SP - Player, NPCs & Troops Wish list for Companions

[AngryPanCake]

Companion independent parties should be a little more useful and have some more specific roles.

As it stands now (pre-1.7.0 as I have not tried Companion parties yet), they just wander around seemingly aimlessly and not sure how useful they are. What's missing are more specific tasks, such as for instance: security duties (going after looters/brigands), commerce raiding (attacking enemy Caravans when at war), war patrols (attacking enemy parties)...etc. Maybe this is already happening, but I have not seen it much or think it being useful at this time.

Also, in addition to the more specific tasks, we need more specific areas of operations. For instance: Patrol Clan's territory, Companions would go and intercept looters/brigands that are active in one's own territory. Border Patrols during war, in which Companions would intercept enemy parties entering Clan's land or Kingdom...etc. Border Raids, in which Companions would cross into enemy territory and raid villages/intercept Caravans.

But, if nothing can be added to companions we should have the added ability to play the companion during a battle. If one of my companions is attacking or being attacked, I get a notification that would ask if I want to take control of the battle as the Companion. This could be an option that players can select if they want to take charge or just give the AI exclusive control of companions.

 

[Tryvenyal]

Party Roles would be great!

Here is some suggested Roles.
Royal Service: Default current behaviour when not in armies. Small buff to daily Influence(depending on Quantity and Quality, about half what they would get if in an army). Small army recruitment price reduction(-5%?) for armies led by ruler clan and a slight daily ruler relation increase. Only parties with this status is used for creating armies.
Domain Service: The party tends to clan domain-lands. They solve issues and hunt down criminals. Up to 2 parties can have this role. AI gives this role to a party if Loyalty or Security is below certain tresholds. Only ruler can force these parties to join armies. Cost extra (+20%?) to recruit and a small relation penalty to that clan. Daily penalty to influence and rulerclan relation to maintain during war. During peace, all clans tries to fill up the quota of parties with this role. (A big plus if it would be possible to say WHERE they should focus, if not, they should at least focus on where it´s most needed!)
Clan Service: Rather than allways having the best of the kingdom in mind, this role make a party focus on their clan. When not in an army, they follow clan-led armies into offensive wars, looting and picking fights and prio to defend demesne land against raiders for defensive targets. AI use this role rather than Royal Service if they are not "Friendly" with the their ruler when possible. This role provides no modifiers. Player parties with this role can be given Tasks
Army Service: This is a technical Role for all parties that is in an army. They have all modifiers parties in an army curretly have

I understund there are lots of AI- logic needed to create these roles but here is some AI rules:

If AI clan has no parties with Role Army Service or Royal Service, their first party is automatically changed to Royal Service
If Clan Leader creates/spawns a party, it´s allways Royal Service(They are now free to change any other party from Royal Service)
If Clan risk rebels, and they have at least 2 parties, they will change the second to Domain Service.

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Parties with Clan Service can be given tasks. During tasks, they can't be recruited by any army.
The tasks can be:
Raid Village. Party will try to raid an enemy village in "offensive" land.
Herass Caravans. Party will try to catch and defeat an enemy Caravan.
Bring recruits. The party will recruit up it´s limit and seek out the player party.If player takes all troops, the party is disolved and respawns a few day later in a player-(if none, a friendly) owned fief.
Bring food. The party buyes lots of food and seeks out the player. 75% of their food is transferred to the player inventory when they arrive

 

[Flesson19]

The biggest think I want are companions near level 1-3 since companion clans they need to get some levels to be effective group leaders and most are too high of a level and take way too much time to level them properly

 

[Tryvenyal]

The biggest think I want are companions near level 1-3 since companion clans they need to get some levels to be effective group leaders and most are too high of a level and take way too much time to level them properly

I´d love low-level companions!

 

[Madijeis]

I would also like to add:
General Party Behaviour Options, allowing us to set certain goals and limitations within the capacity of the leading companion, such as maximum party size, preferred targets (would be nice to be able to target clans) and aggression, how much food should the party have before seeking a resupply (measured in how many days it would last), party speed target, allowed spending per day...
Caravan Escort, the party escorts the clan caravan
Prisoner Transport, opposite of @Tryvenyal 's suggestion, party transports prisoner (you can give them to it the normal way) to the indicated fief. If a town is selected, the player is asked if they want to ransom them, otherwise they're thrown in the dungeon. If it's not a clan fief, the clan is rewarded influence as usual. Sending them to a town of another kingdom automatically takes the ransom option
Supply Transport, very niche application, party inventory will be shown to the player, where they will be able to transfer the items of their choosing, as well as locking them. Once the party reaches the indicated destination, the party will offload all unlocked items. In a clan fief, there's the option to offload into the fief stash, otherwise they will be sold. In case all items in party's inventory are unlocked, the party will offload how many items it can without crossing its before detailed limitations.

 

[MightyFelix19]

I whole heartedly support this. If we’re going to be sending our companions and trusted men into the maw we have to be able to do so with some direction and strategy.