MOB auto attack damage vs. their CA/spell damage?

[Deila]

<DIV>Here's a transcript of the damage done to my tank pet by a named mob tonight. It's indicative of what I've been seeing for some time now in damage amounts.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The stars of our show are Wa, Brother of the Sun (of Ashen Order fame, 60^^^), and Nevertaunt, my level 66 adept III Undying Dreadnought tank pet.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun's Darting Sparrow hits Nevertaunt for 574 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun tries to crush Nevertaunt with Darting Sparrow, but Nevertaunt parries.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 2080 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 1068 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 1617 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 1928 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 783 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun's Swooping Dragon hits Nevertaunt for 709 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 1250 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun hits Nevertaunt for 2021 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun's Swooping Dragon hits Nevertaunt for 430 points of heat damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#ff0000>Wa, Brother of the Sun's Power Strike hits Nevertaunt for 1881 points of crushing damage.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#3366ff>Nevertaunt's minion is no longer refreshed.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#33cc00>Nevertaunt is flung by the power of the grappling bear.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#3366ff>Nevertaunt regains their wits.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#3366ff>The Undying Dreadnought decays.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>(Yep, dead Nevertaunt, may we mourn his passing).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now, what I've been wondering is.... is this right? Looking through combat spam over the past couple of months, I've been seeing mobs putting serious smackdown on my pet (and me, when things go poorly) with auto attack damage, and comparitively far weaker spell/CA damage. The above case is indicative of the kinds of numbers I see, but actually far from the worst. I'll regularly see spell/CA damage in the 500 a hit range, with auto attack hitting for 2-3k each hit. Is this as-intended? Is combat spam not reporting all spells/CAs with their proper names, and some of those big hits just labeled as 'hits for xxxx points of crushing damage' really are CAs, but not specifying which ones? Are mobs supposed to be that dangerous with auto attack, and if so, why do they cut their DPS so much by using special attacks? That just seems totally backwards to me - I'd expect to see big damage specials, and relatively more stable auto attack damage wearing players (or pets, in this case) down.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Confused by combat spam. <nod nod>  Can anyone shed some light?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>

[Kaknya]

 Is your pet being hit by any debuffs? I know there are a few that can cut mitigation down to zero and then damage tends to spike<div></div>

[Deila]

<P>It's not really debuffs that are the question though, I don't think, since it's almost always crushing damage anyway. If the mob was debuffing vs. crushing, sure, auto attack damage would increase, but so would crush damage CAs - they'd stay relative. So, that doesn't explain why auto attack damage is so much higher than CA damage when both are crushing.</P> <P> </P>

[Sunrayn]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kaknya wrote:<BR> Is your pet being hit by any debuffs? I know there are a few that can cut mitigation down to zero and then damage tends to spike<BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Pets have no mitigation anymore.  It was traded in for massive hp.</P> <P>On topic, I have been noticing the same thing that vyviel posted in her logs.  My tank pet has been taking some massive auto attack damage.  Often 1500 pts or more.</P> <P>On another note.  Folks have been talking about pet taunts being messed up.  I have noticed something interesting since I started paying really close attention.</P> <P>Wife and I were in the menagerie the other night.  I am 61 and she is 60 so, I mentor after killing the 2 final named so the final 3 sphinx critters are green to me.  Of course, I have to summon a new pet when I mentor and buff it.  Holds aggro fine.  Now....after I unmentored, the pet of course poofs, and I summon a new one and buff it.</P> <P>That is where a problem is.  That newly buffed pet cant hold aggro to save his life, or the life of my warden wife.  It seems like the defensive stance isnt working properly after mentoring.  Oh the pet taunts, but the taunts seem weakened, like they would be at a lower level.</P> <P> </P>

[Deila]

<P>Another chapter in the saga...</P> <P>This time the heroes of our story are Kindataunts (yeah, my tank pet got a naming promotion - he's been doing a little better since hitting 70) my 70 adept III undying dreadnought in adept III defensive stance, and a Vultak scroll-bearer, the heroic 65^^^ needed for an early stage of Hoo'Loh's quests. Making a special guest appearance is Baconic, my adept III Blighted Horde hell pigs.</P> <P>(I hadn't really thought I'd be able to solo this encounter for some time, until I had some successes with other 64 and 65^^^s, the golems and rock guys around the back side of Whisperwind in Barren Sky. So, thought I'd head up there and try the scroll-bearer - give it a shot),</P> <P>The scroll-bearer likes to pop on top of me when I get into his neighborhood, so he gets the first hit in.</P> <P><FONT color=#ff3300>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits YOU for 2958 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 3720 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 2012 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 2390 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 2086 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 2252 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 1596 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 1910 points of crushing damage.<BR></FONT><BR>Game over. Kindataunts, may his soul rest well. Naturally, I'd feigned death by this point. But wait, there's more... since my pigs were still briefly in action.</P> <P><FONT color=#ff3300>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Baconic for 3101 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 4036 points of crushing damage.<BR>a Vultak scroll-bearer hits Kindataunts for 1421 points of crushing damage.</FONT></P> <P>Total fight duration: approximately 6 seconds. The Vultak scroll-bearer had lost about 3% health. No other attacks or arts used against Team Necromancy. No debuffs. Just plain old auto attack from this mob.</P> <P>Over 4,000 damage from a single auto attack hit? And others over 3,000? I actually had to look again while feigned, to make <EM>certain</EM> he was a heroic mob and not an epic, based on the sheer speed with which he pounded my pets into oblivion and barely took a scratch in return.</P> <P>I would still really like to hear from some knowledgable source if this kind of mob auto attack damage output is indeed intended or not, since it really has the look of something wrong about it. Granted, in the above example we're only seeing raw auto attack damage without CA use comparison. But in general, I'm still seeing the same kinds of damage output as I reported above, where auto attack damage from mobs is dwarfing their spell and CA damage in most cases (mob Ice Comets still indeed do more damage than auto attack, for example), and it really seems like something's backwards.</P> <P>Is there some underlying bug going on here, or is this all 'as intended'?</P> <P> </P>