Well, if you are below level 32 and they don't have their full attack rotation they like to be suicidal and run in to use brawl just so they can do something. Henchmen in general don't like to just stand there when they are aggressed to something.
Other than that the AI just does it sometimes. Its a lot better than it used to be, but it still can be an issue.
EDIT: As an aside, it's a lot better to be an active FFer than a passive one. A lot more fun.
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Have a macro/bind to concentrate fire on one target/go wild and another to go back to bodyguard (follow/defensive). Follow/defensive will automatically draw your pets back towards you. Once they're close enough, hit the other macro to get them attacking again (or wait a few seconds while they're under fire).|
Originally Posted by digitalgm
I play a Robots/Force Field MM and I'm having a very tough time keeping my robots within my Dispersion Shield's radius. I use the goto command a lot, and even the Stay command, but they still tend to take off after the enemy.
Typically I have them set to aggressive. If I don't then they tend not to attack as much. Still, I'd think the stay command would keep them from taking off. I literally have to keep tapping it. And is there a way from stopping the robots from spontaneously running off to melee people? Any ideas? |
There's no lazy way around it, really. That's all there is to it.
Wow. Thanks for the reply gang, but it's BS that, as a mastermind, I can't tell my p.o.s. henchmen to stand and fire on someone. Jesus, really? I went with the mastermind because I like the tactical approach but I'm tired on babysitting moronic suicidal AIs. We've been fighting this garbled AI crap for years and it still sucks. Everything seemed somewhat acceptable a few months back. You know, when Protector bots would get stuck by their own seeker bots. Now I can't stop these idiots from going berserk; especially when fighting on multiple fronts.
FIX THE FREAKIN AI! I don't need additional power sets, I just need more options for controlling my freakin henchmen!
I am an active FFer Aramina. Force Bubble doesn't keep everyone out. The Dispersion Field necessitates movement if you are using it to keep opponents away from your henchmen. Yet another reason why the robots need to stop moving around.
If Robotics AI is frustrating you, be glad you didn't roll Necromancy. Give an unaggroed zombie a goto command and he might just literally run in the opposite direction.
I noticed that something is wonky with the zombies! I only play my necro/pain as a healer in groups. I never really concentrate too much on the zombies but they seem even worse than the robots AI wise. I guess its the melee AI or something.
My mercs seem to get it though. Stay still and fire. Oh, and they don't have freaky AI collisions like bots do. Have you ever used goto on a slope with bots? The assault bot will run back and forth trying to get a space. Too bad each bot is the size of a Mac truck and the AI can't cope with it. Wee!!! Yay for crap programming!!! I wonder if Champions henchmen will have the terrible AI that Cryptic dumped on us here. Poor Paragon Studio... they got a lot of fixing up to do here.
Well, with both the Equips/Upgrades the only ones that might run into melee are the Drones, but most of the time your pets have something to do(Like animating) while attacks recharge. Previous to 32, consider bringing your fight a little closer to your enemies.
I tend to use the "attack" and "heel" commands.
You must be putting them in "defense" mode if they are running away.
With "heel", they won't leave you, but they won't attack either.
Here's how I use it.
I'll use Ninjas for example, because I really keep a tight leash on them.
I like them to use their ranged attacks until the enemy gets closer, because that's just my play style. I put them in "attack mode" they run out to "ranged attack" range and huck a shuriken or take a bow shot. As soon as they do, I put them in "heel" mode, and they run back toward me. As soon as they are back near me, I switch them back to attack mode, by then the ranged attack have usually recharged and they throw or shoot again.
I do the same thing with my Thugs/FF mastermind, but we all know that the ninja are a bit more frisky to get into melee range, so showing the ability to control them goes a long way - and, since robots have even more ranged attacks, it should be even easier to control them with the "attack"/"heel" method I explained.
I have those two commands as buttons in my tray btw. You can drag them from the pet window directly into the tray.
I use the goto command a lot. It seems to put them in aggressive irc. I also try to use the stay command which, really, other than keeping your robots put out of combat, does it do anything in combat?
I like to put my robots in front of me with a goto so they can grab aggro and then I move into the middle of them to shield them. Most of the time they will stay put but I'm noticing that enemies are running away a lot so my robots will take off after them. And if not running away robots do a lot of knockback which also causes my robots to run towards the enemy.
Is there a better way of moving the bots in, having them fire on everyone and then keeping them close? if not, I'm probably bailing. And no, you can't have my stuff. 
I edited several of my pet control buttons. I have Attack/Aggressive (default), Attack/Defensive, Follow/Defensive (default), Stay/Defensive, Goto/Defensive and Follow/Passive (default).
The Attack/Defensive seems to do well at getting pets to fight without chasing after something across half the map. Word to the wise however, in case it needs to be said; this stance cancels bodyguard mode, though they automatically re-enter it when no longer aggro'd.
Where to find me after the end:
The Secret World - Arcadia - Shinzo
Rift - Faeblight - Bloodspeaker
LotRO - Gladden - Aranelion
STO - Holodeck - @Captain_Thiraas
Obviously, I don't care about NCSoft's forum rules, now.
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With thanks to SANDOLPHAN for her excellent work, check here http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...ght=sandolphan|
Originally Posted by digitalgm
I play a Robots/Force Field MM and I'm having a very tough time keeping my robots within my Dispersion Shield's radius. I use the goto command a lot, and even the Stay command, but they still tend to take off after the enemy.
Typically I have them set to aggressive. If I don't then they tend not to attack as much. Still, I'd think the stay command would keep them from taking off. I literally have to keep tapping it. And is there a way from stopping the robots from spontaneously running off to melee people? Any ideas? |
Just copy and then paste into the chat window the binds you need for the appropriate pets. Remeber to hit <Enter> after each paste.
In your case, copy and paste the "ALL PETS:" bind, then go to the "ROBOT (MINION, LIEUTENANT, BOSS):" section. It has 3 parts. Copy and paste each part separately into your chat window.This will give you extraordinary control.
The '0' key on yer numeric keypad will set all yer bots on notice.. meaning the next command you use will go to all bots.
Then you use yer Numeric Keypad to issue all your commands.
The '1' key will set only your Battle bots to receive the next command.
The '2' key will set only your Protector bots to receive the next command.
The '3' key will set only your Assault bot to receive the next command.
The '4' key will set your bots on 'Aggressive'. So they will attack anything in aggressive range.
The '5' key will set yer bots on 'Defensive' otherwise known as 'Bodyguard' mode.
The '6' key will set yer bots on 'Passive' mode. So they wont attack anything.
'7' tells yer bots to attack the target you are targeting. (If you are targeting through a teammate otherwise known as an assist, yer bots will attack nothing. You have to have acquired the target yerself)
'8' tells yer bots to follow you.
'9' is the goto command. It activates the 'goto' targeting reticule.
So, lets say you want all yer bots to switch to 'Bodyguard mode'. That's '0' then '5' (you hit these keys sequentially, not at the same time)
Once you've selected which bots you want to something, any all future command will always go only to those bots until you select different bots. In other words, once you've hit '0', all commands from the numeric keypad will got to all bots.
So, to attack my target, hit 0, then 7
All bots follow me, 8
All bots passive, 6
Protector Bots Defensive, Battle Botts Aggressive, 2, 5, 3, 6
But you almost will never issue commands to just one tier of bots. You'll almost never use any keys except for
0 all bots
4 aggressive
5 defensive
6 passive
7 attack my target
8 follow me
9 goto
Might sound complicated, but try it. You'll find it much easier to keep yer bots near you. (There will always be one bot who's got a screw loose somewhere and runs suicidally into the fray, but the others will stick by yor side rather well)
Hope I didn't put you off by over explaining, or making the post too big.
"The one thing that can stop a full team of MasterMinds dead in its tracks... a doorway!" --Frogfather
OMG! I made the mistake of clicking on that link... that's a heck of a lot of info. Well, time to stop yackin and take a shot at it. I'll probably start with just the info in your post. Thanks Neo!!!
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You are most welcome. I hope it all works awesome for you.|
Originally Posted by digitalgm
OMG! I made the mistake of clicking on that link... that's a heck of a lot of info. Well, time to stop yackin and take a shot at it. I'll probably start with just the info in your post. Thanks Neo!!!
|
Don't worry about all the info in Sandophine's guide. You only need concern yerself with the bots section, and the one tiny "All Pets" section.
Oh, I forgot to mention... there are two methods in Sandophans guide. I pointed out the Numeric Keypad method because its so much easier to copy and paste the commands into your chat window. If you use the Keypad method, then don't concern yerself with the section that covers the Text file system. Its alot more work to use the Text file method, although its a very cool system. That's the section that starts after INDIVIDUAL BY NAME (note: change MinionA, MinionB, MinionC, LieutenantA, LieutenantB to your names):
Its easy to get the hang of using the numeric keypad system, and once you do, you'll probably remove the 3 default command buttons from yer tray to make room.
Enjoy!
"The one thing that can stop a full team of MasterMinds dead in its tracks... a doorway!" --Frogfather
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I do that too. Since all my commands are bound to keys (Sandophine's guide), I press the key for "Aggressive/Attack My Target" and they attack from range. Then while they're shooting, I immediately press the key for "Body Guard" mode to keep them near me, then I immediately press the key for "Aggressive/Attack My Target" again. It may seem tideous, but it's really only a few key presses and it keeps those morons in line.
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Originally Posted by The_Alt_oholic
I like them to use their ranged attacks until the enemy gets closer, because that's just my play style. I put them in "attack mode" they run out to "ranged attack" range and huck a shuriken or take a bow shot. As soon as they do, I put them in "heel" mode, and they run back toward me. As soon as they are back near me, I switch them back to attack mode, by then the ranged attack have usually recharged and they throw or shoot again. |
I have really good luck with just having 3 pet command macros.
ST (For single target) - Attack my target, defensive mode. They go after that target, usually a boss or other key mob.
AE (For "AOE") - Goto + aggressive mode. I send them off to a side from the pack of mobs so I can keep my eye on them on teams. This isn't necessarily AOE but it's the idea, they are using their AI to attack things in thier area. The bots have a great range, and I can set this pretty far from the pack and they behave right, or I can put them up closer to ensure they are going to town on a wider variety.
BG (For Bodyguard mode) - Follow Me, go Defensive
(and the built in heel for just back off, but I dont find I use it much)
I find those three commands allow me to play the game fine. When my pets misbehave, I use AE to push them to a new spot and go to town, or I just pick a semi-random enemy to focus on and that get's their minds right.
I play a Robots/Force Field MM and I'm having a very tough time keeping my robots within my Dispersion Shield's radius. I use the goto command a lot, and even the Stay command, but they still tend to take off after the enemy.
Typically I have them set to aggressive. If I don't then they tend not to attack as much. Still, I'd think the stay command would keep them from taking off. I literally have to keep tapping it.
And is there a way from stopping the robots from spontaneously running off to melee people?
Any ideas?