The perils of crossing water on a mount
This is something we've all dealt with: my Hunter is traipsing through Terrokar right now, and nothing makes me more frustrated than hitting those little rivers on my mount and having to dismount in water. When you think about it, the logical reasons for our mounts disappearing once we hit water are pretty sound -- you don't want that cat or wolf you worked so hard for to drown. But on the other hand, it's a huge annoyance -- not only does it slow you down while crossing the water, but you have to wait another second afterwards to resummon the mount.On larger bodies of water, this isn't so bad, but those little rivers are nothing but trouble (and Gnomes have it even worse). Even cowboys knew how to ford with their horses -- why can't we do the same with our mounts?
Zarhym, the new CM, doesn't seem very empathetic, so odds are that this won't change anytime soon. We can only hope that in future designs, Blizzard stays away from putting the deeper water all over the landscape, where it acts as nothing but an annoying roadblock in front of our next quest. It's not like we don't have enough problems with the water as it is.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Quests, Mounts






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr. Tee Jun 16th 2008 5:07PM
Getting an Elekk would be my advice, taller mounts have more tolerance to water depth.
Grondosh Jun 16th 2008 5:10PM
I've never had this problem on my talbuk.
atmathm Jun 16th 2008 7:54PM
L2jump?
Lab Monkey Jun 16th 2008 5:15PM
That's a pretty minor quibble, no? You could always try sticking to the path.
Cap Jun 16th 2008 5:18PM
L2spacebar
zurkka Jun 16th 2008 6:51PM
they should make the mounts unable to dive and to swin at normal speeds, that would do it, no dismount needed and it would make the game more logic, all this animals know how to swin, ok the mechanostrider dont, and they would be all rusty but hey, get an animal mount damn gnomes (just joking guys =P)
Candina@WH Jun 17th 2008 11:09AM
still joking...
I don't think the mechanostrider should get to swim. It's of gnomish design. It should electrocute the rider and then sink unceremoniously to the bottom and lie there twitching.
Jim Jun 16th 2008 5:26PM
Yeah, a well-timed space bar will almost always solve this problem without interfering with the business of gathering Barbed Trout.
Ktok Jun 16th 2008 5:28PM
EQ2 eventually put in a feature that would auto-summon your mount when you came back out of the water. It was an instant summon too, so no time lost waiting for the mount to come back.
On the other hand, seeing a pally screw up and hit the water when you're trying to run him and his Crusader Aura down is pretty priceless.
harywilke Jun 16th 2008 5:47PM
seems odd to me that my cat mount has a swimming animation, but can't swim.
Bromnir Jun 16th 2008 6:02PM
That IS odd.
FWIW, the swimming animation is there because the cat mounts share animation data with some of the hunter pets, and they did a pass a few patches ago to try and give many of the hunter and warlock pets proper swimming animations they didn't have before.
schroey Jun 16th 2008 5:38PM
I believe rivers like this are probably in place for PVP reasons. When you are chasing someone, it is up to the chased to find the best route to escape, and if water is a roadblock, that is something they will have to deal with.
Shumina Jun 16th 2008 5:40PM
You know, flying mounts are pretty awesome.
Naix Jun 16th 2008 5:45PM
Why don't you just turn into a manatee? Then jump out of th water and turn into a bird. That's what I do.
- Druid Player
Kadamon Jun 16th 2008 6:48PM
Solution!
Water Debuff.
"Water slows your movement speed down to base swim speed."
Druids Swimming form is immune to said Water Debuff.
Hevnlyst Jun 16th 2008 7:05PM
My gnome, each and every day, is forced to swim away from the final naga ley line, whilst everyone else can mount up right away. Sigh.
tolki Jun 17th 2008 2:14AM
Get a Talbuk/Elekk. I know exactly what you are talking about on my cat, and with either of these you don't have a problem. You can make your way through most of the water gaps at SSO with good ol' lanky legs.
Baluki Jun 16th 2008 7:25PM
I think the system is mostly fine, but it would be nice if you didn't dismount for a few seconds after entering the water. That would solve the annoying "river problem".
bbiessel Jun 16th 2008 7:26PM
I've never had a problem with this since I got my Shark's Tooth of Bona Fide Fluidic Mobility. Get yours today!
Danny D Jun 16th 2008 7:31PM
Hehe, isnt there more important things to whine about than this? :P But yeah, I guess I agree. Mounts should be able to swim!