How does the stamina/health mechanism apply to the enemy?

[Pope]

I haven’t seen this question asked yet, but since there’s been quite a lot of debate on this topic it can be easy to miss something, so my apologies if it’s already been discussed.

 

I can sort of understand why enemies would leave our unconscious party members alone and focus on the more immediate (conscious) threats, rather than finishing them off immediately. (Even though I can easily imagine some situations where this just doesn’t feel realistic at all. One example being when the party is overwhelmed and the conscious party members are already facing enough enemies. Rather than getting in line to fight those party members, it would be a lot wiser to make sure the unconscious party members stay down for good. Another example would be when there is a healer in the group that keeps reviving unconscious party members.)

 

However, what I’m more worried about is whether this system applies to enemies as well? If we defeat an enemy (reduce its stamina to zero) and then turn to the next enemy until they are all down, will we still need to finish off each one while they’re down? If so, this can become a tedious task pretty fast.

[Sylvius the Mad]

It had better apply exactly the same way. There's no defensible reason to have the rules that govern the PCs be different from the rules that govern other characters.

[Tamerlane]

It had better apply exactly the same way. There's no defensible reason to have the rules that govern the PCs be different from the rules that govern other characters.

To be fair, "PC and companions at zero stamina = game over" and "all enemies in a group have zero stamina = dead group" is a consistent application of the rules as we understand them...

[Hormalakh]

They're going to need better AI

[The Guilty Party]

If all the enemies are unconscious, then you win, it's over. Obsidian has made more than zero games, I am sure they are aware that being forced to manually go around and stab a dozen unconscious goblins is not fun times.

[Pope]

It had better apply exactly the same way. There's no defensible reason to have the rules that govern the PCs be different from the rules that govern other characters.

To be fair, "PC and companions at zero stamina = game over" and "all enemies in a group have zero stamina = dead group" is a consistent application of the rules as we understand them...

Of course, that makes sense, thx.

[Soranor]

Someone falling unconscious usually stays down for a time that is longer than a fight lasts. I don't think the stamina regeneration should make them wake up at this point so as long as the whole enemy group is down (no hostiles present) the game might count them as defeated. You now could either kill them or take them prisoner (well, maybe) and I imagine a button in the loot screen to finish them off or pick them up being not much of a hassle for the player.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Soranor

[timw03878]

Why they have this system at all when they are using names like baldur's gate and iwd to market this kickstarter to get attention and money is beyond me.

 

You want the classics to come back and people are excited, yet you introduce modern easy mode crap that this particular segment of the market didn't have from those very same classics.

 

it makes 0 sense.

[Tigranes]

Except it's not 'easy mode'. Let's leave that to the other thread, since this is specifically about enemy stamina/HP.

[nikolokolus]

Why they have this system at all when they are using names like baldur's gate and iwd to market this kickstarter to get attention and money is beyond me.

 

You want the classics to come back and people are excited, yet you introduce modern easy mode crap that this particular segment of the market didn't have from those very same classics.

 

it makes 0 sense.

 

Go look up the game Darklands...

[Infinitron]

This is something that hasn't been clarified. The purpose of the hybrid stamina/health system is to spice up long-term resource management. But your enemies in RPGs don't typically have any long-term concerns. They exist in the game to attack you and die.

[Sensuki]

The only thing I can think of is it gives you the option to not kill people when you best them. If you just get rid of their stamina etc.

[evdk]

This is something that hasn't been clarified. The purpose of the hybrid stamina/health system is to spice up long-term resource management. But your enemies in RPGs don't typically have any long-term concerns. They exist in the game to attack you and die.

Unless there are other mechanics tied to the Stamina stat (like abilities that run on it or can only be used when Stamina is full, etc.) then it's probably not worth it for single encounter enemies and all damage in their case could go directly to health. Of course we do not know their exact system, so the enemies might have Stamina stat anyway so as not to break it.

[Director]

Why they have this system at all when they are using names like baldur's gate and iwd to market this kickstarter to get attention and money is beyond me.

 

You want the classics to come back and people are excited, yet you introduce modern easy mode crap that this particular segment of the market didn't have from those very same classics.

 

it makes 0 sense.

 

lols - the HP / Stamina system is from "Darklands" which makes BG1 look like DA2 in terms of difficulty.

[Director]

Back on topic - won't be surprised if enemies, (or at least most enemies), only have Health and no Stamina,

[Grand_Commander13]

lols - the HP / Stamina system is from "Darklands" which makes BG1 look like DA2 in terms of difficulty.

Didn't you know? Baldur's Gate defined "hardcore" and good gaming, and any deviation from it means you have an easier, less fun game.

[curryinahurry]

It should work the same way for enemies. If there is an in-combat revival system, that should work for enemies as well, but it should be a highly risky proposition leaving the one doing the reviving exposed to more than one attack of opportunity. Once there is a full encounter wipe the game would likely assume that the PC's party would finish off the enemies.

 

Although, this could lead to interesting encounter design where in certain combats, the player could be given the option to leave an enemy alive for questioning or to return to deliver a message to whomever sent the attackers if it is a faction based encounter.

[Sylvius the Mad]

It had better apply exactly the same way. There's no defensible reason to have the rules that govern the PCs be different from the rules that govern other characters.

To be fair, "PC and companions at zero stamina = game over" and "all enemies in a group have zero stamina = dead group" is a consistent application of the rules as we understand them...

But if there's some mechanism for my party to revive their unconscious comrades, then the same should be true of my enemies. And if some of the enemies are unconscious, and then I retreat, the enemies should be able to revive their unconscious comrades while I'm gone (just as my unconscious party members are revived at the end of any battle I win).

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

It should function exactly the same way it does for the party, unless there is a damn good lore reason why it does not.

[Tamerlane]

It had better apply exactly the same way. There's no defensible reason to have the rules that govern the PCs be different from the rules that govern other characters.

To be fair, "PC and companions at zero stamina = game over" and "all enemies in a group have zero stamina = dead group" is a consistent application of the rules as we understand them...

But if there's some mechanism for my party to revive their unconscious comrades, then the same should be true of my enemies. And if some of the enemies are unconscious, and then I retreat, the enemies should be able to revive their unconscious comrades while I'm gone (just as my unconscious party members are revived at the end of any battle I win).

Yes, of course, provided they have the items/abilities to do it.

[Larkaloke]

I would assume (and hope) that it works the same for NPCs as for PCs. I think it would be interesting if you could choose not to kill, but instead only subdue, some of the enemy; capturing them could be useful at times. I wouldn't find finishing the enemy off to be tedious, and I would certainly rather it be necessary than that the NPCs would work on different mechanics than the PCs.