War Mounts

[Kill4Free]

Currently, mounts meant for battle (sunback, warbeetle, etc) Do they just make you suffer less of a penalty in mounted combat, or do you they give you a bonus, or do they actually hit your enemy themselves?

[Kill4Free]

As realistically, they would actually help you, mounted makes it hard for smaller targets to get a solid hit on a vital area, not to mention war horses in real life, were highly trained, and bit, and kicked out at enemies in a fight, quite often doing more damage the then swordsman himself in combat.

[Marc]

Definently an IC question to ask on individual mounts.

[Kill4Free]

I mean generally, not specifically, like do any mounts actually attack your enemy in combat?

[Lazloth]

Definently an IC question to ask on individual mounts.

You mean to ask individual mounts;  get it from the proverbial horse's mouth!

[Kill4Free]

Ill just buy one of every warmount in game, and ride them all into combat then

[Kill4Free]

But basically, what I wanted to know, is do war mounts do anything for you compared to pack mounts?

[jhunter]

Well, they're meant for war for a reason.

Anything more than that I believe should be found out IC.

If you insist on knowing whether or not they -codedly- do anything for you, your focusing too much on the code IMO.

[Kill4Free]

Ok thanks, I thought war mounts might just have been a fancy name for a mount you might use, and having its sole combat ability as charge.  I just wanted to make sure they did something before I bought one.

[Ghost]

This much I can tell;

See help charge

Check the helpfiles of the mounts, beetles, kanks, erdlus..etc.  So you will get an idea if they can charge good, if they can run good, if they endure the long trips..etc.

(I think you have checked the help files already, but well..I had to say it you know)

And also there was a command "pull reins" which would give a slap on your mount and tell him "Hey buddy, it is lunch time you know" but I think it is broken.

And staying on top of them is....  Maybe that is a little puzzle you would have better fun to find out yourself.

[sjanimal]

It looks like people are already giving you crap, bud.  But I think this is a good question.  Player's have a legitamate right to know what code will and will not support.  This isn't King's Quest, this is a role-playing game.

Hope you find what you're looking for.

[Marauder Moe]

Player's have a legitamate right to know what code will and will not support.

Are you sure?  Why is it a right that we know these things?  What the code does and doesn't support is OOC isn't it?  Perhaps it is better that we all just roleplay as realistically as possible and not worry about the code.  If your character believes that war mounts provide protection in battle then he/she should go out and get one for his/her next mission.

Some food for though.

[Kill4Free]

But if it doesnt provide protection, I could well end up dead, as even with near maxed ride skill, you still suffer a penalty, I wanted to make sure that war mounts at least made up for that penalty.

And on another note, about what the helpfiles say, they dont really say anything.  They say larger animals are better for charge, nothing to do with war mounts really, and it mentions that sunbacks are good for a hunting mount, but it doesnt say why.  They just arent that helpful in this situation.

[Delirium]

There used to be a 'pull reins' command that would coax certain mounts meant for fighting to attack whatever you were in combat with. It's been disabled and still is to my knowledge, but I think they're still working on making war mounts more 'worth it'. Charge was one of the first things to go in toward that effect.

I don't think they're a 'waste of time' (codewise) as they are right now, though.. and RP wise, they're definitely not.

[Savak]

My suggestion would be to do what your character would do; exactly how far the code supports it can very well change.  Your motivation for buying or not buying something shouldn't be "can it codedly do something cool for me" but "can it do something cool for me."  Riding a war beetle into battle implies a lot more about your character than whether the beetle wiggles its butt of its own accord.

I understand why you're asking what you're asking, but you seem to be implying your character would get X only if you OOC'ly knew it would "do" something.  It's a common phenomenon with certain items too, some of which have a script -- people would KILL (KILL!) one another to get a plainly described, poorly fitting item simply because it occasionally gave a cool echo in combat, passing up an expensive and also hard to acquire, well-built, well-fitting item that lacked it.  Actually, my very first p-kill as a player was for a pouched belt, because there just weren't any (people were successfully selling them for 5k each -- literally "a pouched belt").

So yeah, I understand the sentiment, I simply think it juuuuust manages to miss the point.

-Savak

[Kill4Free]

It wasnt me trying to know if they would codedly do something cool for me, I just wanted to know if they werent codedly useless to me, but the description when you examine lots of types of war mounts, is how good they are in combat, and how much they will help you in fighting, but if the code is disabled, then it would in effect just screw me over in a tough fight, as opposed to helping me.

[Marc]

Something to consider:

If you are not an expert rider (and I'm not talking about being able to get your mount to go the direction you want everytime, but actually an EXPERT rider) then you wont get the full benefit from your mount.

If you happen to own the biggest, most badass war beetle in the game, but you're not much of a rider, you can bet your ass that war beetle isn't gonna seem so badass.

But if it doesnt provide protection, I could well end up dead, as even with near maxed ride skill, you still suffer a penalty, I wanted to make sure that war mounts at least made up for that penalty.

Load 'o' Crap.

Enjoy!

[SwanSwanHummingbird]

To my knowledge, a novice rider is much worse at combat when fighting mounted, even if riding a combat mount.  An expert rider is still worse at combat, but not nearly as bad, when riding a pack mount.  I think an expert rider riding a war-mount probably has equal combat ability on foot or mounted, if you take 'charge' into consideration.

[Kill4Free]

Marc, you arent being very helpful for a helper, and you can trust me that my char is a Very good rider, and the penalty for being mounted is still aparent.

[Cuusardo]

No offense, but it sounds as though you are not quite as good as you think you are at riding.  If you were really that good, then you would not suffer nearly the penalties you are encountering.

[Kill4Free]

I never said they were horrible, or bad penalties, I said they were noticeable.  Even an expert rider should be able to notice a slight lowering of his fighting ability while mounted?

[Marc]

Even an expert rider should be able to notice a slight lowering of his fighting ability while mounted?

Not in all circumstances, no.

[Kill4Free]

True, not all, but without using charge, in most circumstances one can tell.

[Angela Christine]

I think the point is that the code really IS important, because the code influences what is believed to be IC reality.  Kanks are over-powered codewise, so people ICly prefer them.

Suppose you decide that pack mules (kanks) just aren't the right style for your PC.  So you get yourself a  sunback lizard, an erdlu, or a warbeetle.  You feel pretty good about yourself, until you ride up to your buddies and they heckle you for your poor choice.  Kanks can go an unreasonable distance without needing a rest, which makes all the other mounts look weak.  People will actually get angry with you for choosing a "combat" mount, because you'll slow them down, forcing them to rest more often or leave you behind.  That sucks.

Sure, you can RP your ass off that your combat mount is the better, obvious choice for a warrior, mercenary or hunter, but if the coded reality doesn't back you up, then you just look like an idiot.  The code is reality, you can look into the helpfiles and make claims about the superiority of other mounts for certain tasks, but you can't -prove- it unless they are codedly superior in some tangible way.  "Pull Reins" didn't make a huge difference in combat, but it did look cool and provide some tangible benifit for the combat mounts.  

Kanks can go farther than any other common mount, carry more weight than most, and go faster than many.  At first glance they don't seem more skittish in combat, they don't seem more likely to dump their riders and run off in combat -- something you might expect from a mount not trained for combat.  Kanks aren't demonstratably less intelligent than other mounts, a clever sunback lizard is just as willing to jump off the shieldwall as a stupid kank.  Kanks have advantages, but they don't have the disadvantages that they should have.  Other mounts have the disadvantages they should have, but  not the logical advantages.  

As long as the code favors kanks, it is very difficult to use other mounts unless you are a total loner.


AC

[jhunter]

Shit, just tell folks to live with it. My current pc has a mount that codewise has -no- benefits that I can tell but rp wise it's fun just because of the problems it causes.

[wizturbo]

I have no problem with some mounts being all around better then others.  I just don't think kanks should be it.

I know there are -some- mounts out there, which I really hope are AWESOME.  Ratlon's come to mind.

[Agent_137]

Kanks have advantages, but they don't have the disadvantages that they should have. Other mounts have the disadvantages they should have, but not the logical advantages.

THIS IS WHY I HATE KANKS.


Plus, they're fucking ugly.


One of my past characters was in the company of a bunch of soldiers who all rode kanks. He rode a war mount. He'd been doing it since he was a recruit. He scoffed at them, until he died fighting dismounted. He also never fought mounted.

. . .


Draw from that what you will.

[Kill4Free]

Thanks Agent, you managed to lay out exactly what I was trying to say.  And it is true, kanks have every advantage over other mounts, save the can carry a bit less them some (but it doesnt matter as it has enough stamina to go back to your house, and store stuff, then back out to hunt, like 3 times over).

I would like to see the war mounts be able to get a hit in in combat while you are mounted, very similar to the way 'special' gloves, and bracers can do an extra hit in combat.  And the occurance of the hits is based solely on a combination of the rolled agility of the mount, and your riding skill, and its damage based on its strength.  Obviously if it is anywhere near player skill, then it would be too uber, so they should attack more at maybe 1/3-1/4 the rate you do.  It would make up for the combat disadvantages, and give a little fun quirk on the side as well.

[mansa]

I would like to see the war mounts be able to get a hit in in combat while you are mounted, very similar to the way 'special' gloves, and bracers can do an extra hit in combat.  And the occurance of the hits is based solely on a combination of the rolled agility of the mount, and your riding skill, and its damage based on its strength.  Obviously if it is anywhere near player skill, then it would be too uber, so they should attack more at maybe 1/3-1/4 the rate you do.  It would make up for the combat disadvantages, and give a little fun quirk on the side as well.

Certain mounts -used- to have this coded feature.

I believe it was switched for the 'charge' skill.

[Kill4Free]

Bah, why did they get rid of it?

[ashyom]

Because players found a bug and were exploiting it, much to their victims' dismay.

That skill has been removed, until someone finds time to fix it.

[Kill4Free]

Didnt they fix it, as the more recent updates, made up for the catagories into which the bug fell.