The Wiki States That The Mactusk Hunting Party Is A High-Risk High-Reward Challenge.

[Irontaco]

Freeze mactusk then  kite his hounds shoulden't be to hard since they die in 2 hits

One his hounds are dead simply walk up to him and stunlock him.

Freeze staff and tentacle spike are not that hard to get stroll into a swamp with merman and wait for them to kill the tentacles.

 

This only further proves that you're not even reading anything people have told you.

[Iris]

This only further proves that you're not even reading anything people have told you.

*pat pat* Its okay taco, you've made good points here. The OP is just continuing to dig a hole for himself.

[Doctor H. Derp]

Isen't that the same thing?

mactusk gives 2  of the the most useful items without the playing having to work for it

The only thing keeping him from being a respawning chest is time and the luck.

 

 

Oh and ice staff is overpowered.

 

But you did have to work for it. You had to gather the proper materials and craft the proper supplies necessary to increase your odds of victory. You then had to get yourself out there in a combat situation, using skills you attained from prior experience to actually come out victorious.

 

Even then it was not that hard

the hounds die in 2 with a TENTACLE SPIKE!

Bring a couple of pigs and they can kill take some of the horde away from you and then you can simply tank them with a marble suit and shelmet

I'm pretty sure a dark sword 1 shots them.

 

But then in order to get that tentacle spike you had to brave the swamps. Tentacles do a lot of damage should you misstep or accidentally autoattack into them. To gather them efficiently directly, you also have to be knowledgeable enough to dodge or be prepared to take a lot of damage and ruin a lot of armor.

 

You could also get those tentacle spikes from the fights the tentacles have with the merms, but this requires you to go out and find merms which are a dangerous mob as well so now you've effectively added another risk on top of it all to collect this item.

 

Shelmet is an uncommon item with only a 10% chance to drop, and in order to get it, you have to face the caves, which aren't exactly a safe place in of themselves, marble is in short supply, and actually hinders your chance of killing MacTusk as he's a fast runner and it cuts your speed so low, not to mention in order to get that Dark Sword in case you didn't want to deal with Tentacles, you'd have to either kill a LOT of beardlings or kill a lot of crawling horrors or terrorbeaks which aren't exactly safe mobs to be tangling with, on top of a Treeguard which is one of the game's boss-type mobs.

 

 

You go through all that trouble, to get all that loot, just to take on ONE group of monsters? And somehow you don't think the player has earned a victory?

[the truthseeker]

Everything regarding combat in DS downscales in difficulty as you progress in the game. Meeting McTusk in your first week when you don't have ice staff or darts, and only a spear & log suit will be very difficult (close to impossible to actually kill him). Meeting a deerclops in your first winter when you don't have gun powder, blow darts, loads of tooth traps etc, is also quite challenging.

 

On top of your own progression in game, there are also several other factors (NPCs) that can greatly tip the balance of any planned encounter (pigs, beefalos, bunny men, bees etc).

 

They simply can't make those fights more challenging with current game mechanics, because they can't account for every single combination of items / landscape / friendly (even temporarily) mobs when they tune a creature type / stats / behavior.

 

If you really want to go out of your way in having very difficult fights, simply mod (I think it's possible?) most creatures to deal ranged damage, kite, and have access to staves (so you have McTusk freezing you with his ice staff, then setting you on fire with his fire staff, then shooting darts at you w/e).

Pfft, just make a boomerang for new p[layers without powerful gear meeting Tuskies. That costs 1 silk, i board and one charcoal and an alchemy engine. This weapon is also used often for the Kolalaphant (both versions) hunt by new players as well.   

And while I wouldn't waste trying to farm winter feathers to make one, the blow dart does 100 health damage when fired by the player (if I remember correctly i think 30 health when fire by him) so it's an OK thing to pick up if he drops it (but yeah we go for the Tam and Tusk of course.)

 

You must be freaking kidding me.

 

Most players don't even know where to get rotten eggs from in the first place, it is a time-consuming item to make that most players start using when they know where to get the materials from, have the time to trade meat for eggs and waiting for them to spoil, AND also take the time to burn a forest and cut it down. 

 

Ice staff? Yeah, maybe.

 

Fire darts? Yeah, if you waste all your time going around picking up reeds instead of actually preparing for Winter, since you know...By your reply most people would probably be trying to get gunpowder before winter.

QFT. One has to have a base set up (minimum alchemy engine,) go to and successfully navigate the swamp,(and see previous posts why newbies more often die trying to get a tentacle spike here) pick up reeds, return, make a birdcage, feed meat, not need the now created eggs as extra to leave on the ground to spoil (or wait for winter and try to get one from pengulls or use a end-of winter spoiled rookery drop which is 35-36 days in minimum,) then when finally ready  actually have space to mine and carry back (or previously carry) nitre (that other gold rock thing,) Then remember to craft the dang thing and have enough very uncommon ingredients to make more than one gunpowder. No, new players would not easily make gunpowder. And most newer players barely remember to make drying racks and crock pots let alone the ancillary items like beehives fishing poles and such.   Finally, most new players gathering rabbits are trying to remember to stockpile for winter let alone if they remember in time to make a Prestihatinator (which consumes a silk hat, four rabbits and four boards or 16 logs that many new players don't know how to allocate before winter properly!) That takes care of the ice staff. And the fire staff is a Shadow manipulator level thing! if people can craft that, they can make dark sword and armor items and are pretty much not "new" anymore and why use a fire staff then anyway? 

 

So everybody, Mactusk is easy enough for players who learn (of all skills and experiences) to fight them ranged, but don't expect these newer players to be loaded out with gunpowder, multiple darts and/or staves of the fire and ice kind. 

[gummie]

LOL, yeah and to top this new topic he made. Gigahappytown has more difficulty killing Tentacles than dealing with a McTusk with possibly hundreds of allies (if older versions), see this topic.

[Ridley]

Look at you all fighting him with Ice rods, tentacle spikes, armor, and etc.

 

 

I just let this here Houndius Shootius tear Ol'Mac to peices for me. All I got to do is kite him into range. ( Kite = Leading away/into.   Juke = Hitting, backing off, hitting, backing off so they can't hit you)

[Anelyn]

@the truthseeker:

 

Boomerang is all nice and dandy, but now go with Wendy or Wes and see what happens (I need 2 boomerang hits to kill a small bird or rabbit). Yes Abi is nice yet very weak day time (10 dmg) since McTusk will just leg it into the igloo as soon as dusk comes, and she will never catch up with him as she'll most likely get into fight with dogs. 

 

Now picture there being more igloos with several McTusks (which will all aggro the player upon initiating combat).

 

All this takes place during winter, if it's snowing your heat stone and beefalo hat (if you have one) won't last you long, you will need to camp over night near the igloo most likely (short day, time spent traveling there then engaging in combat = dusk), then add the probability of dogs coming at an inopportune moment as well.

 

In my personal scenario, the igloo was near the wooden machine, surrounded by no less than 8 spider dens (all tier 3 at the time I find the place) so hanging out there dusk/night was a HUGE no. Only after I relocated several spider dens and clear the chess pieces I could somewhat safely farm McTusk

[the truthseeker]

@the truthseeker:

 

Boomerang is all nice and dandy, but now go with Wendy or Wes and see what happens (I need 2 boomerang hits to kill a small bird or rabbit). Yes Abi is nice yet very weak day time (10 dmg) since McTusk will just leg it into the igloo as soon as dusk comes, and she will never catch up with him as she'll most likely get into fight with dogs. 

 

Now picture there being more igloos with several McTusks (which will all aggro the player upon initiating combat).

 

All this takes place during winter, if it's snowing your heat stone and beefalo hat (if you have one) won't last you long, you will need to camp over night near the igloo most likely (short day, time spent traveling there then engaging in combat = dusk), then add the probability of dogs coming at an inopportune moment as well.

 

In my personal scenario, the igloo was near the wooden machine, surrounded by no less than 8 spider dens (all tier 3 at the time I find the place) so hanging out there dusk/night was a HUGE no. Only after I relocated several spider dens and clear the chess pieces I could somewhat safely farm McTusk

 

 

If you have several (more than two) Igloos locally, my congratulations on finding the Setpiece. That is a more difficult than typical MacTusk setup, as well as (if you didn't update the game) the MacTusk bug possibility. Alas (Setpiece and/or bug,) they do seem to attract much harder "neighbors."

 

Wes is made to be "hardcore mode" and requires non-standard planning (like a certain wimpy health late game unlockable Adventure reward with no benefits.) 

 

 

And I never really liked Wendy and the always planning for auto-attack Abigail/harder to hit in daytime, but use weapons as well as Abi's attack in tandem, as a "free extra weapon attack." (But IMHO, one of the worst characters in regards to management. Would be more fair if that ghost had a stay/attack option.) 

[Anelyn]

Actually Wendy is quite powerful compared to other characters, not because Abigail deals loads of dmg (as most of your fights will happen at day time maybe dusk, at night you usually want to stay near a fire pit / base w/e to keep the sanity drain in check), but because it's a good meat shield / distraction - think of her as a safety layer between incoming damage and your armor durability.

 

It's very easy to get her killed if you need to perform tasks without her aggroing stuff (like harvesting honey from your bee farms) while also she is insane - maybe best - Krampus spawner (and fastest).

 

Make 6+ bee houses. Go collect honey from one while Abi is up. All bees will attack her and get stunlocked - dead giving you naughtiness insanely fast. Of course don't do this near end of summer if you need another batch of honey to last you through winter

[Craig_Perry]

Actually Wendy is quite powerful compared to other characters, not because Abigail deals loads of dmg (as most of your fights will happen at day time maybe dusk, at night you usually want to stay near a fire pit / base w/e to keep the sanity drain in check), but because it's a good meat shield / distraction - think of her as a safety layer between incoming damage and your armor durability.

 

It's very easy to get her killed if you need to perform tasks without her aggroing stuff (like harvesting honey from your bee farms) while also she is insane - maybe best - Krampus spawner (and fastest).

 

Make 6+ bee houses. Go collect honey from one while Abi is up. All bees will attack her and get stunlocked - dead giving you naughtiness insanely fast. Of course don't do this near end of summer if you need another batch of honey to last you through winter

yep, most people underestimate wendy greatly, although dumb abigail is very powerful when played correctly

[Crown_king]

Never trust a WIKI!

[Ridley]

Never trust a WIKI!

 

I thought the saying was "Never trust the bunny".

 

I guess I have been hoodwinked then.

[dharthoorn]

Hey! It's another DS-Penis-Measuring-Contest!

 

Pretty please can I join too?

 

I can play DS stark naked, standing on my head smoking a bong with a firecracker up my anus! Blindfolded!

 

I think I'll make a mod for playing DS with 1 HP/Hunger/Sanity and see if THAT is any challenge for my ultra skills.

In the meantime, I'll just troll the board with senseless threads proving how $00per 733t kewl I am!

[TeoSS69]

Hey! It's another DS-Penis-Measuring-Contest!

 

Pretty please can I join too?

 

I can play DS stark naked, standing on my head smoking a bong with a firecracker up my anus! Blindfolded!

 

I think I'll make a mod for playing DS with 1 HP/Hunger/Sanity and see if THAT is any challenge for my ultra skills.

In the meantime, I'll just troll the board with senseless threads proving how $00per 733t kewl I am!

Does the firecracker hurt? Or only when you light it up?

 

[the truthseeker]

Does the firecracker hurt? Or only when you light it up?

 

It wasn't lit? He's not uber l33t then!

[Fredgerd]

Really I think what they need is some more serious late game challenges that don't show up early on. The early game is reasonably challenging as is (and if its to easy for you, use custom settings to make it harder).

[Cynical Cynicist]

Really I think what they need is some more serious late game challenges that don't show up early on. The early game is reasonably challenging as is (and if its to easy for you, use custom settings to make it harder).

I really hate modifying the game with settings or even mods. I think it takes away any credibility or sense of achievement. That's just me though.

[Estel]

Changing world rules to make it *harder* takes away sense of achievement? Really? Try playing with long night (or only night)

Or use mods, that fixes exploits (like - food on crock pots and racks spoils, rabbits can get over-farmed, You get rotten egs for giving birds cooked monster meat or spoiled onme, etc). Especially those things *increase* sense of achievement.

/Estel

[Cynical Cynicist]

I really dislike mods created by the community, because they just tend to lack the balance, testing and originality of the original game. There's a multitude of things that almost always aren't considered.

 

Sure, they may "enhance" the experience...or even make it more balanced...just using mods feels like I'm playing a different game created by amateurs.

[Blucher]

I think the difficulty is there, especially in the caves and ruins.  I believe the real problem is a lack of purpose after the initial push to survive, build a base, and secure reliable sources of material.  So, unless you are like George Mallory wanting to climb Mount Everest because it's there, there isn't much reason to risk your game doing anything particularly dangerous.

 

And let's say you do go into the ruins and clear the place out.  Then what?  You beat the toughest area of the game and crafted some shiny new kit to make the rest of the game even easier...

 

Anyway, I think that is what's behind all the talk of difficulty in this game.

[Cynical Cynicist]

I think the difficulty is there, especially in the caves and ruins.  I believe the real problem is a lack of purpose after the initial push to survive, build a base, and secure reliable sources of material.  So, unless you are like George Mallory wanting to climb Mount Everest because it's there, there isn't much reason to risk your game doing anything particularly dangerous.

 

And let's say you do go into the ruins and clear the place out.  Then what?  You beat the toughest area of the game and crafted some shiny new kit to make the rest of the game even easier...

 

Anyway, I think that is what's behind all the talk of difficulty in this game.

Or you have OCD and are compelled to keep expanding on everything.