Almost murdered by 2 NPCs

daylan

D
I was hanging out with my Asp at my local Nav beacon in Menhitae. Flying around killing wanted targets and bounty hunters who fired at me having a good time. Suddenly had 2 filled in red triangles warp in and immediately open fire.

By the time I realized what was happening and put pips to shields I was already down to hull. I started to run. Checked the contacts panel and saw I was running from a pair of sidewinders. Sidewinders. Feeling a bit embarassed I FA-off flipped and opened fire. Those little jerks were almost impossible to catch... finally killed them after they cost me over 100k in repairs and a new pair of underware.

I have been thinking NPC are a hilarious joke but those 2 made me respect the NPC. Now I will watch the scanner closely.

Also I am pretty sure those NPCs spawned in because I have a million+ credit bounty with the faction they belong to.
 

TriumphANT

TriumphANT
daylan said:
I was hanging out with my Asp at my local Nav beacon in Menhitae. Flying around killing wanted targets and bounty hunters who fired at me having a good time. Suddenly had 2 filled in red triangles warp in and immediately open fire.

By the time I realized what was happening and put pips to shields I was already down to hull. I started to run. Checked the contacts panel and saw I was running from a pair of sidewinders. Sidewinders. Feeling a bit embarassed I FA-off flipped and opened fire. Those little jerks were almost impossible to catch... finally killed them after they cost me over 100k in repairs and a new pair of underware.

I have been thinking NPC are a hilarious joke but those 2 made me respect the NPC. Now I will watch the scanner closely.

Also I am pretty sure those NPCs spawned in because I have a million+ credit bounty with the faction they belong to.
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I think the AI is much sharper in 1.1, and had an Eagle and a Cobra to fight simultaneously in my Cobra this morning. VERY tough fight, and I could only focus on the Eagle by reverse thrusting until they chased me, then boosted past them to get the Eagle closer (the Cobra took a few seconds more to spin around. Eagle was spacedust VERY quickly when I could get my attention to him) But it was a heartwarmingly good fight. In 1.0x I was taking on two Cobras at a time without ever seeing my shields going down beyond the middle ring, which didn't feel right. Anyway, after about 5 or 6 minutes of dogfighting the Cobra, I was rewarded with a total of 15K in bounties, plus a good feeling.

I think the outfitting for NPCs is a bit better too. I haven't seen many/any shield-less Vipers recently, for example. That just seemed absurb before.

Oh, and I've seen interdictions from NPC Security Vessels 3 or 4 times now, so be very careful when opening fire!! Check that ship scan first.

Great fun. Having tough dogfights even once or twice a day makes the game feel much more like Frontier to me. I still avoid Dropships and Clippers. They're evil.
 

CMDR i Tetsuo

CMDR i Tetsuo
I've had something similar happen but only once (pre-1.1)
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I had been bounty hunting at a Nav Beacon for a while and had killed quite a few bandits but there was a lull in traffic so I parked up next to the beacon and waited for the next wave of spawns to happen. I hear the sound of ships dropping from SC but before I can orientate myself to initiate a scan I come under fire from several NPC hostiles. I totally wasn't prepared (I think I only had 1 pip to shields which crumbled quickly) and before I could spring to action I was dead...
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Ever since I've kept my eye out for members of the same faction to those I'm killing to ambush me but it's never happened since which is a shame as I really enjoyed being surprised by the game in such a fashion. I don't even though if it was programmed to happen or just an off-chance.
 

Cmdr Pli55ken

C
I have been thinking NPC are a hilarious joke but those 2 made me respect the NPC.
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NPCs sometimes come in pairs or trios. You probably killed their Cobra or Sidewinder leader.
Three Sidewinders, a Cobra and two Sidewinders or even a Type 6 and two Sidewinders are the aggressive combinations I've seen. Also seen three Eagles, an Asp with two Sidewinders, or triple Cobras - but never seen those being wanted/aggressive.
Fighting two at once is always tricky. Take the weaker one and kill it fast (ram if you must) or you'll be in big trouble.

Worst double team I faced (in a Cobra) was two Anacondas in an extraction site. I made the mistake of baiting an Anaconda on the fringes into following me to where the feds were...so that we could take it out together. Only to find that when I got there the feds were already tangling with another Anaconda.
That was a scary fight.
 

daylan

D
So it seems factions do get tired of our antics.
I need to ticket something though, the npc who came after me were clean, and I was clean.....until I defended myself. Got a double murder charge for self defence. Careful out there guys.
 

Deleted member 38366

D
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daylan

D
FalconFly said:
If you want to screw with the NPC AI : just thruster backwards in FA off and keep them in your sights ;)

They'll usually completely freak out and most won't even fire anymore (but do a defensive dance for you, right in the heart of your own Weapon envelope) :D
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I took out the first one like this, but he most certainly did not freak out or stop firing. That reverse maneuver was my go-to agile-ship killer technique. I have to think of something better now.
 

nazartp

N
Two days after the 1.1 I was getting back from Yembo to my usual trading grounds in my Clipper. Get interdicted by a nicely equipped NPC Viper. Those usually die like flies, but this one actually put in the reverse and was actively trying to stay close to me to be out of the field of view of my C3 turrets.
 

Things

T
Adding to the slightly unusual NPC encounters:

Was hunting at a Nav Beacon in some anarchy system. A group of 3 ships - a T7 and two Sidewinders jumps in. I casually approach to take a look (didn't even KWS the T7) and the two Sidewinders break formation and start shooting at me without provocation. Didn't want to bother with them so I boosted away and after I gained some distance they went back in their formation.

Seemed like a bit zealous behavior for an escort ship. Don't mind it, though.
 

Seonid

Seonid
I've also had a Wanted ship I was fighting suddenly getting backup from another ship that I hadn't even been near, it just boosted over and started shooting at me.
 
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