10 replies to this topic

[Steel Claws]

I see a lot of people complaining about the lance mate AI. Ye sit can be bad but there are some things you can do to help the situation. This is my opinions based on several play throughs so they may or may not be correct but they work for me. Most are rather common sense.

• Hire higher level pilots as soon as you can. Actively look for better ones. Higher level pilots perform better. I know this is common sense but I see people trying to use AI pilots with a rating of below 35 - 40 on level 60 and up missions. Don't.
  
• Pay attention to the descriptions of the pilots. They seem to make a difference. Avoid pilots that have something like - seeking glory, phoning it in, or anything about the endless killing starting to wear on them.
  
• Pay close attention to what they do in drop. Get rid of pilots that don't perform well, won't stay were you put them, constantly take lots of damage, or charge the enemy. There seems to be some personality traits coded into their behavior but I could be wrong.
  
• Be active about what you want them to do. Send them to nav points or what to target. On defense missions I usually send 2 to a point on one corner of the place you are defending but at a distance from it where I expect them to come from and position the last AI pilot on the other side. It is my job then to move to where the enemy are.
  
• Use an overlook position for AI players when ever possible.

Eventually you end up with AI pilots that do what you want when you want.

[PocketYoda]

I don't find the AI that bad, the only real issue imo is defense missions.. I'd had a couple get stuck oddly but i just restart if that happens.

I feel a lot seem to over exaggerate how bad they are.. PPC and lasers and the odd ballistic seem the best weapons.

[R I N G I N G E A R S]

Great info.

I would also like to add that it's very important to set weapon groups for your AI pilots.
Example: my lurm boat Stalker pilots LRMs are set to slot 1 and I have sensor range and lock upgrades installed. Also make sure the pilot is strong in that skill set.
Also helpful, but not necessary, is to run a mech with a beagle and another with ECM...

[STORM BANDIT]

The AI needs active management both during and between drops to get the most out of it, but it can do the job. Especially if you use terrain and control engagements, If you YOLO in and expect the AI to keep up they will be ground to dust.

I still haven't quite figured out how to do beachhead missions with the AI effectively. Quoting Kelly's Hero's "That crazy Mulligan is dropping them all over the place"

[Thorqemada]

You do the artillery guns and have the lancemates form up on you until a target appears you can designate to them.

I dont think the AI is getting hit by artilley...or it has not happened yet i still have not had much missions with artillery and currently wait for mod udates.

[R I N G I N G E A R S]

STORM BANDIT, on 20 July 2021 - 07:39 AM, said:

I still haven't quite figured out how to do beachhead missions with the AI effectively. Quoting Kelly's Hero's "That crazy Mulligan is dropping them all over the place"

They're a pain no doubt. I use a Raven-3L, painted black for that stealth look , with the EW/BAP and XL engine the artillery will never hit you. I take 3 assaults with me(they can't keep up with you obviously, but it doesn't matter. They're just there for end game). and I just run around taking out the artillery batteries first thing. Take out the satellite arrays as you pass by and then go for the capture zone. This is where your assault do the heavy work as you swat flyers, tanks, and turrets...

[LordNothing]

i find myself building mechs specifically for the ai to use. i try to sync up weapon ranges. if you have a small laser on an lrm boat, sometimes they close in to try and use it, which is stupid for a lerm boat. so what may be a potato build in mwo is perfectly fine for the mw5 ai. i think i read somewhere that ai will also prioritize lower number weapon groups. this is problematic as i like to keep missiles on group 3 and direct fire on 1 and 2. but if the ai gets it, it will use the missiles as an afterthought. avoid letting the ai brawl, as that usually gets them dead or busted, unless you like buying ac20s and high repair bills.

i like to treat them as turrets. i try to keep them alive and let them cover me (just dont stand between them and the enemy). they provide fire support, keep the sky clear. and i keep the squirrels off of them. this is especially useful in warzone missions as i deploy away from the drop location. be sure at least one mech is using direct fire weapons as sometimes you need them to cover the lerm boats. im usually further up screening for them and intercepting fast movers.

on defense post at corners and take care of anything that gets into the objective yourself. on demolition and raid missions, i usually use my ai as a distraction while i complete the objective. i tend to keep them closer on demolition to help me break stuff, but on raid i usually send them to a location to draw the enemy away from where i intend to hit. beechhead is similar to raid as far as ai deployment goes, i want them anywhere but near me as im going to be running artillery.

Edited by LordNothing, 20 July 2021 - 11:49 AM.

[R I N G I N G E A R S]

LordNothing, on 20 July 2021 - 11:35 AM, said:

i find myself building mechs specifically for the ai to use. i try to sync up weapon ranges. if you have a small laser on an lrm boat, sometimes they close in to try and use it, which is stupid for a lerm boat. so what may be a potato build in mwo is perfectly fine for the mw5 ai. i think i read somewhere that ai will also prioritize lower number weapon groups. this is problematic as i like to keep missiles on group 3 and direct fire on 1 and 2. but if the ai gets it, it will use the missiles as an afterthought. avoid letting the ai brawl, as that usually gets them dead or busted, unless you like buying ac20s and high repair bills.

i like to treat them as turrets. i try to keep them alive and let them cover me (just dont stand between them and the enemy). they provide fire support, keep the sky clear. and i keep the squirrels off of them. this is especially useful in warzone missions as i deploy away from the drop location. be sure at least one mech is using direct fire weapons as sometimes you need them to cover the lerm boats. im usually further up screening for them and intercepting fast movers.

on defense post at corners and take care of anything that gets into the objective yourself. on demolition and raid missions, i usually use my ai as a distraction while i complete the objective. i tend to keep them closer on demolition to help me break stuff, but on raid i usually send them to a location to draw the enemy away from where i intend to hit. beechhead is similar to raid as far as ai deployment goes, i want them anywhere but near me as im going to be running artillery.

Yep. Exactly! The AI will prioritize weapon to target distance so even though for our own mechs we set main brawl weapon to 1 secondary to 2 and LRMs to 3 the AI don't think that way. They just prioritize weapons as 1-2-3 according to what you have set on the mech so if lasers are set to 1 they typically wont fire until target is in range of that prioritized weapon. Set LRMs to 1, gauss/PPC/ER weapon to 2 and close in weapon to 3 and the AI actually do a pretty good job.

Edited by R I N G I N G E A R S, 20 July 2021 - 07:13 PM.

[VeeOt Dragon]

the one mod i highly recommend is the "No Friendly Fire Mod" just because of how stupid the friendly AI are.

[Wildstreak]

MechaGnome, on 19 July 2021 - 04:28 PM, said:

I don't find the AI that bad, the only real issue imo is defense missions.. I'd had a couple get stuck oddly but i just restart if that happens.

I feel a lot seem to over exaggerate how bad they are.. PPC and lasers and the odd ballistic seem the best weapons.

Defense Missions, I tend to watch where enemies spawn at start usually from 2 directions. I use the Move order to put the AI outside the area to be protected then Move orders to keep them out of the area unless nothing is between them and target. Prevents a lot of damage to area.

STORM BANDIT, on 20 July 2021 - 07:39 AM, said:

The AI needs active management both during and between drops to get the most out of it, but it can do the job. Especially if you use terrain and control engagements, If you YOLO in and expect the AI to keep up they will be ground to dust.

I still haven't quite figured out how to do beachhead missions with the AI effectively. Quoting Kelly's Hero's "That crazy Mulligan is dropping them all over the place"

Beachhead I send the AI in since I usually run a lighter fast Mech while I hunt down artillery. Very useful to keep them away from the dishes to be destroyed, most of the time Artillery does not fire until a dish goes down but you have a harder time finding them though there are rare missions when they start shooting from drop.

The only problem Beachhead is on a small narrow map where you have to run past the objective area to get a dish provoking serious defenders to fight you without the yellow allies that drop in.

[KodiakGW]

Just wanted to add what I noticed after playing with AI lance mates for a bit to accumulate CBills, equipment, mechs, and unlock upgrades (Why no 15% Speed Tweak in MWO?) so I can host fun multi mission games. A number of suggestions above seemed to help. But, it does seem to be a combination of mech and weapons that make the better pilots perform the best.

The description of the pilot does help a lot. But, it is not always 100%. For instance, I took a chance on a pilot with really good stats with "His hands shake in combat" in his description. One of the best AI lance mates. Would break off active engagements when ordered 100% of the time. Would never proceed further than me, even when target is called (so does not rush headlong into battle). Also, one of the better shots. One I would trust in the heavier firepower mechs.

Additional to that, even the one with the best stats and descriptions seem to perform better in some mechs than others. One instance is Capt. McMahon on my main CO-OP toon. Put him in a Hunchback 4J with SRMs (to help him level missile stat), or 4H with AC10 Burst, and he is Mr. Yippe-Ki-Yay! Had to bail him out twice. One time he ended up on the DL. But, in a Quickdraw 4H, Marauder, or Orion, he is spot on even with similar loadouts to the Hunchies. In fact, I noticed, for the most part, the AI seems to handle a Quickdraw 4H with SRMs & Medium Lasers the best. Still trying to figure out the best assault for them.

That being said, there still have been times where all my lance mates are staring at the two mechs ripping me apart in a Warzone drop. Forget about Defense missions and how most of the damage is caused by lance mates. Just need to have them target a mech out of the base, while I deal with everything else.

Two that I will warn about. The Draconis Combine pilots you get when doing a new career are absolute crap. Call a target, and they run away from it. Charging into targets when I'm trying to lead them on a flank, etc. In the Panther PPC they pretty good at shooting down VTOLs. But, they wiff so many shots on mechs, and still manage to land a number of them near me so to mess up my targeting.

Also, they should name Lt. Leon Freeman, they guy you get in one of the early campaign missions, to Lt. LEEEEROY JEEEEEENKINS! He is always 50 meters in front of me, and always running headlong into the mix while I'm working on drawing out targets.

Hope this helps.

Edited by KodiakGW, 10 August 2021 - 02:21 PM.