Yeah, if you have NPCs participating, they definitely shouldn't be getting that bonus. Also, those briars are crazy OP, lol. I've been dumping most of my points into stamina (currently rank 24) and those briars can still take me down from like 70% to 50%, basically putting me out of the race just because I get hit by them once (or if someone turns towards me with them).
I understand abilities are supposed to help you, but when you've been conserving your stamina and such, then someone pops these briars on you and can basically put you out of the game, that's definitely not cool. I'm not saying they shouldn't drain stamina at all. That part is fine, but it just shouldn't be so much, ya know? Maybe each time they pop you, take 3-5% instead. That can still hurt you, but you can still recover and stay in the race too rather than being knocked out early and basically just finishing the remaining 25-30% of the course as a formality.
God help you if you're surrounded by three people that use them on you. You're pretty much dead at that point, lol.
