Leviathan behaviour patterns (spoilers)

[Antar]

I really wanted to try out to see if leviathans would actually attack the habitat, or at least cause damage by their presence. I soon found out that they can't even bump into them, which is a great shame imo, as leviathan attacking a base is even part of the story. And it would add a whole new layer to the game. It's something that really should be in the game.

Anyways I spent considerable time "playing" with first Reapers and the Ghosts and in the process I learned quite a lot about how the behave.

The short version is both have completely different AI.

Reaper Leviathans:
They have their "spot" on the map which they keep circling around. They never leave their territory unless provoked, and after they "deal" (attack) with the threat, they always return to their original spot. Even if they chase you in a cyclops quite far away, they always eventually go back.
I spent considerable time trying to "relocate" them either with them chasing my cyclops or with beacons, they always returned to "their spot". My experiement with beacons is very illustrative:

I had a base around 80 metres from an edge of a "reaper spot" in the kelp forest by the Aurora's back. I made a line of beacons from my base towards where the reaper circles. What happened is, the reaper "saw" some of the beacons from his territory and he went after them. But, it always only went for single beacon at a time, and after destroying it it immediately returned to his spot. Then, if he saw another one from his territory, he again went for it, but after destroying it it again ignored all other beacons around and returned to his territory. Like this, the reaper cleared all the beacons he could see from his territory, but completely ignored the other ones. Some footage from the experiment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-UI5_NcQVs
EDIT: This has been disproven, apparently you can get Reapers to relocate permanently. Not sure why I did not succeed, will try again.

Ghost Leviathans:
Observing Ghost Leviathans proved much more interesting and revealing. I noticed in my past games that Ghosts can actually relocate on the map permanently, so I wanted to see why and how.

I started with the one in Northern Blood Kelp zone. In this game (patch 84), it spawned about 250m N of the Lost River entrance there. It thought it was rather awkward place for it to spawn, as it was very near the void and generally in an area which you have no reason to go to. More, it circled quite a small circle there, looking like it was trying to bait its own tail.
I first tried to get it to chase my cyclops in the general S direction, which worked well for about 200-300 metres, but it would simply not chase me any further, I tried to go back and forth many times, honking the horn etc. I noticed it's probably related to the border of its original spawn area, the NBK zone. The Ghost stayed at the edge of this zone where it chased me, but would not go further, so I gave up at this point.

I went into my nearby base a decided to spy on the Ghost with a scanner room camera. I immediately noticed that he is being very aggressive towards all fauna in his new region. There were no Bonesharks or Ampeels in his original area, but this new area was full of them. Killing all Bonesharks around, the Ghost seemed particularly focused at one Ampeel there (still in the area between NBK and Underwater Islands), but could not kill it. So the chase started. Oh and it went on...

The Ghost Leviathan was fighting the Ampeel some of the time, until getting in range of some other fauna, it then went to kill the new "enemy" first before resuming to chasing the Ampeel. This whole time the duo was slowly moving in the SW direction, from the NBK, thru Underwater Islands, into the Grassy plateau, clipping heavily thru the mountain barrier there. After watching the duo for some time clipping thru the shallow Grassy plateau, being on the edge of my camera range I decided to "help" them move with my cyclops.
Picture of the Ghost there clipping: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1342746539

So I tried to make the Ghost chase me again in the general S direction. At this time I could not see the Ampeel for some time so I presumed it finally died. The ghost did not want to chase me very far, so I switched to cyclops cameras and just observed it from distance. Somehow, the Ampeel reemerged from the ground again, and the chase resumed in full rage. They moved completely on their own all the way to Safe Shallows, about 150 metres S from lifepod 5!

This is where the chase basicaly ended. Both the Ghost Leviathan and the Ampeel made themselfs home in the Safe Shallows, having an occasional "argument" but no longer fighting viciously all around the map. The Ghost clips thru terrain almost all the time in the shallows, occasionally flying into the air.
Some pics from the chase:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1342746381
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1342746301
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1342746214

CONCLUSION:
The Ghost Leviathans are extremelly aggressive creatures, even though they are supposed to be herbivores. Their "territorial" Ai will make them attack everything in their range, and they will follow it anywhere, and stay there. This is in sharp contrast to the Reaper Leviathan, who always goes back to his spot after a "kill".
EDIT: The part about Reapers is not completely correct.

I concluded that Ghost Leviathans need big overhaul of their ai. Not just fixes, I think the devs should rethink their basic behaviour. Their current ai simply works against them, leading them to areas where they clip everything and generally look ridiculous.

Another downside to this aggresive ai is that the Ghost eradicates all Bonesharks, Sandsharks, Crabsquids and other creatures it encounters on its journey, leaving you with dead biomes. Can be seen as an upside too if you want to get rid of all aggressive fauna.

On the other hand, having Ghost Leviathan in unexpected places can lead to unexpected encounters. You cannot get him to an exact place, but you can "jumpstart" his journey around the map.

Video of such unexpected encounter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79jDAsMEhk

I'm looking forward to oher peoples thoughts and experience on the subject.

PS: I never used the console in Subnautica, or cheated in any other way apart from having backed up saves. Everything is 100% legit (including the last video, not staged in any way).

EDIT: Grammar, I apologise for any remaining errors.
EDIT2: Added info

[...👑 JOST AMMAN 👑...]

Cool! :-]

[BananaJoe]

Wooow! That is some awesome science you did there! I can't find any words at the moment that can describe this ... only awesome job you did there! Are you a scientist btw? :-)

[erdogan18]

I had a reaper chase me from the dunes far into a grassy plateus. When I was going back to the dunes it was still there so i killed it.

[Antar]

Originally posted by friccin hecc:

I had a reaper chase me from the dunes far into a grassy plateus. When I was going back to the dunes it was still there so i killed it.

Well I heard this few times before but was not able to replicate it. Maybe the Reaper got stuck somehow and could not swim back? I only tested the 2 reapers behind the Aurora, might be the ones in the Dunes have different AI? Just guessing...

Originally posted by BananaJoe:

Wooow! That is some awesome science you did there! I can't find any words at the moment that can describe this ... only awesome job you did there! Are you a scientist btw? :-)

Lmao no just unemployed.

[miklkit]

Good job with the testing!

I've only played 2 games so far but in the first one I ended up with reapers, ghost leviathons, and ampeels cavorting in the safe shallows. In the 2nd I killed a reaper and a ghost leviathon there. The ghost battle actually started in the sea treader area and ended in the shallows.

Dunno why my experience is different from yours.

[Antar]

Originally posted by miklkit:

Good job with the testing!

I've only played 2 games so far but in the first one I ended up with reapers, ghost leviathons, and ampeels cavorting in the safe shallows. In the 2nd I killed a reaper and a ghost leviathon there. The ghost battle actually started in the sea treader area and ended in the shallows.

Dunno why my experience is different from yours.

Thanks. Yeah I can see now that people can get Reapers relocated permanently, will try it again later. I just realized I only tried luring them with beacons or cyclops. Gonna try to see if they will go after the seamoth or me alone more aggressively

[strask]

Thank you for the science!

[wolfheart303]

Great study! I haven't dealt with kiting Ghosts yet, but the Reaper from the backside of the Aurora followed me back to the Safe Shallows and took up residence. In the process of hunting it grew closer and closer to my base, until I finally had to jump in my Prawn and drill it to death to get it out of my front yard. Now I'm considering pulling a Ghost to see what it'll do if I leave it in, say, the Grassy Plateau near my base.

I've found that the reapers HATE ampeels, so I've deployed a few around my base to help ward them off. It's worked fairly well so far.

[Antar]

Originally posted by wolfheart303:

Great study! I haven't dealt with kiting Ghosts yet, but the Reaper from the backside of the Aurora followed me back to the Safe Shallows and took up residence. In the process of hunting it grew closer and closer to my base, until I finally had to jump in my Prawn and drill it to death to get it out of my front yard. Now I'm considering pulling a Ghost to see what it'll do if I leave it in, say, the Grassy Plateau near my base.

I've found that the reapers HATE ampeels, so I've deployed a few around my base to help ward them off. It's worked fairly well so far.

Damn I really tried but it always returned. Maybe I'll have to use my own body as a bait, but that is dangerous..and scary lol.

I heard few Ampeels can kill a Reaper, did not try. But I would definitely recommend throwing an ampeel near a Ghost if you want to get it to "travel".

[Simon]

I'm not sure i want to know what you mean by "playing" with them.