Hi, I've proceeded through this POI without any real issues - Reforged Eden balance - until that is I hit the lower levels. There seem to be a number of "events" where reaching a certain point, or pulling a certain lever (to open the doors to proceed further) spawn critters behind where the player was. Now, perhaps I've just been really unlucky, but several times in a row several enemies have spawned literally right on top of me. I move around quite quickly, so perhaps that's in-part to blame. For example, I enter a room with a lever on the ceiling. I've not pulled the lever yet and am looking around, when a Zirax spawns right on top of me - literally on the same block I'm standing on. I of course had to step back to be able to shoot as we were clipping into each other. If he'd spawned in before I opened the door - suggesting "he'd always been there" - then that'd be fine. For him to spawn clipping into me though, is not. After pulling the lever in that room, I ventured outside, carefully looking left and right. I step a little further and three critters spawn (one of top of the other, one second delay between spawns) just to the right of me. Easy enough prey for me, but jarring how they appeared. I move a little further and several Nightmares (they looked like Nightmares at least) spawned right on top of me once again - quite literally the same block I was standing on, clipping into me. Obviously the spawn point is fixed but, once more, I happened to be right there, when they spawned. Seeing critters spawn out of thin air is very distracting. Unless this is linked to the spawn delay issue somehow, I really don't think enemies should spawn in your face like this. Spawn around the corner and rush the player, ok, but that was STILL a totally empty corridor I'd previously explored. So, still a bit cheesy, but better. I know I've done several posts on the topic of spawning in POI's previously, however, I still think it's valid. This POI is moderately challenging for a lone player, but largely only due to the nature of the spawns. Up until this point, I'd barely taken a scratch, carefully scouting ahead, spotting Sentries, then able to respond quick enough to any enemies that didn't pop in right on top of me. Basically, I was only in danger when things spawned literally right on top of me, or right behind me, out of thin air. My tactics and careful approach negated by this. It takes away from the experience. To be clear, the upper levels were all pretty much fine, no issues. The lower levels - the ones that had been "infested" as per the POI's lore - were a bit of a pain. I find these environs a bit spooky at the best of times - and of course night fell once I reached that area - so spawns so close, or clipping into, the player don't help lol. Great POI in general, I've enjoyed tackling it solo with only average gear (T1 Shotgun, T2 AR and Grenade Launcher) but the spawns don't seem quite right to me. Note: I've noticed that the Grenade Launcher (RE) seems to fire through targets - no impact - with the shots only exploding when they hit POI blocks. Didn't really help lol. Edit: Just to add, entering the final room with the core is ridiculous. The room was CLEAR. I walk through the door - slowly, carefully, looking around and I'd already scouted with the drone - and a Zirax (infected) spawns RIGHT IN FRONT of me, shooting me point blank. Near full heath, heavy armour dead before my gun even fired. THE. ROOM. WAS. CLEAR. That enemy spawned one block away from me. STOP IT! lol.
Yeah, there are serious issues with the on foot combat. From the spawn on top, to the almost always getting a status effect, to the insane speed some enemies run at you while also jankily moving so hard to hit. Could really use a balance / tuning pass as I feel this is an area which I would enjoy more.
How critters and other enemies move is certainly a significant issue. Due to their ability to instantly change vector - no apparent momentum or anything - it both looks pretty terrible and makes it tricky to aim. An enemy changing direction should leave them more vulnerable to being hit, unless they're dodging / rolling. If any critter, NPC as well as the player, had a greater degree of momentum, it'd be quite transformative to the overall experience. So, it's not possible to stop or change direction instantly. The more massive the critter, the more significant. I'd suggest this also be true of the player, when clad in - presumably quite weighty - heavy armour, vs. a more nimble light armour build. This would also give a good distinction between larger and smaller enemies. Small fast bugs, vs. large lumbering behemoth bullet sponges. I would love to engage more deeply with the first-person combat element of the game, but it has far too many flaws currently. POI design is certainly part of it, but often it's just somewhat janky core mechanics that degrade the experience. I think I'm fairly decent at combat, if I pay attention, but cheesy spawns, bad enemy movement, hit box issue etc. do take a lot away from the experience. I can see the amount of effort that goes into many of these POI's to provide an interesting experience for the player. However, when spawners go a bit wrong - we're assuming delayed spawns here - as well as the other issues, well, it's not good. I do wonder if there's a bias towards multiple players when it comes to some of these POI's, as the experience is vastly different in a group. The solo player almost has to rely on going through a POI more tactically, but that's negated by spawns. I posted about that previously. For me, it's that fact that it's almost so very good, but these issue detract from the overall experience a little too much at times. Finally, there's a LOT of first-person gameplay due to the shear number of POI's, so it needs to be a solid experience. I do find myself simply losing interest when something silly happens, like a particularly cheesy spawn right on top of me, or previously cleared rooms magically gaining a hoard of enemies after the player passes through them.
