Nastier bears

[Doc Feral]

Well, the title says it all.

Bears are quite badass, but I personally think they could be made scarier. A single good shot from rifle or bow and it's over, as long as you have someplace to hide. I'd love them to be tougher. Maybe not a haybale like the moose, but not even the furry blood bag it's now. I'd like bleeding to start only for critical hits, or something like that.
And another thing. Have you hunted the Spruce Falls bear? I did, doomed it with an arrow, hid in a car and watched in awe as it walked in a straight line right upon cars. Now, if a bear can climb cars, which is impossible for the questionably athletic survivor, it should be allowed to climb (maybe slowly) stairs, tree trunks and the infamous bearproof ledges, keeping in mind that real bears are adept tree climbers. Yes, I know there are technical limitations to animal movement, path finding and all that, but I'm imagining the thrill of being cornered in a hunter's blind with a bear crawling up the stairs like a furious giant hedgehog after tanking all your arrows. And likely starting another game right afterwards...

[Thebrat]

Bears seems quite scary as is, they often mess you up before you can kill them as one shot is nowhere near enough, unless its a critical, even headshots don't make the bear die but rather bleed out for a very long time, its quite hard tracking down the bear with the cold and wolves in the way. I personally don't think bears need a buff.

[Doc Feral]

1 hour ago, Thebrat said:

one shot is nowhere near enough, unless its a critical, even headshots don't make the bear die but rather bleed out

This exactly means one shot one kill. If you have someplace to hide you're safe. You can keep the bear in the vicinity throwing stones or showing yourself, going down the stairs, leaving the car, opening the fishing hut door and so on before hiding again when Fat&Furry comes back.

[BareSkin]

I'm quite OK that they should charge you from a greater distance than they do now. The big challenge on Loper is more about surviving the cold while you hunt/harvest it. Also, bow sometimes fails to hit but the likeliness of an arrow not getting into the bear (make it bleed) could be greater.