Remove the new AI invisibility chug

[Drakill Tannan]

How about instead giving the NPCs a random potion? It could be invis, it could be STR, it could be ghostly vissage, etc. That way you don't get invis ganked by 12 orcs, maybe just by 3 while the rest instead become stonger, or faster or anything like, in such way that encounters become much more uimpredictable?

[Egon the Monkey]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. If a mob had a chance of something of spawning with a random L1-2 potion, it adds some more variety to the mobs on top of the new random weapons system. Nightrisers with Inflict Light potions, mobs that insulate or protect vs PC alignments...

[The Old Hack]

I like Drakill Tannan's idea. Possibly it could be done in a way so the mobs have a small chance of having a really unusual/cool potion like a Shield potion or Sludge Drink or the like, too.

[Drakill Tannan]

I think it would be best to scale the potion type depending on how strong the monster is. I assume stronger monsters are of a higher HD so the HD could be the mark. Random wild orcs could have a random level 1-2 potion half the time, berzerkers could have a chance of something stronger like displacement or haste (Berzerkers with haste, that would be scarinly awsome) chosen of grathamar could have a chance of a sludge drink, etc.

This would make the server much more dificult by the way, but it would be very fun.

[Egon the Monkey]

Actually I'd be thinking the other way around. That weaker monsters have a low change of powerful potions, and already strong mobs have a chance of a couple of weak defensive potions that add some variety, like protection from mind spells or Insulation. It would be especially good if some bosses were stripped of the tendency to have uncharacteristically powerful innate defences like high SR and immunities, but given a some anti-caster potions instead.

Generic Wild Orc Warriors with an occasional chance of Stoneskin, displacement, etc would be an interesting change of pace and difficulty in a horde of otherwise faceless mooks, but a Chosen of Gaathmar with one may as well be named "Pitiless Granite Statue of the Dark God of TPK". That would not be "a lot more fun". It would just leave everyone praying that if high level mobs do spawn, they don't luck out and have potions that will let them slaughter the entire team.

EDIT: After playing this for a few days, I've realised what a double-whammy this change is. There's bosses that used to have a 100% chance of Haste, which was rather nice loot. Now, instead you're facing them with a 100% chance of the boss being hasted. PCs face tougher mobs, with fewer supplies.

Plus, it used to be that mobs carry potions was a great way that quest rewards scaled to be better for large groups. Now, mobs with potions just are going to make things harder. If scaled to be a more limited use of potions or compensated by dropping more it would be cool. Instead this is just going to favour 3 man crush teams spamming Knockdown.