Fey Hunt Hound

With Hardcore Season 6, subtitled "A Most Dangerous Game", a new threat was introduced: Fey Hunt Hounds. True to the season's theme*, these monsters "hunt" a party member. (source: DDO Forums)


 * (* This classic short story describes a veteran big-game hunter who unwillingly becomes "prey" to a similar hunter. The two end up hunting each other, to the death.)

Characteristics
Despite the name, they are not "Fey" creatures:


 * Type: Magical Beast
 * Race: Wolf
 * Alignment: True Neutral
 * Monster Manual classification: None

Challenge rating
Their challenge rating depends on the difficulty-modified quest level.

Higher-level hounds have been observed in challenges, with CRs +6 or +7 over challenge level.

Subtypes
Several different subtypes of Fey Hunt Hounds have been observed and reported. Each subtype does an appropriate type of damage to its target, and a related debuff (see below) to all nearby characters:

Details

 * Red-named
 * All hounds are red-named bosses. As such, they are immune to almost all crowd control and many debuffs. They are strong and tough.
 * At Quest Level 2, a CR 4 Hound was observed to have close to 200 hit points; at QL 4, close to 400.)


 * Monster champions
 * It's very possible to have Monster Champion Hounds, even in areas that normally don't allow champions (e.g., quests below effective level 5, normal difficulty). Champion Hounds can drop s (rem chests have not (yet?) been reported).


 * The combination of red-named immunities + champion buffs can make these particularly dangerous.
 * At some point, believed to be at quest level 10+, all Hounds automatically gain the abilities of a certain type of Monster Champion (see table above for which.) This changes their behaviour significantly, and these upgraded hounds should be treated with extra caution, especially as this does not prevent them from spawning as another type of Champion as well!


 * Melee attackers
 * They have strong melee attacks, dealing standard "wolf" damage types of slashing (claw) and piercing (bite). They don't have any ranged attacks. Like wolves they also trip.


 * Vulnerability aura/DoT
 * Any party member within a certain range of the Hound (distance unknown) can also receive an appropriate "elemental" debuff, a stack of "X Vulnerability, +20% damage" - and it stacks 20x! This effect has a 5-second cooldown per player, and stacks clear one at a time every 12 seconds.
 * In addition, after early level* quests, hounds may also deal elemental damage with each tick of the aura.
 * (* The Hounds can cause actual DoT Damage on Quest Level 5, i.e. Normal setting. )
 * Using a rest shrine clears all stacks.
 * Since two of the Hounds (Brilliant and Decay) deal two elemental types of damage instead of one, their DoT auras do half as much damage. Their bite attacks also split the elemental damage in half between both types.


 * Movement
 * The hounds are not particularly fast - they can be kited fairly easily (observed w/ standard +25% run boost from Anger's Step). However, they will teleport to their target if it is "too far" away, similar to some Reapers.
 * When they teleport, there is a short pause before they become active again, allowing the target to gain some small distance on the Hound before it attacks/chases again. As a result, killing them using a ranged weapon or spells may be safer than in melee.


 * Aggro
 * It's possible to pull the aggro off the original target. Hirelings and pets can do this as well.

Spawning mechanic


Hounds can appear in both quests and wilderness areas, including the Solo quests in The Harbor, starting at Level 1.* There is a "howl" that all can hear that announces their imminent arrival. Some time later (observed as short as ~5 seconds before the Hound appears, but perhaps occasionally also much longer?) a random(?)** party member becomes "hunted". For a second or three there is a blue arrow pointing down at the target, and they receives a debuff "Target of the Hunt", visible in their de/buff bar at the top of the screen.




 * (* This includes previously "non-combat" quests such as Baudry 1 & 2, etc. It is known The Grotto is safe, and the Update 55 Patch 4 Release Notes indicate some other areas are too - likely those using the Deep Water bubble mechanic.)
 * (** Several times, the "last" party member was observed to be targeted, i.e. someone who had fallen behind the main group or started late - but it's not clear if that was a factor in the target selection.)

It seems there is a timer before the first appears (so quick quests may never see a Hound unless characters are delayed or wait after finishing). Times between spawns are between 3 minutes to a maximum of 10 minutes. The average time is about 5 minutes. Hounds spawn up out of the ground. They appear "on the trail" of their target, i.e. where that target has been* (or where they currently are if they have stopped long enough as the hunt starts).


 * (* They have been observed "waiting" (for an unknown time, but at least a minute) outside a Wilderness quest entrance where party members have entered.)

Finishing a quest does not stop this timer. It's 100% confirmed that Hounds can spawn after a quest is "finished". Do not dawdle at the end chest - get your loot and get out!

Suggested tactics

 * Stay with the herd - er, stay with the group! Strength in numbers. Do not zerg ahead, and definitely do not fall behind or go off on your own!


 * Use your temporary buffs as an on-screen timer. Remove Fear from even the Level 1 Hireling Dryad Willowisp gives you a 10 minute timer.


 * There appears to be a timer for the first appearance, based on when the first part member enters a quest or wilderness. Try to enter together. Entering early invites an earlier spawn, entering late can mean you are "on your own" as you try to catch up (and having the bad luck to enter at the moment a spawn occurs means it's possible to enter as a Hound begins to hunt you!).


 * When your timer, in whatever you use expires around 5 minutes, HAVE YOUR PARTY WAIT, not engaging ANY other monsters. You do NOT want to fight both Hound and quest trash.


 * Hounds are dangerous but aren't very fortified. You need ALL party DPS to destroy it fast. Once it's destroyed, use another buff in party to "reset" a new Hound timer.
 * Hounds do not scale with party size - do not solo, try to quest only with a (nearly) full party. It's been reported that they do scale with quest difficulty.


 * Beware the Fey Hunt Kinetic Hound in particular. It does significantly more damage than most of its counterparts and ways to reduce force damage are rare.
 * Warforged will also need to pay particular attention to the Fey Decay Hunt Hound, which can deal Rust damage which is similarly difficult to mitigate.


 * Going AFK or multiboxing in ANY quest or wilderness can be extremely hazardous.


 * Keep your head on a swivel - keep looking behind the group, anywhere you've been, especially right after you hear the Howl.


 * Treat the hound as any dangerous Champion or Reaper - kill it first!


 * If you hear a howl, let the party know. If you are Hunted, let the party know!


 * If you observe party members who do not "help" Hunted members - it's your call what action to take, but consider your options.


 * If your build starts off weak at Level 1 (or you just want to get stronger before risking hounds), you can do the quick Solo quests in The Harbor. If you dawdle, a Hound can spawn in those Solo quests, but if you do the quest efficiently it seems you're out before that can trigger. You can easily get Level 2 this way (with just a little repetition), and it's possible to get 3 (with a lot more).


 * If you are not in a party, bring a hireling wherever you go. A Cleric is an especially good idea, as they can both help you survive a Hound's attacks and will last longer than most hirelings if they become the target.


 * Hounds are confused by water, and will not follow players into it. If the water is shallow enough to stand in, this will allow you to safely eliminate them with ranged weapons or spells.
 * Hounds no longer get stuck in teleport loops in deep water, and will not spawn or teleport into it.


 * In the (rather common) event a Hound teleports into a wall, its Vulnerability aura effect will stop working. However, the debuff The Hunt's Target will not be removed from the player under effect unless it can somehow be killed.


 * The Hunt timer keeps ticking after a quest is finished. Do not stop to organize your pack. Get your loot and get out! Take advantage of rope or door exits if they are handy.


 * If a Hound mark appears on you while finishing out to a wilderness, it's possible for the Hound to follow you! Synchronize leaving quests together if possible. You will not have time to double-recall to a public area (which always stops a Hound).


 * If someone joins the group late and the quest is in a wilderness, give the star to the late comer so that they can reset the wilderness since the timer is still running from when the first person entered the wilderness.


 * See also: DDO Forums

Bugs
Many of the other issues with Hound spawning were fixed with Update 55 Patch 4. However, Hounds can still spawn or teleport into walls, where they cannot be targeted by melee/ranged; some spells/runearm blasts known to penetrate barriers can harm them.