So, is this the long-term state of enemy caster AI?

[parvo]

Well.. they are kobolds...

When was the last time you read a book written by a kobold.. huh????

Yeah k.. i'll agree, i notice it too, but mostly when i'm moving around, if i stand still fighting it doesn' thappen, it's that they have poor tracking, or once the /cast spell is triggered, their target is set.. but when i'm fighting them it looks like they just turn around and attack the wall.. .STUPID WALL DIE!!!

Many Kobolds are actually smarter than some of the characters in our parties. They are supposed to have something like 10/10 Int/Wis. Niether here nor there...

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Archers do the same thing as casters.

[Turial]

Archers do the same thing as casters.

Yep and its prime time to shoot or stab them in the back.

That being said its odd that only a few mobs can change from casting to melee or ranged to melee as players close the gap. Orcs and gnolls are the ones that spring to mind as being able to do this in all but a few staged locations.

[Pedaru]

I thought this happened because I was always in stealth mode. Guess, not.

[Emili]

This is due to a lag in the mob's tracking... aside from fixing this it would be nice to see some form of self-preservation in the mob later down the road. I will note however that it matters not what type of mob - outside the beholders, whereas when they have your position they never let up with beams now (those things in the new areas are shooting thru walls once again). Last night i spent some time exploring the areas off reavers refuge ... I noted several times when frost giant clerics went silly... but if you give them time they correct themselves... thus as I stated it is a lag in thier ability to grasp your current location.

[parvo]

This is due to a lag in the mob's tracking... aside from fixing this it would be nice to see some form of self-preservation in the mob later down the road. I will note however that it matters not what type of mob - outside the beholders, whereas when they have your position they never let up with beams now (those things in the new areas are shooting thru walls once again). Last night i spent some time exploring the areas off reavers refuge ... I noted several times when frost giant clerics went silly... but if you give them time they correct themselves... thus as I stated it is a lag in thier ability to grasp your current location.

No it's not. Has nothing to do with lag. As soon as mobs spot us, they know exactly our position. You can test this by sneaking into an area that has "anchored" range mobs. As soon as they spot you, they will fire arrows directly at you.

This problem is with AI. The AI is coded in a manner that causes this behaviour. It's not just Frost Giant Clerics. It's almost every caster in the game.

[Tin_Dragon]

Because if it is, that is a really sad thing.

Enemy casters run up to melee range, act stupid for a few moments, and (if they are still alive), turn around and fire spells away from thier attackers.

It's the sorriest AI of any MMO I've ever seen. If it were fixed, it would go a long way toward re-balancing player vs. environment. It would go a long way toward making the game challenging and fun again.

I'm begging here. I want to be excited to play. Give me a reason to hope. If there is no plan to fix enemy caster AI, there's no reason to stay.

Maybe Turbine figured that was fair nuff, since whenever said Gnoll caster is DIRECTLY in front me, within 5-10' or so, and i hit a quickened FoD on it, it says I must face the target

Fair is fair.

[Ghoste]

There's no "might be right" about it. If you want to test it, it's as simple as approaching any non-anchored caster. Very few will act differently than I describe.

I can confirm Parvo's observations, and that it does happen frequently with many different types of mobs. It looks like the enemy casters are attempting to shoot rays from their rears, not their finger tips. Their hands are going out in the other direction because they're asking a buddy to "pull my finger".

[Trappers]

I think part of Parvo's problem is that he's one heck of a good player. Until I joined MV and started playing real permadeath, I thought I'd played with some of the best in the game on Khyber. Parvo and some of the others in our guild blow them out of the water. They have to or they'd die. These guys have been doing quests like Crucible, Invaders and PoP with no spoilers and no deaths recently! How many of you can do that consistently? When you've played PD for awhile, your skills increase dramatically and you need increased challenge to make the game exciting.

One of the most refreshing things about PD forums and game chat is the lack of whining over anything new that makes things more difficult or changes a quest we know inside out.

That said, we do need to remember that there are new players who stink at the game (remembering my own learning experience). They need a bit of a nerf while learning the game. Perhaps, the AI could be left easier at normal and solo and fixed at hard/elite? Not sure that's possible, but I'd hate to see new players scared away by a fix.

[parvo]

I don't know what's more dissapointing, the continued horrible enemy caster AI or the lack of dev feedback.

Devs, if you're happy with the AI please just say so. If that is the case, I'd like to move on.