NPC Combat Deficiencies and suggestions

[pm_lamont]

I have noticed a number of deficiencies pertaining to NPCs which had been fixed, but now are worse than before. These problems run the gambit from combat related functions, to spawning. Although spawning npcs is a subjective matter, and thus falls under the category of a suggestion. I compiled a list of the maladies which is as follows:

-Low damage: The npcs do not do much more damage than a bird
and have trouble squaring off against a cow. I armed a sailor with
a silver weapon, and it could barely kill a skeleton.
Tested units in general included fighters, rangers, sailors and paladins
I tested rangers, which after the initial fix a while back, in fact their introduction were awesome! Recently however, I hired Four rangers and all 4 were killed by a single troll! The same deficiencies were noticed in all other npcs
including brigands. I could take a brand new character into a brigand
camp and pound them all into a fine red paste without issue.

-Stealing: I hired a sailor, and took it to the Jhelom graveyard.
I noted that upon stealing, the npc disarmed his weapon which the last patch said would happen. However, after disarming, never re-armed and started trying to punch a ghoul to death. I had to tell him to drop his stuff and manually re-arm the npc. I thought it might be a one time thing,
so I tried it again. It never re-arms its weapon, and appears to
only make one attempt to steal.

-Targeting: I noticed hirelings, in this case a sailor once again
was unable to acquire a new target upon destroying an original target
(which I had to help him kill). After this target, he allowed the other
to kill him, never re-targeting. Reader take note, the new target
attacked and absolutely no orders were given to the npc afterward so
as to override the npc from defending itself automatically.

-Spawning: A few months ago the spawn of NPC fighters and rangers was
augmented to my elation. However recently, I have noticed once again
that the Jhelom pits and the area where rangers, fighters and paladins were spawning in Jhelom to be empty, or spawning beggars and bards again. There are mages spawning, but it would be nice to use something else without going all
over the world to find one. Jhelom being the Fighter's city, with no less than Two npc fighter guild buildings, and a fighters pit, it would make sense to have fighters and paladins there.

In summation, I realize that this is one of the more minor aspects of the game, and little attention is given to npcs, but what is strange is how it was given a brief focus of attention and fixed to the extent that it was working nicely only a short time ago, and now its malfunctioning. I besiege you to fix these issues. NPCs are fun! I miss getting a gang of npcs together and stomping places full of evil creatures and massacring them! Right now I can have a gang of them maybe kill a rabbit or something...

[Mikel123]

I have the demo code regarding NPC stats. Rangers, for example, are pretty weak, spawning with an average of 76.3 in Tactics and 46.3 in weapon skills/wrestling. Armorers are a bit better, 10 points less Tactics but 10 more in weapon skills. Indeed, Pirates appear to be at the upper end, at an average of 76.3 Tactics and 66.3 Swords. Paladins are the most well-rounded: 66.3 Tactics, and an average of 66.3 in each weapon skill.

Additionally, I believe there is an NPC bug that (accurately!) allows them to utilize their highest weapon skill value, no matter what they are holding. So Paladins spawn with Wrestling, Swords, Macing, Archery, and Fencing at between 55 and 77.5. So there'll be a range of values there, but you get to keep the highest of the 5, which makes it more like 73 on average.

Fighters are awful, spawning with an average of 50 hp (paladins are 78 and pirates are 93). They also average 56.3 in Tactics and weapon skills.

Obviously some stuff changed between this time frame and T2A, since for example dragons didn't appear to cast spells back then. But it's a starting point.

• name HPavg MANAavg STAMavg Tacticsavg Wrestlingavg Macingavg Swordsavg Fencingavg Archeryavg Resistavg Mageryavg Parryavg
  # Jailor male 103 78 103 86.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 86.3 #N/A 86.3
  # WeaponsTrainer male 103 78 98 86.3 78.8 78.8 78.8 78.8 #N/A 76.3 #N/A 86.3
  # Pirate male 93 78 93 76.3 56.3 36.3 66.3 36.3 #N/A 76.3 #N/A 76.3
  # Healer (non-shopkeeper) male 78 93 88 76.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 76.3 #N/A 76.3
  # Healer male 78 93 88 76.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 76.3 #N/A 76.3
  # Ranger male 78 68 83 76.3 46.3 46.3 46.3 46.3 #N/A 76.3 #N/A 76.3
  # Evil Mage Boss male 93 138 103 76.3 40.1 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A 86.3 97.6 76.3
  # Evil Mage male 93 108 103 76.3 40.1 #N/A #N/A #N/A #N/A 86.3 92.6 76.3
  # Thief male 68 78 93 66.3 36.3 26.3 46.3 66.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Weaponsmith male 93 88 93 66.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Brigand male 73 68 88 66.3 46.3 36.3 46.3 56.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Armorer male 93 68 83 66.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Butcher male 83 68 78 66.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Mage (non-shopkeeper) male 68 93 78 66.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 76.3 92.6 66.3
  # Ocllo Cashual male 68 93 78 66.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 76.3 92.6 66.3
  # Blacksmith male 93 68 73 66.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Judge male 73 83 68 66.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Paladin male 78 43 67 66.3 66.3 66.3 66.3 66.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Fur Trader male 73 48 58 66.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Bowyer male 73 68 78 56.3 36.3 36.3 36.3 36.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Shipwright male 73 68 78 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Tavernkeeper male 68 58 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Innkeeper male 73 68 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Sailor male 73 48 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Banker male 78 73 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Carpenter male 78 58 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Minter male 78 73 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Harbor Master male 93 78 73 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 66.3 #N/A 66.3
  # Provisioner male 73 73 68 56.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Mercenary male 57 43 57 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Warrior male 53 31 53 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Fighter male 50 28 50 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 56.3 #N/A 56.3 #N/A 56.3
  # Mage male 68 93 78 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 66.3 92.6 56.3
  # Tinker male 48 68 73 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Glassblower male 58 58 68 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Tanner male 58 48 68 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Fisherman male 68 48 68 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Cook male 48 63 63 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Veterinarian male 63 63 63 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Gypsy male 48 68 58 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Ocllo Priest male 48 68 58 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Miner male 73 48 58 46.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 46.3 #N/A 46.3
  # Gambler male 38 63 58 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Jeweler male 43 48 58 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Weaver male 43 38 58 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Noble male 38 58 48 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Vendor 38 58 48 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Shepherd male 58 38 48 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Veggie Seller male 58 38 48 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Alchemist male 43 58 43 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Mayor male 43 58 43 36.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 36.3 #N/A 36.3
  # Architecht male 28 43 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Beekeeper male 28 43 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Herbalist male 28 43 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Mapmaker male 28 43 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Monk male 28 48 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Cobbler male 43 33 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Waiter male 43 28 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Miller male 48 33 43 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Rancher male 43 35 41 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Baker male 41 33 40 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Artist male 23 23 38 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Ocllo Runner male 33 23 38 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Bard male 23 33 33 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Scribe male 23 38 33 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Sculpter male 23 28 33 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Actor male 28 33 33 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Magincia Servant male 23 33 28 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Beggar male 33 43 28 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Peasant male 33 23 28 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Prisoner male 18 38 18 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 26.3 #N/A 26.3 #N/A 26.3
  # Farmer male 10 10 15 1 1 1 1 1 #N/A 30 #N/A 30

Apologies for the format, I have no idea how to make a table in this form.

[Derrick]

Thanks, looking into this.