NPCs need to be reworked and be an actual threat.

[Hexcaliber]

You do not need to use engineering to take on current npc's, not even directly after 2.1 released, I have been killed by the AI a total of 3 times since the game launched and each time it was my own fault.

The trouble is there are too many hiding in private groups and solo so frightened of any real threat, that they will argue up is down anytime improvements to the ai are proposed or included in the game. Then they come to the forums and complain the game is boring, there is nothing to do, or that they have nothing to spend their credits on; oh the irony.

This is one argument Frontier cannot win no matter which side they fall on, so don't expect any meaningful threat from standard npc's anytime soon. Here's hoping the Thargoid threat provides a reasonable challenge.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Earlier today, I kinda of accidentally on purpose managed to agro nearly an entire nav beacon while murdering for PowerPlay.

My Anaconda (1800mj shields, 50% resistances, no armour), could basically ignore the 7 other ships, while I casually murdered several Imperial Support ships.

The NPC's do need a buff. Without gimping myself, I'm quickly running out of ways to make combat exciting.

 

[rrobes]

NPC's have a ranked-based response and has been this way for some time (there was a change to increase variety of ships). If you are elite ranked and NPC's regularly get you, then your ship is inadequate or maybe flight skill needs some attention.

If you are elite or whatever and are flying unmod lesser ships on purpose against more capable opponents, we salute you!

When interdicted, I see 90%+ of elite NPC FDL and Anacondas. They still aren't a challenge. The proposed change in shields will change the dynamics some and shields will be more vulnerable (hull hardness is to be increased to allow time to wake out when needed).

So indeed, NPC's should maybe get a kick up.

 

[eraktor]

But I'm not complaining. I shared my experiences, how I feel about the AI difficulty and asked the forum how they feel about it.

Anyways, I think I've found the solution at least for me.

I'd like to see the highest ranked NPCs get a buff, both in combat ability and better level of engineering. Lower ranked enemies might as well remain easy as they are. For players less capable in combat, there is one big problem in the system that I acknowledge: NPC spawns scaling by rank. Your combat rank inevitably goes up as you play, unless you manage to completely avoid any fighting. You may have achieved a combat rank that's higher than what represents your actual skill, before the great AI buff of 2.1. If your trading and/or exploration rank is higher than your combat rank, you'll also see harder enemy spawns.

One way to adjust this instead of making it dependent on one's Pilots Federation ranks, would be to make a more distinct difference as to where you find the most dangerous enemies. As far as I know, system's security level already affects this, but not enough in my opinion. Low security or anarchy should mean "Enter at own risk" whereas high security should be generally safe. This concept is easily extrapolated to the various 'intensity' levels of zones such as RESes and CZs.

 

[Hexcaliber]

NPC's have a ranked-based response and has been this way for some time (there was a change to increase variety of ships). If you are elite ranked and NPC's regularly get you, then your ship is inadequate or maybe flight skill needs some attention.

If you are elite or whatever and are flying unmod lesser ships on purpose against more capable opponents, we salute you!

When interdicted, I see 90%+ of elite NPC FDL and Anacondas. They still aren't a challenge. The proposed change in shields will change the dynamics some and shields will be more vulnerable (hull hardness is to be increased to allow time to wake out when needed).

So indeed, NPC's should maybe get a kick up.

I can happily take a viper or asp without a single engineer mod into a haz rez and farm bounties from elite conda, cutters, and corvettes with little or no challenge, at least until the much needed changes in beta testing hit live. But then I will just switch to rail builds dropping older load outs on smaller ships and still be able to farm the hardest npc's in the game with near impunity, all be it with a longer ttk.

At present the only reason to fly large ships against npcs is to up your credits per hour.

 

[Foxiol Eagle]

The other day an Elite Cobra MkIV almost got me in my A Rated Python with some engineered parts...Not sure why but it seems that my not engineered shields (I had to mod them earlier today) are not strong enough for a couple of hits from any Elite ship (probably modded to the teeth), so mine were down quite fast and had to run away from a g Cobra. So yeah...thanks but no thanks. (I'm almost "Deadly" by the way...[wacky])

Also have in mind that most of the people don't do engineers and those who don't own Horizons also can't do a thing about it, so IA's better stay this way. At least they fly better and pack a punch compared to what it was before engineers appeared. (remember those spinning ships?)


PS (totally out of topic): Something funny happened today too, I was chilling at Sol after a couple of days of heavy unlocking engineers all around and modding some more modules, decided to go to Chiron to take a look. After a while over the surface I found something and went to check, there was a broken probe and decided to take a closer look with my ship, suddenly a Skimmer appeared... "Hey little guy" I said, went straight at him to see if "he" reacted to my ship and it did avoid me a couple of times (actually that was quite natural), then decided to hit it with my ship...somehow the collision managed to take out my shields in one hit and made 7% damage. I almost crapped myself because I was experimenting and suddenly Boom! And not only that, I also lost a little bit of control and one of my thrusters for a couple of seconds.
So yeah...don't try to hit those lovely skimmers with your ship, they will make some heavy damage...or perhaps I bugged the heck out of it.

 

[lecorsobreton]

You want difficulty? Keep your commodities mission rewards and go bounty hunting in a hazres. That should keep you busy.

 

[Noddie]

No, leave them as they are. But they should scale according to player activity (not player rank!). If you're moving lots of weapons around a system at war, expect military veterans to attack you. If you're just shovelling biowaste, it's just a couple of junkies in a fried-out cobra trying their luck.

Sure, the challenge is out there for people who choose to pick it up - but it's optional.