Monster AI

Most monsters obey the same AI. A few of the principles are:


 * They wander back and forth, either in a small area or over a patrol range.
 * If you get within the danger zone, they become aggressive and attack you.
 * Levels 0-2 monsters don't attack your party unless attacked.
 * When fighting, they have two priorities of attack: weakest enemies (by health and armor rating) and closest enemies.
 * They only overpower each other at extremes; for example, they will attack the squishiest characters but a tank can draw focus by bodyblocking them.
 * They each have a set of skills to which they are limited. The way they use these skills is embedded into the skill itself, so monsters with the same skills use them the same way.
 * However, some monsters (such as Chromatic Drakes and Graven Monoliths) can change their set of skills.

Monsters with non-standard AI
There are some specifically-coded exceptions.


 * Some monk and ritualist monsters can kite attackers.
 * Many "sprout" plants are stationary, but they sometimes move, particularly when taking area damage over time. This is also true of Brooding Thorns and some Scarab Nest Builders.
 * Some monsters (such as Siege Wurms) are completely stationary.
 * Burrowing Wurms are stationary while out of the ground, but they move while burrowing. They burrow after being out of the ground for a while, and will also burrow if no targets are within range.
 * Special bosses from campaigns (such as Glint, Kuunavang, Shiro, and the Undead Lich) have special AI that determines unique skill usage or movement patterns.

Skill usage

 * AI will only cast skills that trigger on spell casting, such as Backfire, on targets wielding a spellcasting weapon, so characters with spells on their skill bar and wielding a martial weapon will cause AI to not cast Backfire on them.
 * AI will only use skills that inflict Blind (such as Eruption) on targets wielding a martial weapon. A spellcaster wielding a martial weapon (e.g. caster weapon) can cause AI to waste time to activate a Blind-inflicting skill on them (e.g. causing a ranger to stop attacking and move into touch range to use Throw Dirt, which would relieve pressure on your party).
 * AI will use skills that has no other effect besides inflicting a condition (such as Blinding Powder, Hunter's Shot, and Sever Artery) on spirits, even though they are immune to all conditions except burning.