I collect young grove badgers in Enchanted Lands for Familiars Wild. Some of my characters are almost 25m away when they start combat and they are instantly hit by the badgers. Are these badgers supposed to have a reach of nearly 25m (75 feet)? I doubt even a bear in-game can hit that far away.
Info about badgers from Wikipedia under behavior: Badgers can run or gallop at 25–30 km/h (16–19 mph) for short periods of time. The swift action of badgers in EQ2 seems to be in keeping with the natural behavior of the animal.
I'm not questioning the behavior of the badgers, I'm questioning their ability to hit something that far away. [Edit] In fact, if you want to discuss behavior, attack the deer.
Then, could maybe this be happening? There are certain hilly areas in the game where the mob/pet/merc can get stuck underground and are fighting from beneath and the graphic of the attacker is still in place. Kinda like a graphical glitch that may look like lag. Something somewhat like the fairy in the Enchanted Lands that freeze although they are attacking. If this is happening, it is a pathing issue and can be reported as a /bug. As far as the deer go, EQ2 is a game where many animal behaviors are adapted to a fantasy world and may be exaggerated through myth or lore. So, nothing surprises me with the way they behave, including badgers which are very quick and fearless once engaged.
It's entirely possible, but the hit is only an instant after I start combat, and the badger still seems to run from its initial location. Best way to see it is to try it yourself. The hits usually happen on my Defiler and Mystic, the two who can't stun or root the creatures.
I just took a low-level necromancer to the Enchanted Lands and would like to report back that when her pet was sent in to attack the badger, nearly every time she was hit first, although a distance away, with Taloned Rage. The pet was hit second. This would happen if the pet is set to passive and only ordered to attack. If the character attacked first, this would not happen. The badger would run towards her for the attack. With Pet, merc, set to passive. Pet sent in to attack the young badger. Watching the combat log, when engaged, should show the Taloned Rage attack in red. I must say, those are some mighty long talons! I don't know if this is intended. I usually don't use pets to initiate an attack, so I had not encountered this before. Interesting find. Want to add, that if catalog creature is being used, that can cause agro and an ongoing thread about it can be found here: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq2/index.php?threads/catalogue-creature-aggroing-mobs.600264/ So what could be happening is, badger is "catalogued", is aggroed, responds with Taloned Rage (which seems to be a spell that has distance and not a physical attack). Or, pet is set on passive, sent in and badger responds with Taloned Rage.
Mug wort said: I must say, those are some mighty long talons! That's what I'm saying. But I'm not using a pet since it will kill the target and I need it alive for Familiars Wild. Try dismissing your pet, standing 24m away from the badger, and cast a non-damaging, non-rooting spell at it. An attacking Necro pet will move closer to the target, but standing and casting a spell keeps you at a distance.
Taloned Rage must be a ranged attack and the swift execution still seems to be in keeping with the rapid retaliation that badgers are known for. Rooting a mob that has a ranged attack will not prevent the attacker from attacking. It seems that if the attacking character is close enough to attack with a ranged spell, then the badger is close enough to the character to execute Taloned Rage. If the character gets too close, then the badger attacks with a physical attack. There might be a space where agro can be gained where the badger is "too close" to execute Taloned Rage and too far away to execute a physical attack. BTW, my necro is appropriate level (not mentored) for area, badgers con yellow, and she is geared with ho-hum gear and if she isn't careful the badger will kill her. So, maybe she wasn't the best choice to experiment with. As far as feedback goes, is the feedback on the familiar quest itself and the lack of level appropriate critters or just that badgers are plain ornery in how they use their skills and need their magical talons clipped.
So, you're saying that talons are a ranged weapon? Do they shoot them out like quills or what? And the range is 24m?
Taloned Rage appears to be an instant reactive ranged magical attack that is probably fueled by the rage the badger expresses the moment it is disturbed (when agro is gained). Since there is no graphic of shooting talons, or abnormal talon growth during the encounter (that I can see), it could be assumed that the damage is a form of a ranged magic attack that delivers slashing damage.
