Post by Lazarillo on Jan 30, 2018 0:30:05 GMT
In general, I feel like companion AIs don't really "understand" certain abilities. On my latest playthrough I've been using Sera a lot and I notice she'll pop Flask of Fire and then...spam regular attacks until it expires. She also likes to use Leaping Shot from very long range (something shared with a lot of "ranged" companions using short range attacks, like Fire/Ice Array, or Elemental Mines). The AI also seems pretty useless at managing Focus, for that matter. To that end, I'm curious what people think about different types of builds and abilities for companions. Here's how they seem to me:
Warriors:
-Weapon and shield: Shield Bash and Lunge-and-Slash are both pretty straightforward hits, with some built-in utility that is helpful, but not relied upon. Payback Strike only really "works" after a hit, not sure if the AI's any good at noting that aspect. Blocking abilities like Shield Wall, Block-and-Slash, and Parry for Rogues seem finicky at best (but I suppose that's necessary; if the AI read it too well, it'd be invincible with these in many fights).
-2-Handed: Most of the zweihander attacks should work, although I've not noticed how optimally it controls multiple rotations with Whirlwind.
-Battlemaster: Grappling Chain the AI actually seems to use better; it always fails when I use it manually, and Horn of Valor's pretty hard to use "wrong". War Horn's another I'm not so sure about.
-Vanguard: War Cry and Challenge seem to be well used, and though I don't have much experience with it, I imagine Livid would be as well, but I have zero experience with Bodyguard, even on the player character. Never wanted to "waste" a slot on it, but if other stuff isn't working anyway...maybe it could work? Charging Bull seems kinda 50/50, sometimes being useful, other times not being shut off quickly enough.
-Champion: Some mileage from Walking Fortress, not sure about En Garde...seems like it'd work well, but I never notice Blackwall using it or not. Line in the Sand is kinda lousy regardless.
-Templar: Wrath of Heaven seems strong, but Blessed Blades isn't really useful since it gets dropped at random times in random places. Spell Purge is great, but suffers in the same way Dispel does (more of that when I get to Mages).
-Reaver: A little too eager to drop a Ring of Pain, but the rest of the tree, once again, seems kinda 50/50. I've seen Bull kill himself by over Dragon Rage-ing, I've also seen a surprising amount of avoidance to using it at all. Not sure how the AI "thinks" it through.
Rogues:
-Dual daggers: Flank Attack is another "straightforward with bonus" that does well, and Spinning Blades seems to do similarly. Never specifically seen for or against that I've seen the AI wisely use Twin Fangs from behind or Deathblow as a finisher, though, so just unsure on those.
-Archery: Longshot and Explosive Shot, seem to do well while most Archer AI doesn't seem to really understand how Leaping Shot is supposed to work, so not so useful, there. Full Draw works best as an opening...I suspect it might be okay as a "on the bar, but disabled" sort of ability when you occasionally what a big nasty up front sort of critical hit.
-Sabotage: Poison Weapons seems okay since the AI likes to mostly basic attack anyway, but Caltrops and Toxic Cloud fall in the "AI tries to use this without looking for nearby enemies" trap. Throwing Daggers seems okay. Not sure there's much mileage to be found in Hook and Tackle, but I've never been enamored with that one even for the player.
-Subterfuge: Stealth is not used optimally, I'd imagine, but there are no real downsides, other than companion AIs sometimes getting "stuck" in it. Evade requires more precise situational awareness than the AI probably has, but Shadow Strike seems to work okay if paired with other Stealth tricks. I'm curious if Knockout Powder's any good, since it's one of the few ways for Rogues to set up combos.
-Artificer: Is there anything here that the AI doesn't screw up? Spike Trap suffers from the same problems as the Sabotage traps and Fallback Plan is poor anyway. Elemental Mines has the AI range issue, plus it seems to get switched randomly to the "throw one" upgrade, which is lousy.
-Assassin: Hidden blades is nice, not sure about the others. Knockout Bomb makes me wonder much like Knockout Powder. Mark of Death's great when manually controlled, but with one upgrade needs to be babysat (not sure how well the AI does at that) and with the other, the enemy tends to die before it's useful.
-Tempest: As noted in the intro, Flask of Fire seems an outright dud, but I can't imagine there's a "bad" way to use Flask of Lightning, so that's probably still okay. Frost might work all right for dagger Rogues but I can imagine is a disaster for archers.
Mages:
-Spirit: AI uses Barrier well...probably better than I would, so I usually give companions this one. Dispel is extremely useful but the AI uses it poorly. Thankfully, it's situational enough IMO that it can be a "put it on the bar and disable AI use" sort of thing, to be brought in manually when needed. Revival and Mind Blast are kinda poor regardless (and in the latter's case, I can imagine the AI probably uses it when nobody's around anyway).
-Storm: Chain Lightning is powerful, but only if used with a group, and AI doesn't seem to differentiate single bosses from large teams, so it's kinda in the middle. Energy Barrage is hard to do wrong, though. I have no real experience with Lightning Bolt or Static Cage, so I can't really comment there.
-Inferno: Immolate and Wall of Fire seem to be quite suited to the AI with the right upgrades (Wildfire and Wave of Flame, respectively), and Flashfire syncs up okay for Dorian, but there are enough other tricks useful tricks for him that it doesn't stand out. I don't have good experience with AI and mines. The single ones are often not placed appropriately to trigger, and the arrays tend to be used nowhere near actual enemies.
-Winter: Winter's Grasp is another fire-and-forget, so it works well for the AI (helpful with the AoE upgrade, but also the damage upgrade, if there's enough "other" cold attacks in the arsenal that it can be lucked onto). Fade Step is "LOL what does this do" for AI, and not worth bothering. Ice Mine, well, see Fire Mine, above. Not sure on Wall of Ice, but I imagine it's not used well. Blizzard seems worthwhile, if one is willing to go deep enough in the tree, and take the upgrade to make it a non-toggle.
-Knight-Enchanter: I have so much trouble with this one. With a Blade of Tidarion, it seems to work okay, otherwise the range problem seems to be out in full force half the time. It can be semi-avoided by putting Spirit Blade on Preferred, but Fade Cloak is as problematic as Fade Step and Stasis Field is poorly used, too.
-Necromancer: AI likes spamming Horror, and that's fine by me. Same with Spirit Mark, seems to add good damage. Walking Bomb's another "trigger" ability like Mark of Death...the damage looks sexy, but is the AI smart enough to use it well?
-Rift Mage: Not much to say here, all three abilities fulfill their function well under the AI, though Veilstrike's a little pricey, so I'll usually forego that one.
Thoughts/counterpoints? Anything I've misjudged?
Warriors:
-Weapon and shield: Shield Bash and Lunge-and-Slash are both pretty straightforward hits, with some built-in utility that is helpful, but not relied upon. Payback Strike only really "works" after a hit, not sure if the AI's any good at noting that aspect. Blocking abilities like Shield Wall, Block-and-Slash, and Parry for Rogues seem finicky at best (but I suppose that's necessary; if the AI read it too well, it'd be invincible with these in many fights).
-2-Handed: Most of the zweihander attacks should work, although I've not noticed how optimally it controls multiple rotations with Whirlwind.
-Battlemaster: Grappling Chain the AI actually seems to use better; it always fails when I use it manually, and Horn of Valor's pretty hard to use "wrong". War Horn's another I'm not so sure about.
-Vanguard: War Cry and Challenge seem to be well used, and though I don't have much experience with it, I imagine Livid would be as well, but I have zero experience with Bodyguard, even on the player character. Never wanted to "waste" a slot on it, but if other stuff isn't working anyway...maybe it could work? Charging Bull seems kinda 50/50, sometimes being useful, other times not being shut off quickly enough.
-Champion: Some mileage from Walking Fortress, not sure about En Garde...seems like it'd work well, but I never notice Blackwall using it or not. Line in the Sand is kinda lousy regardless.
-Templar: Wrath of Heaven seems strong, but Blessed Blades isn't really useful since it gets dropped at random times in random places. Spell Purge is great, but suffers in the same way Dispel does (more of that when I get to Mages).
-Reaver: A little too eager to drop a Ring of Pain, but the rest of the tree, once again, seems kinda 50/50. I've seen Bull kill himself by over Dragon Rage-ing, I've also seen a surprising amount of avoidance to using it at all. Not sure how the AI "thinks" it through.
Rogues:
-Dual daggers: Flank Attack is another "straightforward with bonus" that does well, and Spinning Blades seems to do similarly. Never specifically seen for or against that I've seen the AI wisely use Twin Fangs from behind or Deathblow as a finisher, though, so just unsure on those.
-Archery: Longshot and Explosive Shot, seem to do well while most Archer AI doesn't seem to really understand how Leaping Shot is supposed to work, so not so useful, there. Full Draw works best as an opening...I suspect it might be okay as a "on the bar, but disabled" sort of ability when you occasionally what a big nasty up front sort of critical hit.
-Sabotage: Poison Weapons seems okay since the AI likes to mostly basic attack anyway, but Caltrops and Toxic Cloud fall in the "AI tries to use this without looking for nearby enemies" trap. Throwing Daggers seems okay. Not sure there's much mileage to be found in Hook and Tackle, but I've never been enamored with that one even for the player.
-Subterfuge: Stealth is not used optimally, I'd imagine, but there are no real downsides, other than companion AIs sometimes getting "stuck" in it. Evade requires more precise situational awareness than the AI probably has, but Shadow Strike seems to work okay if paired with other Stealth tricks. I'm curious if Knockout Powder's any good, since it's one of the few ways for Rogues to set up combos.
-Artificer: Is there anything here that the AI doesn't screw up? Spike Trap suffers from the same problems as the Sabotage traps and Fallback Plan is poor anyway. Elemental Mines has the AI range issue, plus it seems to get switched randomly to the "throw one" upgrade, which is lousy.
-Assassin: Hidden blades is nice, not sure about the others. Knockout Bomb makes me wonder much like Knockout Powder. Mark of Death's great when manually controlled, but with one upgrade needs to be babysat (not sure how well the AI does at that) and with the other, the enemy tends to die before it's useful.
-Tempest: As noted in the intro, Flask of Fire seems an outright dud, but I can't imagine there's a "bad" way to use Flask of Lightning, so that's probably still okay. Frost might work all right for dagger Rogues but I can imagine is a disaster for archers.
Mages:
-Spirit: AI uses Barrier well...probably better than I would, so I usually give companions this one. Dispel is extremely useful but the AI uses it poorly. Thankfully, it's situational enough IMO that it can be a "put it on the bar and disable AI use" sort of thing, to be brought in manually when needed. Revival and Mind Blast are kinda poor regardless (and in the latter's case, I can imagine the AI probably uses it when nobody's around anyway).
-Storm: Chain Lightning is powerful, but only if used with a group, and AI doesn't seem to differentiate single bosses from large teams, so it's kinda in the middle. Energy Barrage is hard to do wrong, though. I have no real experience with Lightning Bolt or Static Cage, so I can't really comment there.
-Inferno: Immolate and Wall of Fire seem to be quite suited to the AI with the right upgrades (Wildfire and Wave of Flame, respectively), and Flashfire syncs up okay for Dorian, but there are enough other tricks useful tricks for him that it doesn't stand out. I don't have good experience with AI and mines. The single ones are often not placed appropriately to trigger, and the arrays tend to be used nowhere near actual enemies.
-Winter: Winter's Grasp is another fire-and-forget, so it works well for the AI (helpful with the AoE upgrade, but also the damage upgrade, if there's enough "other" cold attacks in the arsenal that it can be lucked onto). Fade Step is "LOL what does this do" for AI, and not worth bothering. Ice Mine, well, see Fire Mine, above. Not sure on Wall of Ice, but I imagine it's not used well. Blizzard seems worthwhile, if one is willing to go deep enough in the tree, and take the upgrade to make it a non-toggle.
-Knight-Enchanter: I have so much trouble with this one. With a Blade of Tidarion, it seems to work okay, otherwise the range problem seems to be out in full force half the time. It can be semi-avoided by putting Spirit Blade on Preferred, but Fade Cloak is as problematic as Fade Step and Stasis Field is poorly used, too.
-Necromancer: AI likes spamming Horror, and that's fine by me. Same with Spirit Mark, seems to add good damage. Walking Bomb's another "trigger" ability like Mark of Death...the damage looks sexy, but is the AI smart enough to use it well?
-Rift Mage: Not much to say here, all three abilities fulfill their function well under the AI, though Veilstrike's a little pricey, so I'll usually forego that one.
Thoughts/counterpoints? Anything I've misjudged?
