The party AI is obnoxiously bad

[Realitymonster]

So I was just in a big quest fight. I had Grieving Mother try to cast an AoE spell on one of my party members. While she was en route, she stopped to take a swing at a pack of enemies that didn't even engage her. Why? Why would she do that? I see that happen all the time.

 

I thought it might have to do with autoattack, but I have autoattack disabled. (This was evidenced by two of my melee characters standing around not attacking two enemies nearby that had briefly been dominated but had recovered.)

 

I don't mind micro-management, but I can't rely on commands I issue to be completed even though there's nothing actually stopping them. 

 

In-combat pathfinding is mysteriously worse, too. Characters will walk into the backs of friendly units rather than take a longer, available path around. This isn't isolated to specific maps; I don't think there's a problem with marking the walkable mesh or something. (It literally looks like the A* pathfinding has too limited a reach and it terminates before finding a valid path; is it a tactic to save CPU cycles when the AI is running? Or is it just a mistake? Or is it something else entirely? This is just my experience of what pathfinding algorithms look like when they fail.)

 

I really love the game, but bugs like this make me want to throw my mouse.

[Daemonjax]

You can shift-click to queue up a specific move path.

 

Would be cool if they were displayed on the screen with a line connecting them while paused, though.

[Matuse]

I also find it really annoying that party members with move orders will stop and start attacking for no discernable reason.

 

Just as bad is when you order someone to move a couple selection circle diameters to the right (with an open route there) and they immediately bolt to the left and try to circle around the entire melee scrum to get there.

 

I'd also like it if my front line people would not run forward into my own AOE effects when an enemy dies. If I have you standing in a place, STAND IN THAT PLACE. Don't go running off!

 

I'm not sure why basic movement AI has gone so far downhill since 1998.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Matuse

[Daemonjax]

STAND IN THAT PLACE. Don't go running off!

 

A per character guard position toggle would be appreciated.  It's more of a quality of life thing, though.

[Omnicron]

I agree, it is hugely frustrating. When you have a scripted pasty position like with Maerwald and you need to move your character into optimal positions quickly and they just keep colliding into one another if you do not give them step by step movements. Or worse yet, if you target him with a spell directly and they do not know how to go around

 

I don't remember which game this was (I think it was an RTS actually), but there were 3 options for your characters in terms of movement: 1. Stand where you are no matter what, 2. allowed to move short distance, but always return to your post once moved, and 3. chase enemies and move freely. A system like this for different party styles and encounters could be really useful. I would love it if my party did do auto-attacks, but did not chase enemies into my wall of fire O_o

[Daemonjax]

I don't remember which game this was (I think it was an RTS actually), but there were 3 options for your characters in terms of movement: 1. Stand where you are no matter what, 2. allowed to move short distance, but always return to your post once moved, and 3. chase enemies and move freely. A system like this for different party styles and encounters could be really useful. I would love it if my party did do auto-attacks, but did not chase enemies into my wall of fire O_o

 

I played it.  Dawn of War 2.  That whole franchise is grade A in the RTS genre.

Edited April 14, 2015 by Daemonjax

[HozzM]

Worst part about the AI is that they seem to prioritize targeting charmed/confused/dominated party members.  They should never target them.