Thumpers, good start but unfinished.

[Lakais]

Hello. 

I would like to preface this by saying that I applaud the concept and idea of Thumpers. A sort of miniboss that requires a bit more then just a very big number to defeat. However there is a small reality that I have to voice when it comes to fighting them: 

Thumpers are annoying and frustrating, but not challenging. 

The issue is not that they are bullet sponges. That is an acceptable state of that enemy considering the methods of play that a seemingly great part of the community subscribe to. Problem lies in that there is only ONE way to defeat these enemies. When they were first introduced, I was holding out hope that there would be an alternate way to take them down, much in way like the Orb or the Ropalopyst, in that we have the option to weaken or stun the enemy and then actively engage it through a short, animated sequence or an alternate weak spot. 

Problems with the current Thumper:

• The fights are boring as there is not variation to how you can defeat any of the three types. 
• Fights are frustrating as the only target we have to engage are the knee weak points that are very mobile. A frustration even more notable when using slow fire rate weaponry. 

Probable solution I find would be to either implement an additional weak spot that is exposed for a short time after a certain action is taken on the Thumper. These actions could, for example be: 

1. Disabling of the weapons.
2. Disabling of the "pump" close to each of the legs.
3. Both

At which point a hatch could open up for a time on the now immobile Thumper allow the team (or solo fighter) to shoot at a core until a damage stage has been reached (so 75%. 50%, 25%) or a timer expires. Alternatively, the opening of the hatch can be a cinematic moment and possibly leave the exposed weak point as a permanent feature after that action. 

What this would achieve is creating more methods of engaging the target beyond the current simplistic and obnoxious way of dealing with this enemy. It would speed up many of the fights and I think that is a good thing, considering the enemy is not particularly rare. 

Thank you for your attention. 

[LSG501]

Honestly, and I've said this before, the thumpers are just to 'agile' considering what they are. 

They shouldn't be able to jump up and down like they do, they shouldn't be sprinting around like they do and most of all they shouldn't be turning to face you all the damn time... they look like slow lumbering heavily armoured lumps with weapons on all sides so why are they as agile as the tiny racknoids...

Reduce their speed and limit how often they can jump around and most important of all stop them from constantly rotating to face us, they're designed so as to not need to after all.

 

Wouldn't hurt if the hit boxes on the legs were a little bigger to match the target either, they're ridiculously small.