Combat is an annoyance, but not a threat

[Lizzard]

When 5 melee troops attack the front door of a stone keep, there's no threat or challenge involved. The only challenge really, is managing my colonist's AI so that the melee classes don't rush out the door, and manually forcing the archers to target the one person pounding on the door and not the 3 people behind them walking in a field.

I've seen videos online of people building these ridiculous looking moats with land bridges, lined with traps and archer towers along the way. But since the AI lacks any way to get up and down the different terrain heights, it just walks head first into these traps.

Trebuchets are a nice touch, but seem useless and hugely under-powered. The one and only time they proved to be anything more.... I had a one break through a dining table, 2 chairs, the floor underneath and collapse a wall in my root cellar. Yet all of my walls remained intact! But meanwhile, all of the shots appeared to have simply hit a wall on the outside while I was watching the battle. I'm not saying this was a bug, but I would have LOVED to be able to see the shot and trace it back to the unit that launched it.

Right now, combat really seems bogged down by the units' ability to navigate the terrain in an efficient manner. Give them some ladders to climb up those 1 block heights, or ropes to climb down them, and then some way to figure out which path to take to not simply lemming themselves against our front gates, and I may actually fear a raid.

[Tux]

a youtuber I watched when talking about building his killbox casually said
'at the moment the AI is really basic, so for now a simple killbox will do'
and then he went on to other things.

do you think he might be right?

[Farradin]

I agree. The combat AI is dumb. My settlers are dumb. Just put some archers in a wall tower and you can slaughter the attackers before they can break down the door. There needs to be a way for the AI to actually lay siege to a fortress. Now that would be interesting. Especially if you were not prepared and ran out of food. That cannibal trait might be useful.

[Elhazzared]

No matter what you do, there will always be ways to exploit the AI so that it poses no threat so saying they could have this or that isn't really solving anything. Besides the AI shouldn't have a simple way to ignore your defenses or making defenses would be pointless.

That said the AI pathing could massively improve. They get very confused when settlers are not outside or everytime someone that was going for the door dies. The AI should just rush all units to the door regardless of how many can stand attacking the doors and then those who get there first attack it while the ones who can't get to the door stand in the nearest unoccupied square waiting for a chance.

[Tux]

Originally posted by Elhazzared:

No matter what you do, there will always be ways to exploit the AI so that it poses no threat so saying they could have this or that isn't really solving anything. Besides the AI shouldn't have a simple way to ignore your defenses or making defenses would be pointless.

That said the AI pathing could massively improve. They get very confused when settlers are not outside or everytime someone that was going for the door dies. The AI should just rush all units to the door regardless of how many can stand attacking the doors and then those who get there first attack it while the ones who can't get to the door stand in the nearest unoccupied square waiting for a chance.

and the thing is, just because there is a method to keeping enamies away, does not mean one has to do it.

if one wants a challenge then dont make a kill box.

[Elhazzared]

Originally posted by Tux:

and the thing is, just because there is a method to keeping enamies away, does not mean one has to do it.

if one wants a challenge then dont make a kill box.

There is also that of course. Whether it's this or rimworld or whatever game in this vein, people will self impose certain rules to add more challenge or just to add flavor.

[Son Of Perdition]

TBF, it's about on par with the Rimwold AI. It's not as much about a real chance at losing as much as it is about stressing your colony both with injuries and the resulting lack of production.

Like as is it now it's balanced. You can game it which I honestly think is a feature. But playing as intended it presents a constant threat of losing a colonist or two and setting you back without ever threatening a game over.

But also raids are hardly a finished mechanic. Players will be getting access to siege artillery and I'm sure the AI will get more tricks

[GeeBee]

If they turn up with bows then you will lose 1 or 2 colonists even if your archers are in protected towers. Only been attacked once with bow wielding assailants but they do present a bit more of a challenge. Perhaps having more attackers with bows is the way to go to create more of a challenge.

[Karambo]

Originally posted by RonJ:

I agree. The combat AI is dumb. My settlers are dumb. Just put some archers in a wall tower and you can slaughter the attackers before they can break down the door. There needs to be a way for the AI to actually lay siege to a fortress. Now that would be interesting. Especially if you were not prepared and ran out of food. That cannibal trait might be useful.

look at their discord. someone made a suggestion to improve sieges and raids

[Bunks]

Originally posted by GeeBee:

If they turn up with bows then you will lose 1 or 2 colonists even if your archers are in protected towers. Only been attacked once with bow wielding assailants but they do present a bit more of a challenge. Perhaps having more attackers with bows is the way to go to create more of a challenge.

true, it's the only time you will take damage. Archers are very OP right now.

[Holce]

Archers are OP because melee are OP and ennemies don't have archers.

Melee start weak but can become monster. I had a colonist with 25 melee and an excelent steel long sword. It was doing about 16 dps. 3 times more than an archer. He could one shot most ennemies without missing most of the time. He was evading most of the hits.

The probleme is they start weak again strong melee. They are no match and archer are the only sure way. But if ennemy could have archer that would make our archer more vulnerable and give training targets for our melee, helping them to be strong. If we find a way to reach those enemy archers of course. That would make things more interesting.

[GeeBee]

Originally posted by Holce:

Archers are OP because melee are OP and ennemies don't have archers.

Melee start weak but can become monster. I had a colonist with 25 melee and an excelent steel long sword. It was doing about 16 dps. 3 times more than an archer. He could one shot most ennemies without missing most of the time. He was evading most of the hits.

The probleme is they start weak again strong melee. They are no match and archer are the only sure way. But if ennemy could have archer that would make our archer more vulnerable and give training targets for our melee, helping them to be strong. If we find a way to reach those enemy archers of course. That would make things more interesting.

The enemy do have archers although they don't seem to spawn too often. I was attacked by a crossbow wielding enemy who killed one of my archer settlers who was on higher ground and in cover.

[oulala]

Originally posted by GeeBee:

If they turn up with bows then you will lose 1 or 2 colonists even if your archers are in protected towers. Only been attacked once with bow wielding assailants but they do present a bit more of a challenge. Perhaps having more attackers with bows is the way to go to create more of a challenge.

not necesarily, I repeled an attack with 4-5 archers without loosing any settler (I have around the same amount of archers/crossbowmen)

mine were just up towers with merlons.

im yet to see these attacks with like 30 enemies, but I guess that just doesnt happen in normal difficulty

[GeeBee]

Sometimes you can fight them off without loss, other times you may lose a settler or two.

[TealDragonGaming]

AI tactics/intelligence seem to be the biggest difficulty. Maybe it's too hard to have an adaptive strategy, like identifying the weakest, safest entry to assault instead of shortest line between point A and B that can be exploited to death with moats, traps, killboxes, etc.

I'm leaning the opposite way with trebbies. They seem to fire too far, and too fast. Going off of others' experiences as well. They haven't been as huge of an issue for me personally. Half the time I can bait them off the trebbies or they just don't spawn in with them at all despite it warning me they will. Tldr needs more time in the science oven of balance.

[Lizzard]

Watch The Spiffing Brit's video on this game if you want to see why nothing anyone is saying about the combat units even matters... :(