I am reposting this from the Monk MB
(
http://server3.ezboard.com/feverquestmonksfeigndeathnerf.html).
I have known Yeti since Beta 3 (when he was known as Orcus). He is one of
the most knowledgable players I have every met in the game. The upcoming
nerf to Feign Death will effect all players, not just Monks, Shadow Knights,
and Necros.
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I would like to provide the community with information so they can
understand the nature of Verant's changes to FD. The changes are
significant, a nerf, and their news message was misleading.
"If you were within sight, they would immediately come after you." - No,
they came back based on aggro radius. If you saw them wander away to a safe
distance, you could get up without training anyone.
"If not, they would come after you at some later point. This might happen
within a few minutes, or could happen even a few hours later" - This was not
random, but the result of game mechanics understood by experienced feigners.
A feigned upon mob has you in its aggro list. If someone else re-aggros the
mob to a lesser degree than the original feigner, it will return to the
feigner. Feigners knew this! If the mobs were in front of them in a room,
they knew no one would disturb them and all was fine. If the mobs were
scattered around the dungeon by a train wandering home, they knew to zone.
".... Four times means about 20 percent ...." - These numbers seem totally
inaccurate. I had to feign 11 times on a green guard and 10 times on a
knight while testing in Freeport. If ANY of your feign attempts fails (xxxx
has fallen to the ground) then the mob comes running back. NO OTHER SKILL
takes 4 or more successful skill checks in a row to perform a single act. If
you have multiple mobs, it is almost impossible to fool them all. If even
one is not fooled, it will build a train as it runs to you - quite possibly
from so far out of sight that you don't even know you are killing other
players.
Feign used to be predictable. If you were successful against a mob that can
be fooled (some couldn't be - this was a matter of experience and feigners
knew which mobs to avoid), it would never come back unless re-aggroed by
another player. Verant implies otherwise, but it is NOW that the skill is
totally unpredictable, with mobs that are far out of sight deep in the
dungeon randomly returning, based on percentages apparently much worse than
those Verant gave and which are useless against multiple mobs. Stand up, and
a feigner doesn't know if he is killing people far out of sight, or has
safely cleared aggro.
Before a player had to re-aggro a mob in such a way that the feigner was
still higher on its aggro list (such as by coming very close, but doing no
damage), and in this case it was usually only the feigner that was in
danger. Now every time a feigner stands up mobs can come training from
everywhere, and if he feigns again because he sees them coming, they will
attack anyone nearby or in their path home.
Feign pulling is still possible, although harder. Feign twinking/leveling
others is still possible, and should actually be easier. Feigning to avoid
death or trains now results in far more trains. What are these "evolving
gameplay issues" that Verant hoped to address? In what way was this supposed
to make this a better game?
I ask that the EQ community understand this is not just a nerf to SKs,
Necromancers, and Monks, but to anyone that has ever grouped with them or
even played in a dungeon, and invite you to provide /feedback in game to
voice your opinion.
Thank you for listening, Yeti (Level 50 monk, Karana server)
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