Solo Instances - NPCS Not dodging AOE.

I recall a solo instance where the npc's dodged the aoe's. Did SE just decide to uproot that idea and trash it or was it a wasted endeavor to expect this from that instance and beyond?

Easier to increase their hp relative to their intended "would dodge it if they could" rather than code and process them to recognize and dodge aoes properly, preferably with highest uptime. After all thei answer to walking enemies crossing thin air in a certain fight was to make them floating enemy modles instead of recode the movement ai. Not judging, just a glimps into the decision making process.

Well, if it's a PLD instance, the idea might be holding hate so that the AOE doesn't hit the targets in question. SCH has a similar "issue" but the idea is that you are suppose to be healing these targets so they aren't going to dodge all AOE's so you can do your job and heal said target when they take excessive damage.

I haven't really noticed a problem. The final SCH scenario had all allied NPCs dodging AOE. I think I encountered one at some point where they didn't, but it never put them at risk of dying, so I'm not worried about it.

I think it's recognized in Hall of Novice training, but my personal theory is that it's just not something people normally see. Because Echo blah blah blah. You don't see AOE circles when random icicles are falling off of buildings do you?

Wait- do you?

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Originally Posted by Airget

Well, if it's a PLD instance, the idea might be holding hate so that the AOE doesn't hit the targets in question. SCH has a similar "issue" but the idea is that you are suppose to be healing these targets so they aren't going to dodge all AOE's so you can do your job and heal said target when they take excessive damage.

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The only time where heals were heals

It's preparing you for multiplayer instances

The SCH quests had both.

When Alka Zolka and Landanel had the big markers over their head with massive circular AoEs around them, they both spread out and run to the arena edges like you should as a player.

Up until that point, every normal orange AoE meant nothing to the NPCs. Alka Zolka just ate them, but, as stated, his HP is so inflated, regular healing kept him perfectly fine. Same for Setoto and Landanel.


So, I guess it's case by case. As they reacted accordingly to special skills but not to the ordinary ones.

Most NPC's where the NPC is not the "duty failed" objective don't dodge AOE's. Look at any FATE that involves NPC's.

The Job-specific NPC's may or may not avoid AOE's. The problem is that in most solo instances, the guy you're supposed to protect/heal already has enough HP to just sponge damage (exception most of the WHM's job quests, where you're supposed to heal certain characters. In the case of the level 70 one, you may end up throwing everything including benediction on the NPC while you take out voidsent.) What you're instead supposed to do is collect the hate of anything with an AOE to avoid the NPC's taking the damage.

More or less, the game's AI needs an improvement, for both AI-controlled friendlies and AI-controlled enemies to actually try to dodge AOE's.

Other games, incidentally have done such things and typically the result is that melee characters simply take the damage instead of trying to dodge it. If you make the AI too reactive, it will react faster than the player. Thus you get the unbeatable monster. Which incidentally, that is how the "ledgendary monster", "field boss", and such type of monsters originated in Ultima Online. Because the monsters in that game ALSO leveled up by defeating players, that's where players first decided to band together to take down Ultra-powerful monsters.

So to have AI players with "human" like reaction times requires making them react after 1.5 seconds to AOE's, often not enough time to dodge an AOE since the cast time is 2.5 seconds for most skills.

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Originally Posted by Ametrine

The SCH quests had both.

When Alka Zolka and Landanel had the big markers over their head with massive circular AoEs around them, they both spread out and run to the arena edges like you should as a player.

Up until that point, every normal orange AoE meant nothing to the NPCs. Alka Zolka just ate them, but, as stated, his HP is so inflated, regular healing kept him perfectly fine. Same for Setoto and Landanel.


So, I guess it's case by case. As they reacted accordingly to special skills but not to the ordinary ones.

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I was so excited to see the NPCs reacting to AoEs in that fight. They were finally able to code them to move, so I was hoping maybe we'd see a lot smarter NPC companions in this expansion.

...then I did AST. Nope! :p

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Originally Posted by Rhindas

I was so excited to see the NPCs reacting to AoEs in that fight. They were finally able to code them to move, so I was hoping maybe we'd see a lot smarter NPC companions in this expansion.

...then I did AST. Nope! :p

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AST has that one scripted battle where you pick off characters from the enemy's team one by one.

Most AI in the game is essentially scripted for the instance, so that's why we don't see it. If they make it so that you could take the class/job NPC's and the scions into party dungeons, they would have to improve the AI.

The RDM level 60 quest was a pain because the npc just ate absolutely everything.

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Originally Posted by Sayora

The RDM level 60 quest was a pain because the npc just ate absolutely everything.

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Everyone seems to have had trouble with this quest but it was rather easy...

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Originally Posted by Ametrine

The SCH quests had both.

When Alka Zolka and Landanel had the big markers over their head with massive circular AoEs around them, they both spread out and run to the arena edges like you should as a player.

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I loved that! And I was so happy my group spells actually affected them. But you're right, a couple of times Alka just stood there and ate it and I'm like "Y U move for big circle but not giant orange cone?"