Possible to have HARD elite NPCs at CNBs/HazRez/HighCZ/piratelords?

[sb413197]

I've seen a couple posts recently asking for harder AI. I understand that there is a "serious" AI that was developed but was withdrawn due to players complaining about getting beaten...I could understand that frustration, but it seems that a middle ground has been missed.

I personally would love to experience this, even if it were only available in VERY specific circumstances unlikely to irritate most of the player base - for example elite NPCs at CNBs/HazRez/HighCZ/piratelords. Even make it REALLY fun and give them engineered weapons, and crank the rewards sky high to deal with the risk (in the millions maybe). Nobody would have to fight them unless they went looking, and it could provide an interesting challenge for those that were interested - it would require planning and strategy to take one down.

(My apologies if this idea precisely as written has been presented already - I hadn't seen it, but I don't catch every thread!)

 

[CookieJarviz]

I get wrecked by AI in my cutter above expert. Dont know why you would want them harder

 

[sb413197]

I get wrecked by AI in my cutter above expert. Dont know why you would want them harder

Late game with a fully engineered ship and knowledge of flight maneuvers/FAoff etc, the AI becomes...inadequate. I wouldn't want to force it upon those who aren't ready though - hence the special circumstances to go looking for it to find it.

Just seems like such a waste to the challenge potential there (advanced AI and engineering) but not being used!

 

[Jon flint]

I get wrecked by AI in my cutter above expert. Dont know why you would want them harder

Because that doesn't apply to everyone.

For a lot of commanders who have built and engineered their ships with combat in mind (PvP or PvE), NPCs really are cannon fodder. When you can obliterate an elite anaconda in a single pass (<10s) then it's no challenge anymore.

Hopefully Thargoids may change this, ultra tough enemy's in selected locations, people can seek them out if they want the challenge, or avoid if they don't...

 

[zarrazee]

+1 to the idea of "Extremely hazardous" RES sites. Something to give fully G5 rated PVE Vettes a challenge.

 

[Stigbob]

The easy way to add an extra challenge is to use a weaker ship

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I get wrecked by AI in my cutter above expert. Dont know why you would want them harder

I find it impossible to die anymore.

Took on 3 Elite Clippers in my lone Anaconda, expecting some kind of challenge, killed all 3 in under 3 minutes. Lol

Easiest 400k ever.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

The easy way to add an extra challenge is to use a weaker ship

*Facepalm*
Sorry but I hate that advice. Lol

 

[IceFire122]

The easy way to add an extra challenge is to use a weaker ship

^This is a good tip.

Try to take on the AI Anacondas/FDLs with an Engineered Courier or similar. It might teach you some lesson about evasive flying.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

^This is a good tip.

Try to take on the AI Anacondas/FDLs with an Engineered Courier or similar. It might teach you some lesson about evasive flying.

While it's fun to change up ships and fly smaller ones, it's just avoiding the fact you've spent maybe hundreds of millions, to billions on a ship, and then spent more time learning to fly it, and even more time engineering it, to then be told you need to go back to the ship you was in at day 2.
It's not a valid solution.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[Arindor]

While it's fun to change up ships and fly smaller ones, it's just avoiding the fact you've spent maybe hundreds of millions, to billions on a ship, and then spent more time learning to fly it, and even more time engineering it, to then be told you need to go back to the ship you was in at day 2.
It's not a valid solution.

Fighting them without using RNGineers is a valid solution IMO, they're a lot tougher. But, just because some have spent millions on RNGineered ships, it doesn't mean that NPCs should be adjusted to accommodate them. If anything, RNGineers should be scrapped and everyone on a "level" playing field. The idea of RNG was FD's lazy way of trying to improve balance in combat with minimum effort. The game has been ruined, in part, because of it IMO.

 

[Schmack]

Late game with a fully engineered ship and knowledge of flight maneuvers/FAoff etc, the AI becomes...inadequate. I wouldn't want to force it upon those who aren't ready though - hence the special circumstances to go looking for it to find it.

Just seems like such a waste to the challenge potential there (advanced AI and engineering) but not being used!

Remove the engineering mods. Why engineer to buff your modules then ask for harder NPCs? Aren't you basically negating any gains you have by doing so?

If people want the game to be more challenging, stop buffing your modules to make it less challenging. It's pretty simple.

It seems to me that people asking for AI buffs are those who have buffed their meta ships to god like status and are now reaping the rewards, a boring game. They expect FD to fix that by rebalancing the grind, but those who haven't engineered would be even more behind the curve.

 

[Rubbernuke]

My tips for challenge:

Become wanted by BGS attacking a Fed or Imp high security system. Response times are in seconds, and they send Corvettes and Cutters at you, sometimes in wings.

When CZs are in ceasefire, attack.

In Power play, undermining in Navs is great as you have up to six power ships and security showing up to fight. This can give you 12 on 1 very quickly.

Cap ships above Palin often have wings of Vultures rather than SLFs. Slap them.

Attack stations and soak up the security they send at you.

 

[Stigbob]

While it's fun to change up ships and fly smaller ones, it's just avoiding the fact you've spent maybe hundreds of millions, to billions on a ship, and then spent more time learning to fly it, and even more time engineering it, to then be told you need to go back to the ship you was in at day 2.
It's not a valid solution.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

It works better than whining, you can even tailor it to exactly the right level. My pimped corvette is my least used ship.

The AI will never get significantly harder, the games an MMO and as such is geared to the lowest common denominator.

 

[IceFire122]

It's not a valid solution.

Okay, than used your billion Cr, engineered ship and the flying skills to survive with a couple of gold canisters in your hold in a pirate infested instance.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Hopefully the Thargoids will be a challenge. But there is another solution, bring back systems like Riedquat used to be in the original Elite.

 

[Friedenreich Xante]

I actually had to flee more than once with wings of NPC's shredding my fully engineered crovette. But I admit that a single Elite Anaconda does sometimes go boom way too quickly. Maybe adjust the AI with the combat level of the player... because making them harder for all all the way could be frustrating to new players.

 

[Riverside]

I find it impossible to die anymore.

Took on 3 Elite Clippers in my lone Anaconda, expecting some kind of challenge, killed all 3 in under 3 minutes. Lol

Easiest 400k ever.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead



*Facepalm*
Sorry but I hate that advice. Lol

I see Engineers as a difficulty slider. If a player is running around in a massive all G5 loadout they are just playing the game on it's easiest setting. With this in mind, playing the game in easy mode & complaining it's too easy is silly imo

The other thing is that it takes hundreds of hours of play to get that ship. Frankly by then most of the game becomes pretty easy, because you are experienced & have learned how to deal with it all. I try to work things out for myself rather than watching how-to vids & 4,000 hrs later I still make mistakes & those are the times when the game presents it's best challenge ime.

 

[Jukelo]

The easy way to add an extra challenge is to use a weaker ship

So people pay real money for an expansion allowing them to tweak their ship, and that makes the game worse for them because there is no content for it.
I'm sure that will encourage players to buy the next expansion.

 

[Soopyyy]

Knowing Fdev, "harder" will just mean bullet sponge hell. No thanks.

 

[Riverside]

So people pay real money for an expansion allowing them to tweak their ship, and that makes the game worse for them because there is no content for it.
I'm sure that will encourage players to buy the next expansion.

There's more to Horizons than just Engineers. It has been long established (well before 2.1) that for ships bigger <> better.