Positions and priorities of defending troops in sieges

[Short_n_quick]

I am really put off by the defender's troops behavior when storming the gates, while I understand that programming such mob of NPCs to act like they should is hard work and time-consuming one, this is I think one of weakest points of the siege, and I want to point it out.
First thing is, that when charging at gates, when troops are in killbox, noone up there cares enough to shoot or drop anything, which defeats whole point of this construction. Maybe it's my luck, but not even one arrow was shot at me from up there.
And placement of troops behind front gate is weird. They are so far away and stagnant, I can chop them for days from the side and noone cares. I don't know which orders they have implemented, but I don't find them rational right now. Maybe it would be better if they would take place closer to gates, maybe even directly next to it, to prevent anybody passing through, this way it would make sense for them to be stagnant, because the point is that nobody can pass through them and hit from behind. But current formation is so easy to flank, that I can just ignore them after entering castle.

I know it's just EA, but I hope it won't stay like this forever.

 

[Dr-Shinobi]

I am really put off by the defender's troops behavior when storming the gates, while I understand that programming such mob of NPCs to act like they should is hard work and time-consuming one, this is I think one of weakest points of the siege, and I want to point it out.
First thing is, that when charging at gates, when troops are in killbox, noone up there cares enough to shoot or drop anything, which defeats whole point of this construction. Maybe it's my luck, but not even one arrow was shot at me from up there.
And placement of troops behind front gate is weird. They are so far away and stagnant, I can chop them for days from the side and noone cares. I don't know which orders they have implemented, but I don't find them rational right now. Maybe it would be better if they would take place closer to gates, maybe even directly next to it, to prevent anybody passing through, this way it would make sense for them to be stagnant, because the point is that nobody can pass through them and hit from behind. But current formation is so easy to flank, that I can just ignore them after entering castle.

I know it's just EA, but I hope it won't stay like this forever.

Pretty sure as you said its in the works atm since i see them replace the AI here and there during the patches. Personally i think they are working on stages of attack to but its just speculating

 

[Short_n_quick]

Pretty sure as you said its in the works atm since i see them replace the AI here and there during the patches. Personally i think they are working on stages of attack to but its just speculating

I don't have insights, because I just bought the game, despite keeping up with development since release to EA, so I don't know how it changes in-game.

 

[Dr-Shinobi]

I don't have insights, because I just bought the game, despite keeping up with development since release to EA, so I don't know how it changes in-game.

Well it has been in much worse state then this. Even if i now can feel the sieges are a little bit more empty in a way then before to with lesser bowmen on the walls etc...Not sure if it has to do with people complaining about OP archers that have never existed or its just to prepare for something else. We have to see, but im pretty sure they are not settled with how it looks right now and are working on it

 

[jipped]

I have seen a.i drop rocks/ shoot arrows while trying to break down the gate. It all depends on siege engines which take atleast 1 or 2 units to go to each(causing a shift of placement) etc.

As far as "improvements", I think the fps got better on my end. I would get very bad stuttering and start at around 60fps dropping to 30-40fps.

After this patch, i seem to average around 45fps. Much smoother. Still needs a little work.

As far as troop placement, i noticed archers are spread out differently at least on Galend Siege(spelling could be wrong). The archers seemed to be firing from everywhere on the castle. From inside near the slits(usually they just sit there not using bow).

I think, if they are able to place priority locations depending on multiple scenarios would be best for the time being. In regards to using siege equipment, if the enemy a.i already places a tower against walls, it should be abandoned and the focus should be getting infantry where they are needed while archers run to new locations to fire at the blobs near gates/ the ones getting on the walls.

In time, I'm sure it just gets better.

 

[black_bulldog]

I don't have insights, because I just bought the game, despite keeping up with development since release to EA, so I don't know how it changes in-game.

From experience I can tell you some castles/towns are much worse than others. There has been some improvement but we're far from any competent ai for sieges. I mean we've been complaining about how poor the ai uses ladders and siege towers for months.

 

[Darkath]

As a player i tried to drop rocks but it's pretty wonky, because instead of dropping the rock, you actually throw them, and they explode on the side walls rather than hitting anyone. It's pretty difficult to get it right, i wonder if the AI can do it properly

 

[Dr-Shinobi]

As a player i tried to drop rocks but it's pretty wonky, because instead of dropping the rock, you actually throw them, and they explode on the side walls rather than hitting anyone. It's pretty difficult to get it right, i wonder if the AI can do it properly

Yes sometimes they are doing it. Even by the gate inside which is devastating. Sieges are still in work and theres more to be done. But i see improvements all the time. Sometimes its still buggy though with people waiting at the walls and such but it has been improved...Personal i think they are working on battle stages inside since i can now see how different AI behave and spawn when you are inside. They still need to work on the shield wall though even if times they can block of the whole gate they are not responding to well against the flankers. Some react but most not

 

[Ettenrocal]

From experience I can tell you some castles/towns are much worse than others. There has been some improvement but we're far from any competent ai for sieges. I mean we've been complaining about how poor the ai uses ladders and siege towers for months.

Yeah and TW just wait we are bored of complaining... the siege AI is bad (to be polite) and not only the AI but the main concepts of what a siege should be, the first siege is usually when i stop my new campaign... It has been really really little improved since march. Even the fact that there is a pack of troops waiting 5 meters behind main gates is stupid. Gates that explodes very easily in like 5 hits by battering ram. And if you need battering ram for first gates why you can explode second gate that is mainly the same with troops... ? At a point all of this is getting clueless. We will see what the next years bring. But i wait nothing really better on sieges in a near future. Sieges in Warband are better for now, that's where we are.