Winter Wolfs AI bugged

lonewolfmk1 · September 2016

I dont know if it has been mentioned before, but the AI of the winter wolfes appears to be not working correctly, at least in the new mod 10 areas. Sometimes they just stand around, after being aggroed, doing nothing, or attacking with the ice blast, but still take an awfull lot of time until they go into cc (close combat) range. And even there, if you move a bit around, their throw attack mostly misses. I doubt that this is intended.

beckylunatic · September 2016

Moving out of the way of their prone is strategy. It has no splat, just a telegraph, and powers like that are purposely slow to activate so that you can avoid them.

dupeks · September 2016

beckylunatic said:
Moving out of the way of their prone is strategy. It has no splat, just a telegraph, and powers like that are purposely slow to activate so that you can avoid them.

I agree, but the wolves in the new STK areas feel different than wolves or other beasts elsewhere.

I can't really put my finger on it, but they are more sluggish. Maybe it's that they don't make much of an effort to reposition. Or maybe we've all just gotten a lot tighter at dodging and these wolves seem easy in comparison.

Still, wolves in IWD feel less sluggish.

Unknown · September 2016

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beckylunatic · September 2016

I don't fight anything I don't have to, and since there is no quest for killing wolves after hitting the midpoint of the IWD campaign, they're not on the list of things that need to die. So my basis for comparison is almost non-existent at this time. IWP wolves are not only higher level, they can be bugged to be HE-strength in any location they spawn, so players may randomly encounter uber-buffed wolves of death also.

In SKT, I find that the wolves try to position for combat advantage quite regularly, if not controlled. They can be a real pain in the backside (hah). I suppose that most mobs that are spawned as add waves are a little slow to wake up, so to speak. I've been not doing these quests because I find them intolerably tedious, but the wolves that are already present at any location seem normal to me.

lonewolfmk1 · September 2016

beckylunatic said:
Moving out of the way of their prone is strategy. It has no splat, just a telegraph, and powers like that are purposely slow to activate so that you can avoid them.

Actually i tested a bit more and i noticed, sometimes they even miss you with the throw attack if you dont even move at all, like they can probably judge the distance to the target.

lonewolfmk1 · September 2016

dupeks said:

beckylunatic said:
Moving out of the way of their prone is strategy. It has no splat, just a telegraph, and powers like that are purposely slow to activate so that you can avoid them.
I agree, but the wolves in the new STK areas feel different than wolves or other beasts elsewhere.

I can't really put my finger on it, but they are more sluggish. Maybe it's that they don't make much of an effort to reposition. Or maybe we've all just gotten a lot tighter at dodging and these wolves seem easy in comparison.

Still, wolves in IWD feel less sluggish.

Sluggish is a good way to describe it. The wolfes on the stronghold map, for example, charge and try to circle you. On SKT i sometimes aggro a wolf and he sits there for some time, doing nothing.

two30 · September 2016

Speculation: They only seem sluggish if you are out of range of their Freezing Breath. When their Freezing Breath is on cooldown, they approach and try to bite. If their Freezing Breath isn't on cooldown but you aren't in range of it, they get confused.

beckylunatic · September 2016

That *might* explain some discrepancy of experience, because I always fight trash in melee range no matter what class I'm on.

Wolves on the Stronghold map are dire, not winter (unless those come from a mob upgrade I haven't reached yet), so they have no breath attack and only melee.

dupeks · September 2016

two30 said:
Speculation: They only seem sluggish if you are out of range of their Freezing Breath. When their Freezing Breath is on cooldown, they approach and try to bite. If their Freezing Breath isn't on cooldown but you aren't in range of it, they get confused.

I think you're on to something. And as @beckylunatic mentioned the wolves we encounter in other places might not have the Freezing Breath attack.

And now that I think about it, I definitely experience this more significantly on my DC and CW (ranged and constantly dodging), and it hasn't struck me as much on my OP (melee and just taking it in the face).

I get annoyed on my DC because the wolves won't group up nicely for low-radius AoEs like they do on SH and IWD maps. But since they are often starting with the clunky breath attack, that makes sense. And then when I dodge away they get confused rather than coming after me.

Speculation, but it seems consistent with my experience.

sorce · September 2016

I'm just annoyed that whilst they are frozen.stunned, they are able to do their bite attack to prone me. How are they doing it whilst they are currently turned into ice cubes?

lonewolfmk1 · September 2016

confusedpoof said:
I'm just annoyed that whilst they are frozen.stunned, they are able to do their bite attack to prone me. How are they doing it whilst they are currently turned into ice cubes?

Either you are lagging and they executed the attack before they got frozen, or, as i have also noticed a couple of times, they got frozen while executing the attack. In this case you still get that shaky screen animation, but are not actually tossed around and are not stunned.

two30 · September 2016

I tested my theory about range. Using a Control Wizard, I dismissed my companion and cast Conduit of Ice from max range at a group of 4 wolves in the Blizzard's Return instance. The wolves approached a bit and one of them used Freezing Breath. My character was on the very edge of the cone, so I took one step backward out of its range. From then on, I was able to plink the wolves to death using Chilling Cloud, and they never approached any closer.

dupeks · September 2016

two30 said:
I tested my theory about range. Using a Control Wizard, I dismissed my companion and cast Conduit of Ice from max range at a group of 4 wolves in the Blizzard's Return instance. The wolves approached a bit and one of them used Freezing Breath. My character was on the very edge of the cone, so I took one step backward out of its range. From then on, I was able to plink the wolves to death using Chilling Cloud, and they never approached any closer.

Yup, and it's interesting to contrast how the wolves behave with how the bears that sometimes spawn next to the wolves behave.

It's pretty clear that something is not quite right with the breath attack, and it's causing the wolves to behave rather un-wolf-like.

sockmunkey · September 2016

All I know is, its made Biggrins tomb much easier now that the wolves just stand around as spectators.

lonewolfmk1 · September 2016

Thats what i witnessed too. You can walk around the wolves without them ever hitting you.

spike · September 2016

Often enough to notice, i can stand next to a wolf while in combat with the wolf. Sometimes the wolf will remain hostile yet take no action until i strike it. Sometimes it will be passive yet hostile until its breath attack, then it will aggro my toon. Whatever the specific issue may be i don't see a pattern. However its apparent somethin is not right.

Winter Wolfs AI bugged

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