While being on a run, I have found some imp-like creatures that shouted a brief message saying they would not attack me. I tried hitting them, and occasionally killed one.
What purpose do these have? I received plenty of goods from killing them, so I don't really have an incentive not to kill non-hostile NPC's?
I'm curious about this.
Which kind of enemy were they exactly? Were they not one that has been documented in the wiki yet? I did a Google image search on imps and nothing I saw there reminded me much of anything I've seen in the game. Do you remember what they said exactly?
With my recent access to the wiki I've looked them up. They came alongside of Devilites and Devilite Overtimers. The ones that were non-aggressive aren't yet on the wiki with a picture though, so I don't know which ones they are. There were 2 types anyway, little green ones and bigger dark ones with horns or something. (those made me think of imp-like creatures)
Ah, those never attack you, yes, but they never tell you that they won't. Really all they do is tell the others that they're fired, have to work on Sunday, or are getting promoted.
Maybe you only thought they were saying that wouldn't attack you...?
Hmm, I remember them saying something along the lines of "I won't fire a shot at you", but those messages were often in the distance and disappeared too quickly to have a proper look most of the time.
So then, what use do those NPC's have? They drop pretty good loot (in the opinion of a rookie that is), and I didn't see anything special happen if I didn't harm any of them?
The Pit Bosses are enemies, don't mistake, but they don't oppose you directly. They can turn normal Devilites into much harder enemies if left unchecked. The green Yesmen only exist to heal Pit Bosses.
The intended strategy apparently is to kill all the underlings first before the Pit Bosses can get to them. It's interesting to have an enemy that can make your life hell while completely ignoring your existence, even while you're killing them.
I think one of their lines is, "I'm going to have to fire you, okay?" Maybe that's what you saw?
Ah alright, I was too busy killing and not getting killed to notice the powering-up and healing powers of those monsters. Thank you for pointing that out!
And it is very possible that it was the line you said. Maybe again it was me being too busy with fighting, but they disappeared too soon before I could have a proper look at them. (Perhaps showing those messages longer could work, or do they also appear in your chat box?)
They don't appear in the chat box, but personally I'm fine with how long they display currently. After all, it's not really important what they say, but it's shown just long enough to read.
I can assure you, they are NOT shown long enough to read.
Maybe if you know what the text is, but if you haven't seen it before, and encounter it for the first time, it is gone before you've had a chance to read it. Combined with being in battle and not being able to afford the time to spare to read, it really is more annoying than amusing.
PLEASE, log it in the chat log. Or make it longer on screen. Or something.
Do you really want all that Fiend spam to show up in your chat log? My loot drops are spammy enough.
The two Fiends that won't attack you are the Pit bosses (blue giant fiends with glasses) and the Green Yesmen.
To be honest, I like the drops from the promoted fiends more so I generally wait until the Pit boss promotes them all, then I circle around them while firing my Alchemer. Circling seems to wreck havoc with ranged enemies' targeting, so I never get hit.
http://forums.spiralknights.com/node/368
It comes in almost the same fashion of the heart puppies (don't know if you found it yet, but it's a gun puppy that shots hearts to you...and have a chance to drop a rare iten, and now that i know this, i can't find it anymore). Also, innofensivee npcs that yet can be killed would not be so good, because, or they would have nothing to drop, or simply would function as a way to give some fast money and itens if one is lucky, with no dificulty. Also, attacking a hopeless monster/animal is cruel, and no fun at all...
I like, though, the idea that the monster isn't agressive at all, till you attack him, or do something like pressing a switch (not that the monster will spawm when you press, but the mosnter is already there before you press the switch, just ignoring you), more or less like the tortodrone.