Forest Keepers vs the other Nightly Monsters

[Scarfy]

These creatures are a fun little gimmick but I think they're executed a little poorly unfortunately considering where they're found, their extreme sense of perception, and the punishment for daring to be seen by one.

Forest Keepers have too large a view-cone to be one-shot creatures like the dogs, since unlike the dogs there's relatively little you can do to avoid them short of being patient or waiting under an overhang or in a building. The problem with this strategy though is the mere fact that Forest Keepers by design are monsters found primarily on open planets with forest fauna where there's not much in the way of overhangs to be had where they roam. Add on to the fact that they will one shot you if they find you, and not only one shot you, but destroy your body and items- and you might begin to see the picture of just how bad it is to play against them.

Compare this to the blind dog and giant worm creatures that you'd encounter while out in the wilderness, they have some pretty distinctly clear counters with extremely transparent punishments.

The blind dog for example, the counter to them is to move slowly and to keep some measure of distance so they can't find you via touch, and you'll be relatively fine provided you are quiet and observant of your surroundings. The counter-play here is relatively simple but the punishment for failing is plainly laid out, when a dog does perceive you they will attempt to chomp you to death- which results in your body dropping to the ground and all your items being completely available to pick up and the ability to teleport the body. Furthermore there is a loud horn you can purchase to constantly make noise near the shuttle to help mask some of the noises your teammates might make, and hiding this object in a hiding spot would easily allow someone to constantly blare it while their allies make it back safely.

The giant worm for example, despite some people I've played with not liking the design of it themselves, is actually relatively simple to counter. The most straight forward solution is to have someone on the monitor constantly watching for worms, to tell someone when they might need to drop their heavy object and run in a straight line to avoid certain death. There is an alternative though when you're on your own and it requires you to be attentive, watch for vibrations in the ground and listen for a sound queue similar to the dogs but lower in pitch- if you hear it then you drop your item and run until you no longer hear the noise. I'm unaware if your body and items are destroyed, but I would not be surprised if you were unable to teleport an intact employee out of the worm's stomach.

I'm not yet sure what the Forest Keeper could be changed to in order to make it more fair to go up against, but I would absolutely consider it hands down the worst night monster to have to contend with- locking people in and out of the shuttle even with careful coordination and execution on the employee's part. The only consistent way I've seen people suggest to get to the shuttle when these things are patrolling around it is to wait until they're on the other side and then go for it- which is definitely easier said than done considering the large view-cone makes it hard for you to see when this is the case and requires a cooperative giving you information unless you have a good vantage point that doesn't work both ways for you and the giant.

Anyone else have any troubles with this behemoth undertaking of a colossally sized creature, or is this just a certified skill issue on my part? Cheers, good luck out there, and remember to meet your quotas; we're sure you'll be a good asset to the company.

Edit Reason: Clarity/grammatical issues.

[Recruit "THE NASCAR DRIVER"]

The maps giants spawn is clearly the issue here (and its vision too)

That or the dev should Re-design the outside of the moons so the mentioned counter in the bestiary : "Crawl in to a tight space where giants cannot go in to escape it"

And any moons where its just open space with nothing to hide behind should never spawn any "Forest keepers"

[Obby]

Originally posted by Recruta BR:

The maps giants spawn is clearly the issue here (and its vision too)

That or the dev should Re-design the outside of the moons so the mentioned counter in the bestiary : "Crawl in to a tight space where giants cannot go in to escape it"

And any moons where its just open space with nothing to hide behind should never spawn any "Forest keepers"

Forest keepers spawn on a single planet from what ive seen, and on top of that a tight space giants cannot go.....sounds very similar to a certain little home base we have set up that we land in

[Scarfy]

Originally posted by Obby:

Originally posted by Recruta BR:

The maps giants spawn is clearly the issue here (and its vision too)

That or the dev should Re-design the outside of the moons so the mentioned counter in the bestiary : "Crawl in to a tight space where giants cannot go in to escape it"

And any moons where its just open space with nothing to hide behind should never spawn any "Forest keepers"

Forest keepers spawn on a single planet from what ive seen, and on top of that a tight space giants cannot go.....sounds very similar to a certain little home base we have set up that we land in

They will spawn on any map where there is forest-y fauna, and there is one map where dogs don't spawn so they are guaranteed to show up.

On March they're pretty much guaranteed to spawn because the map doesn't allow dogs to, whereas they can also spawn on Vow- I don't know offhand other forest-y maps but a good rule of thumb is to check if the map has trees and dirt, where it will probably be able to spawn giants.

[Scarfy]

Originally posted by Recruta BR:

The maps giants spawn is clearly the issue here (and its vision too)

That or the dev should Re-design the outside of the moons so the mentioned counter in the bestiary : "Crawl in to a tight space where giants cannot go in to escape it"

And any moons where its just open space with nothing to hide behind should never spawn any "Forest keepers"

I don't think it's necessarily just the maps either since the giants will begin to hang around the shuttle and make exit/entry near impossible safely without them being on the opposite end of it when you attempt to run in- so you're practically there to stay if you value no cleaning costs and safe passage.

Even with improved maps, I think the problem would still remain as they completely destroy the body and any items it may carry while roaming around the areas employees are- making escape from those areas very difficult let-alone getting into those areas (like the shuttle).

But, I'm not a game developer nor am I a game designer so I am in no way intending to suggest it is impossible for it to work. Maybe if a map was designed around them with overhangs like you suggest, it could very well be balanced and work with the game's intended flow.

Edit Reason: Clarity

[Rue]

Originally posted by ScarfFoxxy:

Originally posted by Obby:

Forest keepers spawn on a single planet from what ive seen, and on top of that a tight space giants cannot go.....sounds very similar to a certain little home base we have set up that we land in

They will spawn on any map where there is forest-y fauna, and there is one map where dogs don't spawn so they are guaranteed to show up.

On March they're pretty much guaranteed to spawn because the map doesn't allow dogs to, whereas they can also spawn on Vow- I don't know offhand other forest-y maps but a good rule of thumb is to check if the map has trees and dirt, where it will probably be able to spawn giants.

These things can spawn on every map except Experimentation and Assurance. They can naturally spawn on Titan, Vow, and March. Whilst the others need an eclipse to spawn them. The titan scenario is down right unfair with a possibility of it spawning in-front of the main entrance.

[Scarfy]

Originally posted by Swag Messiah:

Originally posted by ScarfFoxxy:

They will spawn on any map where there is forest-y fauna, and there is one map where dogs don't spawn so they are guaranteed to show up.

On March they're pretty much guaranteed to spawn because the map doesn't allow dogs to, whereas they can also spawn on Vow- I don't know offhand other forest-y maps but a good rule of thumb is to check if the map has trees and dirt, where it will probably be able to spawn giants.

These things can spawn on every map except Experimentation and Assurance, They can naturally spawn on Titan, Vow, and March. Whilst the others need an eclipse to spawn them. The titan scenario is down right unfair.

Oh geez, that's terrifying, makes the eclipse scenario scarier than I thought it was. I thought it just allowed the spawning of natural enemies that would spawn at night for those planets but that may make me steer away from eclipse altogether for the moment if it's just inviting giants to spawn on other planets; at least until I learn how to get around them more effectively.

[DiKro]

Your friend should become bait using teleport. The friend must throw away items (if he has them), attract attention and run as far from the base as possible. As soon as he gets tired and the red dot on the radar gets closer to him, then press the teleport button. The eating animation is long, it will be simple. A sufficient period of time for movement is created for the rest. Repeat if you need to pick up discarded items.

[Scarfy]

Originally posted by DiKro:

Your friend should become bait using teleport. The friend must throw away items (if he has them), attract attention and run as far from the base as possible. As soon as he gets tired and the red dot on the radar gets closer to him, then press the teleport button. The eating animation is long, it will be simple. A sufficient period of time for movement is created for the rest. Repeat if you need to pick up discarded items.

This is a fantastic idea! I still think it should be possible with 1 player and without gear to survive all monsters, but this is still a good stopgap measure that does exactly what was requested, I'll have to give it a try and let you know how it goes. Cheers :)

[Bodean Abernathy II]

Originally posted by Obby:

Originally posted by Recruta BR:

The maps giants spawn is clearly the issue here (and its vision too)

That or the dev should Re-design the outside of the moons so the mentioned counter in the bestiary : "Crawl in to a tight space where giants cannot go in to escape it"

And any moons where its just open space with nothing to hide behind should never spawn any "Forest keepers"

Forest keepers spawn on a single planet from what ive seen, and on top of that a tight space giants cannot go.....sounds very similar to a certain little home base we have set up that we land in

Originally posted by ScarfFoxxy:

Originally posted by Obby:

Forest keepers spawn on a single planet from what ive seen, and on top of that a tight space giants cannot go.....sounds very similar to a certain little home base we have set up that we land in

They will spawn on any map where there is forest-y fauna, and there is one map where dogs don't spawn so they are guaranteed to show up.

On March they're pretty much guaranteed to spawn because the map doesn't allow dogs to, whereas they can also spawn on Vow- I don't know offhand other forest-y maps but a good rule of thumb is to check if the map has trees and dirt, where it will probably be able to spawn giants.

They spawn on all/most maps. I've seen them on the last 3 maps and the desert maps along with the snow maps.

[Scarfy]

Originally posted by Bodean Abernathy II:

Originally posted by Obby:

Forest keepers spawn on a single planet from what ive seen, and on top of that a tight space giants cannot go.....sounds very similar to a certain little home base we have set up that we land in

Originally posted by ScarfFoxxy:

They will spawn on any map where there is forest-y fauna, and there is one map where dogs don't spawn so they are guaranteed to show up.

On March they're pretty much guaranteed to spawn because the map doesn't allow dogs to, whereas they can also spawn on Vow- I don't know offhand other forest-y maps but a good rule of thumb is to check if the map has trees and dirt, where it will probably be able to spawn giants.

They spawn on all/most maps. I've seen them on the last 3 maps and the desert maps along with the snow maps.

Yeee, I was mistaken! I'd recommend looking at Swag Messiah's reply where he explains the maps they spawn on- the only two they can't are Assurance and Experimentation.

[Rango [Xeno]]

They can be stunned with Stun Grenades which makes them somewhat handle-able, but I agree they are a bit overtuned in the awareness department. Looks like with the new patch Stun Grenades interrupt their eating animation too, so you can probably throw one at the ground right before you get grabbed and run after you are dropped when the Stun Grenade pops.

[Ninephoenix]

I think there needs to be giant fallen hollow logs, fallen trees and rocks you can use to escape them. They do seem too difficult to counter-play right now.

[Design Frame]

Yeah, right now Forest Keepers are just death. I was moving slowly in a forested area, and it instantly spotted me from across the ways. And stamina isn't generous enough to compensate for such a ridiculous view range. If they happen to spawn in the area, you're just done for unless you're lucky enough to use a hillside as cover. I've noticed there's hardly any cover either.

[Archaon The Never-Chosen]

Originally posted by ScarfFoxxy:

Originally posted by Bodean Abernathy II:

They spawn on all/most maps. I've seen them on the last 3 maps and the desert maps along with the snow maps.

Yeee, I was mistaken! I'd recommend looking at Swag Messiah's reply where he explains the maps they spawn on- the only two they can't are Assurance and Experimentation.

it's worth noting that if you have nothing on you, they can never grab you as long as you keep moving away from them, you don't even need to run. if you are carrying stuff you are ♥♥♥♥♥♥ though unless you drop it

[Moros]

Honestly, making them more like their lore document could fix this while being interesting and still dangerous. Make it so that they can be fed items to distract them; drop an item and they'll go for it for a bit. Make them slower to aggro, instead studying the player at first from a distance then getting closer and eventually starting to go for grabs. They're described as having the mentalities of curious children so they should act like them.