A fair way to nerf Zephyr Hounds?

[Nightmarjoo]

I voted on that poll to remove Zs entirely, but I really like your idea. It makes sense in my opinion. Nether and Ethereal Hounds will be almost no less dangerous though. If they're in a line (unlikely), if one stops to breathe the one behind him will move to the side to try and move forward, and pretty soon you'll have a dozen hound heads sticking out of the wall breathing nether at you all at once like normal.

It strikes me as odd that I'd think of it given my hate of Zs, but the biggest setback this change would yield would be in reducing the flavour of the Zs. They'd be just like any other creature, except that they come in packs. Nothing else currently really behaves or feels like the Zs (thankfully). Though I absolutely abhor Zs, it is pretty interesting to have a hound for every breath (and almost every breath for a single hound too), I guess.

I wonder if it'd be fair though, to alter the ball nature of breaths and make them travel like a bolt to splash as a ball on first contact, while not doing the same for normal player ball spells? This change seems to make sense though, seems very similar to the change making summons appear around the summoner instead of around the player.


Time hounds should still go though

[Hariolor]

So it struck me in a recent session that Z's actually breathe *through* other enemies (duh, I know). I am assuming this is done by coding their attack as a targeted ball, rather than a line (not much for reading that actual code, myself, so correct me if this is wrong). In any case, here's the idea.

Keep breath weapons as balls, but make them explode on impact with the first creature they hit, whether or not it's the @. This introduces two great features that will make hounds a lot more enjoyable, but still dangerous in open spaces. (ps this goes for v's too)

1) Hounds could conceivably be used to clean up enemies that are between you and the hounds. If this turns out to be too exploitable, would it be possible to code Z's so they only breathe if they have a clear line of attack (not obstructed by other enemies)?

2) If you are facing the ever-annoying long-line-of-hounds in a narrow hallway, it becomes a bit more reasonable to face them down since only the front member can breathe on you. It seems reasonable to me that in a big open room Z's should be devastating, as they are pack creatures after all. But catch them in a hallway, and the challenge level should drop significantly. After all, isn't that part of why they are coded to avoid hallways in the first place?

Thoughts?