Why I love the new ship AI

Mharr said:
I get the impression a lot of players were in the habit of only fighting stationary ships before the update. I haven't noticed any great difference in aiming broadsides, other than that you need to do it now.

Pro tip, your ship has a reverse gear for some daft reason. Learn when to use this.
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This is exactly what I'm figuring, it'll take some time for everyone to learn how to fight enemies who move and shoot back now, but after some adjustment I'm sure things will be great. Can't be too quick to say something's bad when you haven't given it enough time, right? ;)
 
i have been useing a sloop and hitting anything with broadsides is lucky cause either A it breaks and shoots scattershot at nothing or B it misses now if i try and kill a war frigate sure its easy to hit but takes ages to kill and still only gives me cargo crates... would be nice if the lower level ships maybe where easyer? aka little slower?
 
Johnny Telltale said:
This is exactly what I'm figuring, it'll take some time for everyone to learn how to fight enemies who move and shoot back now, but after some adjustment I'm sure things will be great. Can't be too quick to say something's bad when you haven't given it enough time, right? ;)
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If there's ANYTHING I remember from POTCO, is that standard enemy ships (I.e not Treasure Fleet, Warships, Bounty Hunters) were slow and there were a variety of 'kiting' strategies that exploited their sluggish behavior. I LOVED POTCO sailing, its what I spent the most time doing. Standard enemy ships were slow enough that you could backpedal in front of them as they 'chased' you and turn and do broadside after broadside into their front, or circle behind them and shoot them in the rear. I'm trying not to compare the aggressive enemy ships we have now to the stationary, inaccurate enemies from the initial beta, I'm trying to compare them to my experience in POTCO. They could move and shoot back, though not quite at the pace we have now.

I don't really want the stationary targets from the initial beta sailing back, and I'd even agree that compared to the POTCO sailing days, the enemy AI and its abilities for standard ships could've used a bit of buffing when it came to their speed and reactivity. I acknowledge that the standard sailing enemies in POTCO weren't exactly difficult, but I just personally feel that their sheer aggression, speed, and aggro radius in the current state in my time sailing in Beta is just a bit too much right now, though I hope the Bounty Hunters, Warships, Treasure Fleet etc. are this tough since they are more designed to be a more significant challenge (in my opinion.)

TL;DR I believe that the standard sailing enemies are a bit too aggressive and fast right now, but I would agree that the way they were in very early beta (stationary and inaccurate) was too easy, and maybe even in POTCO as well. Maybe just dial their speed and turning radius back a bit, and adjust the aggro range. All of this is just my opinion though.
 
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Richard Seakidd said:
If there's ANYTHING I remember from POTCO, is that standard enemy ships (I.e not Treasure Fleet, Warships, Bounty Hunters) were slow and there were a variety of 'kiting' strategies that exploited their sluggish behavior. I LOVED POTCO sailing, its what I spent the most time doing. Standard enemy ships were slow enough that you could backpedal in front of them as they 'chased' you and turn and do broadside after broadside into their front, or circle behind them and shoot them in the rear. I'm trying not to compare the aggressive enemy ships we have now to the stationary, inaccurate enemies from the initial beta, I'm trying to compare them to my experience in POTCO. They could move and shoot back, though not quite at the pace we have now.

I don't really want the stationary targets from the initial beta sailing back, and I'd even agree that compared to the POTCO sailing days, the enemy AI and its abilities for standard ships could've used a bit of buffing when it came to their speed and reactivity. I acknowledge that the standard sailing enemies in POTCO weren't exactly difficult, but I just personally feel that their sheer aggression, speed, and aggro radius in the current state in my time sailing in Beta is just a bit too much right now, though I hope the Bounty Hunters, Warships, Treasure Fleet etc. are this tough since they are more designed to be a more significant challenge (in my opinion.)

TL;DR I believe that the standard sailing enemies are a bit too aggressive and fast right now, but I would agree that the way they were in very early beta (stationary and inaccurate) was too easy, and maybe even in POTCO as well. Maybe just dial their speed and turning radius back a bit, and adjust the aggro range. All of this is just my opinion though.
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I'm not saying the points aren't valid, just that players should not rush to judge the AI before having more time to play and adjust to it. While there may be tweaks that are needed here and there, it's not really possible to judge those accurately after only a full day of playing ;)

More information must be gathered first! So feedback is always welcome, but people bashing it doesn't really tell us what we need to know :p
 
Johnny Telltale said:
I'm not saying the points aren't valid, just that players should not rush to judge the AI before having more time to play and adjust to it. While there may be tweaks that are needed here and there, it's not really possible to judge those accurately after only a full day of playing ;)

More information must be gathered first! So feedback is always welcome, but people bashing it doesn't really tell us what we need to know :p
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Ok, I understand. I'm sorry if it was a bit wordy or I seemed snappy. I just misinterpreted one of your comments a bit. My bad, and I see where you are coming from. I hope it all works out and thanks for your hard work! ;)
 
No offense to whoever came up with the idea of making the regular ships aggressive but I think disney created bounty hunters for the whole aggressiveness experience, I just feel like you have to be an expert or something to actually sink ships without almost sinking yourself, is there a strategy to sink ships without taking too much damage, also will land enemies be more aggressive in the future?
 
OurGangsDarkOath said:
No offense to whoever came up with the idea of making the regular ships aggressive but I think disney created bounty hunters for the whole aggressiveness experience, I just feel like you have to be an expert or something to actually sink ships without almost sinking yourself, is there a strategy to sink ships without taking too much damage, also will land enemies be more aggressive in the future?
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Not sure about land enemies, but as for strategy I employ heavy use of turning, backing up, and "Take Cover!" to avoid or reduce damage. When I see a barrage of fury or thunderbolts incoming, I can take cover and take no damage while I ramming speed/full sail away to re-position and take on the situation with a better angle.

Overall it's all about thinking out even a basic strategy and learning when to duck in and out of a ship fight. If you just sit there and tank shots, you WILL sink. Open Fire and Take Cover are extremely useful here, and so is Ramming Speed and Full Sail to control where your ship is compared to the enemies.

Oh, and don't forget Turn About! The movement abilities don't need to be maxed, just a single point or two will do, but having them is far too useful to ignore. Savvy?
 
One thing that would be nice is some sort of visual indicator of which ship (if any) will be targeted by the next broadside, and maybe a way to lock this and concentrate on a particular ship. That seems like a command that gunnery crews should understand.
 
Johnny Telltale said:
Not sure about land enemies, but as for strategy I employ heavy use of turning, backing up, and "Take Cover!" to avoid or reduce damage. When I see a barrage of fury or thunderbolts incoming, I can take cover and take no damage while I ramming speed/full sail away to re-position and take on the situation with a better angle.

Overall it's all about thinking out even a basic strategy and learning when to duck in and out of a ship fight. If you just sit there and tank shots, you WILL sink. Open Fire and Take Cover are extremely useful here, and so is Ramming Speed and Full Sail to control where your ship is compared to the enemies.

Oh, and don't forget Turn About! The movement abilities don't need to be maxed, just a single point or two will do, but having them is far too useful to ignore. Savvy?
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what about players like with that are just getting started the ship ai for low levels is a bit extreme for their hitbox i think. shouldn't be bounty hunter level for new players.
 
Hakiri said:
what about players like with that are just getting started the ship ai for low levels is a bit extreme for their hitbox i think. shouldn't be bounty hunter level for new players.
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just keep turning around the hostile target ship...i think soon i might make a "guide" for the new ship AI to show people how i fight them if anyone is intrested
 
navy3001 said:
just keep turning around the hostile target ship...i think soon i might make a "guide" for the new ship AI to show people how i fight them if anyone is intrested
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It's real easy tho, I don't understand the fuss. I like the new ship AI because it offers a challenge out at sea. The only thing that needs to be changed is the auto-aggro. An enemy ship should never attack you first, you should have to attack it first, so that then it does the new circling attack pattern. An easy way to counter it is to just alternate broadsides while the other is in cool down using backtracking and turning maneuvers. Also, when I'm attacking a ship, my broadsides auto aim and perfectly nail the enemy, even at range. I'm pretty sure it's not a glitch tho, it was in POTCO.
 
nowisdmoment said:
It's real easy tho, I don't understand the fuss. I like the new ship AI because it offers a challenge out at sea. The only thing that needs to be changed is the auto-aggro. An enemy ship should never attack you first, you should have to attack it first, so that then it does the new circling attack pattern. An easy way to counter it is to just alternate broadsides while the other is in cool down using backtracking and turning maneuvers. Also, when I'm attacking a ship, my broadsides auto aim and perfectly nail the enemy, even at range. I'm pretty sure it's not a glitch tho, it was in POTCO.
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i agree..its not that hard to battle the new AI
 
Hakiri said:
what about players like with that are just getting started the ship ai for low levels is a bit extreme for their hitbox i think. shouldn't be bounty hunter level for new players.
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If you're low level, you should be fighting other low levels, and make sure you're not just sticking yourself in a light sloop. Upgrade the ship as you go!
 
It's super easy to fight them off when you get the hang of it. You'll learn more strategies as you go. Now I can single-handedly take down 3+ ships simultaneously while taking minimal damage. It took a day or two to get used to, but now I like it much more than I did at first.

The adjustments that I would love to see would be:
-Slowing the enemy ships down a little
-Preventing light sloops and lower class ships from chasing higher level pirates
-Maximum of 3 ships chasing one ship at a time
-Increase the hull strength of enemy ships
-Implementing different types of attacking strategies A.I. can use
 
Tip: Although this is cheap, if you want to level sailing then sail away from a ship but close enough to hit it with chain shots. Then fire until it is close to you the run away and repeat until all sails are destroyed then hit it with broadsides. This is a cheap way to level sailing and cannons, but it works and no damage is done to your ship
 
> An enemy ship should never attack you first, you should have to attack it first

That's not what 'enemy' means. You're an infamous pirate ship flying the Jolly Roger, of course Naval vessels are going to come after you. Avoiding adds in combat and picking a route around blockades and escorts is part of the strategy. What online games do you play where no NPCs have an aggro range?
 
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