Dragon Turtle Anti-Melee code?

[Akiho]

So I had the urge to get a Dragon turtle egg or 2 to see if I could hatch a good one, unfortunately the spawn is not done as much anymore, especially on the quieter shards. So I set off to clear the spawn on my own.

The spawn itself, although awkward and maybe a little time consuming didn't really cause any major problems. However, the Turtle did and the problem is this...

For the first 20 mins (approx, I'm guessing here, not timed it) of him spawning he seems to have a hidden buff that increases his DCI by 90%, that is to say I am lucky to strike with 1 in every 10 swings (with 45% HCI) which is infuriating. Also, if you manage to connect with a swing, all damage appears to be completely halved (AI being the biggest hitter).

Essentially, his natural regeneration negates any damage you may be lucky enough to do during this period.

I have looked on both clients and I can see no visible buff on him nor can I see any debuff on me. After a period of time (feels like about 20 minutes) all of a sudden 99% of my swings are connecting, damage is doubled (jumps from 80ish to 170ish) and he goes down with relative ease.

What gives with this? Is this just pure and simple anti-melee code? I can find nothing on this 'ability' anywhere.

I have done this 5 times now and it is the same each time, the 20 minutes of missing nearly every swing just drives me nuts!

Maybe I'm just missing something very obvious here, I have even tried eating every type of berry but makes no difference. Even the red berry which is alleged to boost damage against the turtle, does nothing, not even a fractional increase of damage.

 

[Zalan]

If UO Guide is correct the Dragon Turtle melee skill is 225 to 226. That would explain all the missing. Your best bet is to get someone to use Animal Lore to confirm its wrestling skill.

Dragon Turtle - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

 

[Tuan]

But that doesn't explain why he suddenly goes from 100 damage per hit to 200...

 

[CorwinXX]

why he suddenly goes from 100 damage per hit to 200...

Probably Honor damage bonus.

 

[CorwinXX]

It usually takes me about 10 min to kill the Turtle - 5 min to get it down from 100% to 90% hp and another 5 min to get it from 90% to 0% hp.
It has a debuff that halves my damage but it uses it equally at any hp (and it uses it not very often). This debuff icon looks like a turtle head.

 

[Akiho]

If UO Guide is correct the Dragon Turtle melee skill is 225 to 226. That would explain all the missing. Your best bet is to get someone to use Animal Lore to confirm its wrestling skill.

Dragon Turtle - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

Yes, that would certainly explain the initial very, very low chance to hit, but then it just shifts to literally never missing a swing and the turtle going down in a few minutes.

Given I have been the only player there, I can't examine the turtle to see what's changing

I'd love to know what causes the shift

 

[Akiho]

It usually takes me about 10 min to kill the Turtle - 5 min to get it down from 100% to 90% hp and another 5 min to get it from 90% to 0% hp.
It has a debuff that halves my damage but it uses it equally at any hp (and it uses it not very often). This debuff icon looks like a turtle head.

This kind of makes sense but I'm not getting it anywhere near 90% initially as I am missing literally every swing. I see the debuff that halves damage appear on me occasionally but as you say, that does not happen often.

It's the incredibly low hit chance that is baffling me, it goes from barely being able to hit it for a loooooooong period then it's like a mongbat and I slap it into next week.

What's your hit rate like during that first 5 minutes?


There is clearly something happening during the initial engagement if its taking you 5 mins to get to 90% then 5 minutes for the rest.
Unfortunately for me its taking near 20 mins of missed swings and then he goes from 100% to zero in about 6-8 minutes.

 

[Yadd of Legends]

This is not related to your original question, sorry, but wondering this: since you're not leeching life with hits during that initial phase, are you healing with the healing skill?

 

[Akiho]

This is not related to your original question, sorry, but wondering this: since you're not leeching life with hits during that initial phase, are you healing with the healing skill?

No, just timely use of Confidence and Close Wounds if needed and when all else fails a little bit of 'running away like a little girl'.

But yeah, thats the frustrating part, missing soooo often it's just not funny and then as if by magic... BOOM! every single swing's a hit and just leech through everything.

 

[Akiho]

Went back in there this morning, different result all together...

From the very first swing of the blade, before perfection stacked, my AI was hitting around 120ish (maxed around 170ish) and I reckon I probably missed less than 10 swings throughout the whole fight. He was dead in about 6 minutes without a doubt my fastest kill yet.

Now this surely must just be a coincidence, but the only thing I changed from previous attempts...

I swapped out resist for animal lore so I could check his stats!

I remain baffled on the miss rate anomally...



For info, the weapon I use each time is a bladed Staff:

Hit Life Leech 66%
Hit Lower Attack 40%
Hit Lower Defense 40%
Hit Stamina Leech 50%
Hit Mana leech 100%
100% Physical

My temp for this kill was:

Animal Lore 110
Anatomy 90
Bushido 100
Chivalry 100
Necro 100
Swords 120
Tactics 100

Not something I'd normally run with!

 

[CorwinXX]

What's your hit rate like during that first 5 minutes?

It likes about 50%

 

[Akiho]

It likes about 50%

That's interesting, I do feel like I was hitting less but that could be the RNG.

I'm convinced there is a hidden factor affecting hit chance. Going to test more later.

Another thing that crossed my mind after posting earlier was that when I did it this morning, I left the sub-server (Fel spawn in Destard) to switch in Animal Lore.
Again might just be coincidental but I'm sure going to try it again if I run into the same issue.

 

[Mayhem]

I have done him a few times now, it is a strange thing, and the misses (ie no leaching) and healing with close wound and confidence make mana management a real bear to get rolling on him.
I spend a lot of time running and waiting for mana to regen all the while his hp rens faster

I have had decent results starting with a double axe and trying to keep rolling double strike since you hit at least once till I get to where I can hit him with regularity then switch to a bladed staff. .once you get past this mystery buff he dies fairly quick,,,just need to pay attention to dismounts and disarms. He hits pretty hard even if you are on a swampie, which is also 50/50 weather or not you can make it out of there with it alive. oh, and hit area on phase 2 really pisses the gorillas off....they are much more likely to toss bananas at you if you hit them with area, other wise they tend to walk into the whirl wind and get one shotted.