Let's Talk Leedsichthys and Rafts

[🦊 Hermit]

Ok, this topic has been somewhat lost in the chaos over the flyer nerf, however now that things are calming down a little perhaps it's time to address another of the elephants in the room. Or in this case, the whale in the sea.

I do like the idea of the raft having some kind of threat, something which has the chance of causing you some pain and risk for using one. I don't object to that concept at all. However as with a number of dinos that have been added of late, it's initial concept seems to me to be a little overpowered. So this discussion is to give the team a bit of feedback about the leedsichthys, and what could be done to improve it.

Please try to keep all comments constructive.

I haven't fully tested out the raft destruction aspect myself yet, however I have seen how fast the whale is when chasing a raft - I know there is no escape from one once it has you in it's sights. I've also heard from others who have done tests that there is no real defense against it...any structure built below the raft to try and block the thing from getting to it is ignored, and the leedsichthys can phase right through it to attack the boat itself, even if the raft is stationary with nobody at the helm.

It's this inevitabillity, this lack of any recourse at all, which rather annoys me about this game mechanic. I don't mind having the danger there, but I would like some kind of way to protect or defend against said danger, even if that protection costs a lot of resources to acchive. And said protection would have to be available in the lower-medium tier of the game, because once a tribe get higher level tames their use of rafts tends to be superceeded by dinos so rafts are an early game tool.

So what options could we have to balance the mechanic a little better? One option could simply be removing the abillity of the leedy to ignore underwater structures surrounding a raft. If the thing had to break through a number of pillars and walls before it was able to damage the raft behind, it would give a little bit of extra time for the raft occupants to make their way into shallow water where they would be able to escape the thing. I don't even mind if the leedy was given the abillity to damage stone (although at a reduced rate to the dunkie), so long as wood or stone structures were able to slow down it's advance on a raft ever so slightly.

Another option is some kind of construction or item that acts as a 'whale repellant' for a limited time, kinda like the bug repellant for spiders. One can activate it on a raft, and it gives temporary immunity to the leedy's vision or attacks, although if it runs out while you're on the open water and you don't have more available, you'll be sunk quickly. Again, I don't mind if such an item cost a lot to produce, so long as it was available in the early-midgame, not a tek item.

Does anybody else have any other ideas on this matter? Discuss.

[Combo]

I also wanted some danger at sea, providing I could fight back. This just insta kills even metal rafts in 3 bites.

If you play on official you gotta deal with them. If your playing single player, or your own server just spawn block em, and boat all day.

Put this in your game.ini if you want them gone.

(DinoNameTag="Leedsichthys",SpawnWeightMultiplier=0.0,OverrideSpawnLimitPercentage=True,SpawnLimitPercentage=0.0)

[Commander Wiggley Biggley™]

It's not a whale it's a fish.

[Numbus]

After sarcificing some rafts to test it out. The conclusion is that it takes 6 to 8 hits for a level 1 leed to kill my wooden rafts, it is indeed utterly irrelevant or you have foundations under it or not. It will clip through any material. It also seems to do different amounts of damage depening or you get hit head on, or from the side.

And yes you can kite them but I admit this is absolutely not easy to do. Your best bet (as mentioned before in this thread) is after the first attack, as it has to reallign itself. If you keep clipping away you can make it with a sprint.

Another option, in case you cannot do this, is to circle away just before it leaps up (given the server/client lags allows you to do this). You can actually avoid it this way, if you keep moving away from the first initial argo point you can create a dinstance between it and yourself but while testing I managed to get away multiple times out of argo range (the center map).

Another semi effective way is, for those with more resources and higher level, is to build a small hut on the raft, place 6-8 (I used 8) turrets on them and set them on Wild only. Make a generator, 1 cross piece and 1 or 2 outlets (default small gunboat basically) and 1 keypad. Pincode your turrets and turn them off. If a leeds attacks you, hop off your raft (yes this will mean it most likely will hit you 1 more time) and turn the turrets on. It will take some bullets but you will take it out rather quickly well before the Leeds destroys your raft (sadly only was able to test this on level 1 Leeds).

[requiemfang]

Where's mah metal boats when you need em eh?

Suggest folks look into any mod that adds a metal raft/boat.

[Tulkus]

They need to make sunken Foundations block them. Wood is not protected (tho it has to destory the foundations first) but stone and Metal are protected.

That and make a boat with boat parts so we can have true high end game boat bases that can actually hold off raids.

[Melphiz]

We have difficulty 3 on the dedicated server I play, and a lv 12 Leed 2hits a raft RKO style outta nowhere.
Traving along the ice coast is impossible, if you do not have a 2nd person with you who instantly repairs the raft.

[Asulox]

Perhaps making the Ballista bolts cause a similar effect to dilo spit? Slow the beasts down for a few seconds, with enough rafts and turrets you could actively hunt them down!
The engram is obtainable at lvl 25 so achievable relatively early. New players would favour shallow water, mid players find open water less dangerous and high lvl players probably have enough members for an armed raft vanguard.

[HawthornThistleberry]

Originally posted by Tulkuss:

They need to make sunken Foundations block them. Wood is not protected (tho it has to destory the foundations first) but stone and Metal are protected.

Some people have reported that it isn't enough. Perhaps the AoE clips through enough to still damage the raft even if there's sunken foundations covering all parts of the bottom.

[maestro]

Yep. They aren't a threat anymore unless to go Marco Polo out the open seas. They introduced them rediculously OP and everywhere but have since made them much more rare and only in deep waters.

[A.Loris]

As said b4
Rafts are being exploited as fortresses. Not now.
I am seeing tanked up, speed boosted land mounts being used to traverse the seas.


Aqua Rexs :)

[lkjfdsaofmc]

Or the Flying Dutchman works well too. At least that's what I call a decked out mosasaur platform saddle, add some cannons and it's the Flying Dutchman :D

[IonoI]

Why does it phase through structures? That sounds like a bug

[Vesuvius]

I have heard (but not tested) keeping a spare raft in your inv.... when leeds attacks... throw the spare raft at it and it goes for the new raft... giving you time to bail.

To be confirmed :)

[Zashra]

Personally I really like the way the leeds is implemented. Mainly because I tend to play more PVE or RP. So I like having extra challenges in the environment. Especially in the ocean which used to be perfectly safe while on a raft. Though I do wish it was a different, less common, creature that went after rafts. Like the Basilosaurus or the Liopleurodon.

[The Pretty Good Jaggi]

We need better boats.