This log is the tail end of my 15+ (I can only scroll up what I project is about half way so this is really 30+, at least) minute ffa-spar with Morbo. Non-lowbie participants were me, Morbo, and Daedroth. The lowbies cleared out quickly, of course. Unfortunatly, I forgot to log, and it didn't occur to me for a long time, this is the very tail end. It's unfortunate that it depicts only a few chases before my demise.

After one of us killed Daedroth (I seem to remember it was me, I was breaking his demesne), Morbo immediatly retreated to the farthest possible point from my demesne and camped with rubble, carcer, and a hermit point. I had already extended my demesne a bunch to get around Daedroth's, and had about 5 rooms left, unable to extend to Morbo. He would dart in just long enough to throw lovers under fool, hermit to his hideyhole and empress me there, rubbing soulless all the time. He eventually totally refused to enter my demesne and move from his camp, and though I put a chain of briars and forest terrain from my demesne to his camp, I couldn't headbutt fast enough to move him anywhere. Forsaking this, I broke some of the rooms in my demesne and extended a finger out to his camp (this is about 10 minutes in, I suppose). He immediately jumps ship, complaining that "All you are doing is blowing me around, which is boring" and running away from me. He also complained that I wasn't actually trying to kill him, just trying to stay alive, more about that in a minute. So, I gave up trying to get him in my demesne.

Now, I just plain chased him. He decided to camp in the caves next, so I waltzed over, put up forest in the cave areas and a line of briars, just in case. I found him with carcer/rubble again, of course. I proceeded to fight him in forest terrain, but not in my demesne, using only dreamweaving and thornlash/cudgel in an attempt to set up for a eternalsleep with mana drain. I got him somewhat down on mana, but he started to pent spam, the entire time setting up rubies and soulless on me. He also kept complaining that all I was doing was running from HIM, which I was.... when he threw Soulless a few times.

After that, he decided to just plain run away. I would chase him across the arena, where he would be behind an icewall. I would melt the wall, forest, and he would run. Repeat. For another 15 minutes.

I gave him a chance to fight me outside my demesne, when as a druid I don't have squat outside my demesne. I was running around the arena all that time, he could have put down carcers and tried to stop me in a non-forest and get the jump on me. Heck, he could even just plain damage kill me with the silliness of balestone , which is what eventually happened. No, he decided to just plain run away, or spam pentagram with diamond. The only time I had him in my demesne, I was nullifying every balance, trying to time it so my demesne would hit, though when it would once, he would hermit across the arena. Eventually, I was out of power, out of will, and out of ideas on how to kill him, or even stop him from moving when he was hermiting around, pent spamming, and just generally running away. To top it off, he was making snide remarks as to my combat ability, when he couldn't kill me with all his institute glory, out of my demesne.

What can I do about people like this, heartstop and let them win?

Morbo, if you have a more complete log, by all means post it!


EDIT: Meh, not posted logs, apparently I fail at it. Just going to put a link then:

Fixed Link!

Oh god why is it so wiiiiiide

If you're a druid and someone refuses to fight in your meld, then don't fight them.

Why on earth would you post that in a codebox. Go stick it on NOGFX.

I... Don't know. The forums hate me, but now I can't stop laughing.

And Rika: Really? I mean, I don't want to just let people win because they don't understand (or don't care) that I really have to fight in my demesne and sap.

That's what she said.

This.

If someone refuses to fight you in your demesne, consider it a victory by forfeit.

Sham/Rika nailed it, a win doesn't mean you have to kill them. Run spam because you can't deal with it is a win, too.

Note: n/a with mages they don't need melds to kill.

Actually it is also true for mages. While mages don't need a meld to kill expecting them to not fight in a demesne is like expecting a guardian to not bring ents.

Anyway unless there is some large reward riding on the outcome of the fight it is best to just heartstop, wasting your time chasing someone around an arena isn't going to teach you much about fighting but it is cutting in to the time you could be doing more interresting stuff. If there is a considereable reward then just stay in your meld until either he comes or the divine disqualifies you both.

I think it's much easier to kill Druids in meld and in trees, even as a Mage, and focus off treebane instead of trying to mess with it otherwise. Then they think they got everything they need to kill you and stick around a little more then you just prove them wrong.

Quite true.

Anisu mages have never needed meld to kill since the advent of psionics, even against good curing. Sorry?

But it is still their primary skill and expecting them to not use it because the other party can't deal with it is just silly. Besides not all mages take psionics.

Druids are probably still in the same state as they were when I played, Enyalida. Probably even worse now with m&m having good sap curing. In any event, you pretty much need to spam deepsleep on him and run when you need to. Never fight outside of your demesne. He'll eventually move to you if he wants to win, and you can just ignore him if he tries to taunt you otherwise. My only other suggestion would be to try to use passive illusions in your demesne when you're fighting via motes. I did that with people with a Geomancer muck illusion, or a fake sap illusion. Worked against some, didn't work against others.

Point is, Druids suck. Viynain is trying to fix them, but it's going to take awhile.

I must be doing something seriously wrong then. I can only barely kill with my demesne.

Don't listen to Ixion. There's no reason for a mage to fight outside their demesne any more than there is for a druid. Giving up your entire primary skill is just stupid.

Sure there is, having a meld isn't always available and it's good training for on the fly fights where there's actual mobile fighting instead of the major camping that plagues Lusternia combat. There have been a few mages who have found ways to beat almost anyone without melds as well. If you have it then use it, sure, that much should be obvious, but there's a disparity between psionic mages and druid combat outside melds that cannot be denied. With druids there really is no choice in the matter.

Maybe re-read the comment, because your response is off. Don't need to kill != shouldn't try to use.

Main two I can think of would have to be Forren and Fillin. One made use of pre-nerfed mindblast, the other being TK Geo. No one else comes to mind.

Druids don't get illusions?

No. Nature/Druidry, Totems/Animal and a tert.

Not particularly familiar with it myself, but there's an Illusion skill in Dreamweaving