Lineage II/Combat/Mechanics of Hate: Difference between revisions

In [[Lineage II]], combat is a way of life. In PvE combat, [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PCs]] fight [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mobs]] to gain various rewards. This article attempts to explain the AI behind [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] target selection, and tries to illustrate how [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PCs]] can take advantage of it.

''(And in no way do we claim to be savants when it comes to the ''Hate'' idea. Other [[MMOG]]s probably have something similar, and someone else probably have covered it in details. It's just that ''I'' can't find it. :))''

In case you hadn't noticed, the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mobs]] don't exactly love you. In fact, they downright ''hate'' you. At best they leave you alone; at worst, they come at you with a big cleaver -- or worse. But how do they know who to hit?

In real life, a [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] will probably just hit a random [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PC]]. In [[Lineage II]], the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mobs]] are smarter than the average bear though, and would actually pick a [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PC]] based on a set of criteria. This set of criteria boils down into a single attribute we can call the ''Hate'' factor.

The [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mobs]] hate you. We've established that. But what we are really interested in is ''how'' they hate you, and what it means when they ''hate'' you ''very, very'', much.

This means, if 8 players gang up on one [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]], the mob will maintain 8 ''Hate'' Factors, one for each [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PC]]. Whichever [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PC]] has the highest ''Hate'' Factors is attacked by the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]].

We'll look into each in turn.

We start off with damaged dealt as this is the simplest category. The first and forthmost rule when dealing with ''Hate'' is as follows:

''(Aside: For those of you software programmers, you would of course realise there is a practical limit to the variable storage of the statistics. Practically though, most mobs' HP never reach that limit, and it takes a perverse bunch of jokers to actively try to breach that limit. So the limit of software storing of the statistic isn't really a big issue here.)''

{{sidebar|width=300||contents=Nukers just ask for trouble under these circumstances. Since Nukers have AOE spells, they can hit multiple mobs at the same time, so ALL of them get angry at the Nuker.<BR><BR>However, a small Nuker, who doesn't do that much damage per shot, can actually be safe from ''Hate'' in a mass melee. While he is helping to thin the crowds out, each individual mob hit would build less ''Hate'' against him than against other, more powerful DDs. So Nukers can happily nuke away cleaning up the whole mess while their tougher cousins take care of individual problem mobs.|author=The Grand High Poohbah}}As long as a [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PC]] does damage to a [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]], the [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PC's]] ''Hate'' Factor builds. Whoever deals most damage to the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] gets to take the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob's]] attacks. This has a lot of implications for groups with a lot of [[Lineage II/Definitions#D|DDs]] and very few [[Lineage II/Definitions#T|tanks]].

<BR><BR>

Damage dealing and ''Hate'' is straight forward; you do more damage to a [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]], the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] ''hates'' you more. If that was the only rule in the world, then we would only have [[Lineage II/Definitions#T|tanks]] and [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healers]], and [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healers]] would have a rather boring if critical job.

Here's where the AI steps in to keep the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healers]] (un)happily occupied:

is equivalent to 1 point of Hate. This is cummulative.</pre>

Healing ''Hate'' is cummulative. In this case, the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]] healed 5 [[Lineage II/Definitions#P|PCs]] fighting the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] for 50 points each. '''Hence, the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]] picks up ''250 points'' of ''Hate'''''. The [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] will now hoof it after the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]], and the [[Lineage II/Definitions#D|DDs]] would be hard pressed to draw him off, especially if the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]] strikes back or continue to heal himself (which is very likely).

{{sidebar|width=300|contents=Learning about all these shows me one desperation gambit. A healer, in times of desperation (i.e. the party got its collective behinds royally kicked..) can spam heals to draw ''Hate'' to himself. This makes the healer a temporary tank for the DDs to quickly take out the mobs, but since healers don't wear much armour, the DDs better do it REAL quick.|author=The Grand High Poohbah}}This is because the amount of healing the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]] throws out in a single heal can outstrip the damage done by the [[Lineage II/Definitions#D|DD]] by such a large extent that the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] cannot be drawn off by pure damage alone. In such a case -- especially against high-level group [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mobs]] -- the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]] often takes too much damage.

Also, having a REAL [[Lineage II/Definitions#T|tank]] (not a pseudo-[[Lineage II/Definitions#T|tank]]) in the party who knows what he's doing will go a long way to saving the [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer's]] neck. The [[Lineage II/Definitions#T|tank]] knows how to keep the ''Hate'' off a [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healer]], and he has the skills to do so, so having one in the party works wonders.

So, now we've seen that direct damage (mundane and magical) and healing a party attacking the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] will increase the ''Hate'' the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]] has against the party members. But Buffs and Debuffs doesn't directly harm the [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mob]], so the [[Lineage II/Definitions#B|buffers]] should be okay right?

Rule #3:

This may be cummulative.</pre>

Now, isn't this great? Even [[Lineage II/Definitions#B|buffers]] get to join in the fun! Buffs and Debuffs add a certain amount to the ''Hate'' Factor; exactly how much is unknown, and may differ from buff to buff. The only real way to figure it out is to get a party and test it exhaustively.

{{sidebar|width=300|contents=I use ''Curse: Weakness'' when leveling my wolf, and it creates ''Hate'' on the mob -- quite a lot actually. On ''Spore Fungus'', the ''Hate'' is enough for my wolf to almost kill it without getting unwanted attention; only towards the last few points do the ''Fungus'' turn to my wolf. If online sources can be believed, ''Fungus'' have about 226 HP, so that's probably about 200 points of ''Hate'' that ''Curse: Weakness'' throws at a mob.|author=Luthien, Elven Mystic}}As most [[Lineage II/Definitions#H|healers]] are also [[Lineage II/Definitions#B|buffers]], this is the second major issue for the class. Buffing is considered quite important in team play; the buffs, especially party buffs, can give each party member a huge bonus in fighting.

This rule can be used to your advantage though, as the comment on the right shows; Debuffs can be used as a cheap taunt to get [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|mobs]] headed (and stayed) your way '''and''' at the same time decrease their abilities. Considering that casting ''Curse: Weakness'' only costs 3 [[Lineage II/Definitions#M|MP]] and has a range of 600, it's rather effective!

Well, now that you know that:

:* Damaging a mob

:* Healing your Friends

:* Buffing/ Debuffing

{{sidebar|width=300|contents=This isn't really a big deal. Most of the time, PCs would give known aggro mob a wide berth, and only wade in when they ''want'' to engage the mob. About the only time this becomes an issue is when the mob is not known to be aggro, or worse, someone annoyed a passive mob, thus turning it into aggro mode. At that point, it depends largely whether the PC want to run or fight.<BR><BR>Having said all these, it's good to know how the mob behaves, so that you can take advantage of it. Not to mention, it helps you understand why it's '''''not''''' a good idea to fight when you are in the midst of maybe a dozen mob.|author= The Grand High Poohbah}}

Since we can only observe the behaviour of the mobs, we can only draw some inferences on how ''Hate'' work in these cases. The first is that each Mob has a ''detection radius''; if a PC ends up within its ''detection radius'', the AI checks whether the Mob actually does detect the PC (there is a chance, even for aggro mobs, that you can sneak totally by them). If the Mob doesn't detect the PC, then nothing happens; if the Mob detect the PC, it checks whether it's supposed to be aggressive. If it is, a certain (unspecificed) amount of ''Hate'' is credited against the PC, and the Mob takes off after the PC.

Yes, just being in the vicinity of an aggro Mob increases the Mob's ''Hate'' of you. That's why it is possible for other PCs to draw off a pursuing Mob by inflicting damage on it -- the ''Hate'' incurred by the damage done is more than the ''Hate'' of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

If you aggro a Mob, it's already has ''Hate'' against you. If you don't (or can't) get rid of the Mob, ''don't'' deal it any more damage, or heals (unless absolutely necessary) or buffs/ debuffs (again, unless it helps, like ''Root''ing the Mob. Doing these just makes it harder for others to draw the Mob off you. Once you commit to running away, stop thinking about hurting the Mob, just ''run''.

So how about Social Mobs?

A theory -- and ''strictly'' a '''''theory''''' is that nearby Social Mobs would gain ''Hate'' based on what happened to the Mob being attacked. So in the situation above, Player A deals 100 points of damage to Mob X, Player B deals 300 points of damage, Player C heals a total of 100 points, and Player D de-buffed Mob X, the ''Hate'' gained by Mob X and Mob Y would be as follows:

<table border=1 cellpadding=5 align=center>

<tr align=center><Td>'''Player D'''</td><Td>Presumed 200<BR>(see above sections)</TD><TD>Presumed 200<BR>(see above sections)</TD></TR>

</table>

So, if the above holds true, both Mob X '''and''' Mob Y would go after Player B, and subsequently each Mob would start stacking ''Hate'' individually.

<table border=1 cellpadding=5 align=center>

<tr align=center><Td>'''Player D'''</td><Td>Presumed 200<BR>(see above sections)</TD><TD>Presumed 100<BR>(see above sections)</TD></TR>

</table>

This means Mob Y would still take off after Player B... but when it becomes a grand melee, especially when nukers are involved, having a reduced rate makes it less likely that Mob Y would do something silly like ignoring a PC whacking it for thousands of points to go after a nuker who didn't even touch Mob Y yet.

Of course, it's not known exactly what this rate is, or even whether it's constant across all mobs. Another unknown is what happens if a group of PC attacking Mob X is straddled just at the edge of Mob Y's ''detection radius''? For example, if Player B is a nuker, and he's standing outside Mob Y's ''detection radius'' while nuking Mob X, does Mob Y increase its ''Hate'' of Player B? And if Player C, a healer, heals Player A (who is in Mob Y's radius) and Player B (who isn't), how much ''Hate'' does Mob Y gain for player C?

At the end of the day, we can simplify ''Hate''' and Social Mobs into this: If the Social Mob sees you being un-nice to another Mob it is friendly with, expect it to get annoyed with you. If you are in a party, which it gets annoyed with is a matter of blind luck (since the factors are not well known), so it's just best not to let the Social Mob see you.

(To be continued. :)

{{sidebar|width=300|contents=Why have even more ''Hate'' possibilities? Well, ''Hate'' can be used to give NPCs/ Mobs intelligence and behaviour that are familiar to PCs. A Dark Elf NPC that attacks Light Elf preferentially is in accordance to the story background, and increases player immersion into the story. This can be done in reverse too -- Light Elf NPCs can be made to gain ''less'' ''Hate'' against Light Elf PCs, giving PCs a sense that the NPCs are reluctant to attack members of their own race.<BR><BR>Not to mention, you can use ''Hate'' to make individual mobs or groups of mobs to be intelligent and even more deadly against PCs -- all in the name of challenge, of course.|author= The Grand High Poohbah}}Now that you have some understanding of how ''Hate'' works, we can start discussing how ''Hate'' can be used to make things more "fun" for the PCs. The following are some ''theortical'' situations that bears mentioning here, though these are by no means confirmed or even observed.

If you think through the ''Hate'' mechanism fully, you would realise it is possible to make mobs to react ''unequally'' to PCs, based on some unique identifiers that the PC has. One very easy example would be to increase ''Hate'' increments against a specific ''class'' of PC. For example, a Mob which is to have a mage-hunting behaviour can simply be tweaked to increase ''Hate'' at a greater rate against mage classes, or have a one-time boost to ''Hate'' against all mage classes in ''detection radius''. This makes this particular mob appear to target mages more often.

An Orc mob can be made to incur less ''Hate'' against Orc PCs, and can be presented to the players as the Orc mobs being afraid of the more well-developed Orcs that are the PCs. This can give even more possibilities in-game, in that parties would ''want'' to include a specific race ''because'' the party intends to explore areas that the specific race would have an advantage.

In a sense, we have already seen this in action; Town/ Village guards would preferentially hunt players with Kharma (Reds) and ignore other players. Given that it's programmically simpler to reuse mob combat behaviour for the guards, it's likely that the guards are special mobs set to trigger ''Hate'' when a PC with a specific flag (positive Kharma) wanders into its ''detection radius''.

Expanding on this, we can have even more alignment-based mobs, similar to the Dungeons & Dragons mobs. ''Lawful'' mobs can be created to ignore zero Kharma PC, while being extremely aggressive towards Kharmic players. Alternatively, we can have areas where the mobs would preferentially hunt low-kharma PCs, setting the place to feel as if it is a den of evil, and giving PvP/ PKer a place which is safe for them to hunt.

For example, a set of Mobs consisting of 3 separate Mobs (Mobs A, B, and C). These are set to spawn together as a social group, or are set to be social within a certain hunting area. The mobs are set up as follows:

:* Mob C is set to preferentially hunt Damage Dealers/ Archers.