Hardmode AI Scatter

Just a quick question:

I'm trying to farm Juvi Termites outside of Champion's Dawn just because it's so close and there is so many... in hardmode, mind you.

First off, I'm a warrior using a W/Me smite run variant.

Well... it's like watching a boring basketball game. They bunch up real nice at first, but once I start laying on the pain with whirlwind -> cyclone -> whirlwind -> triple chop -> whirlwind etc they scatter like flies. The weak ones sub out in groups of 4. Once one gets less hp than a sub, that one goes out and the other goes in. Repeat, repeat.

I haven't had this problem with things like Troll in NM outside Drok's, so is it just a hardmode AI difference? It's not like my skills are technically AoE, either, so I don't know why that would cause them to flee.

The only real difference I can think of is that none of them are tied to groups, would that change anything?

it used to be this bad in NM, when they introduced the "intelligent" AI that scattered when it noticed that if monsters were grouped up, they were especially vulnerable, and there you have what you've been seeing. When HM was introduced, it was moved to HM and lessened in NM.

About the only thing you can do about it is aggro fewer. Once they are down to three they pretty much stay on you and the fewer there are the less they rotate out. If you can get a long enough duration degen on them they will also die outside of battle, but that tends to be tough to get a skill like that in there and still have everything else needed.

I've been in cases solo farming where they can not kill because you have so many around that they all heal up before coming at you again - at that point you have to pretty much give up (run if you can, die, or map back to town).

I'm new to HM, so thanks for the responses.

When more than 3 agroed creatures get hit by AoE, any above 3 that are low on health will run away.

This is nothing but AoE.

Hmm, I always just considered things like Firestorm and such AoE, the things that make NM AI scatter. Thanks for notifying..

AOE is basically rapid pulse damage.

no aoe is area of effect but anyways i got a few tips cuz this is a problem for me too when i farm in HM outside of saldarec sanitarium, stone eles

you can try and walk them into a deep thing hole in a mountain and then circle around them so they cant walk out

you can aggro them and go to a sharp mountain edge they wont move, its difficult to get this right

well basically u gotta learn sum techniques but its possible, use environmental obstacles to help u, if u still seeing like 1 run away you gotta shift a bit


hope i helped lol, i dont exacly know where ur farming but those are the basics

I think the key is with those PBAoE (point blank area of effect) is you don't want to activate them too fast. If you are activating them fast enough that they're queued up in the skill bar it will trigger the scatter AI. If you wait a half a second before activating the next skill, you won't break their aggro.

And also in HM the monsters scatter much faster from AoE.

Hey,
All the AoE remarks are totally right ... but the pattern "backing up at ~25% Health" has nothing to do with it ... scattering before that does.

They will back up to regen in HM even if you wand 'em down to low health.
What helped me is keep on attacking him (I wand em with my monk) so they return into the fight. However I just took longer to take 'em down but still I haven't struggled to finish the job.

Cheers,
Timebandit