Are followers not using guns?

[Herr Robert]

I equipped one of my followers with a shotgun and a pistol. She never used the shotgun and didn't use the pistol that much. Mostly relying on the melee weapon.

Is this intentional?

[Protectron]

if the zombies get too close, they will melee them. The range of both a pistol and a shotgun are rather short, making the window of opportunity quite narrow. So give them a rifle instead; the higher the calibre the better range. You can also put a Choke on the shotgun and a Brake on the pistol to increase range and power.

Mine shoot all the time, but I don't bring them along other than for specific missions where they are required. The AI isn't very good, and they are very vulnerable in higher difficulties than Dread.

The best guns you can give them are the B50FG & Timberwolf, or guns with no select fire that are locked to full-auto, like the Raider line of guns or the BAR 1918 variants. The Bounty Broker currently sells the Non-compliant SKS for 1500 influence, which is the third best gun to give to AI-controlled community members in the game. Pricey, but worth it.

Edit: note that if you give survivors two guns, they will only use one of them and not swap them around like you do. Probably the first one you equip for them is the one being used.

[diemore83]

If you are crouching while follower attacks a zombie it doesnt use guns instead of melee.Also make sure you have 1 bullet equipt in a gun so follower can use it.

[RI$KY RICH]

Mine shoot all the time especially when there are lots of zombies. Sometimes they have their moments. Just shoot your gun an they will most likely start shooting. I take followers everywhere.

Equip them with automatics if you have them.

[Sasha Pines (no brain)]

Originally posted by diemore83:

If you are crouching while follower attacks a zombie it doesnt use guns instead of melee.Also make sure you have 1 bullet equipt in a gun so follower can use it.

you dont need to give them bullet to use gun , friendly npc in this game use weapons base on how far the enemy is there a reason why npc at your base is better for defending then the one that follow you

[Herr Robert]

Originally posted by Protectron:

if the zombies get too close, they will melee them. The range of both a pistol and a shotgun are rather short, making the window of opportunity quite narrow. So give them a rifle instead; the higher the calibre the better range. You can also put a Choke on the shotgun and a Brake on the pistol to increase range and power.

Mine shoot all the time, but I don't bring them along other than for specific missions where they are required. The AI isn't very good, and they are very vulnerable in higher difficulties than Dread.

The best guns you can give them are the B50FG & Timberwolf, or guns with no select fire that are locked to full-auto, like the Raider line of guns or the BAR 1918 variants. The Bounty Broker currently sells the Non-compliant SKS for 1500 influence, which is the third best gun to give to AI-controlled community members in the game. Pricey, but worth it.

Edit: note that if you give survivors two guns, they will only use one of them and not swap them around like you do. Probably the first one you equip for them is the one being used.

Thanks! When I continue later today I will give the follower a long-range primary and only use shotguns myself then!

[diemore83]

Originally posted by Sasha Pines (no brain):

Originally posted by diemore83:

If you are crouching while follower attacks a zombie it doesnt use guns instead of melee.Also make sure you have 1 bullet equipt in a gun so follower can use it.

you dont need to give them bullet to use gun , friendly npc in this game use weapons base on how far the enemy is there a reason why npc at your base is better for defending then the one that follow you

They must have changed it lately then, i always though one bullet required to use a weapon infinidely by NPC so i wasnt aware of they use guns if there is no ammo.
i know they use guns depends on a range and so on.. been playing Lethal only fine by this way.
Follower is good attract but even better another mule next to you early game, after that its better take enclave npc so you can sell things right away wich dont need.

..and i mentioned crouching to topic starter because NPC for me at least doesnt use gun if i keep crouching as it believe me being Sneaky snake, but when i stand up ... hells loose and i can start singing wham .. last christmas while BPG or any rapid fire guns starts singing.

[Protectron]

Originally posted by diemore83:

Originally posted by Sasha Pines (no brain):

you dont need to give them bullet to use gun , friendly npc in this game use weapons base on how far the enemy is there a reason why npc at your base is better for defending then the one that follow you

They must have changed it lately then, i always though one bullet required to use a weapon infinidely by NPC so i wasnt aware of they use guns if there is no ammo.

It was in State of Decay 1 that you needed to have one bullet in the gun to have them shoot with it. Not necessary in SoD2. However, I usually leave a bullet in their guns anyway because I give the survivor specific base defense guns when I swap them out, and since I collect guns it is easier to spot which ones I use for arming the NPCs when scrolling through the locker.

[billy_blue69]

I ran into my base with 3 ferals hot on my tail. None of my guards did anything. All my community members ran. PATHETIC. They all have masterwork assault rifles and eternal rage ak-47's. AI is just horrible. Might as well give em a banana to use as a weapon.

[Protectron]

Originally posted by billy_blue69:

I ran into my base with 3 ferals hot on my tail. None of my guards did anything. All my community members ran. PATHETIC. They all have masterwork assault rifles and eternal rage ak-47's. AI is just horrible. Might as well give em a banana to use as a weapon.

There is the occasional bug that makes humans simply idle, but I have never seen them run away before. They might rather run straight into a full-size Horde meleeing.

The AI is bad, yes. They have spent a lot of effort programming nonsensical behaviour in fights. For instance, they might brandish their close combat weapon and sort of sneak around with it facing a zombie. This does not prevent the zombie from simply biting them in the neck from the front...

Both Masterwork Assault Rifle and The Eternal Guard's Infinite Rage have select fire including single-fire. The AI chooses single-fire whenever it can, so you are better off with RTX Rampart or Dillinger Pattern 1911's - which have full-auto-only firing mode forcing the AI to shoot in bursts. Those two are the weakest options of this sort of gun.

But the choice of guns shouldn't matter in this scenario; they should definitely shoot with then yes. However, if you just came running into the base, your 6 community members do require some time to actually spawn in. If you were in one of the largest bases like the Farmland Complex in Trumbull Valley, we're talking upwards to 10 seconds before anyone starts fighting.

[RI$KY RICH]

Give your followers an automatic rifle. Game changer

[billy_blue69]

Originally posted by Protectron:

Originally posted by billy_blue69:

I ran into my base with 3 ferals hot on my tail. None of my guards did anything. All my community members ran. PATHETIC. They all have masterwork assault rifles and eternal rage ak-47's. AI is just horrible. Might as well give em a banana to use as a weapon.

There is the occasional bug that makes humans simply idle, but I have never seen them run away before. They might rather run straight into a full-size Horde meleeing.

The AI is bad, yes. They have spent a lot of effort programming nonsensical behaviour in fights. For instance, they might brandish their close combat weapon and sort of sneak around with it facing a zombie. This does not prevent the zombie from simply biting them in the neck from the front...

Both Masterwork Assault Rifle and The Eternal Guard's Infinite Rage have select fire including single-fire. The AI chooses single-fire whenever it can, so you are better off with RTX Rampart or Dillinger Pattern 1911's - which have full-auto-only firing mode forcing the AI to shoot in bursts. Those two are the weakest options of this sort of gun.

But the choice of guns shouldn't matter in this scenario; they should definitely shoot with then yes. However, if you just came running into the base, your 6 community members do require some time to actually spawn in. If you were in one of the largest bases like the Farmland Complex in Trumbull Valley, we're talking upwards to 10 seconds before anyone starts fighting.

This is ODD. I just gave my follower ONLY the Dillinger Pattern 1911. I ran out in front of my base and watched her fire ONE round at a time. Even though it only has burst mode. Maybe I will try a Rampart or that one GLOCK that has full auto.

[billy_blue69]

Yeah, just stupid. I just gave one of my followers a 12 round grenade launcher. He shot one grenade and then ran up to either kick or stab with a little melee weapon. We ran over to a juggernaut he ran in front of it. Stood with his back to it and looked stupid at me. Like hi. Look at me. Then he ran over and used his small melee weapon. The grenade launcher would have been a better option. I was using a full auto ak too. I thought they were supposed to mimic your actions. NOPE.

[Protectron]

it sounds like one round, but it is actually a burst. They reload the Dillinger after 5 "shots", but it holds 20 bullets, so it fires 4 bullets a pop. The RTX is reloaded after 3 "shots", but holds 9. So 3 bullets are fired per pop.

If all 6 survivors have a RTX Rampart, they take down a Juggernaut on Lethal in 10 seconds or so. Less if all of them focus-fire

Since I have it stored, here is the full list of this type of gun:

Excellent NPC guns:

B50FG (Mysterious Wandering Trader)
Timberwolf (personal mission, MWT)
Raider's AK47 (hostile NPCs)
Raider's AR15 (hostile NPCs, PH)
FBI Fighting Rifle (Bounty Broker; WW2 pack)
Non-Compliant SKS (Bounty Broker; Pawn Shop Pack)
M1918 BAR (PH)
Barrow-Style BAR (PH, Bounty Broker; WW2 pack)
AA-12 (Ultimate Edition radio call weapon drop)

Good NPC guns:

M3 Grease Gun (PH, Bounty Broker; WW2 pack)
MP40 Submachine Gun (Bounty Broker; WW2 pack)
G18 Custom Auto (Rare Weapons Cases)

Decent NPC guns:

Raider's Uzi .22 (hostile NPCs)
Model 99-50 (Ammo traders)
Dillinger Pattern 1911 (PH)
RTX Cyclone (Red Talon Trader)
RTX Rampart (Red Talon Trader)

The RTX Rampart, Dillinger, G18, MP40 and Grease Gun all sounds like single-fire when used by NPCs but deal damage according to 3, 4, 5, 5 and 4 bullets per "shot", respectively. Except the MP40 and Grease Gun, Gunslinger is recommended for the NPC because of the frequent and slow reloads (on Dillinger and G18). Put Professional or Advanced Brakes on the four latter.

Put a Professional or Advanced Choke on the Cyclone and AA-12 and give them to Sharpshooters. The penetration is devastating!