AoE Scatter still in effect?

"we removed the advanced AI behaviors from normal mode that slowed down the rate at which people could kill monsters there" - Gaile Gray

I know this doesn't directly state that A-Net was going to remove the instant scatter behaviour of mobs when hit with AoE, but it is implied, and i'm fairly certain that they said somewhere that they were going to remove the instant scatter behavior (I just can't find it that easily - and i'm not about to wade through 20,000 posts looking for it).

So, I was a bit surprised to see mobs running from "Chaos Storm" immediately upon casting. Not after 4 or 3 or 2 hits, but right away, and while at full health. If you want the specifics, check it out yourself in Kessex Peak. I can see melee attackers running to a new target, but ranged guys that normally sit still and take such things were high tailing it out of there (ancient oakhearts and spined aloes). Now, chaos storm costs 15 energy (pretty high for a mesmer), and has a painfully long recharge of 30 seconds. This is all fine and good if I can get 3 or for hits of 12-15dmg our of it. But 15 energy, for one hit of 13dmg - just another reason why sometimes it sucks to be a mesmer in PvE... even when they have supposedly made changes that would make it a bit easier.

They probably just stuck it back the way it was after the first AoE nerf. Monsters will probably run instantly from pulsing AoE, and not run at all from MS and SS. I'd bet they just got rid of the kiting behavior that made everyone mad.

I'd probably pin this on kiting behavior -- monsters running from a single point of damage, not monsters scattering from aoe damage spells (I hope that makes sense).

I know when I farm smites, they no longer scatter. That's cut and dry.

also.........Peter Sellers was something, wasn't he?

Just to be sure, you are playing in Normal Mode when this happens right? They only removed the scatter effect from Normal Mode, not Hard Mode (that's one thing that makes it hard).

As far as I know, they didn't REMOVE scattering (as such), but they rather, made it so that they only scattered from certain types of AoE, much like before the nerf. So the AoE spells that people used to farm with, will probably work again, and ones that monsters ran away from, they'll still run away from. I think there are a few exceptions, but it's better than before.

They didn't remove it, they just changed it.

From the Guild Wars update notes:
To me this means that their response should be somewhere in between what it was before this update and what it was before the AoE (or PBAoE, if you prefer) update was introduced however long ago that was. I also took this to mean not just AoE, but PBAoE as well, so I might have just assumed more than was true.

In normal mode, fire storm, sandstorm and chaos storm (not sure about anything else, haven't tried anything else) still cause them to scatter immediately. Not just after 3, 4, 5 seconds... but right away. To be honest, a lot of times it almost seems worse than how it was before.

I don't particularly care. I've been dealing with it so long that it's what is normal for me so it really doesn't matter. I had just noticed it and thought maybe I was going crazy because until now I had not seen a single other person mention that it still seemed to be very much there the same way it used to be in normal mode.

Yes, in normal mode. I thought that was implicit from the quote I used "behaviors from normal mode," but I keep forgetting that I have to spell everything out.

"Monsters in Normal Mode now respond more slowly to AoE damage"

Explodemyheart, thanks for tracking that down. I'm pretty sure that was the quote I was looking for, but was too lazy to hunt it down myself.

I interpret that as meaning that mobs shouldn't scatter within the first second of Symbol of Wrath or Chaos Storm (or any storm for that matter) being cast. I don't expect them to stand there for the full 5 or 10 seconds, but for the cost of Chaos storm, and the limited use its recharge imposes, I expect it to hit more than once. So I'm a bit dissappointed when in normal mode bad guys are still fleeing from pulse AoE spells, but they don't seem to feel the need to run from my continued wanding.

It's not so much that I want or need them to stay. Heck, I too learned to adapt to the scatter ages ago, and used it to scare off mobs that wouldn't break aggro on the squishy characters. What bothers me is that, once again, A-Net said that something was going to be A, but it ends up being B.

My BS list currently consists of:
Variable Profession Razah
PvE only skills released with Hard Mode
Casual farmers will still be able to accumulate wealth easily(despite loot scaling)
Serious Farmers will be able to get gold from TRADING all the great rare HM drops (without any improvements made to trading methods)

The list could go on, but you all know the problems already.

If mobs run immediately when using skills like Fire Storm and Chaos Storm, then I must really ask the question....

WHY THE HELL DO WE HAVE THESE SKILLS THEN???

This has been my one compliant since the very first AOE nerf. That first nerf made Fire Storm obsolete and nothing has ever been done to rectify it, in fact, they continue to add more skills to the useless list.

Because the skill still does what the description says? Firestorm and the like may not work well in PvE but they're somewhat decent in the likes of Alliance Battles. (I won't say PvP because I don't consider AB PvP really)

You'll be surprised how effective chaos storm or maelstorm is when people are clustered and don't pay attention to the environment.

chaos storm damage is the biggest joke in the deep

I believe I remember reading from one of the devs and it seems from my own experience (in normal mode) that they did not remove the scatter from the game, but they made it so monsters will stay in it for a much longer time and they will return to fight much faster. By much I mean they will sometimes die before they flee, and if they do flee they return within a second or two regardless of how low their health is/was.

Firestorm is bad, no doubt, but that doesn't seem to be the issue. The issue is that they run out of it. If you don't want them to run out of it you use deep freeze, KD, and whatever more. Noone will run nowhere anyway if he's bodyblocked by minions. people shouldn't whine and use their imagination, GW doesn't play itself.
Last time I played I played against humans, technically speaking that makes AB pvp, and in PVP, firestorm stinks, period. People that don't run out of AoE can be owned with everything, smart people however will just run out. Don't take it.

smites don't scatter from VwK in normal mode even in groups of 10 or so i can't even get to them in hard mode now the aatxes have been given rollerskates

Well met!

Aura of Thorns!

the thing is, slowing enemys down does not help much either (pve) :-o

Chaos Storm is godly, long live Chaos Storm.

Yeah, I run it in Hard Mode. The scatter effects vary, but I don't really care because it's fun to throw around and mobs running is less mobs killing me, because I always just charge in with hench.

Needs a buff imo.

OMG what's the big deal with chaos storm, I absolutely detest that skill. I agree with you it needs a buff though, it would be a perfect PvE mesmer skill if the area was wider. I only hope you don't get HA teams with 6 mesmers :P. You have a point though, a running enemy is just as shut down as an interrupted/snared/hexed enemy, he isn't doing damage.

MoR+Firestorm works pretty well in both NM & HM. In NM, it does decent damage and keeps everything burning. In HM, it also acts as anti-pressure when those nasty melee types come squishy hunting.

Remember also - they may scatter, but they also come running back, so a 10 sec duration is an advantage, esp with MoR operating

Personally, I quite happily solo Shiverpeak minataurs in HM using MoR+Mind Blast+Fire Storm and some Earth defence skills.......

I've actually started taking Cynn along on some missions and quests again. With the AoE "anti-nerf" in Normal Mode, she can do quite a bit of damage again. I've seen a little scatter still, but not like it was before. Cynn is, once again, a pretty effective damage dealer.

Increase Chaos Storm to "within earshot".