I don't know analytics. I do know that older devices DO run the game with reduced graphical effects (water effects, etc). But they still struggle. AI has never been tweaked since the WD was changed and reverted about a year ago, outside of allowing troops to walk past ships. I'm not sure where you got your information from, but there has been no change to the AI. There has been change to building and troop stats each PH level, and that change of balance does effect how likely a troop is to walk around a wall vs destroy it, but the underlying AI is no different, and things haven't changed much balance wise. They also do not regularly tweak stats of things - outside of when a PH is released, I can think of only one instance where any stats were changed, and that was a boost to defensive HP during PH8 when Ching Shih was around way before LP were a thing. Things otherwise have not changed outside of actual game content updates. There is no tweaking being done. You can compare the stats at PH10 release with what they are right now - I haven't had to update a single stat cell in my unit/building spreadsheet since the release of PH10. I didn't have to change any during PH9 either. Any notion that things are being changed is completely placebo. What people don't seem to understand is the WD does not care how big a group is, they assume he is supposed to follow the biggest group, and then get upset when he walks away from it. The only notion of groups a WD has, as far as I'm aware, is determined solely when troops are actually deployed. Troops deployed in both close spacial and temporal proximity (it has to be both) get considered to be a cluster to the WD. Deploying another lone gunner on another part of the map to clear a separate building is counted as its own cluster, and both clusters seem to have equal weighting regardless of size, so if both come near the WD, its highly likely he will diverge from the larger group to join the newer one. There are ways to fix it, that could be implemented, but given the outcry the last time he was changed, I doubt he ever will be. So players need to just accept that he's not likely going to be changed, understand why he behaves the way he does, and not expect him to stick with a group. As soon as you stop thinking he cares how big a group is and understand that a single troop deployed separately has equal priority to that 15 gunner mass you have him currently protecting, and that if that single gunner comes close enough the WD may happily run away, and be conscious of that when deploying, issues start becoming less frequent. Deploy your main force last so its the most recent cluster, or wait to clear side buildings until after you no longer need the WD. Don't have a bunch of lone gunners walking around if you plan to use him, and certainly don't deploy troops after having deployed the WD, as he seems significantly more likely to diverge and join newer clusters.
WD also prefers hanging back away from the center of the island, so when single gunners are dropped further out from center the WD will often run off. The temporarily changed WD stuck in the middle of groups so died quickly from splash damage. Some combo of respecting group size and still hanging in the back of the group should be easy to program. Considering he's the most important pirate, it seems worth devoting more processing power to him. That said, I also use one WD. Don't even have a second trained. BUT I pick on weaker islands due to sucky AI. Heavy Gunner issues are long established as well. Don't use em anymore, but could be helpful if I had any self respect and battled maxed islands.
There was an effort to render positive group opinion on WD preferences a year ago. http://forum.plunderpirates.com/ind...tor-fix-cast-your-vote.6829/page-2#post-53244 If you like the game, probably should figure out how to adjust to the AI. My guess is many have given up due to WD, HG, etc. Pick your poison among the brainless diversions of life... Television, Plunder Pirates, or political discussions.
I've had my WD just walk around the entire island and do absolutely nothing, he did nothing to earn his pay check. For over 120k grog, he'd better start minding his P's & Q's if y'all know what I mean.
I have stopped using the WD with my PH9 alt acct (I have replaced him with a large tanking force of juggs). I still get the same ratio of 2* & 3* as I did before - however the game has become MUCH more enjoyable. I no longer feel cheated by getting 2* & feel a massive sense of satisfaction with the 3*. Added to which my crew cost has reduced by a third - enabling me to 'farm' grog during normal rumble attacks - further increasing my enjoyment! (p.s. this acct is in the PR500 range & exclusively fights PH9/10s)
All the troops have stupid ai. My gunners constantly run half a mile back around a wall instead of attacking a target they can easily reach by shooting over it. Someone needs to explain to me how all my troops can detect a hole in the walls on the opposite side of the map that will lead them into ground pounder death and yet will consistently ignore holes in walls right next to them or targets right next to them. The ai of just about all the troops is consistently junk
Agreed!!!! But these glitches seem to be hit or miss at times. It makes game play just that much more fun
For a short while I was bringing two WD's on my attack crew and my 3* rate definitely increased but it became far to expensive both gems and grog. I'm now back to using one WD and look for easier bases and my WD usually behaves within reason.
If I wasn't using any gems I could maybe get into the"fun" of my troops acting stupid. As it is their consistent blundering numbskullery is highly aggravating lol
Spend 15gems and watch it all go down the drain as the troops magnet themselves into the ground-pounder
As for the WD, one solution I have used that has been somewhat successful is to have a WD in my GS so I can deploy him if needed, where I need him, and have the benefit of having a separate resurrect time. This also provides an option when my WD gets killed too quickly. Because the WD is expensive I only keep a WD in my GS during a serious rumble. One thing that really irks me about the WD is when he goes to protect a jugg that is stuck in a jugg trap!
Sharing secrets between guilds! What will our Captains' think? 9 juggs, 9 skellies, 9 bombs, 25 guns - got me to the high 500s - (by swapping 2 guns for a WD got me to the mid 700s) This troop mix works best as a single bulldozing pack (apart from a couple of guns to clear outlying buildings) - with juggs at the front soaking up damage - and WD at the back away from fire - it makes him a lot less likely to wander off too!
Hahaha @peg-brain bob , it wasn't that long ago that we were guild mates. I don't think they will mind.
I still haven't gotten a satisfactory response from someone at Midoki about why my WD will recognize a long gunner on the other side of the map and just suicide towards it while my other troops can ignore a hole in a wall right next to them. How come my troops can detect an intentional hole in a wall that will lead them into a GP barrage and simply ignore a hole I blow in the wall that's closer? Why do they seem completely incapable of changing targets? If I blow a hole in a wall a fraction of a second after they start running towards to intentional gap they don't recognize the closer hole and just run to their deaths. The higher you get the more frustrating the absolute garbage ai becomes. Why won't my gunners fire over 2 layers of walls at a target that's less than 5 spaces away, instead they walk around the edge of the wall, completely ignoring targets along the way, getting shot to ribbons the whole time? Its ridiculous for troops to behave this way.
I have to make sure I don't drop my WD anywhere near Sadie since it seems to stick to her like glue most of the time.
WD sounds like the Anna LP. Great when they work, not so great when they hare off to protect a singleton, rather than the masses. Don't use them if you aren't prepared for that behavior.
Annabelle is a complete mess probably because her stun is sooooo effective once trained up. She was my MVP during the storms where I could find a little puddle within a base, drop her and a jug first, stun the defenses and then unleash all troops to commence operation mow down.
