Thralls have started equipping throwing axes, and Javelins to use as melee weapons (not sure if this was always a thing). They have lost almost any inclination to attack. I have seen only two thrown javelins. Those few that can be coaxed into attacking will swing their throwing axe and do a negligible (0?) damage. Javelins seem to do expected damage.
Whatever changed has turned an exceptionally efficient and brutal army into a wet noodle that could be killed by a single attacking bearer thrall.
Edit: I think my problem is a collection of smaller problems compounding. Thralls were clumping on stairs because too many wanted to be on platforms. There may have also been some line-of-sight issues. Thralls with bows function as expected from non-elevated stations, without any of the derpy spectator behavior. If the change to throwing weapons was intended, notice should have been given. This is the kind of change that players should have been given advanced warning on. As it stands, there is no mention of it in the patch notes.
Yeah I saw the same behavior from my throwing-axe-equipped thralls: Theyâd try their hardest to go melee, with a melee weapon if they had it but occasionally melee-ing with their throwing axe too. If no opponent was in melee range (placed the thralls on a raised platform) theyâd just stand idle, or run back and forth trying to get in melee range (unsuccessfully).
Didnât get around to equipping them with another ranged weapon (bows), so canât say if thatâs broken.
Yeah, this is an odd result considering we were told in Dev updates and hints that throwing weapons like axes and javelins would see some improvements to bring them more up to par in comparison. Can the Devs please chime in and tell us if this is intentional? Perhaps you could give us more concrete explanations of what the status of throwing weapons is supposed to be after this patch?
Hm, not quite sure. They did mention they fixed the issue with throwing weapons and thralls. I know before the patch, if you equipped a throwing weapon onto a thrall. When they attacked something you could pick up the âthrowing weaponâ and have infinite amount. So it could be very well meant to make them more melee with throwing weapons now. Hope to see a reply from a dev.
I get that it was eventually going to be fixed, but this goes beyond that. Even my thralls that have been re-equipped with bows will generally just stand there looking at me like Iâm stupid as I try to bait them into showing me that they can attack things. Those that I have equipped with javelins will engage in melee and be very effective. I cannot have them outside my walls though because of my âfellowâ players killing them off with wights.
Furthermore, if the intent was to prevent this sort of defense strategy, some communication SHOULD have been done. A simple, âhey, youâre going to want to adapt because this is going liveâ would have been enough. I DO follow the streams, and they were clear about arrows, but did not comment on throwing axes. The things STILL cannot be stacked. This has none of the appearances of an intentional move.