i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dogs

Thoughts on the further development of Haven & Hearth? Feel free to opine!

i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dogs

Postby KrondosBR » Sat Apr 25, 2026 11:52 pm

At some point humanity looked at wolves and said "you're my friend now" and they said "okay"... after a lot of bites... a lot of bites.

All jokes aside, animal husbandry was a huge step in our history and taming dogs served a huge purpose, not just being cute, and i think we could use this in the game. I'm gonna be clear here, i'm not just proposing taming wolves, i'm proposing changing their nature trough breeding and feeding.

My first proposal: After you tame them they become one of a few species:

Guarding Hound: He will protect your base and will never leave your claim, unless you make him, in this case after he's done following you, or if you log out, he'll go back to your claim (if this tracking is not possible disregard the idea of him returning), he is the one with more armour and defense.
Companion dog: He's not strong, he'll be the weakest breed, but his presence is hearthwarming, by following you around or being near you you get a buff, here's the buffs: + charisma because having a dog makes you cool we all know that and + perception because the dogs are better at smelling things and hearing things he'll not leave your claim too if you have one.
Der Jagdhund: The hunting dog, he can follow you around and hunt with you, he'll not be as strong as a wolf, in fact i think he should have half of a wolf's status, half his attack damage, half his HP, half his armour, BUT WHY? i think the hearthling at the end of the day should be the one dealing the most damage and finishing off creatures and not some naked guy with a bow and a killer dog rampaging trough the map.

Follow command i mentioned this in the types of dogs proposal, i haven't domesticated all the animals so i don't know if this option exists so bear with me, by clicking the right button you would see an option to make him follow you, to avoid players walking around with 10 dogs, only one dog should be allowed to follow, now i know, "have one following you and lasso 2 other dogs", no, dogs you lasso dont attack and cant be attacked by hostile mobs, you get downed you lose your dogs, all this because you wanted to exploit the mechanics you dirty, dirty exploiter.

Second proposal: you tame a Wolf and they become a neutral species of dog, and by breeding it and having kids you can feed them special rations, each made of diferent ingredients like meat, vegetables or fruits to change them into the dog types i showed earlyer, and as they grow into adults and have their color changed to mark wich type they are, or, after the change into a type he remains the same but his kids will be diferent ( referencing the change that dogs had trough generations of breeding).

(This part is optional and can eazyly be overlooked)

Dog clothing A little protection to overcome just a little their bad stats and Just like suporter's hats you could sell outfits to help with the development of the game, and have some in game dog clothing too that we can craft (because dog armours were a thing since at least the 16th century), like a Dog Gambeson, a Dog leather coat (a coat that covers their body and protects a little more aganist bites), even actual metal armour were used in the Medieval and Renaissance times (you can make it out of weak metal giving not much armour to be balanced).

What i want with this: Dogs, diferent dogs with diferent uses, they need to be nerfed wolves because you the player gotta be the one in the frontlines dealng damage and taking damage, this is what the game is about when it comes to combat, i want armour but notthing that makes them busted, clothing should be mainly for appearances, the companion dog dont just serve as a small buff but as a decoration roaming your base and if possible a pet the dog action or emote.
KrondosBR
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2026 1:49 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby SnuggleSnail » Sun Apr 26, 2026 12:04 am

+1 I want to kill this man's dog
"We specialize in permadeath and forum drama." -man who removed death and deletes every drama thread
http://www.seatribe.se/
User avatar
SnuggleSnail
 
Posts: 3397
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2013 4:04 pm

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby Frogg » Sun Apr 26, 2026 12:05 am

Would it even be possible to add a feature like that to the game? Just curious. The idea sounds cool.
Frogg
 
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2026 12:26 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby KrondosBR » Sun Apr 26, 2026 12:24 am

Frogg wrote:Would it even be possible to add a feature like that to the game? Just curious. The idea sounds cool.

yeah i don't know, that's why i offered 2 sugestions, the second one is more realistic with how the game works
KrondosBR
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2026 1:49 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby lordgrunt » Sun Apr 26, 2026 1:25 am

we all know how it would end up. a chihuahua carried in pocket. yapping so loudly to insta aggroing trolls and wolf packs from offscreen.

joking aside, even simple breedable dog meant as combat specimen would end up tragically. the hunting dog even with half stats of a wolf would still benefit from breedable stats affecting combat. and having 3 leashed q400 hunting dogs with 90 brawn stat, 120 armor stat would wreck mammoths on their own.

though, companion dog sounds like fun idea. could be special kind of holding mechanic, not a leash but rather the dog would follow you around, toggled by whistle (worn in severely underused mouth slot).
User avatar
lordgrunt
 
Posts: 350
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 11:49 pm

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby KrondosBR » Sun Apr 26, 2026 2:09 am

lordgrunt wrote:we all know how it would end up. a chihuahua carried in pocket. yapping so loudly to insta aggroing trolls and wolf packs from offscreen.

joking aside, even simple breedable dog meant as combat specimen would end up tragically. the hunting dog even with half stats of a wolf would still benefit from breedable stats affecting combat. and having 3 leashed q400 hunting dogs with 90 brawn stat, 120 armor stat would wreck mammoths on their own.

though, companion dog sounds like fun idea. could be special kind of holding mechanic, not a leash but rather the dog would follow you around, toggled by whistle (worn in severely underused mouth slot).


but i offered the balance for it, Stats: their stats could be lowered even further, Armour: opcional, leash multiple dogs: they cant be attacked or attack, i go further, dogs can only attack if they are following and enemies will target you first above them
KrondosBR
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2026 1:49 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby serVar161 » Sun Apr 26, 2026 4:20 am

There are too many ways to abuse this:

- You create a bunch of alts, give half of them defender dogs, and your base is overflowing with dogs—try to get in there.
- You send an alt hunting with a dog; the dog hunts, and the alt collects the loot. The hunting bot will be very happy.
- You use the other half of the alts with dogs to attack players.
Instead of one enemy, you get two. And the dog will run faster than the player, so you can't outrun it. You also won't need to level up the alt or equip anything—just give it a dog.
- What if it's just not one alt, but a group? What if it's not alts, but players? What will fights turn into? Or a siege?
- We'll place a group of alts with dogs near the tingle—welcome.
- What about the guest buff? Will it affect the dog, or can I sic it through the open gate?

And these are just the methods that came to mind in a couple of minutes. There are probably plenty more ways to make life miserable for players.
My english is bEd.
User avatar
serVar161
 
Posts: 467
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2026 10:55 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby KrondosBR » Mon Apr 27, 2026 2:31 am

serVar161 wrote:There are too many ways to abuse this:

- You create a bunch of alts, give half of them defender dogs, and your base is overflowing with dogs—try to get in there.
- You send an alt hunting with a dog; the dog hunts, and the alt collects the loot. The hunting bot will be very happy.
- You use the other half of the alts with dogs to attack players.
Instead of one enemy, you get two. And the dog will run faster than the player, so you can't outrun it. You also won't need to level up the alt or equip anything—just give it a dog.
- What if it's just not one alt, but a group? What if it's not alts, but players? What will fights turn into? Or a siege?
- We'll place a group of alts with dogs near the tingle—welcome.
- What about the guest buff? Will it affect the dog, or can I sic it through the open gate?

And these are just the methods that came to mind in a couple of minutes. There are probably plenty more ways to make life miserable for players.


okay fixes:
Guard hounds only attack if their owner is online and only one at a time.
Dog hunting afk will not be possible, as you certainly read the dog stats will be low so it cant kill animals like wolves alone unless its super high quality but it would
Result in many injuries and a long hunting time to the point that isnt worth it.
Players will be able to kill the dogs very eazyly with the low stats.
siege of eazyly killable squishy dogs because you can only use one at the time.
a group of alts with dogs you'll probably triple tap.
do animals gets buffs? they can turn that off any time for dogs
KrondosBR
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2026 1:49 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby serVar161 » Mon Apr 27, 2026 4:08 am

KrondosBR wrote:
okay fixes:
Guard hounds only attack if their owner is online and only one at a time.
Dog hunting afk will not be possible, as you certainly read the dog stats will be low so it cant kill animals like wolves alone unless its super high quality but it would
Result in many injuries and a long hunting time to the point that isnt worth it.
Players will be able to kill the dogs very eazyly with the low stats.
siege of eazyly killable squishy dogs because you can only use one at the time.
a group of alts with dogs you'll probably triple tap.
do animals gets buffs? they can turn that off any time for dogs


Now the situation is the exact opposite. Dogs have gone from being too strong to being too easy to kill and weak. What's their purpose then?
I'm not against the idea, but I think it needs to be carefully thought out so they're not used for harm.
My english is bEd.
User avatar
serVar161
 
Posts: 467
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2026 10:55 am

Re: i want a dog, humans needs dogs, hearthlings diserve dog

Postby serVar161 » Mon Apr 27, 2026 4:09 am

For example, you may have noticed I didn't mention one of the dog types you suggested—companion dogs, which provide buffs.
Unless those buffs are outrageous, that's one use case for dogs that's unlikely to be abused.
My english is bEd.
User avatar
serVar161
 
Posts: 467
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2026 10:55 am

Next

Return to Critique & Ideas

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Claude [Bot], Meta [Bot], Trendiction [Bot] and 61 guests