Errrrrrrrm (yes, it's yet another whine thread!)

[kofeyh]

Usually, NPC's damages are correct but sometimes, you have an harmless Ieagle who is literally destroying your ship in few seconds.
And I stop here as there is another thread about NPC's issues.

Rails will rapidly deplete a shield if there is anything less than 4 pips to sys. They have an extremely high piercing damage factor and even class one will rip ship modules to pieces in short order. You might, however, be surprised at the percentage of commanders who are absolutely unaware that 4 pips to sys roughly halves incoming damage, which massively changes survival times.

It's non-trivial.

".. in a few seconds" is a very common trope at the moment, you'll excuse me if I continue to understand that as an edge case bug, and not the status quo.

 

[Whiterose]

I think the NPC's are about right at the moment. Some run, some fight, some you can mine, some avoid mines. Nice variety.

 

[rucky]

Fun Fact #1

If you run missions (even the low cr ones like 14.000cr) you sometimes get interdicted by ELITE ANACONDA and ELITE FDL (sometimes even both at the same time).

Fun Fact #2

You allways can submit and RUNNNNNNNNN - yes, it's true, the AI is programmed that IF you run as soon as possible it will leave you ALONE!!!
Sometimes this behavior is even frustrating to me. Why?
See, I'm running a 5-Mine layer Mission Python (complete non-modded as it's only for the sake of doing the damn missions ;-)
And what do to when been interdicted? Running away AND killing the intruders.
You need to be above 3 km in front of them so you won't get hit (too often) because you need to fly in a straight line, but at 6 km or even at 5 km AI will stay back letting you bunk off if you want to - and therefore NOT FLYING INTO my mines ;-)

But don't be tooo lazy like I was lately, if 2 ships are chasing you (like anaconda and fdl) you're saver to RUN because even if the AI is MOSTLY not a challenge, sometimes he/it still manage to critical hit you (like OP or others had described multiple times). After my shield was gone ONE shot from the fdl was necessary to cut off my thrusters and restarting sadly did take tooooo long time for me .
Yes being a sitting duck myself, even military armored python can't stand an elite AI FDL for more than a few seconds....

Sadly a few hundred thousand exploration data, 30t special cargo, all mission cargo, a few hundred thousand bounties lost and a 6 mill rebuy bill was coming....

but oh yeah, thats elite DANGEROUS, so don't be toooo lazy.
But until AI gets fixed (yes it will be, AI is TOOOOOO STUPID flying straight into mines all the time mostly - but not all the time, these DBS/DBX ships always flying some strange corkscrew cycles behind me always NOT hitting my mines grrrrr) until then buy an full-mine-layered python (non modded, prismatic not necessary, that ship of me was only a storage ship for that shield oh yes ;-)

That is mostly an I-WIN ship against (at least bigger) AI interdictors...

But why the heck are that ALWAYS ELITE ANNIS and FDLs (for a mission worth ~14kcr or even less) ???
(not that I really want to complain, they're mostly only annoyances but increase my combat rank and get me 140K++cr all the time)

 

[Flavourless]

Also, I am yet to ever see an NPC pirate actually be a "pirate" (as in stealing booty n'all) in the game, they are all just homicidal maniacs

Has anyone ever seen any NPC collect ejected cargo? I know I haven't in almost 2 years of playing.

 

[micky1984]

I never believe anyone posting without evidence (video) becuase people very rearly see the total of what happened just what they think happened

 

[Deareim]

Rails will rapidly deplete a shield if there is anything less than 4 pips to sys. They have an extremely high piercing damage factor and even class one will rip ship modules to pieces in short order. You might, however, be surprised at the percentage of commanders who are absolutely unaware that 4 pips to sys roughly halves incoming damage, which massively changes survival times.

It's non-trivial.

".. in a few seconds" is a very common trope at the moment, you'll excuse me if I continue to understand that as an edge case bug, and not the status quo.

that is why I used the word sometimes

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

I never believe anyone posting without evidence (video) becuase people very rearly see the total of what happened just what they think happened

do you think people are spending their time doing vids while playing ? then they reset it automatically after each day ?

 

[Sunleader]

How many pips in SYS, out of curiosity; given you didn't notice the comms, how long were they firing for, before you stopped watching netflix or whatever else it was you were doing that wasn't actually the game? Were you scooping goodies maybe? I'm just trying to understand the scenario.

Did you time the shield loss by any chance?

If you are caught short, stationary, did not prioritise shields via four SYS pips then yes I would expect a ship that has three class 3 hardpoints, two class 2 hardpoints to rip your Asp open like a can of tuna. This sounds like it's working as expected?

If you were mobile, had 4 pips to sys (which roughly halves incoming damage) I would expect a very different outcome; namely an AI that's a bit miffed that you up and left when they just wanted to alter the deal (pray they do not alter it further).

Irrelevant.
No Offense Mate. But there is no way an A5 Shield should go down in 2-3 Seconds.
Even if it was 5 Seconds it should not go down that fast.

And lately I had this as well.
An NPC which Interdicted me came in and when he Attacked me I was down to 67% Hull within 2-3 Seconds.
Let it be 10 Seconds if you want. But I had 4 Pips in my Condas Shields.
There is no way this should ever work.


They are Experimenting with the NPCs again.
Well not that I expect you Fanboys to listen. Its the same List of Names again which pops up here to tell the OP that its all his Fault and that there is no way the Game could in any way do something wrong. It always is this same list of Fanboys who refuse to see reality. Its this very same list which when 2.1 came out claimed that nothing was wrong. Even tough FDev later even admitted that some NPCs had Bugged Weapons like Plasma Accs which had an Refire Rate of an Multi Cannon......

Just accept that something is wrong and stop pestering people who complain....

 

[sbdags]

Irrelevant.
No Offense Mate. But there is no way an A5 Shield should go down in 2-3 Seconds.
Even if it was 5 Seconds it should not go down that fast.

And lately I had this as well.
An NPC which Interdicted me came in and when he Attacked me I was down to 67% Hull within 2-3 Seconds.
Let it be 10 Seconds if you want. But I had 4 Pips in my Condas Shields.
There is no way this should ever work.


They are Experimenting with the NPCs again.
Well not that I expect you Fanboys to listen. Its the same List of Names again which pops up here to tell the OP that its all his Fault and that there is no way the Game could in any way do something wrong. It always is this same list of Fanboys who refuse to see reality. Its this very same list which when 2.1 came out claimed that nothing was wrong. Even tough FDev later even admitted that some NPCs had Bugged Weapons like Plasma Accs which had an Refire Rate of an Multi Cannon......

Just accept that something is wrong and stop pestering people who complain....

Show me proof they are experimenting? What? You don't have any - right!

They always post a changelog for changes.

So it's the same AI as before. Just you got caught out.

 

[micky1984]

that is why I used the word sometimes

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -



do you think people are spending their time doing vids while playing ? then they reset it automatically after each day ?

i can i have a system that record continuously and when i find something of interest i press a key and it records the last 30 mins play in a file for me to view its truly simple and it lets people see what happened rather than the emotional ranting that very rearly shows what exactly happened

 

[Sunleader]

Show me proof they are experimenting? What? You don't have any - right!

They always post a changelog for changes.

So it's the same AI as before. Just you got caught out.

Funny.
Past has Shown they often Ninja Changes in.
Nobody Posted the Change of the Mines being Nerfed either.

Stop being a Fanboy and look at reality please.
And yeah. Show me Proof. We all know that nobody is going to keep an Video Recording Programm Running in the Backround the Entire Day just to get that NPC which Bugged out.

And we dont need to. See the good thing is. Your Opinion is Irrelevant. If People keep Quitting because of this. Sooner or later FDev will react. Because they are losing Customers. No matter how much you guys keep claiming that nothings wrong with the Game.

 

[Wasp0]

Aye.
As i said. They are experimenting alot lately.
Unfortunately also seems to cause some bugs like npcs getting killer weapons again.

Zero quality control in this game, zero.

Sir(s), your sources for your statements are where?

 

[eboy]

Has anyone ever seen any NPC collect ejected cargo? I know I haven't in almost 2 years of playing.

I saw it... in Archimedes Elite 20 years ago.

Quite why ED standard of game design show be so much lower than then, I do not know.

 

[Kizbot]

I have nvidia Shadow play which was free with nvidia drivers, which runs in the background with very little impact to performance. Anything wierd happens? I just press F5 and it records the last 5 mins into a .avi clip. doesn't even interrupt the game play. Everyone should have this setup and there would be evidence aplenty for all the crazy shinanigans.

 

[Sandro Sammarco]

Hello Commanders!

Let's keep things civil, please.

Hello Commander Sunleader!

There have been a couple of AI tweaks since 2.1, which I think have been mentioned.

We modified the chance of NPCs fleeing to recharge shields, and we fixed an issue that was allowing lower rank ships to turn as fast as high rank ships.

We haven't made any changes (that I'm aware of) that would increase the power of ships. Since 2.1 NPC ships have, at higher combat ranks, had access to a very limited set of upgrades, though none that directly increase raw damage.

However, A python by default, can pack an *awful* lot of focused forward fire with it's clustered hardpoint layout (meaning that most, if not all weapon attacks will hit a stationary target) and 3 large, 2 medium hardpoint combo.

In addition, a stationary target might allow the aggressor the opportunity to attack from very close range (especially if it scanned first, as this manoeuvre will position the ship close), which would remove much, possibly all damage drop off from range.

So whilst something could have gone awry here, it's also possible that you have been the unfortunate victim of the perfect storm, where all damage mitigating factors have been removed - resulting in a pristine alpha strike.

To be sure, I'd need to know what the load out of the python was and the distance when the attacks occured.

 

[micky1984]

Sick of moderators this thread has been civil stop finding problems where they dont exist

 

[Gorgonaut]

Sick of moderators this thread has been civil stop finding problems where they dont exist

Sandro is not a moderator, he's the lead designer.

Also, your opinion is much, much easier to take seriously if you use punctuation to separate your sentences. Just a tip, not trying to be rude.

 

[psyantologist]

This news is a bit disturbing as I am on my way back from a trip outside the Bubble with a lot of exploration data.

I'll be heading for the first platform I can reach on the human frontier to unload it in this case........

I'd suggest "unloading" at an Engineer like Farseer - you will gain unlock progress with Exploration data - just boost imemdiately when interdicted and keep going. I was sitting in place, easy target.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

However, A python by default, can pack an *awful* lot of focused forward fire with it's clustered hardpoint layout (meaning that most, if not all weapon attacks will hit a stationary target) and 3 large, 2 medium hardpoint combo.

In addition, a stationary target might allow the aggressor the opportunity to attack from very close range (especially if it scanned first, as this manoeuvre will position the ship close), which would remove much, possibly all damage drop off from range.

So whilst something could have gone awry here, it's also possible that you have been the unfortunate victim of the perfect storm, where all damage mitigating factors have been removed - resulting in a pristine alpha strike.

To be sure, I'd need to know what the load out of the python was and the distance when the attacks occured.

Yes, indeed. That. It all happened very very fast because of my unfortunate position and not noticing the threatening comms. My bad, indeed. A python is an ideal pirate ship - if i may, I'd suggest telling NPC-pirates not to use dumbfire missiles ^^ (I guess this is what happened, but I can only guess) three large cannons might "feel the same" to a stationary target.

 

[psyantologist]

How many pips in shields?
Did you have military-grade armour?

If 0, and no, then this is entirely plausible.

My Asp with 3A shields + four pips to sys has no problems fending off and escaping a Dangerous python.

Yup, less than two pips and no military-grade bulkheads, indeed. Annnnd i wasn't fending. That was one of the worst element of it, I assume. I was sitting pretty (there were only two other ships around and a few things to scoop up which I didn't want to ram into)

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Were you scooping goodies maybe?

If you are caught short, stationary, did not prioritise shields via four SYS pips then yes I would expect a ship that has three class 3 hardpoints, two class 2 hardpoints to rip your Asp open like a can of tuna. This sounds like it's working as expected?

Precisely, browsing contacts to send out limpets.
"Under attack" [no pause] "Shields offline" [explosions] Insurance screen.

My bad, my bad. I know.

 

[psyantologist]

I personally think that a python should be quite capable of this sort of damage output against a stationary ASP.

Especially one that has a less than max class shield and is carrying some juicy cargo and is ignoring the perfectly reasonable requests for booty.

I would be perfectly fine with the same outcome with at least a chance to drop cargo ;P i wasn't fleeing! i was being a good victim!
And pirates firing missiles does not seem ...like a good idea for the pirate.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Gotta ask but did you actually do anything defensively right? I.e. unless you at least have 4 pips to sys, while stationary, an ASP's shields are paper thin at best and a quick series of rails/plasma will rip right through them.

Also, I am yet to ever see an NPC pirate actually be a "pirate" (as in stealing booty n'all) in the game, they are all just homicidal maniacs.

Nope, I was careless. I would have been willing to drop cargo though, actually. And I wasn't running. I've recently seen pirates who do not attack after a scan when obviously outgunned - that's a step forward. A pirate Python would be a perfect ship to hatch-break and fetch some cargo from a victim that (already had) throttled to 0 anyway, with shields down after a bit of a pounding to lower them. I'm totally fine with pirates =] well, if they pirate xD

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

I am actually finding many instances where NPC's are trying to flee from combat......especially once the cops arrive.

Yeah, I've seen that too =]

 

[psyantologist]

I was of the opinion that the NPC's were fun to fight with 2.1, then when Fdev nerfed them with the point update a month or so ago I thought they were pretty lackadaisical, and now it seems like they've been adjusted to be a little tougher just recently...but I've always played with a gamepad and just recently switched to a HOTAS for the first time which effectively busted me back to "noob" as far as my flight skills are concerned, so I'm not sure if the NPC's got tougher recently, or if I just suck at using a flight stick

I guess the spectrum of NPC behaviour gets broader and broader - which is a good thing
And about your flying - maybe go back to a Sidewinder again, get used to handling it until you are satisfied, and gradually switch to larger, more epxensive and demanding vessels. Each ship flies a bit differently (as you know, I imagine)

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

I personally think that a python should be quite capable of this sort of damage output against a stationary ASP.

Especially one that has a less than max class shield and is carrying some juicy cargo and is ignoring the perfectly reasonable requests for booty.

I agree on "capable" - but should this be what a pirate does? If someone runs, sure, if they have point defence against hatch-breakers, aight... but like this?