Several enemy types in the game ignore their own animations and activate their attacks instantly.
All the variants of the little warriors in the jungle deal damage before their animation even starts (they deal damage then proceed to leap into the air, swing then land)
All archer mobs deal damage before they even lift their bow to draw (also they aim for everyone’s feet which makes blocking their arrows a huge pain)
Runic healers in the jungle cast their heal before the animation starts so, unlike Skaug Trolls, can’t be countered.
Armored Wargs howl activate at the start of the animation so stunning to cancel the howl does not work (not sure if that is intentional or not)
Most of these lead to a problem of countering either via blocking or shield bashing in the case of heals or howls. The vibe I get from mobs with abilities is that the fight is made harder if the abilities are allowed to activate, encouraging counter play or bringing overkill DPS to simply kill the target before it gets a chance to do anything.
It’s possible to time blocks/interrupts and stop them, but learning which frame of animation syncs up to the attacks/abilities of each individual monster certainly doesn’t seem intended. I agree it’s very frustrating though it’s got to be a real pain, especially with online play, to get it all timed right so I’m wondering if there is an elegant solution. Maybe the monsters could flash or power up briefly when they’re actually dealing damage? Maybe a sound effect? Maybe a wider time window for bashing/blocking to counter? Any ideas?
The problem stems mostly from attacks not being synced with with the mobs themselves and their current animations. Runic Wargs are another case where their heal is stunnable to counter but as the heal goes off at the start of the cast rather than at the end it becomes an instant ability rather than a charged one. Skaug Troll have their heal properly at the end of their cast making them counterable, however this is not the case for Runic Wargs, and the healers in the jungle.