Engineered superweapons/shileds are the problem, not the AI's tactics/skills.

[DaveB]

Just stop their infinite ammo, scb and chaff. Should be fine after.

This is a myth. NPCs do not have infinite ammo on anything except MCs and this is for gameplay reasons so that they don't immediately flee after running out. This has been confirmed by the person who actually wrote the code. Please do not further spread this misinformation.

 

[Kalpa]

If your dream gameplay in Elite is evading interdiction, then yes, 2.1 is your dream patch. Personally I do not find that so fun to enjoy constantly.

 

[Brimstone]

I'd just like to add my voice to this. The AI is fantastic now, and I've had a lot of fun. The engineer mods are not great, and some of them are clearly bugged, such as the 'automatic plasma accelerator' and the 'beam rail gun' that we've all probably seen in the videos posted.

I was under the impression that NPC's having these mods would be rare, similar to seeing an NPC Cutter or Corvette would be rare. Maybe they aren't rare enough, but regardless they are obviously not working as they should be.

I won't be playing until these modification bugs and other things are tweaked in the next few patches. My current issue is that I'm being hunted by a bounty hunter (they are not a Powerplay NPC) that seems to have some sort of galaxy-wide 'diplomatic immunity.' They will remain clean while attacking me, yet I'll become wanted if I defend myself, no matter what system I'm in. If this turns out to not be a bug, then these NPC's are able to play by a different rule set than we are. If that's the case then I guess I won't do anymore assassinations

 

[FX2K]

Just stop their infinite ammo, scb and chaff. Should be fine after.

+1 ... well at least give them a long cool down before fully re-equipping them, or whatever is happening.

The frequency of the OP NPCs is the major issue but the other big issue that is being ignored is that you should only encounter them if you engage in highly risky behaviour.

Mining, trading, mission running, exploring, etc., should all be viable in non-combat optimized ships if the locations involved have reasonable security.

'Play your own way' now leads to the rebuy screen unless you suddenly acquire much better combat skills and a ship to use them with.

+1

The fact that the AI doesn't just roll over waiting for its undercarriage to be tickled is a good thing...dare I say.. about time too, considering how long they have been like this for.
But clearly something else is wrong here.. and that, imo, needs pinpointing and addressing.

If it's meant to be this way (3 seconds to death) then I want my insurance premium dropped considerably, it's already cost me hours of progress this weekend alone and now making me re-evaluate if I can keep my Python or have to move down to a more affordable (in re-buys) ship. I'm not in the mood to log in to the game atm. *sigh*

 

[Ziljan]

Yay! At least we're arguing about the correct issue in this thread. Engi Mods, not the beautiful artwork of AI given to us by SJA.

Unfortunately, I'm agnostic on the topic of NPC damage. It's all about survivability and time-to-kill. And that is an issue that is directly related to people's patience. Which is relative.

Personally, I love the idea of a brutal iron man mode, while flying around in a paper ship. So I've been flying around in a D rated shield Eagle in Haz Rez. Still making million per run. So I don't think the current damage is too high tbh. At least not for my tastes/playstyle.

 

[Kalpa]

playing until these modification bugs and other things are tweaked in the next few patches. My current issue is that I'm being hunted by a bounty hunter that seems to have some sort of galaxy-wide 'diplomatic immunity.' They will remain clean while attacking me, yet I'll become wanted if I defend myself, no matter what system I'm in. If this turns out to not be a bug, then these NPC's are able to play by a different rule set than we are. If that's the case then I guess I won't do anymore assassinations

There's been a lot of this lately... are you absolutely certain you have your 'report crimes against me' ON (found under functions in the right-hand display) ?

 

[RhymeRhyme]

I expect the CMDR griefers will be working hard to get their hands on these Engineer upgrades to, then we'll all be sorry.

The "Engineered" bonus effects need to be nerfed, not the AIs tactics/skills.

Yes, definitely. I shot multiple times with 5 x Rail Guns on a Python. Nothing happened at all. Shields did not even flicker one time.

 

[Kalpa]

Personally, I love the idea of a brutal iron man mode, while flying around in a paper ship. But that's just my vision of a dystopian utopia.

Problem is that some of us do not have billions of credits to actually drive a non-paper ship. For us this is slightly nightmarish, because the same dangerous to elite murder NPCs are after us as well.

...unless, of course, your dystopian utopia means that every sidewinder pilot who starts out first needs to die a thousand plasma deaths to OP NPCs before they luck out of interdictions enough times to buy a better ship?

 

[Deareim]

This is a myth. NPCs do not have infinite ammo on anything except MCs and this is for gameplay reasons so that they don't immediately flee after running out. This has been confirmed by the person who actually wrote the code. Please do not further spread this misinformation.

Same one who saying there is no bug actually when people are dying in less than 5 sec ? Same one who suggest to change ship position and pip ?

Haha i laughed. Thanks

 

[Kalpa]

If it's meant to be this way (3 seconds to death) then I want my insurance premium dropped considerably, it's already cost me hours of progress this weekend alone and now making me re-evaluate if I can keep my Python or have to move down to a more affordable (in re-buys) ship. I'm not in the mood to log in to the game atm. *sigh*

Generally speaking, lots of accidents tend to cause insurance premiums to go UP, not DOWN

 

[Brimstone]

There's been a lot of this lately... are you absolutely certain you have your 'report crimes against me' ON (found under functions in the right-hand display) ?

Wow, that's a good point and I totally forgot about that. I'll check the next time I log in. Thanks.

 

[fennster]

This is a myth. NPCs do not have infinite ammo on anything except MCs and this is for gameplay reasons so that they don't immediately flee after running out. This has been confirmed by the person who actually wrote the code. Please do not further spread this misinformation.

No, really.. That PA looks a bit like infinite ammo to me?

Spoiler

[video=youtube;s_6HjebZFYs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_6HjebZFYs[/video]

 

[matemaster]

its not about engineered weapons used by NPC's. From the videos posted by players where NPC's fire their OP engineered weapons nonstop its clear that:

1. They are not affected by heat issues
2. They are not affected by power distributor
3. They are not affected by ammo
4. They are not affected by reload time

 

[FX2K]

Generally speaking, lots of accidents tend to cause insurance premiums to go UP, not DOWN

IRL, yeah.. but IRL my insurance premium is not a percentage of the overall price.
In fact, at the moment it works out as (price / 100) for my vehicle insurance, low risk because I don't go into combat zones.
If you apply that to a 190 million python.. that's 1.9million credits. Yes please

Edit: Need to lay off the booze today and learn 2 math.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

its not about engineered weapons used by NPC's. From the videos posted by players where NPC's fire their OP engineered weapons nonstop its clear that:

1. They are not affected by heat issues
2. They are not affected by power distributor
3. They are not affected by ammo
4. They are not affected by reload time

Or they don't care, you can get your ship very hot if you want to. People start to panic. NPC AI don't care.

 

[Muetdhiver]

No, really.. That PA looks a bit like infinite ammo to me?

Lol. Indeed. And some sreious issue with the rapid fire mod on plasma. XD

 

[Brimstone]

Or they don't care, you can get your ship very hot if you want to. People start to panic. NPC AI don't care.

Things begin to malfunction when you're overheating though. I've had several weapons malfunction and stop working and I'd only reached about 150% heat. Either way, it certainly seems like there are some bugs.

 

[Han Brannigan]

No, really.. That PA looks a bit like infinite ammo to me?

Hence why the video is called 2.1 Bug. This is not expected behaviour...

 

[JRok]

No, really.. That PA looks a bit like infinite ammo to me?

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_6HjebZFYs

Hah!... rapid fire PA... where's that engineer located?



Just kidding of course.

 

[RoninCahill]

I would have to agree, the AI issues iv had isn't generally being able to hit them its their massive speed, maneuverability, shield strength, and abilty to do many different types of attacks that humans would be hard pressed to accomplish. All things being equal they should have a random E to A rated ship like us, perhaps a small upgrade once in a while, a small % of spawn numbers so you get that very rare holy crap scenereo. thus far every ship iv been interdicted by is over 100% A rated. iv died on every occasion..i lied I did take a sidewinder in my A rated fer de lance with 1007 shields. he got me near death though...my 1007 shields lasted approx. 17 secs. I was chaffing, 3 pips to shields, AMS for missiles. and was juking hard. little        was faster than me too. not sure how that's possible.