Drak'Tharon Keep: King Dred's Bellowing Roar Issue

Hey guys! Let's dive into an interesting issue reported about King Dred in Drak'Tharon Keep, specifically concerning his use of the ability Bellowing Roar. It seems like there's a discrepancy between how King Dred currently uses this ability in AzerothCore and how it's supposed to function based on available sources. This is a common situation when working with emulators, and pinpointing these differences is crucial for a smooth and accurate gameplay experience. This article will break down the problem, the expected behavior, the evidence, and steps to reproduce the issue. So, let's get started and see what we can find.

Current and Expected Behavior of King Dred's Bellowing Roar

First off, the current behavior, as observed in the game, indicates that King Dred is casting Bellowing Roar based on a timer. The original report suggests that this isn't how it should work. Instead, the expectation is that King Dred should be using Bellowing Roar based on his health percentage, specifically at 67% and 34%. This means the ability should trigger when he reaches these health thresholds, not at timed intervals.

Understanding the difference between the current and expected behavior is essential for fixing this. If the ability is tied to a timer, players might be able to anticipate when it's going to happen and use that knowledge to their advantage. However, if the ability is based on health percentages, it adds another layer of complexity to the encounter. Players will need to be prepared for the ability to go off at different times depending on how fast they're able to burn down the boss's health. It adds some dynamism to the fight, keeping players on their toes, as they need to manage the boss's health and be ready for the ability whenever it might come up. It's a key part of the fight's mechanics, and getting it right is important.

Now, fixing this issue will likely involve adjusting the AI of the boss. Instead of having the AI trigger the ability at certain time intervals, the developers need to make the AI check the boss's health and trigger Bellowing Roar once it hits the specified health percentages. This means a bit of coding work, but it will bring the boss's behavior in line with what's expected.

Evidence and Source Material

The report includes a lot of useful source material, mainly a series of videos, to back up the claim. These videos provide timestamps to highlight the health percentages when Bellowing Roar is cast. By looking at these videos, we can see the expected behavior of the boss. This is crucial as it offers multiple points of reference to check if the issue is reproducible.

In the first video, the ability is used at 30:24 (63%) and 30:58 (34%). The second attempt shows Bellowing Roar being used at 35:24 (66%) and 35:46 (33%). And the third video shows the ability being used at 14:18 (66%) and 14:35 (32%). Additional videos provide more instances of the ability being cast close to the 67% and 34% thresholds, providing evidence that the ability's trigger is health-based.

This kind of evidence is what developers can use to diagnose the problem. They can look at how the boss's AI is coded and compare it to the video evidence. They can then identify the part of the code that controls when Bellowing Roar is triggered. They can use these videos to compare, verify, and confirm that the boss is casting the ability at the correct health percentages, and make any necessary changes.

By carefully reviewing the source material, developers can accurately assess and fix the issue. The more examples and evidence there are, the easier it is to pinpoint the exact problem and develop a solution.

Steps to Reproduce the Problem

To reproduce this issue, you will need to follow a few simple steps. The goal here is to make sure you can replicate the issue so that developers can troubleshoot and fix the problem effectively. Here's a quick guide:

1. Log into the game and use the command .go c id 27483: This command teleports you to King Dred. This is the first step to place you in the fight location. The command allows you to get right into the action, saving you time and effort.
2. Fight King Dred: Once you're in place, you need to engage in the fight with King Dred. Watch and monitor the fight, noting when he uses Bellowing Roar. Carefully observe at what health percentages the ability is used. You should be able to see the timer-based casting.

These steps allow you to directly observe the behavior of King Dred and verify whether the ability is triggered based on health percentages or a timer. If it's the latter, then you've successfully reproduced the problem. This clear set of instructions helps anyone to independently confirm the issue. It's also important for developers as it gives them a consistent way to test their fixes.

Additional Information and Technical Details

The report provides some additional technical information that helps in diagnosing the issue. The AC rev. hash/commit number gives developers the exact version of the game's code that the issue was observed in. This helps in pinpointing the source of the problem, allowing developers to see what changes might have been made that caused the issue, or if the code itself needs to be changed. The operating system, Windows 11, gives context to the environment. The report also mentions if there are any custom changes or modules. This kind of information is useful in finding conflicts and ensuring the fix works properly in the game environment.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the report highlights a clear issue with King Dred in Drak'Tharon Keep, where his use of Bellowing Roar appears to be timer-based instead of health-percentage based, as expected. The provided source material, including video evidence, offers a solid foundation for understanding the correct behavior. The steps to reproduce are simple and direct. The additional information, such as the AC rev. hash/commit and operating system, adds valuable context for developers. This issue is a great example of the community working together to improve the game, and these kinds of reports are very important for making AzerothCore an awesome experience!