I don't like most of the things about the update either, like how far he's willing to run to change targets, or how close he stands. I also think that he should prioritize larger groups over smaller ones a bit more than he's doing. But I understand the developers decision with regards to juggs/hp, and it is beneficial in many situations. If I had the choice between protecting 1 jugg or 1 gun, I'd usually pick the jugg. Given the choice between protecting 1 jugg or 10 gunners, I'd probably pick the gunners, and I understand that right now he might not, which is a problem. And yeah, the system was usually good enough. But I'm also going to defend their position and explain mathematically how it can be advantageous. Its very hard to have something that works perfect in all situations, and there were many times the WD would previously do things erratic as well. At least its easy now to figure out "well this unprotected group has more hp, so he's going to pick that" and plan your play around it. Its not completely broken. Its not currently as desirable as the old system was, for the attack style many players were used to using, but it can be adapted to, and it still works if you change your attack style. Also, PH9 maxed attacks are probably going to take a different dynamic than PH8 ones were, and you haven't seen how things will really perform endgame with PH9, which is probably what the update was planned around. But I'm not trying to say that the update is right or wrong, I'm trying to show how it can be used, and how playstyles can change to incorporate it and optimize the new behavior. Mathematically, in a generic situation, its easy to see how its current behavior (with maybe a few tweaks to how close he stands/how far he runs) can be beneficial. It won't always be, and change is always hard. But it isn't as bad as people make it out to be in terms of target priority, they're just not used to his new preferences. Standing too close, sure; running twenty tiles to switch parties, sure. I'm all for a fix that makes him stand further away, or less likely to run ten tiles to protect a different group, or that keeps him from protecting 1 jugg over 10 gunners. But I also understand its not as simple as people think it is, especially given that troop stats change at AC8, so his previous priorities might not have worked anymore, and finding the right balance again is going to take a lot of tweaking. He still works in most situations, if you understand what he's doing, and plan around it.
You have clearly thought some things out but u are making so many assumptions for your theory to work that once again I have to take the argument back to predictability. And I want to know exactly what my pirates are going to do. Try and come back up in the ranks and use the wd. He is nearly useless. Maybe he is working down in the ranks where you currently are. ..
I agree 100%. My guild has many PH lvl's and he's near useless across the board. Before the update it was considered a good gesture to donate a WD to someones guild request...now its become a point of laughter.
I was at about 750 before dropping to farm, but after the update to his AI, and I was doing just fine with him. I recognize there are issues with penalizing him for having to run far to a different group, and that he is walking too close to groups, but I never encountered them. I would use 2 wd - 1 with my juggs and another with my hg, and they both lived and worked just fine. If by chance the one with the juggs died and there were still enough juggs alive to have more hp than the hg, I didn't mind it switching groups, since the hg were far enough away that they weren't under any threat by anything not targetting the juggs already anyways.
Gah! Yep...the WD was protecting two Juggs caving in one outhouse, while the bombers and gunners were being pummeled inside the walls unprotected. He's almost useless now. I preferred the previous version of WD.
A varied Skelly-Gunner-Jugg-Brute-Bomber-Sky Raider-Thief-WD army (my army) IS NOT WORKING. Now I'm forced to use the Juggs with the Gunners so that things still work. At least my WD still hangs back. TRIPLE
Lynsey [Midoki] Give us the old WD. This new WD is dumber than a box or rocks!! I don't want him protecting my heavies, It's my gunners that need protecting. The new WD gets killed REALLY easily and is practically WORTHLESS.
I just feel like the WD is so expensive you should only have to use one. I only ever used one before and it was fine. If this new AI is going to need 2 to do the same job (in some perfect world that I haven't worked out yet) then let's halve his recruitment cost.
Even two is a crap shoot as when one dies off the other goes to the same spot to get his death on. Its quite frustrating!
Okay I know this topic is waaaaaay overdone. But this is just freakin' comical. Simply cannot be defended. Apparently 3 hgs, 10 skellies, and 12 gunners don't trump one jugg hitting an outhouse by the ship. Not to mention the clump of juggs within the base. And yes the wd was deployed with the horde.
When's there's more than one WD I still get him wandering off to protect one or maybe two gunners! So the this scenario just happened, I have one WD protecting a lame Jugg (sooooo stupid btw), I drop off a ton of gunners and a second WD, the gunners split the way gunners do now and the second WD for no good reason leaves the large pack of gunners to follow the two idiot gunners going off to hit an outhouse. It doesn't make sense if he's supposed to follow the largest HP because with more than one WD he doesn't always do that. Then the one WD protecting the Jugg died and the WD following the two gunners left them and trotted clear across the map to that same Jugg, pffft what the hell?!?!? The level of frustration I have for this WD AI is incredible. So much so, that I have thought of just deleting the stupid game, arrrgggg mee pirates have mutinied on mee!
Yep, after dropping off 12gunners, 6 bombers and 4 juggs in the top left corner in my screen to watch the WD wander off to the one solo jugg in the bottom right of my screen I found this forum! Way too expensive to do nothing. Can you please just make him how he was because WD sucks now! And lest face it, with PH9 shooting cannons along with all the weapon updates our gunners need protecting lol
