"Enemies" are too monotonous and take too many hits to kill

[kit-kat]

I am a casual game player, playing on easy mode, and I am ready to quit this game. The shark and screecher are a nuisance that halt forward game play. They seem to serve no substantive purpose.

How the hell many hits with the upgraded arrows does it take to kill the screecher?!? I hit it 4 times with great difficulty because there are so many trees and I can't see the damn thing. The bird just keeps dropping stones every 20 seconds or so and I cannot seem to get rid of it. There is absolutely no fun in the big islands because the bird is too annoying.

The shark is just relentless. It is always there doing the same thing again and again. It is not fun. When I am in the water, the shark should only attack sometimes. It also takes a large number of hits with the upgraded weapons, and I don't even know how many. THere is no progress bar so I have no idea when I am close to killing the fish... I always seem to kill him just as darkness falls or when I am out to sea making the temporary reprieve a total waste.

I want to love this game. I really, really do. But the gameplay with the "enemies" is totally killing the enjoyment for me.

[Borrelnoodgeval]

all i can add to this is that the shark gains scars when damaged
so thats atleast a way to kind of tell how much hleath it has

[Beer_Run_Bob]

Shark will die with 15 metal spear hits or 30 stone spear hits. Not sure about number of arrow hits as I haven't fully tried that method yet. When attacking the shark underwater, hold your ground, DON'T MOVE, and hit him when he opens his mouth to attack. If your quick enough you can get a 2nd and maybe a 3rd hit on him as he turns to retreat. When your ready for oxygen, hit him once as he attacks then up for air, then back down just under water surface and repeat. The screecher takes 6-7 metal arrows and I'd think 12-14 but haven't used stone arrows on him yet. Depending on your bow skills you could get a distance hit plus a close hit on him, but I seem to be more successful at hitting him as his flying in on me at about a 20-30 degree angle above me. Lead the shot a bit in front of him and then run forward into his attack path to dodge the rock drop. Strafing left or right after you shoot works also. I use the bow for the boar, screecher and puffer. The boar and puffer can be killed quick enough allowing you to get back all if not most of your arrows. For the screecher, I've only been able to get back 2. Don't give up on the game, it just takes a little patience to learn your enemy. Eventually you will find the technique required to easily deal with these threats.

[gamergrandpa]

Try playing on Peacefull mode. All the game and no attacks unless you attack them first.

[Ryvaken Tadrya]

Absolutely agree with this. As it stands the shark and gull are the gameplay equivilent of "you need to stop what you're doing and push a button every few minutes." That's not fun, that's just annoying.

Give us enemies that don't respawn, but spawn rarely in deep water and frequently around islands. Enemies that don't soak a full spear's durability before dying. Enemies that are dangerous enough that choosing to run instead of fight is reasonable.

[Archie]

like gamer grandpa said, play in Peacefull mode.

Personally and it is only my opinion, I think all the enemies are awesome but I do think the sea gulls and the shark are a pain in the butt, but the game needs these to give you something to hate so you get great satisfaction wiping them out.
Of cause, what someone likes doesn't mean another should also -- just personal taste.

The only thing I find boring in life is a bored person - er and opera.

How many hours have you played?

quite a few then to get to a big island but next time if you stay in easy mode , the screecher is easy to dodge, you need to keep an eye out for when it is gathering stones then as he comes at you for the drop have your bow drawn already then shoot about a game meter before the bird ie ahead of its flight path and I think it is only five arrows.
You can also get in a spot near where the bird gathers its rocks and fire an arrow into it there.

I neglected to say , immediately after you shoot your arrow, run forward, and if you are elevated, you will drop, as you run, so unlikely to get hit.

Also the screecher doesn't patrol the entire island, it will only attack if you are in it's territory so keep out of that.
Just look to where it is circling then keep away from there.

Another point, while the screecher is getting it's rocks to dump on you quickly chop the trees down around you , 1 at a time so you can see better, or better still get into a clearing.
There are rock formations that form a crude shelter you can duck under as well.

You can use the warthogs hide and lamas wool to make protective helmets.
Also you can use the chook's eggs and clay to make a salve which you rub on you and get healed in a short time.
Luckily the shark never takes a leg off etc as the salve cures that as well so there are lots you can do to combat the problem.
However if boredom is the problem there isn't an answer for that.

Ah maybe Ryvaken has a point, it may be a little better if it was more random rather than all the time.
But i am used to it so not bothered however, again, we all dont like the same things and thank the lord that this is the case.

If you haven't encountered the warthog yet, remember to use one of the new big tree trunks to keep between you and it.

[Torval]

Originally posted by kmei426:

I am a casual game player, playing on easy mode, and I am ready to quit this game. The shark and screecher are a nuisance that halt forward game play. They seem to serve no substantive purpose.

How the hell many hits with the upgraded arrows does it take to kill the screecher?!? I hit it 4 times with great difficulty because there are so many trees and I can't see the damn thing. The bird just keeps dropping stones every 20 seconds or so and I cannot seem to get rid of it. There is absolutely no fun in the big islands because the bird is too annoying.

The shark is just relentless. It is always there doing the same thing again and again. It is not fun. When I am in the water, the shark should only attack sometimes. It also takes a large number of hits with the upgraded weapons, and I don't even know how many. THere is no progress bar so I have no idea when I am close to killing the fish... I always seem to kill him just as darkness falls or when I am out to sea making the temporary reprieve a total waste.

I want to love this game. I really, really do. But the gameplay with the "enemies" is totally killing the enjoyment for me.

Just rage quit an easy playthrough because of that shark. I was anchored at an island, collecting sand and clay, died to the shark, respawned, didn't have enough to make a new spear, couldn't go get my stuff (don't even know if you can). Peaceful only mode for me from now on. 30 hits with a wooden spear is nuts for 180 seconds of peace.

[Archie]

Originally posted by rivosyke:

Originally posted by kmei426:

I am a casual game player, playing on easy mode, and I am ready to quit this game. The shark and screecher are a nuisance that halt forward game play. They seem to serve no substantive purpose.

How the hell many hits with the upgraded arrows does it take to kill the screecher?!? I hit it 4 times with great difficulty because there are so many trees and I can't see the damn thing. The bird just keeps dropping stones every 20 seconds or so and I cannot seem to get rid of it. There is absolutely no fun in the big islands because the bird is too annoying.

The shark is just relentless. It is always there doing the same thing again and again. It is not fun. When I am in the water, the shark should only attack sometimes. It also takes a large number of hits with the upgraded weapons, and I don't even know how many. THere is no progress bar so I have no idea when I am close to killing the fish... I always seem to kill him just as darkness falls or when I am out to sea making the temporary reprieve a total waste.

I want to love this game. I really, really do. But the gameplay with the "enemies" is totally killing the enjoyment for me.

Just rage quit an easy playthrough because of that shark. I was anchored at an island, collecting sand and clay, died to the shark, respawned, didn't have enough to make a new spear, couldn't go get my stuff (don't even know if you can). Peaceful only mode for me from now on. 30 hits with a wooden spear is nuts for 180 seconds of peace.

why cant you swim to your raft , pull the anchor up, - er oh did the raft drift away and unreachable. that's tuff. but you wont die if otherwise.

in hard mode you will lose if you injure the shark so you leave it alone , let it eat your boat, and just make new floor tiles. cheaper also.
in normal it is better as well, unless there is something on the tile.
. 4 hits with wooden spear and 2 with metal one.

[Anonymous Helper]

Originally posted by rivosyke:

Just rage quit an easy playthrough because of that shark. I was anchored at an island, collecting sand and clay, died to the shark, respawned, didn't have enough to make a new spear, couldn't go get my stuff (don't even know if you can). Peaceful only mode for me from now on. 30 hits with a wooden spear is nuts for 180 seconds of peace.

You should not lose anything on death on easy last time I checked (just checked and it still says so in the difficulty description). You should only lose inventory upon death on normal or higher difficulty (and it can't be recovered if lost). If you did play on easy and lose your inventory upon death, it's probably a bug and should be reported to developers here:

https://support.redbeetinteractive.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

[Ruruwawa]

Originally posted by Ryvaken Tadrya:

Give us enemies that don't respawn, but spawn rarely in deep water and frequently around islands. Enemies that don't soak a full spear's durability before dying. Enemies that are dangerous enough that choosing to run instead of fight is reasonable.

I'd love this! I agree time-to-kill shouldn't be too high, although I'm less concerned about the materials cost of killing an enemy if it stays dead. That's just something to balance against the resources you can get if the enemy dies.

I play mostly survival games these days, so I expect to kill enemies for resources. The Raft enemies are fun and rewarding except for the rapid, infinite resurrection of an individual shark or screecher. It's a bad design IMO. It takes a lot of the personal choice away from the player and makes gameplay far more narrow than other sandbox survival games. I don't need to hunt these enemy, learn their habits, etc. And -- importantly -- I can't make those jump-scare mistakes to unanticipated threats because the danger is always right in my face. (And it's the exact same danger, over and over again.)

I like Raft, it's a good game. I think it could be a great game if it let players have more control (and opportunity for mastery) over their risks and rewards.

[Shantelle]

Originally posted by kmei426:

I am a casual game player, playing on easy mode, and I am ready to quit this game. The shark and screecher are a nuisance that halt forward game play. They seem to serve no substantive purpose.

How the hell many hits with the upgraded arrows does it take to kill the screecher?!? I hit it 4 times with great difficulty because there are so many trees and I can't see the damn thing. The bird just keeps dropping stones every 20 seconds or so and I cannot seem to get rid of it. There is absolutely no fun in the big islands because the bird is too annoying.

The shark is just relentless. It is always there doing the same thing again and again. It is not fun. When I am in the water, the shark should only attack sometimes. It also takes a large number of hits with the upgraded weapons, and I don't even know how many. THere is no progress bar so I have no idea when I am close to killing the fish... I always seem to kill him just as darkness falls or when I am out to sea making the temporary reprieve a total waste.

I want to love this game. I really, really do. But the gameplay with the "enemies" is totally killing the enjoyment for me.

It takes me 10 hits with the upgraded arrows to kill the shark. This can be very time consuming. I grab a upgraded spear and jump in the water with the shark. When the shark is coming right at you .. the minute it opens its mouth to bite, jab him in the mouth with the spear. The shark will turn away fast and swim away without hurting you. If you jab too soon or too late you will get bit. It is very simple to do it just takes a little guts :D . Once the shark is dead.. he will not respawn right away depending on which difficulty you are playing in. I know for certain that in the easy mode you have 4 minutes. I hope this helps you.