Project 1999 - Game Mechanics: TOFS Mobs Overpowered?

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TOFS Mobs Overpowered?

Hello,

Lately I've been farming second floor library for items with my 52 Enchanter and summoned pet.
I've noticed some behavior that seems strange to me. It doesn't
happen all that often, but has happened more than once.

While fighting ghostly students which I assume are low 30's mobs, every so often
one of them will steal my summoned pet and have it attack me. Now, I understand
that this is possibility if the NPC is an enchanter, but how should it be able to
charm my pet which is at least 10 levels higher than it?

I left the zone last night with one of the student's by zone out with one of my pets
next to it (Zebeker). Not sure if and how long it will stay that way.

This is on the red server.

Is this intended behavior? I will say, it certainly makes the fight more interesting :cool:

it's hard camping on that floor with my 60 epic monk with a fungi...

I did find this intersting post on alt.games.everquest:

Quote:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!to...st/wXVnVfybP24
Posted 11/06/2002:

> Has anything changed in TOFS in the last year? A google search didn't come
> up with anything recent.

With the caster changes, the students and such on the second floor now
prefer things like charm over the silly crap they used to cast. It can be
dangerous even to 50 plus chars now if the monsters get a lucky cast on one
of their group.

I'm guessing the changes referred to are from some Luclin era patch notes:

Quote:

http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20020605a.html

NPC casters should be a little bit smarter now. They will choose their spells a little more carefully.

http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20020612.html

NPCs are now bound by spell casting distance rules, meaning that an NPC's spell will no longer connect from halfway across the zone.
NPCs now have a chance to be interrupted by normal combat when casting newer spells.
NPCs that are much lower level than their target have had their potential casting damage reduced using a similar mechanic to the one that player characters' level differences use.
NPC Wizards no longer have an inherent bonus to their fire and cold based spells.
Most NPCs that had previously had their spellcasting level inflated to make up for poor spell selection have been brought back into line with their actual level.
NPCs no longer automatically get free access to rarely dropped spells, such as Garrison's Superior Sundering and Funeral Pyre of Kelador.

http://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/z...tml?zstrat=117

On the Allakhazam page, the Velious era comments mention Tserrina charming, but not a word about the 2nd floor mobs charming.

Conclusions:

Charm needs to be removed from the ghostly scholars in TOFS, and possibly from other enchanter NPCs in lower level zones.
Caster NPCs in general need to be overhauled. Their spell selection needs to be reduced, they need to be a little bit dumber about their casting, and in some instances their spellcasting level will need to be inflated to make up for the poorer selection.

Thanks for research, Jaxon. Explains much of it.

Students stole my pet a couple more times last night...my hasted
pet destroyed me the second time before I could mez/root it.

Students do cast charm ALOT there, the ones that are chanters.
But it never sticks on me because I keep MR up to 122 or so.
Only spells that stick on me are Tash and sometimes a Necro
DOT.

Not sure if MR buffing the pet will help. Think I'll try that next.

99% of fights are pretty much trivial as expected with approx
20 level gap...

i was fighting in ToFS on a lvl 43 pally with a group.

The ghostly scholars are kind of absurd now. They chain cast charm. If you pull one, its first cast is charm. If charm lands, he walks back to his spawn, bringing you with him. When charm breaks, he charms you again.

After 3 or 4 charms, I guess he runs out of mana and him and his friends (because he will have pulled you through everyone) wipe you and your group.

I think the charm mechanic is neat, but it is kind of rediculous when he can keep a player 15 lvls above him permanently charmed. Pulling one is almost always an auto death unless he is literally the only mob around.

Casters on p99 have always been smarter/stronger than they were on live.

Enchanter mobs do stupid stuff on this server since the December 2014 patches.

That floor is extremely annoying. You can either stun lock them with color flux/shift, or you can spam the level 4 mez over and over. The goal is to never let them cast.

Some more proof that they didn't charm (this post is from 2001):

"2nd floor

I've personally verified that there are also enchanter ghosts on the second floor (the non-charming variety, of course). I would assume all kinds of casters, but I haven't paid that much attention to which nukes were cast.

Arlina"

https://www.graffes.com/forums/showt...f-Cazic/page2&