The Displacer Beast Packlord

[Arctic]

On my way back to town after completing a writ I ran into this creature, and it obliterated my character before I realized what happened. As far as I could tell there were no cues in the surroundings about the threat I was walking into, and the mob itself seem to sneak up on you. (I might admittedly not have been paying much attention as the other mobs were fairly easy).

I am not really opposed to having hidden bosses or mobs that are more powerful than the surrounding monsters, but when it comes so out of left field it's a death that feels very unfair. Some kind of environmental cues that you are walking into a tough fight and should stay alert would be nice, maybe some goblin bodies with blood around them and a description of how they were eviscerated by claws?

[MRFTW]

It's got very low HP to offset the 50% concealment and high damage.

That said, it'd only obliterate you if you let it sneak attack you, which is true of anything with sneak attacks really.

I think the issue might be that you've not paid your spot tax, and perhaps the other displacer beasts that can spawn in that cave didn't spawn because you were low level. They spawn in regularly when I pass through the area on my epic level character and serve as a good warning that there are things hiding in the shadows.

It's worth noting that the spawns in that specific area have changed since the Brog update, cave bears weren't there before and I've anecdotally noticed way fewer non-boss displacer beasts since then.

[Arctic]

The one I encountered was on Arelith, outside the Broken Tooth goblin caves which I had no problem habdling. The displacer beast lord was a lot stronger than the other mobs but yeah sneak attacks definitely played into it, and had an attack bonus close to 20-points higher than the other mobs there.

[MRFTW]

The one I encountered was on Arelith, outside the Broken Tooth goblin caves which I had no problem habdling. The displacer beast lord was a lot stronger than the other mobs but yeah sneak attacks definitely played into it, and had an attack bonus close to 20-points higher than the other mobs there.

I was thinking of a pack lord that is on the underdark server, I realise now you're referring to the Beast of Bendir. It even made it into one of the pieces of background art you can see occasionally when screens are loading.

Nevertheless, it's probably the same creature. There are a few such jumpscare encounters throughout the server, they can and do punish unprepared adventurers, especially if that adventurer doesn't have spot/listen/search.

What level were you? Random encounters such as the goblin caves are somewhat adjusted for your level, whereas static encounters like the pack lord don't adjust based on your level. I'm wondering if that's what's caused the disparity between the two, since the goblin caves (especially deeper in) can be challenging even for high teen / low epic characters.

[Azensor]

On my way back to town after completing a writ I ran into this creature, and it obliterated my character before I realized what happened. As far as I could tell there were no cues in the surroundings about the threat I was walking into, and the mob itself seem to sneak up on you. (I might admittedly not have been paying much attention as the other mobs were fairly easy).

I am not really opposed to having hidden bosses or mobs that are more powerful than the surrounding monsters, but when it comes so out of left field it's a death that feels very unfair. Some kind of environmental cues that you are walking into a tough fight and should stay alert would be nice, maybe some goblin bodies with blood around them and a description of how they were eviscerated by claws?

If your talking about the one out near bendir, it /usually/ spawns right near a deer that it immediately kills..which usually shows that its there, though im guessing if you didnt see that happen then someone else had spawned it already and just left it there

[DM Monkey]

It’s a nasty one! However there definitely are signs of a prowling predator in the area. Just have to pay more attention to the details!

[Dr. B]

Tangential, but I don't think that guy drops DB hide. Would be neat if he did.