I just want my robots to attack without moving.. Is this possible ?

Good to know there's a fix incoming, at least. I encountered this problem for the first time this weekend... with nothing but an immobilize and a caltrops patch to protect my bots by keeping enemies at range, my young MM had a little trouble keeping them safe when they kept charging enthusiastically enough that you'd think they were brutes.

I don't think that would solve the problem as it certainly doesn't explain why Phantasm happily wades into melee despite only having three powers, the shortest of which is 40ft.

I think I get what you're trying to accomplish. With the power of macros you can bring your pets to life. DISCLAIMER: The definition of "bring to life" varies.

Macro the first will make them stay. Type the line below, a gray button appears in your tray:
/macro Stay petcom_all Stay

Second command in macro form is to control their position. Click the buttton and a target allows you to send them to a location within range:
/macro Goto petcom_all Goto


Pulling With Pets:
Yes, it's possible. I do it all the time. Put the Pets in Heal mode. Find a corner to leave them in Stay. Now target the straggler from the group. Run back behind the corner and hit the Attack button. Now quickly hit the GoTo macro-button and place them by your side still around the corner. I allow my Pets to get only one shot off before the GoTo.

To get them to attack and not move experiment with the Attack, Follow, GoTo, Stay, different locations, timing, . . .

As far as Guides you might want to read Red_Zeros. And. . . don't forget:
/macro RP petcom_all release_pets
I use my Bots like puppets on strings.

Libbey, have you actually logged in and PLAYED your bots since I17 went live???

Don't talk to us like were all children. I have a level 50 bots/traps mm I've been playing for over a year. I rock +1/6 man team and have soloed 50 avs, including Baphomet and a level 51 Clockwork King. Sorry, 49 avs and one Rikti Pylon.

So I know how to manage my pets. And since I17 came out my bots act like brutes. They'd much rather rush into melee range and HIT someone than shoot them from a safe distance. GOTO does nothing. STAY does nothing.

Pet AI was changed so demons will enter into melee. That is great for demons, ninjas, zombies and the bruiser. But I don't want to play those types of MMs because most avs have nasty pbaoe attacks that will nuke your pet stack.

I want to place my bots in one spot while I stand on the opposite side of a mob or a boss and taunt them. I don't think that is asking too much.

Yes I have. I tested strategies before posting. I play lvl 50 Bots/FF, lvl 46 Zombie/Poison, and lvl 28 Thugs/Dark. Albiet it was late the night I tested and I only had time to try Bots. But I've had Pets of some kind since CoV was released; with the Pre-Order I was sure to be there opening night.


You're doing something wrong I guess? I get positive results with both GoTo and Stay.
And I do not see my ranged pets acting as Brutes UNLESS targets are lured into melee via team mates. In such events I use some of the tools in FF to keep them ranged.

One problem I've noticed for a long while now is that they're not speaking when commanded to. But don't lecture me that I think I'm l33t or noob and/or speaking to inexperienced children. I don't claim to be l33t, I never did. A player had an issue here and I tried to help end of story. IF this is a known issue then IMHO devs are aware of it and posting here requesting a solution when DEVS can't resolve it is fruitless.

What I was thinking of doing was possibly using the Toggle button command. Basically from what I was reading it activates 2 functions when you press and depress a key.

For example if I pushed the + key down it would put them passive and when I released the + key it would make them follow me.

Right now I do pretty much several different things depending if I am solo or teamed.

I use the Keypad controls list in the sticky's. I added a stay all for the numpad Del key. Ctrl Del dismisses them all. I've accidentally dismissed the pets once or twice in the beginning.

End result is players are using silly workaround for things that should be working properly in the first place.

I do agree that they should just post something up and say they are aware of the situation and looking to fix it (one day).

That is one of the few things this gaming company is weak on. Keeping the community informed.

Libb I have no issues with you.. But if your testing, it's obvious your not playing. If you played them on a regular basis you would without a doubt see what is going on.

Get your 50.. Set up your diff to +1 +8 or +1 +6. Go into the mission and ask your pets to attack from Range and see what they do. I am positive you will see your pets running into range while others stay back to attack.

If I am suppose to be the Master and Controller. Then IF I tell my pets stay even when I am getting attacked. That is what I want them to do.. IF they are in defense mode then I want them to attack IF they are in range but still STAY as I commanded them. I'm the MASTERMIND, not them..

You know maybe in a team I want to absorb some damage via bodyguard mode with the pets, to maybe help out the group for some crazy reason. So if my Tier 1 pets end up getting destroyed because of the DPS distribution, so be it.. Again it's should be MY option.. And not that they rush in to attack even when commanded to stay and out of line of sight around the corner or something.

I have no issues with controlling them, persay. If my robots would stay in defense mode inside my Force Bubble and just attack mobs that came in range or attacked me. It would be great.. Sadly they do not do that, instead they rush into combat. Yes they usually fire off a ranged shot before running in, but end result is they run in. So I end up having bots all over the place, instead in one general area.

Firstly, coming here and posting is a perfectly valid way of trying to communicate with the Developers. Time and time again we have been told that the Devs do read the threads and take valuable information from threads. An issue only becomes a "known issue" if enough people are talking about it. Forum posts add to that number and so help the Devs gauge the severity of the problem, or perceived problem, whichever is applicable.

Second, I agree that you came here with the intent to help. However the issue is not with our Macro set-ups, nor with our ability to command our pets; but the inability for the pets to understand the "Stay" command, or the "Go To" command. Your first post in this thread had a "Learn to Play" quality about it. You shouldn't be surprised that a few, already agitated MM vets, might see your post as slightly inflammatory. If you look again at PlainGuy's first post he very clearly says that he is having problems with his pets not obeying the "Stay" command, rather than how to tell them to stay in the first place.

Let me describe this very clearly so there can be no mistake; I use the Keybinds very kindly posted here in the MM sticky section and I also make use of self made Macros. When I set a location for my pets to "Go To", or to "Stay" the pet goes to that location, fires off its ranged attack chain, and then runs into melee to attack with brawl (or equivalent). Even if I click "Stay" again, and again, and again... or use "Go To" again, and again, and again, my pets do not stay put. They will run away from where they are meant to be. They will try use their melee attacks even if the "Go To" point is 80yards away from the target. After attacking said target they may come back to the point at which I told them to stay, and sometimes they will not until I give them a second "Go To" command.

Unless the Pet has a full attack chain that works from range, the default action for a pet is to use powers that are recharged; namely Brawl.

**This post does not intend to have a condescending tone. Please do not read it as an attack, nor as if I'm lecturing. I am mearly trying to inform everyone of the issue as I, the player, sees it.**

Actually I posted that I had contacted a dev and a fix was suppossedly in the works. In fact, my posts in this thread have been much more helpful than yours. So either you did pull a tl/dr on the thread or you are trolling, pretending to be helpfull but in reality cheesing off all the vet MMs who have notice the radical change in ranged pet behavior since I17 came out.

A change that has been commented on, acknowledged as an issue, tested and submitted to Castle twice now.

They did remove brawl from mercs a while back. I think they added it back in cause all not having it did was... they would stand in melee waiting for everything else to recharge.

You seem to be implying that the pet A.I. runs on the client, but it most likely runs on the server and not on the client.

The client accepts input and renders graphics, which takes lots of CPU cycles all by itself. There are several reasons why decisions have to take place on the server: first and foremost being the integrity of the data -- anything happening on the client can be hacked. Second is synchronization (all the decisions have to happen on the server otherwise nothing would match up among clients fighting the same battle). Third is the amount of extra data that would have to be transmitted in both directions: the server would have to send all kinds of extra data to the client if the pet A.I. were running there, and the client would have to send it back for every action taken by a pet. I don't see massive data increases when I play controllers and masterminds; ergo, pets don't run on the client. Fourth: the PvE mobs are obviously controlled from the server, and there must be an immense amount of code that is shared between pets and mobs, since they pretty much do the same thing.

Finally, and to your point, since pets are running on the server, it's even more important to keep down the amount of CPU required to run their A.I. so that the servers aren't overloaded.