I'm a big supporter of the OverWorld & Encounters, but...

There have been more than enough spats on this forum between those enjoying (at least the potential) of the overworld and it's encounters and those with legitimate gripes that it is a frustrating mechanic wasting time travelling from A to B.

This post isn't about those fundamental disagreements, we've heard enough of those, it is about a plain irritating mechanic that does nothing to enhance the enjoyment of the OverWorld for fans or reduce the frustration of those that don't: the Encounter Pull / Grab mechanics.

Yesterday I ran past a couple of overworld mobs at normal speed, I had no potions running but I did approach from behind at a run. Twice I got away, once, using identical techniques and getting to the same distance beyond the mob, I got pulled in.

Today however I ran past Bandits from behind them, running flat out with a potion of Wolf Speed fired up. I blazed past them leaving them in a cloud of dust.....and got pulled in.

Other times when I have been actively seeking an encounter, I've had to run around the mob for several seconds before I could get them to trigger a Pull.

These pull range, pull direction and pull state inconsistencies are, I think, one of the main problems driving people to frustration with overworld encounters. Whether you enjoy or don't enjoy these encounters, you should at least know what works to get pulled in by the mobs and what techniques allow you to consistently bypass them without getting pulled in seemingly randomly.

 

I've noticed the pull range is all out of whack as well. Using a fleet flute, i'll run a good mile past an encounter - and then suddenly be pulled in when that encounter isn't even visible anymore. Like you, I'll try to get pulled in and just stand on top of them for about 5 seconds before anything happens.

 

It appears to me to be a radius and lag on the client end. So if you're fast and you blow through an encounter, you may get pretty far before your end is notified that you have to fight. That said, the times I've seen an encounter ignore the player is in the recent builds where upon first arrival at the overland map you seem to have a sort of spawn protection from random encounters for about 10 or 20 seconds.

 

If you are close to an Encounter mobs on the world map when you first appear with Spawn Protection (purple swirls around your character will show it active), then, at least for Skeletons, Bandits, Wolves, Corpions (I think) and Travelers (Atavists) you won't attract their attention until you move a certain distance away and re-approach after the protection has worn off.

Oddly enough, Stag and Dog encounters trigger instantly regardless of protection and you can find yourself in a cycle of those encounters.

The rest seems to be lag based as noted above.

 

The universal rule has always been: If you don't want to fight, go around them. Using the low-budget horse (coconuts) makes it easier as does a potion of wolf speed, but in general, if you drive through the center of a roaming encounter with the hopes of not fighting, you're probably going to be fighting.

 

Also use Silent Movement. It won't let you walk right over an encounter, but will significantly reduce your chance of being noticed, and you may be able to get away if you aren't noticed until you have already passed the encounter.

 

I remember getting caught in an endless loop of skeleton encounters a number of releases back. Saved a lot of time farming mats but when I finally decided I'd had enough I realized I was going to have to log out or something. lol

 

If you don't come out of the second encounter right away, you give another encounter time to respawn on the overworld. If you just give up on all the free ores and come out right away, you will be able to leave.

And I've noticed for at least two releases that there is now a delay before you will get pulled in again. Not necessarily enough if you tune out while waiting for Novia to load, but it used to be instant even if you were paying attention.

This I find amusing, but again, if you just leave right away, you can get away before another one pops.

 

And miss the resources?!?!

 

no hablo espanol

 

I was once in this endless loop of stag encounters, that when I finally had enough, I just used a teleport scroll to go home...