AI Behavior for melee/ranged dual wield (Scordeo's set) question

[J0265]

Firstly, apologies if the answer is somewhere out there. I did try to search and cannot seem to find an answer.

As far as I can decipher, the standard AI for dual wielding a melee weapon and ranged weapon is:
  - if an enemy is beyond melee range then the character will shoot/reload their ranged weapon and not attempt to close the distance.
  - if in melee range and have a melee weapon equipped, only attack with the melee weapon

These simultaneously make the Scordeo set a little counterintuitive.

Is it possible to have a character shoot the pistol whenever it's loaded but otherwise prioritize on being in melee range, while still using/reloading the pistol in melee range?

What I am hoping to accomplish is to actually make use of both buffs from the Scordeo set. The only way I can think of accomplishing this is to dance in/out of melee range to be able to shoot the pistol (and get murdered by disengagement attacks in the process).

Help?

TLDR: Can I make my character prioritize closing distance for melee attacks instead of reloading a ranged weapon, and still use the ranged weapon while in melee range?

[Boeroer]

I don't 100% understand what you are trying to accomplish (sorry), but maybe my aswer helps nonetheless.

Trying to get the buffs from both weapons: You can shoot at enemies who are far away and still stay in melee range with other enemies. You can just create two separate attack actions in the AI tool and let them alternate (or determine some criteria when to use which action). For example create one action that prioritizes an enemy you are engaged to, then for the next action prioritize an enemy that is far away - and so on. The character should then automatically switch between sabre and pistol when he runs through those attack commands.

Another, more foolproof way is to use weapon switch (single sabre in weapon set 1, single pistol in set 2) with AI. You can tell the AI to switch weapon sets. Then the AI is forced to use whatever weapon is currently in your hand. This would work best with a Black Jacket Fighter + Quick Switch, but it might also be worthwhile with another character if you don't swith too frequently.

I have to say that most melee/ranged hybrid weapon setups are usually pretty suboptimal (unless you really want to only attack with one of the weapons but still get the speed bonus from dual wielding). Generally speaking it's a meh setup (powergaming-wise - of course it can be stylish and so on). 

 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Boeroer

[J0265]

100% not optimal, totally get that. It's a flavour/RP-ish thing.

It isn't the inspiration for wanting to do this (just thought it would be cool to wield both after seeing the synergy in the weapons) but are you familiar with Gangplank from League of Legends? Effectively that. He dual wields a cutlass and pistol but is considered a melee character entirely, auto-attack wise. He has an ability that uses the pistol from ranged but otherwise you can think of the pistol attack as just an alternate animation that accomplishes the same thing as the cutlass animation - it looks cool but it doesn't actually 'do' anything, in that specific instance.

Another example of the fighting style I'm trying to replicate in-game would be some of the pirates from Black Sails - probably most notably Blackbeard. He's strapped with multiple, single-shot pistols across his chest while also wielding a cutlass.

It's a little clunky but the Black Jacket weapon swap setup makes me curious. It would be a slightly different way to put One-Handed Style, too (pity that pistols are two-handed in PoE1).

Thank you for the ideas and feedback! I appreciate it a lot.

 

[mjo2138]

For your RP approach, you could be a rogue/barbarian watcher who uses the Escape ability, programmed to the further target -- which tends to be casters or archers, and then go to work there with the weapons of your choice. 

In addition to what was mentioned above by Boeroer, you could start the fight with blunderbass' (blunderbi? I wonder how this noun is pluralized ... prescriptively or descriptively?)  Powder Burns modal, get distracted, and as a Streetfighter you could attack the mobs with insane attack speed. This could allow you to use pistols, and melee, but not at the same time. So, in way you would be an insane pirate who starts with pistols and then uses daggers, sabres, or stilettos. 

Streetfighter/Black Jacket would be a good RP fit, but a Streetfighter/Tactician could work too --- assuming you get immunity to flanking for yourself, and rely on a Cipher to use their Phantom Foes. 

Or a Streetfighter/Devoted could be fun w/ daggers as your chosen weapon. I think daggers have a generally lower PEN than other weapons, so Devoted would help overcome this, along with Hot Razor Skewers. 

[Boeroer]

11 hours ago, J0265 said:

It isn't the inspiration for wanting to do this (just thought it would be cool to wield both after seeing the synergy in the weapons) but are you familiar with Gangplank from League of Legends? Effectively that. He dual wields a cutlass and pistol but is considered a melee character entirely, auto-attack wise. He has an ability that uses the pistol from ranged but otherwise you can think of the pistol attack as just an alternate animation that accomplishes the same thing as the cutlass animation - it looks cool but it doesn't actually 'do' anything, in that specific instance.

I think you can emulate this with the AI tool if you give you character an attack action (which gets used as standard action) and only occasionally throw in an attack which explicitly targets enemies who are out of melee range. From the top of my head I don't know a way to force the use of the firearm in melee (unless it would be a ranged-only attack ability like Twinned Shot or so) or how to force the character to run towards enemies and use the sabre instead of starting to shoot. But I also have to say I didn't use the AI tool that much - so maybe there's a way of doing it that I don't remember. 

[Constentin Lévine]

1 hour ago, Boeroer said:

I think you can emulate this with the AI tool if you give you character an attack action (which gets used as standard action) and only occasionally throw in an attack which explicitly targets enemies who are out of melee range. From the top of my head I don't know a way to force the use of the firearm in melee (unless it would be a ranged-only attack ability like Twinned Shot or so) or how to force the character to run towards enemies and use the sabre instead of starting to shoot. But I also have to say I didn't use the AI tool that much - so maybe there's a way of doing it that I don't remember. 

Excepted if you equip the pistol in main hand and the sabre in off, with some abilities like swift flurry, Clear Out, the Barbarian riposte ect.. i dont see a way to force your character to use the firearm at melee while equiping a melee weapon at the same time too..

[Boeroer]

Yeah, I was thinking about ranged-only attacks which could be used. But there really aren't that many (only Twinned Shot comes to mind atm)...

Edit: Ah, the imbue-shots of the Arcane Archer might be helpful here. They only work with ranged weapons and could be used to force the use of the pistol even when in melee range to the target. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Boeroer