A Discussion About Microraptors

[Luckers]

I understand I'm probably beating a dead horse here but hear me out.

Microraptors aren't just powerful, they're OP (IN PVE). They have the ability to knock you off your mount, which is already bad enough, but to make it worse they stun you for ten seconds making you susceptible to everything around you, including the environment. For example, once I was carrying a recently tamed Bary home on my Argy. Since my base was all the way across the map, I decided to take a stamina break, however, three of these little demons decided it was high time to do something about my life, and subsequently knocked me off my Argy. I thought, "oh, ten seconds, no big deal", right before my face was chewed off by a nearby Alpha Raptor.

So, any sane person might think "Oh, just don't go to places they spawn at on mounts they can knock you off of, or just don't fly low". While I partially agree with this, I also think that someone shouldn't be that limited in exploration, seeing that most of the mounts they can't knock you off of are large and slow. As for the "don't fly low" part, they cover so much of the map (particularly Ragnarok (for reference, use this https://bit.ly/2MZw8R6) that stopping to get stamina in their territory is almost inevitable, even if you have a high stam mount.

Some might also say "Just keep your mounts on neutral". This is a good point and I think it's a great way to lower your chances of death but it is in no means foolproof. Keeping your mounts on neutral might mean you kill that Rex that's decided it would love a taste of your blood, but with how many aggressive things tend to be in the areas where they spawn (ex. Redwoods and the Canyons)  there's a high chance that another dino will get the drop on you, leading to your inevitable death.

Another common argument is "Just dismount before they reach you and they won't be able to do anything". This can work and has worked for me multiple times but you've gotta keep in mind that these things are some of the smallest creatures in the game and as shown by this video (https://bit.ly/2LTjyac) outpace every other land creature by a mile. Not to mention that they seem to have a tendency to come out of nowhere. It's just unrealistic to think that people will be able to consistently do that.

Conclusion: Microraptors are OP (IN PVE), with such a powerful move in their arsenal and almost no way to consistently counter/defend against them, they have become a serious problem to me and almost everyone I know that plays the game. They deserve a nerf or something to make playing with them in the game more fun. I only say this because, in their current state, I'd rather play in an ARK where they never existed, and that's my breaking point for when I know something needs some serious adjustments.

Some possible fixes I think could work great:

Make it so if you have a microraptor on your shoulder or any other shoulder mount on your shoulder they will block the microraptors stun and proceed to fight that microraptor (if they aren't on Passive or Passive Flee, in which case they would do nothing). Another version of this that would probably make microraptors much less annoying is the same principle but the shoulder mount never leaves your shoulder or fights the microraptor but simply blocks the stun. I feel this would be good because it takes some sort of effort to acquire a shoulder mount but not so much that it makes countering microraptors a mind numbingly boring process. 

Another fix might be adding a "Spiked Helmet" at level 15-35 and making it cost materials that aren't necessarily hard to get but just rare enough that early game players will find this helmet valuable. I think a perfect candidate for this is Chitin/Keratin, costing about 75-150 for each helmet. This helmet would stop the microraptor from throwing you off and as an added bonus would damage any creatures that melee you that seem to be hitting you head, for example, compys wouldn't be damages but Vultures and Rexes would.(by amounts going up as the quality of the helmet goes up (ex. Primitive 2 dmg, Ramshackle 5 dmg, Apprentice 7 dmg, Journeyman 10 dmg, Mastercraft 15 dmg, Ascendant 20 dmg)

Some other notable, however less exciting mentions include lowering their aggro range, decreasing their spawnrates, lowering their speed, etc., etc.,

As the title may suggest, I'm looking for discussion, so please, if you think I'm an idiot who deserves nothing but scorn for this heinous, wretched post, tell me why. And if you want to reinforce my already massive ego by reaffirming my beliefs, please do so. Have a good day!

[vkaslad]

It's just one of those surprise things like purlovias, thylas, troodons, or kapros that you've got to watch out for.  If they nerfed one of them they might as well do all and that's no fun.

[SoloNoob]

"They have the ability to knock you off your mount, which is already bad enough, but to make it worse they stun you for ten seconds making you susceptible to everything around you, including the environment."

 

I think this is the whole point of the microraptor. And in pve you already have the biggest challenge, being other players , toned down. So i feel the micro raptor is even more important in pve, then it is in pvp.

[d1nk]

While quite annoying and sometimes deadly I believe they are an important part of the game. Without these small annoyances it would be boring! I did a SE play recently and microraptors were the only thing causing me any grief, it was a lot of fun.

I dont agree with you. The game has become pretty easy, no need to ezmode it completely

[Luckers]

36 minutes ago, d1nk said:

While quite annoying and sometimes deadly I believe they are an important part of the game. Without these small annoyances it would be boring! I did a SE play recently and microraptors were the only thing causing me any grief, it was a lot of fun.

I dont agree with you. The game has become pretty easy, no need to ezmode it completely

 

1 hour ago, SoloNoob said:

"They have the ability to knock you off your mount, which is already bad enough, but to make it worse they stun you for ten seconds making you susceptible to everything around you, including the environment."

 

I think this is the whole point of the microraptor. And in pve you already have the biggest challenge, being other players , toned down. So i feel the micro raptor is even more important in pve, then it is in pvp.

 

1 hour ago, vkaslad said:

It's just one of those surprise things like purlovias, thylas, troodons, or kapros that you've got to watch out for.  If they nerfed one of them they might as well do all and that's no fun.

After reading through my post, I realize I forgot to mention that I actually love the challenge these little guys provide (after all, what's the point of playing a survival game in creative mode), which is also why I'm partial to dinos like the thyla, purlovia, etc., etc., however I feel that microraptors just do that entire thing way too cheaply. I agree, things should be challenging, but those challenges should be consistently surmountable given you know how to avoid them. Like with Purlovia, It's possible to see them coming if you know what to look for, and with Thylas, they're (sorta) easy to see coming given you're alert enough to spot them (and also completely avoidable on flyers if you fly above the trees they're on, same with purlovia (which you shouldnt have to take a stam break during, given how small the areas they inhabit tend to be)) . However, given their size, microraptors sneak attacks seem almost unavoidable, unlike other "ambush" type dinos.

 

[SlipperySquid]

Have you tried just using better gear? I have never died to these little critters and that is mostly due to having decent flak + medical brews on me at all times. 

[AngrySaltire]

While I dont really have any problems with microraptors my biggest complaint about them would be the lack of the counter to it. I certainly wouldnt remove them from the game. I would love to see shouler mounted microraptors (maybe other pets too) provide some sort of protection from wild microraptors. Not nessesarily complete protection though, maybe make it chance based or something for the pet to fend off the incoming microraptor attack. I wouldnt make it based of level of the pet raptor as all one would need to do is to tame a high level one and it would provide complete immunity, thats no fun lol

[Luckers]

13 hours ago, SlipperySquid said:

Have you tried just using better gear? I have never died to these little critters and that is mostly due to having decent flak + medical brews on me at all times. 

Like I said, dying to them is pretty much not at all a concern, dying to the creatures around them is.

[Luckers]

12 hours ago, AngrySaltire said:

While I dont really have any problems with microraptors my biggest complaint about them would be the lack of the counter to it. I certainly wouldnt remove them from the game. I would love to see shouler mounted microraptors (maybe other pets too) provide some sort of protection from wild microraptors. Not nessesarily complete protection though, maybe make it chance based or something for the pet to fend off the incoming microraptor attack. I wouldnt make it based of level of the pet raptor as all one would need to do is to tame a high level one and it would provide complete immunity, thats no fun lol

That's actually something I didn't think about. There should definitely be an incentive to tame a higher level.

[AngrySaltire]

23 minutes ago, Luckers said:

That's actually something I didn't think about. There should definitely be an incentive to tame a higher level.

Oh deffinatly, there should be an incentive to tame higher levels. Maybe I should explain my thinking a bit better. Take the rex roar ability for example, it only effects creatures of a lower level, I am not a big fan of that. If your a high level you dont need to worry about anything. I would not like to see a high level shoulder pet cancel out a wild microraptor completely. A higher level tamed microraptor would be better at fending off a wild microraptor but it would not afford full immunity to them.