Battle AI change?

did something change in the battle AI recently??? I almost exclusively use Brutes and Gunners and an occasional small detatchment of thieves... i ended up just TRYING bombers for a run to experiment. It seems like after using them one time with dismal failure and seemingly nonsensical attacks, i went back to my tried and tested Brutes and Gunners methods and it seems their AI has magically changed for the worse. I cant even remotely predict where theyre going to go now. I used to be able to place the brutes and gunners and have a predictable outcome and win say 80-90% of my chosen battles but now ive lost tge last 7 out of 10 battles and the 3 i won were just BARELY because the PH was right near shore secluded from defenses... it looks like the gunners are just randomly going this way and that.
Was the game updated and the AI affected or did me activating bombers somehow trigger a CHANGE in the behavior of my standard guys?? It seems like a completely different and far more frustrating game as of last night and today. Its almost like they are taking the WORST path possible and specifically going out of their way to walk INTO flame gates. Everything just seems different all of a sudden and in a much worse way.

 

I've seen strange AI lately too. Especially bombers, unpredictable at best, but doing some outright bizarre things. Like alerting on weapons well away from where they are, and not yet engaged, when others much closer and engaging them are ignored. All behind walls.

 

And a guildie posted a replay of a WD wandering off to the far corner of land, where no other troops were. Launched with other troops, ignored them.

 

Yes!!! Heres one example - a canon can be wiping out a group of guys and then i tap the water right where i launched the previous crew to give reinforcements to knock out the canon quickly... Instead it seems that the reinforcements will automatically purposefully ignore the canon and go target a new useless target like an outhouse or something farther away - then the original crew gets wiped out and then i have a loose canon thats SO CLOSE to being destroyed but since my guys decided to walk right past it and attack a new target I'm left getting wiped out. It seems the guys are less inclined to approach defenses. More pronounced all of a sudden.

 

Bomber ai has been out of whack for weeks. I hope Midoki has a fix soon. It's getting very frustrating and ruining the game for top level players

 

I'm over it every time I work out what they are going to do it changes...

 

I noticed that Witch Doctor's boat got stuck, because it was deployed right after a gunner and the said gunner was shooting at a building right at the coast "blocking" the Witch Doctor's boat's path.

The Witch Doctor was in his boat just paddling and paddling until the above said gunner destroyed the building completely. Sometimes I just shake my head at the Artificial Intelligence in this game, eventhough overall a very fun game.

 

Well that's good to know. But the bombers ai was changed atleast 3 or 4 weeks ago. And it has never been fixed

 

Ahh that means I am totally Krupp at this fighting thing lol

 

On more than one occasion I have seen my WD leave a group of live gunners under it's shield, and swim across a channel of water to protect one gunner that was never under his protection and no where close to him. Thought this was happening to everyone.

 

I honestly can't remember. I'm looking to see if I still have the replay. Would a second WD cause one WD to leave troops under his protection?

 

Thanks Lynsey. That may very well be the case. There may have been another WD along the same flank, just further down protecting a different cluster of gunners. I could not find the replay, but will pay better attention next time. Thank you

 

If the bubble was on, I would agree with you.

The bubble WAS NOT on. This was on live play, not replay.

 

For the record, my units returned to normal behavior after a day, day and a half of acting totally loopy. I wasnt imagining it, but it seems all is well now...

Except for when i totally destroyed a rival and somehow the server lost connection briefly... I got 100% destruction and screen capped it. I log back in and see that i got 0% destruction, went and reviewed the fight and saw his island totally wiped out, screencapped... And i mysteriously have all my guys gone. If the server timed out why cant there be a reconciliation of the events?

 

I contacted support about this and was basically told "sorry about your luck" (with more technical excuses why)

 

I just plundered a base and the AI was not helpful. The base looked a little like this:

(x = wall unit)

Code:

   xxxxxxx ---------- xxxxxxx
    xxxxxx ---------- xxxxxx
     xxxxx -- guild - xxxxx
      xxxx -- ship -- xxxx
       xxx ---------- xxx
        xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I approached the base from the South making sure to first destroy any buildings that might distract my pirates. I then release brutes to absorb the gun power and bombers just behind them. My aim was to push through the wall directly in front of the guild ship.

Everyone began walking to the sides of the battlement instead of going through it so I manually kaboomed the bombers while one was still in front of the wall before he walked past it to the right. He weakened the wall. A heavy gunner finished the job, destroying the wall and opening a hole. One of the brutes walked thru but all of the remaining crew that I then released...

TOTALLY IGNORED the hole in the wall choosing instead to move to the sides and get pummelled by the defence's weapons!!!! They could have walked thru the wall and then to the sides of the sunk guild ship but they didn't. (Can't show you a video clip. The replay is COMPLETELY wrong!)

I'm not impressed with the AI when this kind of thing happens. Those beveled wall designs can only be tunnelled thru when the bombers are forcefully kaboomed at the middle points, but if everyone else then ignores the weakened walls or the holes in the walls, there's no way to push thru those defences.

Beveled wall designs; the ultimate defence? Redirect everyone to the sides to get pummelled?

 

All buildings and wall designs have different defense properties, but every layout can be beaten numerous ways. Of course those of us with a design like this are trying to force your troops to die before getting in, but it doesn't work if the attacker is clever enough.