RFE: Tweak summoned/spawned monsters not dropping anything and being unpickpocketable
issueid=2085 04-03-2013 10:41 PM
Member
Number of reported issues by Bieks: 47
RFE: Tweak summoned/spawned monsters not dropping anything and being unpickpocketable

I'm currently clearing a greater vault of undead on D:45. There's lich kings and emperor liches. They summoned great karmic wyrms. Not exactly the kind of monster you can easily kill. Once I did dispose of them, I was somewhat disappointed to see that they dropped nothing whatsoever. They're still very much a threat, hit very hard and are very annoying to work around/kill. I feel as if the anti-farming nerfs were overstated greatly. In the end, if people want to abuse something they will do it.

I feel as if the anti-pickpocket nerf was too strong as well. The main problem for me is that there's no real way of actually knowing a monster is summoned. Finding out after 25 pickpocketing attempts that the monster you're trying to pickpocket is probably summoned is not a very pleasant experience. Dark elves are even beyond annoying now. Why do these monsters retain their full abilities when they are summoned but refuse to drop gear?

Also, I would like to see pickpocketing slightly buffed up again. Having to apply it 25 times per monster at skill level 50 is a bit jarring, how on earth are you supposed to even get it up then? Pay yergius a (not so) small fortune for it?

Perhaps make it so that monsters summoned by common summoners (jackalweres, dark elven spider factories etc) are hard to pickpocket and not really drop anything, but monsters (at least stronger ones) summoned by lich kings or balors should drop stuff and be pickpocketable. I have to put my PC in considerable risk to even get close enough to attempt pickpocketing, let alone succeed.
Issue Details
Issue Number 2085
Issue Type Feature
Project ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Category All
Status Implemented
Priority 2
Suggested Version ADOM 1.2.0 pre 13
Implemented Version ADOM 1.2.0 pre 21
Milestone (none)
Votes for this feature 18
Votes against this feature 2
Assigned Users (none)
Tags (none)




01-02-2014 03:54 AM
Ancient Member
Pickpocketing summons not dropping anything seems just fine to me. Summoned creatures are summoned only carrying the bare minimum that defines them. If you summon "a swordsman", he comes with sword and armor and everything else that makes him a fully-fledged swordsman. If you summon a ratling archer, he comes with a light crossbow and quarrels etc. The pockets are empty because swordsmen don't need anything in them to be swordsmen. Even if they had money wherever they came from, it didn't get summoned alongside them.

As far as regular item drops go, I guess I'll agree with JellySlayer that "none at all" seems like too harsh a solution, especially for those summons that pose a credible danger. Having no items at all from killing hordes of monsters is not fun, and exploitable is still preferable to not fun.

Though I have to stress that greater undead vaults don't make the best of examples, as they were never enjoyable to clear except for bragging rights or artifact collectomania in ADOM 1.1.1. Whether the hordes of summoned creatures drop items or not, the chore of slogging through them, the potential danger of deadly summons and the time spent always vastly overshadowed the reward. Just in general lich kings and emperor liches are seriously bad news.

(Please don't try to convince me that pickpocketing (summoned monsters, or in general) is fun. It's not going to work and I'm not that important anyway. You might convince others and many won't need convincing, for whatever earthly reason.)

01-02-2014 10:15 AM
Ancient Member
Quote Originally Posted by Silfir
Though I have to stress that greater undead vaults don't make the best of examples, as they were never enjoyable to clear except for bragging rights or artifact collectomania in ADOM 1.1.1. Whether the hordes of summoned creatures drop items or not, the chore of slogging through them, the potential danger of deadly summons and the time spent always vastly overshadowed the reward. Just in general lich kings and emperor liches are seriously bad news.

(Please don't try to convince me that pickpocketing (summoned monsters, or in general) is fun. It's not going to work and I'm not that important anyway. You might convince others and many won't need convincing, for whatever earthly reason.)
They weren't enjoyable to clear, but drops from summons do make a spectacular difference. In one of the ancient games I took on a GUV which contained 3 artifacts and finished with 5 in total meaning 2 more come from drops. In any case, when liches summon you ancient dragons and great karmic wyrms (happened just in the most recent GUV), it's really painful to kill those with nothing in return.

01-22-2014 07:11 AM
The Creator
Summoned monsters once more drop items. Only gremlins won't drop anything.

01-22-2014 10:08 AM
Ancient Member
This is terrific news. It will still be tedious but at least now there are some rewards for that effort.

01-22-2014 06:52 PM
Ancient Member
Quote Originally Posted by adom-admin
Summoned monsters once more drop items. Only gremlins won't drop anything.
Fan-tas-tic, thank you.

01-23-2014 04:18 PM
Ancient Member
Thanks! This is closer to what I originally intended in that gremlin bomb nerf RFE. Making summons not drop anything was way over the top.

+ Reply