Improving AI and Encounter Design

[Ohioastro]

I see a lot of threads where people try to redesign the rules of the game to alter some perceived imbalance - anything from a dislike of some of the basic systems to a perception that the game is "too easy" or deviates in some other way from earlier games.

 

I'd like to see if we can have a thread that focuses instead on ways to improve the game experience within the current rules by suggesting improvements in how encounters are designed and how the AI behaves.  To start the ball rolling, here are some suggestions:

 

1) Focus on the linchpin (or boss) encounters.  In a system with per day abilities it's going to be difficult to balance normal encounters (e.g. a couple of trolls or a handful of humanoids) for two reasons: players can control the terrain, doing things like using doors for chokepoints, and they can burn as many spells as they need to win.  For the key encounters - usually ones that end quests or block further progress - you can design them around players using all spells (avoiding fruitless "rest spam abuser" arguments) and, as noted below, you can control the terrain to make for a more challenging and interesting experience.

 

2) At higher difficulties, control the tactical terrain for bosses.  There are many ways to do that : a cutscene where players are marched up to talk to an NPC (we have this now); events (e.g. use a grappling hook to cross a bridge) could be used to have a passage crumble or a gate slam behind; secret doors slide open behind the party, causing enemies to approach from different angles.  Any of these can be used to start encounters with the players not hiding behind a door or positioned relative to the enemies in some desired way.  You can also have off-screen reinforcements appear during the battle.  I suspect that this change, by itself, will significantly reduce the number of people who claim that the game is too easy.  It will also reduce the "kill the wizard with guns before the battle" syndrome.

 

3) Have the AI prioritize targets like players do.  Players don't focus on tough melee targets: they attack vulnerable and dangerous targets.  Have the AI prioritize "dangerous" targets more and gang up on them more.  This is especially true for ranged targets.

 

4) Use tools to break engagement and chokepoints.  Use knockbacks to push players out of doors; use knockdowns to break engagement and charge the backfield.

 

5) Don't stand in the fire. The AI will frequently leave combatants standing in zones that freeze, blind, or interrupt their actions.  Prioritize moving out of them quickly (this can go with the "breaking engagement" items above.)  As a complement, use abilities that restore status.

 

6) Have more loops.  Have more setups where the AI can send attackers around from multiple directions, reducing the value of chokepoints.

 

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Any other ideas / concepts?  If possible, I'd really like to see what is possible in the current rule set, changing simply encounter design and AI, to see how much better the game could be within that framework.