Ambivalent feelings about having a good AI set up

[QuiteGoneJin]

So, I am only playing on veteran and I have been using Tee Sinner's builds for Xoti/Eder/Tekehu Aloth and my MC the Gun monk hel-bleak-walker. At lvl 14+ with the right gear and AI settings I've been mostly on auto mode for combat even through the first two dlcs. I like that I do not have to micro every little thing but it feels weird to be sitting back and watching the action unfold mostly. Did you also have the same experience? How did you feel about it? Just curious. 

Edited August 8, 2019 by QuiteGoneJin

[Vonbek]

Considering I feel the FF12 Gambit system is the pinnacle of design all games should aspire to ( as games like Dragon Age and others have shown ), I like it as it means you can micro as required on each character as needed without worrying or continually pausing.

I'm already running More AI Conditions, and I would like about another 30 additions to it.

 

 

[Powerotti]

AI is helpful in trash fights that are not challenging anyway, to end them fast and sometimes with tougher ones, mostly for keeping buffs on all the time. Biggest weakness of AI is that it can't regroup characters, summon creatures in right place to flank enemies and aim with aoe spells precisly (always centre on enemy, not on the ground even if spell allows that). Despite that, setting AI is part of character building and is fun too

[Vonbek]

2 hours ago, Powerotti said:

summon creatures in right place to flank enemies

Maybe it's something in More AI but I can set targets for Summons like Best Threat etc.

[QuiteGoneJin]

Yeah, i tend to have a beefy front line and dont use summons much as even though my pc is a beast i get a large lag spike on summons and it annoys me.  Also im not playing on potd, I tihnk my next playthrough will be deadly deadfired slightly altered potd. 

Edited August 9, 2019 by QuiteGoneJin

[masterty66]

I have experimented with different ways and the best/most fun AI setup for me is the following:

 

1) For any melee/ranged dps classes, I have them setup to auto cast their self buffs. Eg, Fighter disciplined strikes, Monk Swift strikes, Barb Rages, etc. I also let them auto cast self heal stuff like Second Wind and Savage Defiance. Then I'll pick one melee ability for them to spam and set the AI to do that. And if it's a Ranger or Paladin I let them do Sworn Enemy/Mark Enemy too.

This leaves them not necessarily using their full range of abilities but enough so that I don't have to baby them. I still step in manually if I want to use an ability that requires more care like say Heart of Fury or Charge.

 

2) For casters, I set them up to use Second Wind, and that's all. I fully micromanage all of their spells. The only exception to this is Wizards. I set all my Wizards to self cast their buffs at the start of combat because I'm not having Aloth click 10 different spells every time when I can have the AI do it.

 

What this leads to is an experience similar to the Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate et al which I love and am used to. In those games melees don't have a lot of buttons to click, so it's mostly point them in the right direction and let them fight and it's the casters that require the attention. With my AI setups that's what I do here which means I spend most of the combats carefully targeting my spells while being mostly hands off with my melees beyond pointing them in the right direction. I do still step in and micro as needed (eg casting lay on hands on the right targets, etc).

This takes some of the burden off of me of having to click the same buffs all the time while still leaving the important decisions to me. If my PC is a melee or ranged dps char and not a caster I don't usually use AI for them as I prefer to micro my own character.

So there you have it. I've tried different setups where the AI controls more decisions and where the AI controls none and this is my preferred way to go about it. It leaves most decisions to me but takes out some of the more burdensome ones like constantly clicking Disciplined Strikes and all that. Why leave that to myself when I know that I just want those abilities up all the time? But with my casters what I want to cast can often change fight to fight (aside from Wiz buffs) so I leave that to me.

[Ophiuchus]

I run a similar setup to masterty with cheaper, general purpose abilities and buffs set to AI. Generally I don't like relying on AI since I abuse use ambush tactics whenever possible and auto sequences often get ropey while a character is Stealthed: I've had several Monks drain their Mortifications fast, spamming Swift Strikes regardless of conditons.

[Vonbek]

2 hours ago, Ophiuchus said:

I run a similar setup to masterty with cheaper, general purpose abilities and buffs set to AI. Generally I don't like relying on AI since I abuse use ambush tactics whenever possible and auto sequences often get ropey while a character is Stealthed: I've had several Monks drain their Mortifications fast, spamming Swift Strikes regardless of conditons.

More AI

 

Self: Inspiration ( Dex ) ( Not ) : Swift Strikes ( 20 delay ) works fine for me and only ever casts on drop off from testing so far

 

not sure if you have the needed conditionals without more AI as I've always used it even on mates machine.

[masterty66]

1 hour ago, Vonbek said:

More AI

 

Self: Inspiration ( Dex ) ( Not ) : Swift Strikes ( 20 delay ) works fine for me and only ever casts on drop off from testing so far

 

not sure if you have the needed conditionals without more AI as I've always used it even on mates machine.

This is what I use as well and I haven't noticed the AI spamming it too often. 

[Ophiuchus]

3 hours ago, Vonbek said:

More AI

 

Self: Inspiration ( Dex ) ( Not ) : Swift Strikes ( 20 delay ) works fine for me and only ever casts on drop off from testing so far

 

not sure if you have the needed conditionals without more AI as I've always used it even on mates machine.

Yeah, I have the same setup along with a chain that leads into Thunderous Blows. I think the issue happens after using Dance of Death: guessing something about the component triggers the AI even when in Stealth.

[masterty66]

Actually here is one thing I've found annoying about having Ai enabled: How do you make sure your guy drinks a potion? I swear every time I tell them to do it, they stop doing it. It only seems to work if I turn AI off and then have them drink the potion. Otherwise they start the action to drink the pot and even if they're not being attacked/interrupted they decide to avoid the action to do something else.

Kinda annoying.

[Ophiuchus]

9 minutes ago, masterty66 said:

Actually here is one thing I've found annoying about having Ai enabled: How do you make sure your guy drinks a potion? I swear every time I tell them to do it, they stop doing it. It only seems to work if I turn AI off and then have them drink the potion. Otherwise they start the action to drink the pot and even if they're not being attacked/interrupted they decide to avoid the action to do something else.

Kinda annoying.

Yeah, this one has been around for a while. It's especially annoying on a Nalpazca.

[masterty66]

Just now, Ophiuchus said:

Yeah, this one has been around for a while. It's especially annoying on a Nalpazca.

Ah got it thought it was just me. I guess I'll have to remember to turn off AI while I drink the pot and then turn it back on. 

I mostly only use consumables for tougher fights so not the biggest deal in the world I guess.

[Vonbek]

9 hours ago, Ophiuchus said:

Yeah, I have the same setup along with a chain that leads into Thunderous Blows. I think the issue happens after using Dance of Death: guessing something about the component triggers the AI even when in Stealth.

Fire me your set of triggers over. I run the same and mine rarely spams off Strikes unless they get the dex inspiration nulled by something.

I'm wondering if it might indeed be the DoD tick as I dont have DoD set to be usable in stealth as it and thunderous are set up so as to trigger only in full combat at 10 wounds.

[Ophiuchus]

Ah, it's not the end of the world since the issue doesn't happen all the time but I appreciate it.

Use Dance of Death manually from Stealth
If not under dex inspiration -> Swift Strikes/Lighting/Flurry, ~20 second cooldown depending on INT.
If not under mig inspiration, under dex inspiration -> Thunderous Blows  ~15 seconds depending on INT
If under 50 percent health, use Second Wind

That's about it, really.

[Vonbek]

yeah, not sure what's causing that unless it's the fact you're not in a combat timer causing it to trigger constantly.