Paladin Drones Himself in Kings Row

[Apparition]

I was bored tonight, flying around the Rogue Isles, when I got a notice:   [PPD] Unusual Clockwork activity in Kings Row.

 

I teleported to Kings Row, and found the spot where Paladin was being constructed: -1640 -42 1729

 

I just flew over and watched the construction, and eventually Paladin spawned.  He took off like a dart with a bunch of his Clockwork buddies.  He ran literally underneath the tram.  I was waiting for him to get droned he was so close to the tram.  Nope, he kept on going, still at full speed... right into the police drone in front of the AE building at: -1052 -41 329

 

Paladin literally droned himself, and then many of his Clockwork buddies that followed him wound up being droned as well, with a pile of Clockwork in front of the police drone.

 

I definitely do not recall seeing that prior to sunset, although granted it's been nine years.

 

I've been wondering why I haven't spotted a Paladin out since the event reversion, and now I'm beginning to understand why.  @Faultline , the Paladin committing seppuku within a minute of spawning cannot be intended, I imagine?

[ZorkNemesis]

I definitely recall at least one case of the Paladin droning itself on Live servers.  The path they take leads them to High Park, and i'm certain they went to where the Galaxy City gate was if they didn't get caught up in a corner.  The one that spawns closest to the tram would path right by the Architect to get there, and it's very likely this behavior was never corrected after AE was added, presumably because people didn't care enough to take down the Paladin for the paltry 2 merits and no badge.  In fact, having one of them path directly into a drone ensures that at least one construction site can spawn as each completed Paladin blocks its original spawn site from starting again as long as its alive I think.

[Apparition]

LOL.  Paladin spawned 25 minutes later at the same spot, and just like before ran right in front of the AE building.  I stopped him *just* before he got in front of the drone.  So it looks like the Paladin that spawns next to the tram will always drone himself.  It's just odd, 'cause I could have sworn that I used to regularly fight three Paladins simultaneously prior to sunset, but memory is a fickle thing.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Apparition

[AboveTheChemist]

6 hours ago, Apparition said:

So it looks like the Paladin that spawns next to the tram will always drone himself.

I've been periodically checking the event on Brainstorm and have seen at least three four instances where the Paladin that spawns near the tram has made it up to High Park. I have seen some of the clockwork entourage from that spawn location path by the AE building and get zapped, but I have not personally witnessed Paladin during the trek up to High Park. Every time I get there Paladin has already made it to High Park. So it's possible that Paladin did path by the AE building but the drones were too busy zapping the entourage, allowing Paladin to escape. It's also possible that at least one of the Paladins from that spawn did get zapped, and the ones I saw were the lucky ones that were able to run the gauntlet. Perhaps it takes a different path when someone is watching versus when no one is around to observe? Although I'll admit that wouldn't make much sense.

 

Edit: A screenshot from earlier this morning on Brainstorm

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by AboveTheChemist
additional observation

[UberGuy]

I have to wonder - do we really need the AE to have a fleet of PPD / Arachnos drones around them, at least outside of Atlas and Mercy? Players don't congregate outside the AE, and I don't think NPCs loiter around them either.

[Apparition]

2 hours ago, UberGuy said:

I have to wonder - do we really need the AE to have a fleet of PPD / Arachnos drones around them, at least outside of Atlas and Mercy? Players don't congregate outside the AE, and I don't think NPCs loiter around them either.

 

Yeah, and it’s not like the first floor of the AE buildings see much usage, especially outside of Atlas.  Players are on the second floor, and I don’t expect mobs to take the elevator.

[Tahliah]

OMG, this is hilarious!  I literally (not online fake) LOL'd at just the title, but your description has me giggling like crazy.  SO many thanks for a much-needed laugh.

[GraspingVileTerror]

Honestly, while we're complaining about AE Drones . . . can we get rid of the ones in Cap au Diablo?  They have a tendency to murder some spawns which contain those elusive Mu Guardians.  It's really irksome to see the target for one of my badge obsessions getting droned before I can reach it.

[AboveTheChemist]

I logged into Kings Row on Brainstorm earlier today and the spawn near the tram became active. I waited for Paladin to form and followed him, and he ran right under the tram then right under the AE building and was zapped, just as Apparition initially described. I don't have a firm grasp of how spawns work in the game, but it makes me wonder if spawn points aren't populated until a player is nearby. If that is the case, then perhaps the instances I saw earlier where Paladin clearly made it past the AE building were because no one had been near the AE building to spawn in the drones. If I catch that spawn like that again, I will not follow Paladin and will stay away from the AE building and see if he makes it.

Edited June 7, 2021 by AboveTheChemist
typo

[srmalloy]

The Paladin would suicide in the old 'new' event, too -- I was twice part of groups attacking the Paladin where he cut and ran, heading south along the road that led to Blue Steel -- the first time we didn't have enough damage to stop him before he ran up the steps and got drowned, and the second time we got him on the road about 50' before the intersection just below the stairs.

[AboveTheChemist]

To follow up on my previous post, I logged into Kings Row on Brainstorm over lunch and the spawn site near the tram became active (along with the SW spawn site). I waited for Paladin to form, then took the scenic route to the destination point in High Park, making sure to steer well clear of the AE building. Several minutes later both Paladins arrived safely at their destination.

 

EDIT:

To summarize my observations:

• In once instance, I followed the completed Paladin from the spawn point nearest the tram (312 yds due south of the tram to be exact), wherein Paladin ran directly under the AE building and was zapped by a police drone
• In a second instance, I observed a completed Paladin leave the spawn point nearest the tram, but I did not follow it, and I made a point to stay as far from the AE building as possible. That Paladin reached the destination point in High Park safely.

 

My conclusion is that the second Paladin survived for one of three reasons:

1. My staying away from the AE building meant that no police drones spawned at that location to zap Paladin as it passed by
2. Paladin took a different route than the one it takes while being followed
3. There's some other game mechanic that keeps Paladin from being zapped

 

I think the former is the most likely, although there certainly could be some other explanation. I suspect that the Live servers will have sufficient player activity in Kings Row to maintain the presence of police drones at the AE building, so it will probably be rare for that particular Paladin to survive the run past the AE building on the Live servers.

Edited June 10, 2021 by AboveTheChemist
clarification and to summarize my observations

[srmalloy]

1 hour ago, AboveTheChemist said:

Several minutes later both Paladins arrived safely at their destination.

It's been quite a while, but as I remember the original Paladin event, he would always wind up in High Park -- often in grassy area behind the building that the Shining Stars get menaced in front of in the replacement event -- if left undisturbed during construction and after. Unfortunately, the badge is for halting the construction, so before they attached 6 merits to the GMs, all you got for defeating him there was, IIRC, a relatively piddling amount of XP (which meant that multiple Paladins would stack up there, as virtually no one was interested in clearing them out).