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Current dragon AI seems...fickle at best.
Might I suggest dragons attack the next target in front of them and then if the target in front is more than 2 spaces away then attack the nearest target?
This will make dragon's seem to have a more predictable pattern and help those who wish to use them in attacks.
If SC starts making dragons useful ill rage quit, I swear. I won't even put my resources outside the base bro.
This is the perfect time for this quoteQuote:
Originally Posted by RhysThePiece
Quote:
Originally Posted by dahimi
They're pretty predictable already.
Perfect quote. I think that quote pretty much closes down the ideas section, doesn't it?Quote:
Originally Posted by BattleBorn007
I think it doesQuote:
Originally Posted by W4RD3N
how bout dragon A.I. being like this
http://i.imgur.com/X6hWtvI.jpg
Anyone know how the current AI works? Several people in my clan have been trying to figure it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by BattleBorn007
Quote:
Originally Posted by RhysThePiece
Sometimes they're straight forward but I've seen them completely avoid things in front of them like town halls and air defenses that are right in front of them with nothing else around them and go in some random other direction. If this is intentional, maybe AI should be changed, if not intentional then it's a bug. No one seems to know if it's a bug or not.
If at least they have some kind of semi-predictable path, even a spiral would be nice.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ukoval
You're just forgetting, or not seeing, a variable or two in how AI pathing works. It is all logical, just sensitive, because it relies on a chain of ever changing, simple, decision points.
The factor you may not be taking into account is the critters starting point when it has to make a decision on where to attack next. That move relies on two things, closest building, and proximity to other units like itself. This affects where the end of it's path is, which it where it does it's attack. From the end of that path, it picks where to go next after it is done attacking and obviously still alive.
Because you can have a group of these guys, the proximity rule makes them spread out. I literally had half my dragons split into two paths because they surrounded a building before attacking. This gave them all different starting points for thier next move, and since half of them were closer to one building, and half to the other, they parted right there, dispite me aiming them to the first building on purpose, so they could all go deeper into the base. That spreading out is what ruined my attack, since half went on thier merry way to the base edge, to follow the string of buffer buildings, while the now too weak other half got shot down by AD fire.
It is that subtleness from the start, them spreading out and acquiring different paths, is what people fail to see, and only see randomness in the mess of battle.
Just review your replays and see how they react. They all follow fairly simple AI rules... which as a whole looks complex.
Do dragons really need to be any cheesier than they already are?
The brain box of dragon is totally empty!
Once in a clan war, I was attacking TH8 (I was TH7) with 10 dragons (lvl1), Air defenses were destroyed, 2 Archer towers, 1 Wizard Tower and the TH was remaining. Only 2 drags were left, they even destroyed the Teslas, but instead of approaching to TH the went near the defenses, and BOOM! I was defeated (48% damage). If drag would have attacked the TH I would have got atleast 1 star..
The AI of dragon greatly needs to be improved or else I need to change my attack strategy...!
My support is with you!
Might as well now. It's stupidly expensive and doesn't work in the later stages of the game.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArihantBedagkar
Change your strategy.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArihantBedagkar
Most novice people do 'dump and pray', which is literally using brute force and ignorance to win. A common, but still no less effective, tactic is the line or wave of dragons, which keeps them more or less on target down the entire base. The rule for spreading out helps maintain the wave and resists any bunching up that the AI paths will eventually cause every now and then. They are going to spread out anyway, so why not start them off that way?
When using the more predicable wave deployment, predicable in a general sense of group movement, you have to pick the right angle of attack, and pick how many to deploy. Picking the starting point is very important, since you have a race on your hands. You need to have your dragons move fast enough to any major threat so it can destroy it, before it destroys the dragons. That race is filled with many speed bumps, buildings, CC troops, and Hero's (and skeleton trap minions). And not all buildings are equal in size, since storages, CC and TH have the highest HP, and that is literally a lot to burn through. Good base builders know that, and so use those large speed bumps as blocks towards thier Air Defense.
One trick that not many use, which is risky for a different reason, is to hold back on a few dragons, like say 1-3 (and/or have a CC with one). That way if an important building is missed, you can aim those last dragons in deployment to take it out. Everything from a missed Air Defense, Archer Tower, TH, or Storage building with loot I want, I've used those reserved dragons for to help save the attack. Issue with that is, is obvious, you are holding back damage potential on a bet that when something goes wrong you can fix it with them. That held back damage potential could cost you the attack, but with how erratic dragons are in such a complex field, I usually win that bet when running into those unforseen glitches.
Thanks....Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenJames
Heh, sorry about the sudden massive blocks of text. Of course I assumed how much you knew before asking, so I really don't know how useful those tips are for you.
Who knows... I'm not sure how much of a expert I am on dragon usage since regular use doesn't always mean you will improve in skill.
I am TH7 lvl 62, I had won 14 out of 15 multiplayer battles with dragons, that 1 match I didn't won was because the base was too strong for me to attack on, all the Air Defenses (lvl6) were placed in the centre near TH, he had lvl8 A.T. and lvl6 W.T. (he had maxed out defense).Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenJames
Whereas I had only 9 lvl1 dragons and 20 archers, with 2 lightning spell, it had been only a few days since I upgraded my TH to lvl7... so as per my view, I will surely lose..
Knowing when and where to fight is pretty important too. :)
Wish some of my clan mates knew as much as you do on that. I see people overstep thier bounds, thinking "It's dragons! Can't lose with dragons!" and only get one star, or even nothing.
I did some practice during some war downtime on different sized bases, with and without air defense, and was surprised at first by how effective those archer towers and tesla traps can be, given a chance.
I believe its good atm, so no support.
It was a Clan War, and only that base was remaining, I had my 1 attack remaining, so thought that atleast I could achieve 1 star in it!Quote:
Originally Posted by WarrenJames
No need to explain. I've been there :) It's cool.Quote:
Originally Posted by ArihantBedagkar
As for the dragon AI, not sure how to improve it. I don't know the code at all, nor all the behavior rules to even feel like I could suggest anything really insightful. Dragons are just awkwad, as if showing odd behavior traits when some parameters are pushed a bit too far. I mean, I believe SC uses the same AI rules that other units use, like in a barbarian, but with how it was modified to attack at a set range, and spread out more than most other units due to assumed size, it just acts so weird because of the odd needs a dragon unit has.