Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu?

jnericsonx N3 Posts: 315 Likes: 403 jnericsonx inherit Male 2432 0 Dec 21, 2021 1:14:56 GMT 403 jnericsonx 315 N3 Dec 19, 2016 4:47:34 GMT December 2016 jnericsonx	Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 17, 2017 8:29:33 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by jnericsonx on Jan 17, 2017 8:29:33 GMT Even if they're checked off under Tactics?

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 17, 2017 8:59:45 GMT BansheeOwnage likes this

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Post by Nightscrawl on Jan 17, 2017 8:59:45 GMT

No. They will only use abilities that are on their bar.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 17, 2017 20:06:24 GMT ioannisdenton likes this

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Post by sjsharp2010 on Jan 17, 2017 20:06:24 GMT

It dosen't matter if they're on the bar or not. What matters is what they're set to. If you set them to enabled or preferred they'll use them but if you disable them then they won't.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 17, 2017 21:07:18 GMT

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Post by jnericsonx on Jan 17, 2017 21:07:18 GMT

So, as long as they're checked off, even if they're not on their 1 and 2 sections of Battle Menu, they can use them. Good to know. I might actually get a few Focus powers then so I can manually fire them off.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 17, 2017 21:24:53 GMT

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Post by Gilli on Jan 17, 2017 21:24:53 GMT

Focus skills won't be used by default, even if they're in the task bar.

Except if you put them to prefered.

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jnericsonx N3 Posts: 315 Likes: 403 jnericsonx inherit Male 2432 0 Dec 21, 2021 1:14:56 GMT 403 jnericsonx 315 N3 Dec 19, 2016 4:47:34 GMT December 2016 jnericsonx	Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 17, 2017 23:16:26 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by jnericsonx on Jan 17, 2017 23:16:26 GMT Oh, no, by that I mean I can put them on a Battle Menu spot, so I can manually use them, so a normal power can still get used by the companion AI even if not on Battle Menu.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 18, 2017 0:56:34 GMT dragontartare likes this

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Post by phoray on Jan 18, 2017 0:56:34 GMT

It was my understanding that the 8 battle skill slots for companions are irrelevant except when you control them, and that they actually have access to all of their skills. I've been jealous of this fact. I NEVER set my companion's 8 action slots, so if their actions are dependent on that than MAN have I played the game 4 times REALLY wrong.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 19, 2017 2:29:35 GMT

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Post by PapaCharlie9 on Jan 19, 2017 2:29:35 GMT

Wellll ... I used to believe that just having them set to Disabled was sufficient, but I heard from enough people I respect that, in their experience, it wasn't enough, that you also had to remove the ability from the hot key loadout to completely prevent the AI from using it, that now I do that also, just in case.

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jnericsonx N3 Posts: 315 Likes: 403 jnericsonx inherit Male 2432 0 Dec 21, 2021 1:14:56 GMT 403 jnericsonx 315 N3 Dec 19, 2016 4:47:34 GMT December 2016 jnericsonx	Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 7:03:38 GMT phoray likes this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by jnericsonx on Jan 20, 2017 7:03:38 GMT Ok, I think they only use ones on their Battle Menu, because, for testing, I took Solas's Barrier off, but set it to preferred, started a fight and....Nothing.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 19:30:09 GMT via mobile

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Post by phoray on Jan 20, 2017 19:30:09 GMT

Jan 20, 2017 7:03:38 GMT jnericsonx said:

Ok, I think they only use ones on their Battle Menu, because, for testing, I took Solas's Barrier off, but set it to preferred, started a fight and....Nothing.

Well great. Maybe this is why some fights just seem impossible even after I tweak a bunch of things.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 19:47:20 GMT

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Post by Iakus on Jan 20, 2017 19:47:20 GMT

Jan 20, 2017 7:03:38 GMT jnericsonx said:

Ok, I think they only use ones on their Battle Menu, because, for testing, I took Solas's Barrier off, but set it to preferred, started a fight and....Nothing.

Yay "streamlining" <_<

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 19:52:09 GMT

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Post by PapaCharlie9 on Jan 20, 2017 19:52:09 GMT

Jan 20, 2017 7:03:38 GMT jnericsonx said:

Ok, I think they only use ones on their Battle Menu, because, for testing, I took Solas's Barrier off, but set it to preferred, started a fight and....Nothing.

Hang on, I detect a logic fallacy. All that proves is that it is necessary for a skill to be hotkeyed for the AI to use it. That doesn't prove that the AI will not use an ability that is hotkeyed but set to Disabled.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 20:16:41 GMT BansheeOwnage likes this

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Post by Nightscrawl on Jan 20, 2017 20:16:41 GMT

^ That was the OP's question, though, whether abilities had to be on the menu/bar in order for the AI to use them...

I thought that this was a known thing, which is why I initially responded as I did. I thought this had been established on Ye Olde BSN.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 20:41:07 GMT

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Post by PapaCharlie9 on Jan 20, 2017 20:41:07 GMT

Jan 20, 2017 20:16:41 GMT Nightscrawl said:

^ That was the OP's question, though, whether abilities had to be on the menu/bar in order for the AI to use them...

I thought that this was a known thing, which is why I initially responded as I did. I thought this had been established on Ye Olde BSN.

You're right about the title, but I read the OP as a second/follow-up question. I'd rephrase title and OP as:

Can the AI use an ability that is not on a hotkey?

Can the AI use an ability that is on a hotkey but is disabled?

Last Edit: Jan 20, 2017 20:42:11 GMT by PapaCharlie9

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 21:40:20 GMT via mobile

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Post by phoray on Jan 20, 2017 21:40:20 GMT

Jan 20, 2017 20:16:41 GMT Nightscrawl said:

^ That was the OP's question, though, whether abilities had to be on the menu/bar in order for the AI to use them...

I thought that this was a known thing, which is why I initially responded as I did. I thought this had been established on Ye Olde BSN.

I was only on BSN prime for 3 months before it closed and battle mechanics have never been my #1 thing. So, I haven't even known this little factoid, or even thought to wonder.

Also,new players will hit this forum as well, having never been on old BSN either.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 20, 2017 21:54:09 GMT

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Post by BansheeOwnage on Jan 20, 2017 21:54:09 GMT

I've never noticed a companion use a power that wasn't on their hotkey list, personally. I don't think they can.

And Suvi, the threads you followed led you here to me. How could that have been a mistake?
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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 21, 2017 2:59:28 GMT PapaCharlie9 likes this

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Post by melbella on Jan 21, 2017 2:59:28 GMT

I've had Dorian use Fire Mine after I deliberately took it off his hot bar so he *wouldn't* use it, so that one is definitely a yes.

Not sure about the other way around though. I guess if you disable something, why would you keep it on the hot bar instead of replacing it with something you might want to use instead?

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 21, 2017 3:18:13 GMT

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Post by phoray on Jan 21, 2017 3:18:13 GMT

I'm confused about what's being discussed.

My Quiz has 8 abilities tied to my Square/Circle/Triangle and R1 buttons that total 8 in all. I will refer to this as the "hot keys."

Are you guys saying that my companions can only use what has been placed in their "hot key" section, regardless of preferred/enabled status in their AI programming? Regardless of any other skills they may have on other skill trees?

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 21, 2017 3:22:21 GMT

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Post by melbella on Jan 21, 2017 3:22:21 GMT

phoray
No, we're saying the opposite. Companions CAN (and do, in my experience) use abilities that are not hot-keyed, so long as they are not set to "disabled" in the tactics menu.

The unanswered question is: if something IS set to disabled but still hot-keyed, can they use it anyway?

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 21, 2017 3:28:30 GMT

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Post by phoray on Jan 21, 2017 3:28:30 GMT

melbella

Oh, thank goodness, that's a relief. I have never bothered to set those up because my perfect world is set the AI and set up their gear, and leave them to it.

I can not answer the actual question. I've only ever disabled Iron Bull's reaver abilities in one game, and he did seem to die slightly less after doing so. And since I don't pay attention to hot keys...ya. not helpful.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 21, 2017 18:30:54 GMT

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Post by jnericsonx on Jan 21, 2017 18:30:54 GMT

Except then I'm confused, because my AI Mages always use Barrier at the start of a fight, but for arguments sake, I took Barrier off Solas's hot keys, but did leave it in his menu as Enabled/Preferred,but he still never used it! Now, maybe this is a PC thing, but I'm playing on PS4,and before that, X360.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 21, 2017 19:29:43 GMT

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Post by PapaCharlie9 on Jan 21, 2017 19:29:43 GMT

It is confusing. We have conflicting observations. Assuming the observations are accurate -- for example, not a proc of a Fade-Touched Masterwork masquerading as an AI ability usage -- this suggests it's not an all-or-nothing effect.

What we can say is that, in some cases, the AI will use an ability even when it isn't on a hotkey.

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jnericsonx N3 Posts: 315 Likes: 403 jnericsonx inherit Male 2432 0 Dec 21, 2021 1:14:56 GMT 403 jnericsonx 315 N3 Dec 19, 2016 4:47:34 GMT December 2016 jnericsonx	Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 22, 2017 5:41:40 GMT Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by jnericsonx on Jan 22, 2017 5:41:40 GMT Lovely. That's kinda annoying, it'd be nice to have a few companions take a Focus Power(So I can manually use it), but not if its a crapshoot if they use a power that's not on their hotkeys.

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 22, 2017 18:50:12 GMT

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Post by PapaCharlie9 on Jan 22, 2017 18:50:12 GMT

Jan 22, 2017 5:41:40 GMT jnericsonx said:

Lovely. That's kinda annoying, it'd be nice to have a few companions take a Focus Power(So I can manually use it), but not if its a crapshoot if they use a power that's not on their hotkeys.

I don't think it's that bad. I have never seen the AI use an ability that was both not a hotkey and not enabled (disabled). Do both of those things and I think you are fine. This is on 7 runs, over 500 hours total.

I'm not sure if the focus bar will fill up if you don't have the a focus ability on the hotkey, though. You'll have to try it. It's possible you really are SOL if focus won't accumulate.

Last Edit: Jan 22, 2017 18:51:50 GMT by PapaCharlie9

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Do companions use powers NOT on their battle menu? Jan 22, 2017 21:33:24 GMT

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Post by cooldude on Jan 22, 2017 21:33:24 GMT

Jan 17, 2017 8:59:45 GMT Nightscrawl said:

No. They will only use abilities that are on their bar.

I tested this after hearing about this on the old forums, and found it not to be true. I took Winters grasp off of Sola's action bar, but had it set to preferred, and he still used winters grasp. Might be a bug, where sometimes they do and sometimes they do not.

Last Edit: Jan 22, 2017 21:37:19 GMT by cooldude

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