Region: EU

Family Name: Magarathea

Suggestion(s)/Comment(s): 

The current [Hunting Leap] lifeskill questline is very repetitive, and is currently only able to be completed while in a party, while all of the other lifeskill progression questlines have much more variety and are able to be completed alone. Both of these issues could be fixed with the same changes - two birds with one bullet, if you will - by changing up the hunt targets for these quests.

Details:

The last 7 Hunting Leap quests include: 3 Blue Whale hunts, 3 Fugitive Khalk hunts, and 1 combined Whale + Khalk hunt. This repetition not only makes hunting progression boring, but also makes it the only lifeskill leap questline that is not achievable through one's own hard work. Given the recent (and very much appreciated) effort that has been put into improving lifeskill content, hunting deserves some love too! 

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There are multiple different ways in which these quests could be spiced up:

■ Include a wider variety of hunting targets. There are plenty of hunting mobs in the game, why not make use of them and encourage players to hunt them through quests? Valencia Lions, Belladonna Elephants, Grass Rhinos, Ili Pikas (to name just a few) - these are spread across the world and would be the most basic way to add a bit more variety. A slightly more interesting variation of this would be something like Gazelles, where the player's karma takes a hit by hunting them. Many of these mobs already have repeatable quests associated with them, so this would probably be the easiest to implement.

■ Include sniper hunting. There is a whole questline that involves sniper hunting already, so why not include this skill in the progression questline and give players more experience with it? The strategy used for sniper hunting is very different from that of matchlock hunting, so this would add even more variety.

■ Include rare hunting targets. Rare hunting mobs like the Enchanting Rainbow Fox or Cursed Stone Cobra require more effort to find, so could make for a good change of pace. By including one or two of these in the progression questline, players would also learn that these mobs need very different strategies to find and hunt, which would encourage us to go out and find the other special creatures wandering the world, hidden from sight!

■ Adjust Blue Whale/Fugitive Khalk to be solo targets.To be clear, I don't mean that the normal Blue Whales and Fugitive Khalks that spawn in servers should be changed! I think that having group hunting activities like these is great for teams and players that enjoy them, and I wouldn't want that taken away. What I mean is that a spawning mechanic similar to that found in the quest "Cure for the Incurable" could be used, wherein the player uses a trap to lure in the hunting target. A trap that summons a version of the Blue Whale and/or Fugitive Khalk that is still difficult, but able to be killed by a single hunter, would allow the player to learn and practice the unique strategies needed to hunt these mobs while still ensuring that the quests can be completed by a solo player, as is the case with every other lifeskill leap quest. This would also mean that players would not be required to be present at specific times to complete the quests, again aligning with the other lifeskill leap quests. This method could also be used with the King Griffon if desired, as this would also allow players to practice hunting on horseback.

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These are just a few that I have come up with; I'm sure people more creative than myself could come up with more! 

I quite enjoy Hunting, and I find it a shame that this questline is more dull than those for the other lifeskills. The recent and upcoming lifeskill improvements are awesome, so I'd love to see a bit of that love and energy put into Hunting too!

Plus, allowing players to complete these quests alone would be nice for socially anxious people such as myself...