any enemies in range.

pinchyskrii

Not entirely it uses the same ancient, embarrassing reset system as WoW.

lsya

If you run far enough, they will stop chasing you.

mmcsky1

I have no idea how you as a Guardian find the need to run away, i usually casually stroll trough camps and aggro things all the way to my quest giver,turn in quest, then proceed to slaughter them all.

remedialhappyman

On my guardian I usually keep about 80 potions on me whenever I can. It also helps to do the daily quests before starting a new zone so your a level or two above the content.

astazia

It's not realistically possible to flee from battle once you've realized things are going south, enemies do chase you for too long and especially on a GF they are just going to backstab you over and over until you die. On a mount it's pretty easy to lose enemies that you happen to agro, and it's possible to flee pretty easily on a GWF with sprint and their speed boost.

That said, it should not even be possible to get into a situation in solo content where your GF would feel the need to run. I just can't even fathom that idea, my GF can solo multiple spawns in 5 man dungeons equal to her level. With solo content I could pull entire maps and kill them all in one epic battle and probably not have to potion as long as I kept agro off my cleric pet.

kewar

To answer your question OP, no. I haven't seen any benefit in running vs. dieing. granted I've only played up to about level 8 or 9 on a few different characters but, sprint/teleport don't seem to be good enough to reach an npc's "leash" or threat range. Again I've only played the lower levels, but running seems to be more expensive than dieing in that I end up using 5-6 potions trying to reach a reset point for the npc's I've pulled.

deepscythe

rokis10 wrote: »

You are a warrior. Die with honor.

this :rolleyes:

doomtrigger1

ITS D&D not wow. Its like Final fantasy XI beastmen will follow you across maps just t hit you then run off

glannigan

Glannigan, Son of Flannigan, Son of Annigan, Son of Hannigan, Son of Mar!!!

I would not know, the thought of running away has never occurred to the great, great, great grandson of Mar!!!!

aldonesxrcs

In my experience, unless someone else (player or NPC) intervenes, once you've alerted an enemy to your presence they're pretty much yours to keep. We've got fast movement skills, but by design they only move us towards the enemy, and not away.
If you absolutely have to lose an enemy, I've found that scraping them off on NPC guards, or running into a doorway and changing maps both work. Kiting them across another player might also work, but that's a pretty terrible type of behavior so I wouldn't suggest it, and never do such a thing myself.
Fortunately, I've gotten to lvl 36 so far, and haven't died once while soloing everything I do. I guess that perhaps part of my success has come from the fact that I designed my build specifically for soloing in preparation for these sorts of issues. I don't take any of the powers or talents that are clearly designed for PvP or party play, and have centered my character's strengths around a slow, but virtually assured victory as a result. Some boss battles take ridiculously long as a result, where it doesn't even look like I'm making a dent in their health bars, but that's part of the price I suppose I pay for being equally unkillable.
Here are some of the behaviors I've adopted that have helped me:
-Get a cleric companion. Frequently they can heal you faster than an enemy can ever hope to damage you. I started out with the dog, and came to regret it later.
-Learn to love blocking.
-Expect that if an enemy can get aggro on you, that you're pretty much going to be forced to fight them, and therefore stack the advantage in your favor from the beginning. Enter fights at full health, and open up on groups of them with good opening AoE like the big shield smash that you unlock around lvl 30. Enemies will start the battle on their butts giving you free hits.
-learn which of your attacks will stun an enemy, which you can use to knock your enemies out of powerful attacks when they begin a casting animation for them. That gryphon's strike, or whatever it's called, has saved my butt too many times to count.
-Learn which bosses are actually immune to this strategy, and get good at circling around them when they project their intent to attack. Many of the biggest enemies apparently can't be stunned or knocked prone, and it's an awful shock the first time you try to solo these guys and they throw it back in your face.
-We're designed to be slow tanks, so relentlessly press the attack. If you start to give up, you're good as dead. Rely on your cleric or potions to save your butt.
-I've experimented with movement speed gear, and haven't really noticed any sort of appreciable difference, so I'm not expecting any sort of secret trick currently exists where you can simply escape anyone by running away that way. That said, you can always seem to get past them pretty well if you just hoof it past them on a horse. Just expect them to usually follow you.
-Basically just go into every encounter with the expectation of eventually kicking their butts, rather than somehow avoiding them. Marking targets with Tab is also a great way to pull grouped enemy mobs away from really dangerous areas, like in front of big bosses. Frequently I've been able to divide and conquer by marking enemies at a distance, and getting them to split their forces and attack me one at a time, or in smaller groups.

bioshrike

Thank you all for your replies. I've mainly had the issue when I want to get from point A to point B, and don't feel like fighting my way there. I'm only level 14, and have neither a mount nor a companion. I know I need more gold to get a horse, but can someone point me to a resource regarding companions?

Thanks!

aldonesxrcs

I believe you get your first companion for free at 15 in a quest, so hang in there, you're almost there.
Horses are similar, and you get the ability to rent them around the same time.

remedialhappyman

aldonesxrcs wrote: »

I believe you get your first companion for free at 15 in a quest, so hang in there, you're almost there.
Horses are similar, and you get the ability to rent them around the same time.

Its level 16 but yeah you get a free companion. I don't like the dog very much since he stopped gaining ranks at 15 and now he just dies instantly.

wednesdaywoe13

I had a hilarious episode in the fallen tower area when two groups of orcs respawned on me while I paused to clear room in my inventory. I wasn't in a position to fight them all so I tried to run.

As it turns out, retreat is not an option in this game. In the process of attempting to run away, I ended up with the attention of at least six more groups. There were packs of orcs in every direction I turned and, since enemies in this game have a near telepathic awareness of your presence, every single group started chasing me.

I continued to run for a minute or two with Benny Hill music playing in my head, but eventually I realized it was pointless and threw myself into the massive pack of orcs.

Regarding companions, I am also playing a Guardian and have found that the Cleric companion works very well. Well, as long as she's not running into melee to stand directly inside an incoming AoE attack...which she does a lot.

bioshrike

Well... I shall push on, I suppose. I try to keep a good amount of healing potions with me, and I use a daily ability which causes my hits to heal me. I also try to block those big hits the tougher enemies send my way. Can anyone point me to a resource for companions, though?

valtray

Trying to dodge or kite efficiently on anything but giants/hulks is pretty much pointless. They run faster than you and they also attack fast. So you either stand still and kill them as fast as possible or you die.

flamekeg

Guardian was not what I expected, lvl's 1-12 and I was totally missing the point of it.

Isn't guardian supposed to be tough to kill, my cloth armored toon (CW) was much better in the art staying alive and killing the enemy groups.

My rogue was totally OP compared to guardian.

Didn't know about companions at lvl 16 and was drinking all my silver to stay alive so I deleted the false guardian

Running away is not a great way to play, you might end getting 2+ groups on you.

leomutreta

You should not have that much problem playing a GF... Playing as one I even soloed the illithid stuff in the underdark that many classes could not do alone.
Time your block, use regeneration items, group the mobs and you will be fine. No problem to use potions either, but the regen equip will help a lot in this regard. At 60, with greens, my regen ticks were as high as 1500 HP. Regen works as a percentage of your total HP, and you are playing the class with the most HP in the game.

I didn't even used a healer companion.

frisian01

Just play a cleric already. I only get killed maybe once ever 3 or 4 levels.

halberd388

I play a devote cleric, so I can't be much help for a fighter, however one of my mates plays a guardian fighter and he gave me some pointers from his current 3 day experience with it.

Don't run, ever, because running as a GF just isn't an option. You're not a hitpoint meat tank like in WoW or other games, but you are the only class that can actively BLOCK attacks which allows you to live longer. You don't do a lot of damage compared to a CW or a TR but you can stay alive far longer. Other classes can dodge attacks and can use their dodge to sprint away from danger because they just can't take the punishment. Soloing from 12-16 was rather tough to outright hard, but the only real option for a GF is the cleric as a companion if you want to continue to solo. He found playing some PvP games helped him understand the class because he could die and not really be punished for it. The game all but forces you until level 20 to put a point into almost every skill, try them out, see what works for you. Be mindful of your feats, read them carefully, don't try to take feats that do extra damage but allow you to live longer (recovery, deflection). His last bit of advice was to choose gear that also allows you to live longer, I've seen him live through a foundry mission with 10+ mobs of his level all beating on him. I only tossed him a few heals while the TR I had to all but constantly heal because he couldn't take the hits.

GF is a very active class, don't play it like a meat shield, play it like a class that has to USE a shield.

skeletun

lsya wrote: »

If you run far enough, they will stop chasing you.

Any Relation? I just couldn't resist.

zebular

Run farther, they will retreat. Fixed your subject line on the forum listing.

Cheers!