Please fix this in POE2!

[Hebruixe]

In POE1, friendly fire incidents make allied NPCs turn hostile. It's way too easy to make this happen and it doesn't make sense.

 

Example. I sided with Mestre Verzano and fought the Doemenels to protect him and save his life. Without my intervention, Mestre Verzano would have been butchered by the Doemenels. He was begging for his life, pleading with me to save him. So I attacked the Doemenels when they showed up to kill Verzano. But due to a friendly fire incident -- I think Aloth might have sneezed on Verzano -- Verzano turned hostile and backstabbed me.

 

It was hilarious, frustrating, and utterly nonsensical. Please fix this. Make NPCs in POE2 a bit more forgiving, for the love of Eothas. Thanks.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Hebruixe

[teenparty]

And let us heal them with spells that targets individual characters.

[injurai]

Just because I have a ring of fire resist, doesn't mean you can get away with directing your flamethrower at me. You didn't even know about the ring.

[Sonntam]

It's not so difficult to simply not to use AoEs that harm indiscriminately friends and foes. I don't see what's the big fuzz about this.

 

 

And let us heal them with spells that targets individual characters.

 

That would be cool, yeah.

[Lord_Mord]

What is "this"? I didn't read.

[Hebruixe]

What is "this"? I didn't read.

 

I'm pretty sure that a written response will not compensate for your illiteracy.

[teenparty]

 

What is "this"? I didn't read.

 

I'm pretty sure that a written response will not compensate for your illiteracy.

 

Then why are you telling him that in writing?

[Ark Evensong]

Regardless of snark, non-descriptive topic titles are pretty annoying.

[hilfazer]

Obsidian has made an encounter with unique challange and people complain.

 

 

BTW in POE2 you will be able to retarget (at least some) spells.

[Volvox]

That's what Area of Effect Highlighting is for.

 

Incidents like the one the OP described are also easily avoidable by simply not using AoE spells or abilities that are very likely to backfire in crowded close quarters combat situations.

[rjshae]

In POE1, friendly fire incidents make allied NPCs turn hostile. It's way too easy to make this happen and it doesn't make sense.

 

No, it makes complete sense. But perhaps a plausible alternative would be to have them make a morale check and, if they fail, turn fearful and flee the battlefield.

[demeisen]

I don't have a problem with needing to avoid hitting allied NPCs - it makes some sense.  It would, however, be nice if they would avoid charging headlong into an existing AOE DOT field.  There have been times I've been very careful to avoid hitting them with anything, but then they seem to think it's a good plan to walk into a DOT area, start taking damage, and get angry.

​

​Oh - editing here to add that sometimes it happens even after a battle is over.  I used AOE DOTs because no allied NPCs are there.  Last enemy goes down, battle finishes, and some allied NPCs appear and walk over (I didn't know they would), run over into the still-running DOTs, and get mad at me.

​

Edited February 22, 2017 by demeisen

[Leferd]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't friendly fire also a product of the difficulty setting?

[Hebruixe]

It's bad AI design. Having an ally mindlessly turn into an enemy is unrealistic and stupid. If it's not clear why, read my example in the original post.

 

Good AI design would make an NPC aware of whether the friendly fire incident was his fault (by stupidly wandering into the fire) or a deliberate betrayal by the player (by recognizing being singled out and purposely targeted). 

 

Good AI design should allow the player to "apologize" if needed -- whether in dialogue or simply by clicking an apologize button.

 

Good AI design should recognize the NPC's circumstances and adjust their behavior accordingly. An NPC like Verzano should realize that turning hostile against the player (his savior in that situation) is suicide. He depends on the player to save his life. Turning hostile is totally out of character for Verzano. So he should be much more forgiving toward the player. Not all NPCs need to be like Verzano. But their AI should be in character with their scripted personalities.

 

I know it's possible to play the game "more carefully" in a way that bypasses these horrible AI glitches. But that doesn't make bad AI good AI. It's still awful. And I hope they change it in POE2.

[Hebruixe]

Obsidian has made an encounter with unique challange and people complain.

 

 

BTW in POE2 you will be able to retarget (at least some) spells.

 

 I'm all for unique and intelligently written encounters. But there's nothing intelligent about Verzano's petty and suicidal betrayal of the player.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Hebruixe

[Lord_Mord]

Then why are you telling him that in writing?

 

Because I hate clickbait-titles.

[Katarack21]

Obsidian has made an encounter with unique challange and people complain.

 

 

BTW in POE2 you will be able to retarget (at least some) spells.

 

A "unique challenge" can still suck, you know. Unique isn't a synonym for "fun" or "awesome". This particular encounter can be very frustrating.

[Kirk]

Example. I sided with Mestre Verzano and fought the Doemenels to protect him and save his life. Without my intervention, Mestre Verzano would have been butchered by the Doemenels. He was begging for his life, pleading with me to save him. So I attacked the Doemenels when they showed up to kill Verzano. But due to a friendly fire incident -- I think Aloth might have sneezed on Verzano -- Verzano turned hostile and backstabbed me.

 

 

So, roughly speaking, you went to the small room, you detonated a little bomb and now you're complaining that the owner of this place was a little bit upset and wasn't grateful enough, huh?

 

Imagine the same situation in real life - for this poor fellow you were just the same threat to his life as Doemenels were and his behaviour was absolutely right. He was just defending himself and was afraid of you cause of stupidity of the action you undertook.

Edited February 27, 2017 by Kirk

[JerekKruger]

 

Then why are you telling him that in writing?

 

Because I hate clickbait-titles.

 

 

So you wouldn't be interested in my "seven weird tricks to make Ydwin love you" thread?

[Lord_Mord]

 

So you wouldn't be interested in my "seven weird tricks to make Ydwin love you" thread?

 

I would have a hard time ignoring it, but I would do my best to resist.

[Ninjamestari]

 

Then why are you telling him that in writing?

 

Because I hate clickbait-titles.

 

 

You're too quick to judge here. The OP might lack in the title, but the text does present a genuine, albeit minor, issue.

[Lord_Mord]

 

You're too quick to judge here. The OP might lack in the title, but the text does present a genuine, albeit minor, issue.

 

Sadly I'll never find out. If it's an interesting issue, he could have mentioned it in the title.

[Kirk]

The OP might lack in the title, but the text does present a genuine, albeit minor, issue.

 

 

Like, "don't throw fireball here and there if you're in a small room"?

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

It could be a decent idea to give you one or two "freebie" hits, the problem is that one freebie hit plus a second could instakill a lot of NPC's. 

[rjshae]

I'm still not fond of the Monk class, even with the revisions in PoE. In AD&D, the class is a damage magnet, so it ended up consuming an inordinate amount of party healing resources. That's still true in PoE, and even though it is presented as a virtue for this class, it still seems to end up causing the party to need to rest more. But perhaps I played it wrong?