Fighting multiple enemies and chasing

[totalgeekthe1st]

Hi, I don't know if anyone else has found this, and perhaps most people don't fight bandits solo like I do, but when fighting groups the individual ends up pushing into the larger group. The bandits do a bit of surrounding, but the lone hero seems to push into the middle. Now, while this looks nice and heroic, it is both very unrealistic and means that a lone hero with stats 3 times the bandits and an edge 5 topper will get killed without micro. It would be much better if the hero were to focus on the nearest enemy and try to kill them quickly.
On a similar note, sometimes when fighting 2 enemies my character will attack the far one, not the close one. I have seen him take 3 hits in a row, just because he wasn't smart enough to attack the closer bandit. Similarly, I have seen him successfully attack one bandit, the try to attack again while the other bandit is also preparing for an attack. In this case, he gets hit again with nothing to show for it. That being said, when the other bandit is far away, I have seen him make a successful attack on one, then run over to the other, rather than taking a free strike against the bandit already reeling from the first hit.
Also, a "finish off" option on a fallen enemy would be really useful. I hate it when I can tell a bandit is going to recover, but I can't attack him anymore because he's lying on the ground.
Finally, when chasing and enemy who has decided to prolong the inevitable, my character will run at full speed for a time, then slow down to the speed of the running enemy. It is really annoying when my character, with a max run speed of 100, cannot catch a dust bandit in a chase without serious mirco. It would be much better if both characters ran as fast as they could, and if the chaser could close, he would make a quick strike at the enemy's legs in an attempt to cripple him. I think it would make chasing a lot more realistic.
P.S. Please don't interpret my suggestions to mean that I don't like the game. On the contrary, I've already spent hours playing, and expect to spend many more. I just think some elements of combat could be made more realistic. Thank you.

[Marilous]

I dunno how far the AI is in the game along the lines of what it will be when its finished but if you hold down right click you will see an attack target option that can take care of your problem for now, though it is a bit micro, most games you tend to come out better with a tiny bit of micromanagement as opposed to click and let it unfold.

[Nater]

I imagine the chasing thing would work both ways as most things already do in this game. If you can stay on the heels of your enemies and chop at them as they run away, they will be able to do the same to you. I prefer to micro this currently. Not sure if I want to lose the ability to run away from fights that much.

[mhemmick]

I imagine the chasing thing would work both ways as most things already do in this game. If you can stay on the heels of your enemies and chop at them as they run away, they will be able to do the same to you. I prefer to micro this currently. Not sure if I want to lose the ability to run away from fights that much.

I dont really think you would lose your ability to run away from fights that much. As of right now I have yet to even been hit once I start running away. I for one like the idea of some sort of running leg chop. It would give more sense of "fleeing" rather than "you cant catch me".

As for the getting surrounded problem, right now when I get surrounded I have to micro my guy out of his demise which usually consists of him turning his back on the enemy to run backwards about 10 yards so that all the bad guys are in front of me. Now if they had some sort of way to make your character back up while still defending that would be amazing, maybe by using the block attacks command or something.

Anyway, just my two cents. Keep up the good work Chris!

[Clawdius Talonious]

The AI is fairly rudimentary at the moment, and will have a number of significant changes over the course of patches as we work our way toward 1.0. You can anticipate the ability to surrender to enemies, as well (one imagines) as for them to surrender to you as Chris has talked about surrender as a feature in the past. At that point if you've surrendered the bandits will loot some of your things and get bored and move on, and I imagine if they surrender to you, once slavery is implemented you'll be able to make use of their labor. At the moment the AI isn't equipped for terribly advanced concepts on either side, so you can lure enemies into gate guards and clean up their remains for fun and profit, and all sorts of things that will not remain in the game. However there are a number of priorities that come before we will likely see Chris devote the time and trouble it will take to adjust those AI algorithms, so patience will be a virtue in that regard.

[toaster Assassin]

In addition, if you run out of space to store your weapons a fallen bandit will make for a handy "golf club bag". (Though it is recommended that you use a stronger person to carry said "golf club bag")

[Syniztur]

In addition, if you run out of space to store your weapons a fallen bandit will make for a handy "golf club bag". (Though it is recommended that you use a stronger person to carry said "golf club bag")

I concur. I was doing this quite often until I got backpacks for all of my guys. It is much easier to carry the body loaded down plus it helps build your strength which in the long run will make you carry more easier.

And as mentioned before, even if you are at a snail's pace, the AI keeps the baddies from hitting you due to the mechanics of how they have to stand in place in order to swing for an attack.
This has saved my rear end more times than I can count.

[dustbiter]

Got pretty annoyed at the crowd that couldn't chase down a limp fleeing cannibal. It was particularly bad as his right arm was crippled so he didn't slow down to block and kept walking through the crowd that's taking it's time to surround him first so they hardly ever attacked. Oh and thanks to the new nerfed bleeding he doesn't bleed out.

I think the planned solution is for enemies to surrender and beg, but I have no idea how it'll work out. What if only one enemy is severely injured? Does each of them start diplomacy when badly injured if there's many of them?

I think proper implementation of the future stamina system may provide a simpler solution, say stamina would drain faster at low blood levels, and that the character remains stationary if out of stamina.

Below is a complicated possible solution I thought of before considering the future implemenation of stamina:

My suggestion is that an attacker can recognise the fleeing state of the enemy and an attack will be performed with fast animation without any delays from positioning or moving to surround the enemy.

Yes the enemy can do the same to you if they are faster and catch up to you while you are fleeing. Doesn't it make sense that a faster pursuer can cut down a fleeing enemy slower than him? An easy way to gain speed would be to drop your gear if you have to flee. I suggest the game determines a fleeing state when there is a large difference between the health levels(legs only?) of the attacker and defender who is moving(player move command).

[AviticusDragon]

Personally I think that the combat is actually pretty good and realistic.

When fighting against people with swords, only two people can really attack you at once which is how it is in Kenshi if you are solo. If 3+ people attack you, they would open themselves up to slicing each other which is why the computer AI surrounds the target waiting for their chance to strike or engage in combat. I feel Kenshi incorporates this pretty well (of course there's always room for improvement).

What I really want to see improved is chasing people down. I'd love for there to be a mechanic such as BOLAS that your men can throw to wrap around the legs of people running away to catch them. This could be a crafted weapon with a limited number of uses perhaps.