ArenaNet talk:AI bugs

Note: As of September 2, 2009 this page is no longer active. If you have a bug to report please go to Feedback:Bug reports/AI bugs.

A Green check mark indicates that this issue has already been fixed in a game update or has been otherwise resolved.

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AI issues archive

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Resolved issues
Resolved issues 2
Resolved issues 3
Incorrect issues
Unresolvable issues
Discussions archive 1

Flagging and Movement Issues

Heroes: Flags -- Running back to already removed flags

Issue: Sometimes heroes will run towards a flag that has already been removed by the player, ignoring the new flag location set by the player. In Hero Battles this seems to happen more often when heroes are resurrected at the base.
How to fix: Fix the bug that causes heroes to run to already removed flags.
Additional info: The only way to stop the hero from running to the removed flag is to set the new flag once again

--Draikin 00:36, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

Here are a few more details on exactly how to trigger this bug: in Hero Battles, flag a hero to a certain location and let him die. Cancel the flag about one second before the hero is resurrected and you'll notice that the hero will still walk towards the removed flag. He'll only run back towards you after he reaches the previous flag location. --Draikin 01:33, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I haven't been able to reproduce this issue. Do you know if this happens more often with high lag? I'll keep looking into it, let me know if you think of any other requirements to reproduce it. Ben Kirsch 18:58, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure how much lag is an issue with this bug. I just tested this again on The Crossing (average ping 100ms), flagging my team to the Cultist's Shrine and then sending one other hero to the center shrine where the other team is standing and letting him die, then canceling the flag just before he was resurrected. The hero started running towards the removed flag again (instead of going onto the bridge, he took the other exit towards the center), but now he didn't always run all the way back to the removed flag before returning to my team (the last time I verified this bug the hero never changed his mind on the way to the removed flag, even though lag wasn't a problem then either). If the bug doesn't trigger, try removing the flag the exact moment the hero is resurrected instead of one second before and increase the distance between your own character and the base. This problem may also be related to the heroes repeatedly activating and canceling skills problem. --Draikin 20:35, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Another good report Draikin, thanks! I was able to reproduce this bug and entered it into our database. Leah Rivera 16:48, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Heroes: Flags -- Heroes completely ignoring flag commands

Issue: Sometimes heroes will completely ignore flag commands when they were running after an enemy even though they weren't using a skill on that enemy. There is no workaround for this problem, which is extremely annoying in HvH.
How to fix: Fix the bug that causes heroes to ignore new flag commands when following a target that is running away.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 16:47, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Hey Draikin, I wasn't able to get a hero to ignore flag placements based on pursuit. We've had some issues like this in the past that were cause by the hero wanting to use a skill on their bar that they weren't currently capable of using, which we have since corrected. Are you still seeing this behavior now? Just in case this is a similar problem, it might be useful to know what skills your hero had on their bar, what their command setting was, etc. -Kim Chase 23:29, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

It didn't happen all that often and I don't know exactly what triggered it so I can't say for certain the bug is gone. I remember this happening with R/P heroes that followed their target when it ran away from a shrine, and no matter what I did (flag, micro skills, change command settings), the heroes continued to chase their target for about 5-10 seconds. I do remember that it was different from the other bug which I think I forgot to report here: when a hero uses a skill on a target but is unable to finish activating it because the target died, and that target is immediately resurrected at a shrine, the hero will abandon its flag and run up to the target to finish using the skill. In that case simply reflagging the hero works, but the bug I mentioned earlier is different since the hero wasn't actually activating any skill. That does sounds like it could have been the bug you're talking about. --Draikin 00:25, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, my guess is that this was that fixed issue mixed with the one reported elsewhere on this page that causes heroes to pursue too far when attemping to activate a skill. The old bug would explain why you couldn't flag them and why you couldn't see a skill being activated. (I am referring to the fix "Improved Hero/Henchmen responses to effects that cause skills to fail, such as Spell Breaker. If the target is immune to a skill, Heroes will now stop activating that skill after a small number of failures." from the 4/24/08 update.) Anyway, I'm going to close out this thread. If this crops again we'll have to nail down specifics anyway, so might as well start fresh. Thanks Draikin. -Kim Chase 20:59, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately it seems the bug is still there. It always happens in the same way: two heroes are fighting at a shrine, one hero runs to a different location and the other hero follows until it can attack and only then responds to flag commands again. None of the skills on the hero are being activated. --Draikin 23:28, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

I encountered this bug while attempting to vanquish Talus Chute 3 days ago. It specifically happened on the northwest side of the area and effected Alesia and Acolyte Sousuke. Alesia was flagged along with 3 other henchmen while Sousuke was flagged a little to the side (if Sousuke was laying down, he would have neatly fit between the two flags). Alesia charged off to the south and Sousuke headed southeast. Henchmen were all set to defend and there were no foes on the radar. I was able to stop them both from running away by resetting the party flag twice. 24.188.207.20 20:35, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

I encountered this again while vanquishing in the northern shiverpeaks yesterday. 24.188.207.20 01:46, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

I think I finally found a somewhat reliable way to reproduce the problem I described. I had a R/W (axe + pet) set to Defend and flagged on one shrine, then used a monk (easiest when you're the one controlling that character) with Sprint. I let the hero attack me and then, in between the melee attacks, activate Sprint and make a run for it. The hero will want to make a new attack but he has to catch up to you to be able to hit you so he follows, and if you timed it correctly, the hero will actually ignore his flag and chase you wherever you go. This is what happened to a R/W flagged to the Center shrine on Bombardment. What's important here is that the R/W wasn't trying to activate a skill, it just wanted to complete a normal melee attack. This problem also occurs with heroes using a spear but not as often (which makes sense since they have a ranged attack). When this problem occurs reflagging them doesn't help so you really can't do anything about it. --Draikin 02:35, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Here's a video showing the scenario I described above. --Draikin 15:58, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the video and repro Draikin! Most excellent investigation. I've updated an existing bug with your information. Leah Rivera 01:04, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Koris Deeprunner

Issue: Koris only has one path through the Secret Lair of the Snowmen Dungeon it seems, and a badly placed Locked Chest can block him from progressing. I just had him get stuck on the bridge just past the first pair of ice dart traps, which is perhaps the only place where he's unable to move around a chest.However, I did finally get him free by running closer along the outside of the bridge (Kind hard to explain in words.)
How to fix: I think it might be easier to make sure no chests can spawn on that bridge, than to make new pathing options for Koris.
Additional info: Just running on the side opposite the chest doesn't alter his pathing enough to get him past it,nor did pulling him back behind the chest, and then running forward again. I'll put up a screenshot in my user page gallery.

We are aware that NPCs can sometimes get caught on chests and are looking into ways to remedy this problem. Thank you for the report. -Kim Chase 00:56, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Heroes ignoring obstacles -- Heroes run through any and all obstacles on the way to their flag

Issue: Sometimes when flagging a hero to a shrine in Hero Battles, the hero will proceed to walk in a straight line towards that shrine and pass through any obstacles in the way. For example on The Crossing, heroes run through the mountain from the Cultist's Shrine to the Battlecry shrine. This bug occurs on any of the maps (although for obvious reasons it doesn't show on The Beachhead), but it doesn't happen often and unfortunately I don't know what triggers it.
How to fix: Fix the bug causing this problem.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 15:26, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

I've seen this when using test commands to speed up my character/heroes on the test server, but haven't been able to reproduce it on Live. It might be caused by some wacky state where lag and collision, well... collide, but I'm not sure. Is this one a big eyesore? Or do the heroes ever get stuck in the objects? Leah Rivera 17:07, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

The issue is that the heroes take a shortcut and may end up capturing a shrine they otherwise wouldn't have. As rare as it may be, I've seen this bug decide the outcome of a match. --Draikin 18:15, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

Defensive range after August 7 update -- Range of "Guard" setting increased after update

Issue: Judging from various reports, it seems the maximum range for heroes where they'll still overextend to use skills on allies has been increased after the August 7 update. These reports include:

• Heroes abandoning shrines in HB more often when kiting and set to "Guard" or "Fight".
• Heroes now stay out of AoE attacks instead of running back into them.
• Heroes overextend farther to heal other allies when set to "Guard" of "Fight".

Here's what I think happened: the range at which they used skills on allies/foes used to be determined by both the weapon they're wielding and their behavior setting. After the update, it's only determined by their behavior setting and no longer by the weapon they're wielding. The range was set to the lower end, meaning healers wouldn't overextend enough to heal their allies anymore. To compensate, that range for skills used on allies was extended so that we now have the following maximum range:

• Avoid Combat: 1.5 x aggro bubble range for skills used on allies
• Guard: 2 x aggro bubble range for skills used on allies, 1.5 x aggro bubble range for skills used on foes
• Fight: 3 x aggro bubble range for skills used on allies, 2 x aggro bubble range for skills used on foes

The numbers aren't entirely accurate (the defensive range on Guard for example isn't exactly the same as the offensive range on Fight), but it should be close. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the range for skills used on allies on Guard was increased compared to their old range when wielding a staff/wand (or the problem is now more noticeable since weapons don't change that range anymore). On Avoid Combat, they won't (usually) run out of the shrine range where they were flagged to when kiting. This becomes a problem with heroes set to Guard (or Fight, although that one's rarely used in HB) since they now seem to run farther than before on that setting.
How to fix: Reduce the defensive range for heroes on Guard to somewhere in between 1.5 and 2 x aggro bubble so that heroes are less likely to abandon shrines.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 17:22, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Poor little monks just want to help so much! Though it's flattering that they'd place our health above the goals of the team, I agree that this is an issue for HB. Thanks again for researching this Draikin, reported! Leah Rivera 18:31, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Heroes not kiting -- Heroes who are snared tend to stop kiting

Issue: Heroes who are under the effect of a snare tend to stand still instead of kiting from their opponents. This can be verified by having a monk hero play against a R/P (Apply Poison, Barbed Spear, Maiming Spear) with a pet. Disable Barbed Spear and notice how the hero constantly runs away from the pet. Now enable Barbed Spear and you'll notice that when the hero is crippled it often stops moving altogether.
How to fix: Fix the bug causing this problem.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 23:59, 2 April 2009 (UTC)

When you're crippled you can't run away from your attacker, and by moving you're just doing him a favor by giving him free Criticals, thus worsening the situation. If I remember correctly they still move when not under attack, even when crippled. I think everything is fine. — Poki#3 12:17, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

By that logic no monk in PvP would run from warriors who have a speed boost since you "can't run away" from them either, which you'll notice isn't the case. It's not that you can't run away, it just means the opponent will catch up faster so there will be less time between consecutive attacks. That doesn't mean kiting is suddenly useless, you'll still take a lot more damage by just standing there, critical hits or not. An old but very similar bug caused heroes to stop kiting from opponents with a speed boost, and back then there were also people that argued it was intended behavior. That bug was resolved shortly after Hard Mode was introduced (PvE mobs there have inherent speed boosts), and this problem is essentially the same. --Draikin 15:14, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

Cripple reduces your speed to 50%. Most Warriors will use a 25% speed boost in PvP. In the fist example the speed difference between them is 50%, and in the second it's 25%. I think this matters. Someone might need to do tests to see if it's beneficial to run while crippled as opposed to standing. Personally I think not, but that's just my shallow opinion. — Poki#3 15:38, 3 April 2009 (UTC)

I'm sort-of leaning on Poki's side of this issue. When I tried it (thanks for the set-up Draikin!) my monk would take that crippled time to heal himself and attack the enemy instead of trying to kite. However, if you or anyone else still feel strongly on this issue, please post and I'll open up an inquiry. Leah Rivera 19:01, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree on this being an issue. I'll research it this afternoon more and see if what I fear is true, this being the idea of wiping a group of enemies by assa-porting in on them, mass-snaring them with a trap and pummel them with AoE damage from afar which they don't evade any more since kiting is not an option when snared. --Golgarit Raven 08:17, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Just finished testing in GvG. Snared NPCs and Heroes will stop moving and try to heal themselves. In the middle of a Sandstorm and Churning Earth. And die trying. The only movement Heroes do is when set to guard and trying to attack someone outside the AoE damage zone. This wipes groups. Death's Charge, Caltrops, Recall, and you can make your way through anything when backed up by 3 Eles. Please fix this, i'd say, standing there healing is an option, but only when not taking massive amounts of damage. --Golgarit Raven 14:43, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

On second thought, the only heal that would make sense to cast is one that gets rid of a condition. As long as you don't find one, you should try to get away, so others can take it off you. Standing there snared and casting Troll Unguent (saw that once) in the middle of the incoming damage will do no good, thats for sure. --Golgarit Raven 20:05, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Yellow Caravan Guards In Jade Quarry

Issue: When the caravan guards at the yellow quarry closest to the Kurzick fort are luxon-controlled, they DO NOT fire on the kurzick jade carriers unless someone on the kurzick team aggroes them. This makes the sides unequal since when the other yellow caravan guard post is kurzick-controlled, they DO attack the luxon carriers regardless of whether any luxon player aggroes them or not.
How to fix: It seems to be a pathing issue, so simply moving the path of the yellow juggernaut a little closer to the caravan post should make the guards to do their job.
Additional info: None.

I've updated the bug on this issue. Thanks for the report! Leah Rivera 19:15, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Hero and henchmen -- Standing in the AoE spells

Issue: The heroes and henchmen keep standing in AoE damage from for instance fire storm
How to fix: Fix AI of heroes and henchmen, it’s strange that enemies do kite and your supporting npc dont
Additional info: Might be related to the AI update where npc on HM run for RoJ

--Mirre 11:18, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

The AI for HM enemies and heroes is the same so AI monsters have the same difficulty running out of AoE attacks as heroes and henchmen do, it's just more noticeable on your own team especially when the opponents are level 30 making their AoE attacks a lot more devastating. This problem is definitely one of the worst AI flaws in the game, be it in PvE or Hero Battles, and it should be solved. Unfortunately last time I reported this about a year ago I was told Anet would not look into the problem for whatever reason. When I asked Joe Kimmes about it a few months ago, he said it's something he wanted to improve. The question is if he'll ever have the time for that. --Draikin 16:26, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Well it seems to have gotten worse recently, i normally didnt have the problem of the whole team standing in the same place while being hit with fire storms and meteor showers. I just hope they check it, cause if their objective is that HM is not to be done with heroes and henchies... they are succeeding in it. Its pretty though if you have to flag your heroes out of the AoE. --Mirre 18:09, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Heroes not kiting -- Heroes not kiting from spear attacks

Issue: Caster heroes who are under attack from a character wielding a spear will not move from their position to try and make their opponent miss. This is very noticeable against W/P builds who use Stunning Strike, as the hero will just sit there and get every one of their spells interrupted.
How to fix: Fix the bug causing this problem.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 22:04, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Skill Usage Issues

Assassin

Assassin -- All AI assassins

Issue: Assassins fail to recognize which skills on their skillbar, notably hexes and enchantments, are designed to be used with their attack combination to make it work or be more effective.
How to fix: Whenever the assassin attempts to use a "black" or "golden" skill without the conditions being met, they must first check their skillbar for the most convenient hex or enchantment they have available to cast and then cast that before commencing their attack.
Additional info: none

--Ckal Ktak 14:30, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

Is this still an issue? If so, could you (or whomever) please post a few examples of skills that should be used in synergy but the AI just isn't recognizing it? Leah Rivera 19:31, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I think this needs to be approached on a skill-by-skill basis. It's probably better if we create a new report for this detailing the problem with specific skills, after which we can archive this one. --Draikin 16:39, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Death's Charge

Issue: Unlike Begulling Haze, this skill is not used as an opening attack to teleport oneself directly to the enemy. Instead, Heroes run up, attack, and try to use it as a heal skill when they're low on health. Of course, teleporting back to the enemy that is beating them up will get them killed instead of healed.
How to fix: Make them use it like Begulling Haze for opening up a fight. Somehow they do get that other shadow attack skill and use it right. The heal in this skill is more effective as a secondary effect that gives you advantages in longer battles where you get heal while changing targets whithout any monk in reach.
Additional info: To add something additional, even Begulling Haze does not go very well, as it is cast only after any and all hexes were cast. If you hex an enemy from a distance, the enemy will target you and get closer as fast as he can, making a shadow step towards him not only useless but put you in danger as well, as the enemies main target gets into a nice attack position for him. For this issue, make them use hexes (if present) after shadow step attacks, when already close to the enemy. This would ensure that the shadow step does what it should do - give you the one second where the enemy gets confused and targets someone other than the teleporting Assassin. For instacne, an Elementarist would use the moment to lock on to the group for some AoE casting stuff and the Assassin would be able to close in FAST, interrupt him and see to it that he never ever finishes that plan. With these things it's ike in Chess, the first move can decide the outcome. As of now, Assassins behave like Warriors and do not even make an opening move (except running forward and getting shot at).

--Golgarit Raven 23:54, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

Still remains the same after todays update. --Golgarit Raven 13:26, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

What exactly do you want them to do with this skill (and all offensive shadow steps)? If they're used as soon as a foe is in range, many people will complain about their hero acting like a RA assassin. 74.215.145.113 06:00, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Well, since the skill is not permanently coded into every assassin heroes skill bar.. I for one prefer complaints about a surviving hero that behaves as skilled by his leader over complaints about dead and useless heroes with no tactical advantage over warriors. --Golgarit Raven 07:39, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Skill Bar Issue -- Factions Assassin Bosses

Issue: Most Assassin bosses have a non functional skillbar. Because of Elite swaps or skill updates
How to fix: Update their skillbars
Additional info: Xuekao the Deceptive, ilidus of the Empty Palm, Senkai Lord of the 1000 Daggers Guild, Warden of Saprophytes & Ssaresh Rattler

-- Cobra 10:31, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Nice bugs, thank you! After much boss hunting I entered bugs for all but Xuekao the Deceptive. He used all his skills against me and when I looked at his bar, it had some viable combos with no blocked skills. Is there something I'm missing about him? Leah Rivera 22:08, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Xuekao's build was made with Way of the Empty Palm in mind (it had only offhands and duals), but was changed since Assassin's Promise couldn't be captured. Senkai would benefit more from AP then WotEP. Maybe changing the rest of Xuekao's build to more fit his elite would be in order.

Also, basically any monster build that has Black Lotus Strike is more or less broken. It used to be an offhand that required a hex (and was skipping a lead) but was changed to a lead that benefits from having a hex, thus many monsters where left with no offhand attacks, or had a disturbed chain balance (for instance they have 3 duals, and only 1 useable offhand).

Since I'm already talking about obsolete skill bars I'll just mention that Wizardboy777 has a list of monsters with more or less broken skill bars, but hopefully you're aware of the list already. It has a few more assassins: Nika (during The Norn Fighting Tournament), Xien, Luxon Assassin, Convicted Criminal (assassin), Deadly Lavastrider. — Poki#3 (talk) 01:36, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the response Poki. Nika and Xien were already in the system and I added bugs for the worst of the Black Lotus Offenders. Thanks for the heads up about Wizardboy777's list too. I'm the new girl on the team so am still finding my way around the wiki. Leah Rivera 20:12, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Hero -- Recall

Issue: Randomly after being recalled, heroes stand still and do not attempt to use any skills, even after the 10 second disable on recall. They will use some microd skills (Word of Healing, Patient Spirit), but not all (Mending touch). This problem seems to go away if the hero is (re)flagged.
How to fix: zzz
Additional info: none

--208.102.186.168 19:41, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Yikes, good bug but I wasn't able to get it to repro. Does anyone have more information on this? Leah Rivera 22:32, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

It definitely happens often enough to be a problem, but I never managed to find out exactly what causes the problem. The only time I managed to reproduce it intentionally was when a spirit was blocking the way to the hero's flag after shadow stepping (so I plaed the flag to a new location and then canceled Recall), the hero stopped in front of the spirit and stopped responding. However, after repeating that scenario the hero did recalculate its path after bumping into the spirit (the way the AI works they just bump into things like spirit, pets and player characters and only then try to move around that object). This does lead me to believe it has something to do with a bug in hero pathfinding causing the hero to lock up. --Draikin 18:45, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the update Draikin. I gave it another try but still haven't managed to reproduce it. I'll continue to keep an eye out so we can track down the cause and if anyone finds more information on this bug, please post it. Leah Rivera 23:08, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Taking a wild guess here, but it might happen when a hero shadow steps directly on top of where they are flagged, and continue to try to move to their flag, without realizing that they are already there. 74.215.145.113 06:00, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Malicious Strike

Issue: The AI seems not to use this skill ever, even if it's the only not recharging skill they got left.
How to fix: Tell them to use it every now and then
Additional info: none

--Golgarit Raven 13:32, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I looked into this and I from what I saw an assassin hero will use the skill provided that the enemy is afflicted by a condition. Given the description of the skill, this makes sense because it provides no benefit in any other case over a standard attack. If this is still occurring in some situation where the enemy does have a condition please update so we can look into it further. --Devon Carver 00:05, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Devon that the AI seems to use this skill correctly. --Draikin 16:33, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Return

Issue: After the recent update, two new problems were introduced. First of all heroes on "Guard" or "Attack" who are using martial weapons will run into battle but then use Return to shadow step to an ally even when they're above 50% health. Secondly heroes will often shadowstep to an ally that is way outside of their casting range, meaning they will actually run towards that ally (who can be standing on the other side of the radar) before they can shadowstep to it, and then run back to the main team (the Isle of the Nameless is a good place to test this behavior).
How to fix: Update the AI so that heroes wielding martial weapons and who are set to "Guard" or "Evasive" will use the skill only when they're below 50% health. If they're not wielding martial weapons or they're set to "Evasive", they should use the skill normally. Secondly, heroes should only shadow step towards allies within their direct casting range since having them walk towards that ally before they can use the skill defeats the purpose of Return.
Additional info: Heroes are currently too aggressive when using the skill, instead of using it defensively to snare attackers they use it when any character walks into their adjacent range. This means they'll too often use the skill when they're not supposed to, forcing people to disable the skill altogether. Even though this was apparently the intended behavior, it actually made the AI worse at using the skill.

--Draikin 12:15, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Iron Palm

Issue: Heroes use this skill on recharge rather than trying to meet the condition/hex requirement to get a knockdown, and since Iron Palm has a relatively high recharge, its a waste to let the AI use this skill just as a leading attack if the conditions are not met.
How to fix: Update the hero AI so they are more likely now to use the skill against hexed foes or foes suffering a condition, so Iron Palm can also be used by the AI as a support skill and not just an leading attack.
Additional info: An update to the Vanguard Assasin skillbar may be needed (or a particular AI for him).

--FunnyUsername 11:00, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Dervish

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Attacker's Insight

Issue: The AI do not give any priority to this skill over attack skills during combat, wasting most of the time the great energy management attacker's insight can provide (especially when paired with high energy cost attack skills).
How to fix: Being the Glyph of Lesser Energy version for attack skills, the AI should make use of this skill like they do with GoLE.
Additional info: none

--FunnyUsername 15:42, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

I've added this bug to our database. Thanks for the report! Leah Rivera 23:14, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

After June 18 (2009) update, the AI behavior with skill seems to remain the same. AI doesnt seem to use it more often. --FunnyUsername 08:23, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Melonni uses this skill every time it reloads, can't agree with you there, sorry.. --Golgarit Raven 13:56, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Agreed with Golgarit, the AI now seems to use this skill perfectly. Can you post the build you're using FunnyUsername? --Draikin 14:38, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I tried with MOX and Melonni using the following build:

Wounding Strike

Victorious Sweep

Mystic Sweep

Conviction

Attacker's Insight

Heart of Fury

Faithful Intervention

Resurrection Signet

The heroes do use Attacker's Insight, but will not allways pick this skill over other skills. The AI seems to use the skill like they did before, giving no priority to it during combat.--FunnyUsername 20:35, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

You got a condition skill in there. Your Dervish will use Wounding Strike on high priority if your enemy is not under the effect of a condition it can inflict. This does override Attackers Ingight and I'd say, is intended, because it helps you beat the enemy quicker with deep wound. A little hint: OgCjkqqLrSFYwXNXXgQXDYjblXA will show you how well it works with a different elite. PS: Draikin, maybe you could crosscheck on that in PvP? PvE even this skillbar runs smooth. --Golgarit Raven 20:51, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Heroes do not give any priority to Wounding Strike over other attack skils, at least they dont do when i use them :S (maybe i should give them holidays more often). They simply spam any of those 3 attack skills randomly (although they stop using WS at all if the target has both conditions).

Anyway i swapped WS for Chilling Victory and i still experience the same issue, most of the time the AI will use 1-3 attack skills before they decide to use Attacker's Insight (cant tell if the rate is the same as before the update, since i rarely use derv heroes). --FunnyUsername 11:12, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I just checked and indeed it appears that they don't give the skill priority in PvP (tested on the Isle of the Nameless). What's worse is that it appears the Attunements and Glyph of Immolation suffer from the same problem. I just hope this wasn't done intentionally to make the AI less effective in PvP, I'll have to ask Joe about that. I'll check how it works in Hero Battles specifically as well. --Draikin 13:19, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I just checked and they don't prioritize them in Hero Battles either. --Draikin 13:42, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Strange phenomenon.. in PvE it works really fine, even on the isle they get it right. --Golgarit Raven 13:53, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I did my testings on PvE in Arjok ward and Marga coast (cause there are 3-4 enemies patrols and its easy to manage the dmg with 2 monks) and i can't understand why you dont experience the issue on PvE... Also i've never heard of heroes having different behavior of a skill in pve and pvp (of skills that are not splitted into pve and pvp versions i mean), can that be possible?. --FunnyUsername 14:02, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Like you said my conclusion was wrong. Joe explained how the AI works in a bit more detail and I think I now understand what's going on with your build: the other enchantments are boosting the priority of Wounding Strike and Mystic Sweep to the point where they're equal to the priority of Attacker's Insight, and the conditional effect on Victorious Sweep is also easily triggered in PvE. If Attacker's Insight is the only enchantment the hero uses (excluding enchantments coming from the rest of the team) it should be used a lot more often. --Draikin 20:58, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Thx for the explanation, i also took a look at your conversation with Joe. In my opinion, unless that random factor is removed somehow (like adding more lvls for example) from the AI priority conflict (when various skills are on the same priority lvl), AI will never make a good use of most skills. I hope Joe can manage to "fix" this someday. --FunnyUsername 22:28, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Elementalist

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Fire Attunement, Water Attunement, Air Attunement, Earth Attunement, Elemental Attunement

Issue: Although AI can keep all of them out of battle, it seems to not have any priority using these skills during a combat. This is, if any of those enchantments expire naturaly during a fight and have them recharged, they may cast 1 to 5+ spells before they decide to refresh their attunement/s. The number of skills used before refreshing the attuenemnts randomly varies, they may cast them inmediatly, or they may use many skills before.

This may be particularly devastating if a hero is running an energy intensive build based on dual attunement (Elemental Attunement and Water Attunement for example) to enable the spamming of high cost spells such as: Maelstrom, Deep Freeze, Vapor Blade, Ice Spikes, etc. Casting a few of those spells while you are not under the effects of both attunements will hurt your energy a lot :).
How to fix: Change the hero AI to give the mentioned skills higher priority during combats, so it refreshes them as soon as they end.
Additional info: I previoulsy suggested to test this in the isle of the nameless, but since heros act differently there, u need to go in pve. Just lock the attunement and commence a fight and quickly unlock the attuenemnt, or Wait for the enchantment to blink and then start a fight, the described issue will still occur.

--FunnyUsername 21:15, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, these skills could definitely use a higher priority. --Draikin 17:59, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

I'd like to add Glyph of Immolation to the list as well, that skill seems to have no priority over other skills despite the fact that usually the entire build needs this skill to function correctly (like the popular Steam water ele). Simply giving it the same AI as the one used for Glyph of Lesser Energy would be enough to solve that problem. --Draikin 19:33, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the report everybody, I opened a new bug for these. Leah Rivera 23:56, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

After the June 18th update, the AI now maintains these skills perfectly. --Draikin 14:50, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

But it appears they only do so in PvE. --Draikin 13:48, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

My previous conclusion was wrong, they do use it in the same way in PvE, but it appears other skills like Mind Blast might get "promoted" to the same level depending on their conditional effects, which means the AI might still use them before the enchantments. --Draikin 01:48, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Master of Magic

Issue: The hero AI tends not to use this skill.
How to fix: Update the Hero AI to use the skill more appropriately.
Additional info: None.

Ugg 06:22, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

I suggest it get the same AI as the attunements, so they'll precast it, and use it to recharge energy after a fight. Ubiquitous 03:47, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

I've updated the attunement bug to include this skill as well. Thanks for the report! Leah Rivera 23:59, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

After the June 18th update this skill is now used correctly. --Draikin 14:50, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

But it appears they only do so in PvE. --Draikin 13:48, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

No, they do not always. As soon as a Glyphe of lesser energy is equipped, heroes will not use Master of Magic at all. --Golgarit Raven 18:02, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

True but that's something that goes for all the 5 energy skills, so it hasn't actually got anything to do with Master of Magic itself. --Draikin 18:22, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Still they should cast it at least before the GolE, they even skip this step when GolE is not being used. Equipping is enough. --Golgarit Raven 20:33, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I just tried that and they did cast Master of Magic while GolE was recharging or when I disabled it. Can you post the build that triggers the above behavior? --Draikin 20:54, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

That would be OgBFgWe6tGzjYFZAMYaTjZx3QHC on Vekk, he ignored all 5e skills when GolE was up and MoM constantly. --21:15, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

The same applies to Glyph of Elemental Power - when equipped, no Master of Magic is used. Same build, changed Glyphs. --Golgarit Raven 01:26, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

This is starting to get confusing. The problem with Glyph of Elemental Power seems to be a different bug that prevents the AI from using Restoration Magic skills when it's active. Furthermore, Master of Magic itself seems to have the exact same effect on other Restoration Magic skills. I'm not sure if these are new problems are not. --Draikin 17:19, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

You sure on that? I usually got the heal thing on slot 2 and never noticed Vekk leaving it out.. I'll recheck.. --Golgarit Raven 19:32, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

You're half right. Happens with both skills. As long as one Restoration skill is active, no second will be used. Aura will be cast permanently, yet in battle as soon as it ends, Master will be fired up.. then when it ends, he switches to Aura again. Looks to me as if there's a 1-spell-limit on Restoration Magic!? --Golgarit Raven 19:37, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

If Aura is active then they still use Master of Magic so the bug doesn't occur with every skill. As far as I can tell, it's only when either Master of Magic or Glyph of Elemental Power is active that no other skills are used but I haven't checked all the Restoration Magic skills yet. --Draikin 21:26, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I just happened to see hi9m ignore Aura as long as Master was active, and vice versa.. he had Aura up before and after battle, during battle he only used Master.. which nearly got him killed. --Golgarit Raven 21:27, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I more or less understand what's going on with Master of Magic and Glyph of Elemental Power, since those skills don't boost the Restoration Magic attribute it seems the AI will refuse to use skills from that attribute altogether. Whether or not that's a good thing is debatable, for Master of Magic this behavior doesn't really make much sense to me and they should just let them use all their skills like they normally do. For Glyph of Elemental Power it does make more sense since you'd want the AI to get the most out of the 10 spells it can cast, but it would be better if they just gave the Restoration Magic skills a lower priority when the glyph is active instead of disabling them altogether. --Draikin 14:33, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Phoenix

Issue: The hero AI tends not to use this skill.
How to fix: Update the Hero AI to use the skill (more appropriately).
Additional info: At least sousuke will not even use it if it's the last non-recharging skill in his skillbar.

--Golgarit Raven 17:39, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Agreed that this could use an update. The only times I can get them to use it is by surrounding them with at least 3 enemies, which is a situation you'd rather not want them to be in. I'd make them use it when they can hit at least two opponents with it (regardless of whether or not they're hit by the adjacent or ranged attack). --Draikin 17:55, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Flame Djinn's Haste

Issue: After the bug I reported about heroes rushing towards the enemy even if you manually disabled PBAoE skills was resolved, I tried to use Flame Djinn's Haste in Hero Battles only to initially conclude that the bug was resolved. With the skill disabled the AI would no longer rush towards the enemies. However, after I manually activated the skill, the hero did decide to put the speed boost to good use and charge towards the opponent.
How to fix: Update the AI so that the heroes don't charge towards the enemy while the skill is disabled on their skill bar, regardless of whether or not the skill is active on them.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 19:52, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Glyph of Lesser Energy

Issue: If a hero only has 5 energy skills available it will not use Glyph of Lesser Energy at all. If it has skills that cost 10 energy or more, it will use Glyph of Lesser Energy but this causes them to no longer use 5 or 10 energy skills when the glyph is active, even if those are the only skills it has available at the time.
How to fix: Update the AI so that they do prefer skills that cost a lot of energy when this skill is active on them, but still use low cost skills if those are the only ones available at the time.
Additional info: Thanks to Golgarit Raven for informing me of this problem.

--Draikin 17:19, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Equipping this one also prevents Master of Magic being cast. --Golgarit Raven 18:12, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

That makes sense since it costs 5 energy, currently none of those skills are used while heroes are under the effect of Glyph of Lesser Energy. --Draikin 18:22, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Update the original report with additional information. --Draikin 14:14, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Ether Prism

Issue: The hero AI tends not to use this skill for energy management, opting instead to only use it for its damage reduction.
How to fix: Update the AI to use this skill more effectively for both its purposes.
Additional info: Tested with Sousuke on Isle of the Nameless. Gave him Shelter, Recuperation, Dissonance, Disenchantment, and Ether Prism on his bar, a 12-9-9 split. When forced to use all his spirits, he will not use Ether Prism (despite the fact that it can be activated while other skills are being used, much like a stance), but when set to aggressive and forced to attack the Master of Axes, he casts Ether Prism once the Master starts hitting him.

-- Timeoffire45 23:28, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Ammendment: Heroes will not use Ether Prism for energy management outside of combat. I suppose this is less of an issue than what I stated above, though I can still see it potentially problematic if your hero is ridiculously low on energy after a fight and another group is on its way. Still, I suppose it would have to be something opened up to discussion in any rate. -- Timeoffire45 rawr 00:44, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Mesmer

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Epidemic

Issue: The AI uses this skill on targets who aren't adjacent to other foes.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it only uses the skill on targets who are suffering from a condition and who are adjacent to other foes.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 21:10, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Added a bug on this issue, thanks for the report. Leah Rivera 00:25, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Should be resolved according to the latest update notes. --Draikin 23:06, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Monk

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Signet of Rage

Issue: The AI uses this skill on random targets.
How to fix: It would make more sense if they preferred using it on foes wielding martial weapons (excluding daggers and scythes)
Additional info: none

--Draikin 00:39, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I was unable to find an issue with how heroes use this skill. Against a Monk/Warrior with 4 adrenaline skills, and a Warrior with 0 adrenaline skill, my Monk hero would always use Signet of Rage against the Monk/Warrior, even if it was physically attacking the Warrior. Ben Kirsch 20:17, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

I thought they really did target based on the number of adrenaline skills their foes have, but after hearing people say this wasn't the case and testing it more thoroughly, I did notice some inconsistent behavior with this skill. In one example, my hero used the skill on a nearby monk (who had no adrenaline skills and was wielding a staff) instead of using it on the warrior attacking him. I'll try and test it again to get some definite results. --Draikin 21:24, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Boon Signet

Issue: The AI almost never uses this skill.
How to fix: Make heroes use it more often???
Additional info: The only way to make the AI use this skill is to micro it, also I have only seen a hero use this skill once.

--Final Abomination 23:05, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

As far as I can tell heroes only use this skill when their target is below 60% health, presumably this is done so that the next Healing or protection prayers skill takes advantage of the additional health. This does seem to make sense given the way they prioritize healing the allies with lower health. You can argue that if your allies don't ever drop below 60% health there's no need to use the skill anyway, and although that sometimes causes them to use the skill at the wrong time (for example when the ally is getting spiked and needs a WoH or RoF instead of a heal that takes 1 second to cast) I'm not sure if a change is necessary. --Draikin 19:41, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

You both make very good points. On one hand you have the wasted second if someone's getting spiked, on the other had you have an underutilized elite. Either way, it's worth taking a look at, so I put an inquiry in on the skill. Thanks for the report. Leah Rivera 21:27, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

After the June 18th update I think the AI is now worse at using this skill. Before they used it intelligently in the way I described above, but now it's as if they just use the skill randomly as if it's a simple Orison of Healing. This seems to be more of a downgrade to me. --Draikin 15:05, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Patient Spirit

Issue: The problem with this skill is that the AI doesn't factor in whether or not this skill is active on an ally when deciding to use a heal. For example if you give a hero Patient Spirit and Word of Healing and one of their allies is at around 70% health, they will first decide to use one of the two skills to heal him/her. If they use Patient Spirit, they will then look at the ally again one second later and think their health is still at around 70%, so they decide to use Word of Healing as well and end up overhealing and losing a lot of energy. It's this kind of inefficiency with skills that causes hero monks to drop down to 0 energy so fast.
How to fix: Make heroes factor in whether or not Patient Spirit is active on an ally when calculating their health and deciding on whether or not they should use a skill.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 16:37, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

While I was looking this, the only time I noticed a serious overlap with Patient Spirit and other healing skills (WoH included) was when I was under heavy fire. In those cases, I was very glad my monk was spamming all he had to keep me alive. When the damage was light, I didn't notice much of an overlap. Where I agree that energy efficiency is very important for heroes, I also think it's good to err on the side of caution with healing skills. As always, I'm open to discussion if anyone feels strongly about this. Thanks for the report! Leah Rivera 01:02, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

What negative impact do you feel this change could have? It's certainly good to err on the side of caution with healing skills, but this change wouldn't make a monk stop healing you in dangerous situations. It would simply reduce the amount of overheal in situations when you're not dropping below 60-70% health, meaning they have more energy available when they really need it. What you're saying about heroes spamming heals in dangerous situations as being a good thing: basically you're hoping your hero gets lucky spamming random heals, because that's really what they're doing with Patient and WoH now. What's certain though is that they will be running out of energy in the long run, and that's guaranteed to get your team killed. --Draikin 19:08, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Ah ha! I gave this another try and figured out what I was seeing. What I was trying to relay above is that I wasn't able to reproduce the over-heal described here (I apologize for not being very concise). So I went back and checked this with test commands to be sure and I found my hero would double up Patient Spirit and Orison only when the damage taken was about 30% of my health, just as you mentioned. After the math, that was a slight over-heal of about 12 points to my Ranger (not counting Divine Favor). From my perspective, that was acceptable. I did get the Monk to use Word of Healing with Patient Spirit a few times when the damage was at about 35%, but the most over-heal I managed to squeeze out of him was around 20 points.

To address your question above, the only concern I had about requiring the healers check for Patient Spirit before casting other healing spells was in cases when you really need that extra heal and they withheld it. However, after your clarification that this change is only suggested at 70% and up, it's rather moot. :) Leah Rivera 00:27, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Word of Healing

Issue: Zealous Benediction was updated so that the AI is less likely to use the skill on an ally that is above 50% health, but this doesn't seem to be the case for Word of Healing. Although WoH isn't that inefficient when used above 50% health, it does become problematic when the AI has to respond to adrenaline spikes. Instead of using Patient Spirit (when the ally is still above 50% health) and then following up with WoH (ally below 50% health) for a strong combo heal, they can end up using the skills in the reserve order which is not only inefficient but it could also mean the ally ends up at 0 health instead of being at near-full health.
How to fix: Update the AI so that WoH is used in the same way as ZB.
Additional info: I'm not really a fan of the "less likely" clause and would prefer the AI to never use these skills on allies that are above 50% health unless they really have no alternative heal available.

--Draikin 16:48, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

I agree using Patient Spirit before WoH works more effectively against adrenaline spikes. However, when working with AI, getting them to anticipate future damage can be a slippery slope. With Word of Healing being an inexpensive skill with a quick recharge, I'm ok with the heroes using it as they do. Leah Rivera 01:02, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't actually talking about anticipating future damage. This change wouldn't cause the AI not to heal allies at certain times, it would simply mean they favor other healing skills when the ally is above 50%. In the event where WoH is the only heal available at the time the AI would still end up using it. It's just in the cases where the AI has multiple healing skills available that it would actually consider the <50% clause. With the latest change to WoH which emphasizes the conditional heal the AI is now even worse at using the skill. I don't see any scenario where the current behavior would be favorable to the change I mentioned (to clarify: I'd make the AI favor the skill over other healing skills when the ally is under 50% health, and the other way around when the ally is above 50% health), at least not one that is not based on sheer luck. --Draikin 03:50, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh I see, thanks for the clarification. From what I can tell, Word of Healing is given priority when the target falls below half health over "little" heals like Orison. However, other "big" heals like Heal Other and Jamei's Gaze are occasionally trumping it. As the Energy cost for those skills are much higher, I've entered a bug in the database to see if we can't get Word of Healing a little more action when the target is below half health. Leah Rivera 01:02, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Spotless Mind, Spotless Soul

Issue: The AI doesn't seem to take into account that these skills are better at countering hex/condition stacks respectively, meaning they'll use it just as likely on allies suffering from only one hex/condition as they would use Cure Hex/Mend Condition.
How to fix: Make the AI less likely (than single hex/condition removal skills) to use these skills on allies suffering from only one hex/condition and more likely to use them on allies suffering from more than one condition.
Additional info: There are actually a lot of other skills with conditional effects that would benefit from a similar change, but it's difficult to test all of them to see which ones are used correctly. The problems caused by the current behavior aren't as easily noticeable during battle as other AI problems, it's only over time that they cause the hero to lose energy. In the same way improving these skills might not seem to make much of a difference at first, but it means heroes wouldn't run out of energy as fast as they do now which is a real problem with hero monks at the moment.

--Draikin 16:39, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't able to reproduce this issue. My hero did seem to prioritize using Spotless Soul and Spotless Mind when multiple conditions or hexes were present. He only started hitting my character with Mend Condition first when my conditions stacked to four which I thought was an acceptable use of the skills.

However, while checking this out, I did notice that the AI didn't seem to be checking if the Spotless spells were up before casting any single hex/condition removal skills. That caused a lot of mis-spent Energy (which I reported). Could that have been what you were seeing? Leah Rivera 17:45, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Well this was somewhat resolved but the end result is a bit questionable. The AI will now use single hex removals first before using Spotless Mind, meaning if you're hexed with at least two hexes then the AI is not going to use Spotless Mind and hold on to Cure Hex, but they'll actually always use Cure Hex first and then use Spotless Mind. This is far from ideal. --Draikin 15:21, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Mend Ailment, Restore Condition

Issue: the AI doesn't seem to take the conditional effect of these skills into account and is just as likely to use these skills on people suffering from one condition as on those suffering from multiple conditions.
How to fix: Update the AI to make them more likely to use the skills (over single condition removal skills that don't benefit from multiple conditions like Mend Condition) when the ally is suffering from multiple conditions, and less likely when it's only suffering from one condition
Additional info: Tested by giving a hero both Mend Condition and Restore Condition/Mend Ailment and letting them use the skills on an ally suffering from two conditions. Mend Condition turned out to be used more often than the other skills, from which I conclude the AI for the three skills is probably exactly the same.

--Draikin 11:01, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

You're absolutely right, the AI seems to using these skills interchangeably. I've entered this issue into the database. Good eye Draikin, thanks for the report. Leah Rivera 17:45, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

After the June 18th update Restore Condition should be used correctly but Mend Ailment wasn't mentioned in the update list. --Draikin 15:21, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Necromancer

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Blood Bond

Issue: The AI only uses this skill on allies who are below 50% health (and only during battle). I guess this was done to try and prevent the AI from using this skill too aggressively, but that basically ruins the skill entirely for the few builds that can actually use it.
How to fix: I would change the hero AI so that they look at the amount of degen they're suffering from before using this skill. For example, they should simply continue to use the skill on allies (who aren't at 100% health) until they're either at -6 degen or below 50% health. This means that if they have access to health regeneration skills (Mystic Regeneration or Healing Breeze for example), they can use that to counter the degeneration and maintain the skill on multiple allies. If there's a concern about the hero suddenly losing their health regeneration source, a third limitation could be set to prevent the AI from maintaining this skill on more than three or four allies at the same time.
Additional info: none.

--Draikin 22:01, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

This is a very well written case and I agree that, as a human player, I would juggle my degen to regen ratio. However, even with an AI limitation as you suggested, I'd be hesitant to make this change and risk the AI becoming too vulnerable to human players who could potentially exploit this behavior. Leah Rivera 17:06, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Animate Flesh Golem

Issue: The AI does not give any priority to this skill over other non-elite minion animating skills (like Animate Bone Fiend or Animate Bone Horror). If a coprse is on range, a Flesh Golem is not already animated and this skill and other non-elite minion raising skills are recharged, AI will randomly use one.
How to fix: Update the hero AI so it choses this skill over other non-elite minion animating skills when the above circumstances are met.
Additional info: none.

--FunnyUsername 11:27, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

I entered this into the database. Thanks for the report Funny! Leah Rivera 18:24, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

====Hero (and other AI?) skill usage -- Putrid Explosion====

Issue: Putrid Explosion exploits the corpse nearest to the "target" selected when you cast it. When cast with no target selected, it simply exploits a random corpse in range, usually hitting nothing at all. Heroes (and perhaps other AI users of this skill) always seem to cast Putrid Explosion without a target, even if they are "locked" onto one, making the skill much less useful than it ought to be.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it uses the skill with a target selected (preferably the one locked for them, or perhaps like Shatter Hex, a target which would maximize damage).
Additional info: I can only say with certainty that this is an issue on Heroes, since henchmen (Su, Sheena) and monsters (Angorodons) don't have a handy control panel and such.

Vili 点 23:13, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the report. I think the issue may be that the AI actually tells the NPCs to target a corpse (most likely the one nearest to them) before using skills that exploit corpses. I sent this to the programmer to see if he can set an exception for this skill. --Andrew Patrick 18:03, 13 August 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Rotting Flesh

Issue: The AI uses this skill on spirits, on which is has no effect.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it doesn't use the skill on spirits.
Additional info: none.

--Draikin 13:19, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero skill usage -- Masochism

Issue: The AI Seems to be using this skill rarely, especially in battle.
How to fix: Make the AI keep the skill up as much as possible (like Attunements maybe?), especially when casting skills from the Death and Soul Reaping line.
Additional info: none.

— Poki#3 (talk) 00:01, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Can you post the build that shows this misbehaviour? Just the code will do. My Livia uses it like an attunement all the time, so I think it's something in your build preventing correct usage. --Golgarit Raven 17:39, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Paragon

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- "The Power Is Yours!"

Issue: The AI never uses this skill during battle and never uses it when they have full adrenaline.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it uses the skill more often whenever fully charged with adrenalin during battle, and more likely they do so with echos on any allies within earshot, such as Bladeturn Refrain, Energizing Finale, Finale of Restoration, Mending Refrain, Purifying Finale, Aggressive Refrain, Hasty Refrain, Burning Refrain, or Blazing Finale

Additionally, further improvements could be made so that the AI is more likely to use the echoes on allies (Energizing is treated as AI would if using BiP, Mending on any suffering from degen and/or low on health, Purifying used on any ally if suffering from 2 or more conditions, Burning used on any ally attacking higher health foes and Bladeturn/Blazing used on allies being melee).

Additional info: none

--Falconeye 22:47, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Good report Falconeye, but when I tried this out in-game, "The Power Is Yours!" was used by my paragon hero frequently and in conjunction with Echoes. Has something changed since August, or are you still encountering this bug? Leah Rivera 00:26, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero skill usage -- Blazing Finale

Issue: heroes are very selfish with this skill, only use it on themselves when they are attacked by meleers.
How to fix: Update the AI so it uses the skill on other allies that are under attack of enemy's frontliners, and also make it use the skill on allied meleers if possible.
Additional info: None.

--FunnyUsername 11:33, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

This problem should have been resolved in the August 2008 update but indeed it seems they're still not using it correctly. I also reported "Lead the Way!" and Bladeturn Refrain back then which had the same issue, these do seem to be used correctly now. --Draikin 13:33, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero skill usage -- Wearying Spear

Issue: Heroes almost never use this skill. To test, try putting just this skill alone on your bar, and you will see heroes will pretty much never use it. Very occasionally they will, I don't know what causes them to (it's not because they were already weakened).
How to fix: Make them use this skill, regardless of any situation. It's a great skill if you have a low level (e.g. 9) of spear mastery on your paragon.
Additional info: None.

Gigashadow 07:51, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Ranger

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Throw Dirt

Issue: The AI uses this skill on (offensive) spirits, on which it has no effect.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it doesn't use the skill on spirits.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 12:03, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Ritualist

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Offering of Spirit

Issue: The AI never uses this skill out of battle and, during a battle, only use it when they have around 10-15 energy left.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it uses the skill more often and out of battle, more like they do with Signet of Spirits or Offering of Blood.
Additional info: none

--FunnyUsername 22:47, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Good bug Funny, I've added this to the database. Thanks for the report! Leah Rivera 18:02, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

After june 18 (2009) update, the AI uses this skill more frecuently during combat, but still the skill is never used out of combat. --FunnyUsername 08:21, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

You are correct Funny, and I apologize that the update notes were misleading on this one. It was deemed that using Offering of Spirit for energy management while out of combat didn't need to be prioritized over other skills. Leah Rivera 00:16, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Not prioritizing should be fine, but never using it outside combat can put you into serious trouble, at least in PvE. Imagine you just beat up one group of enemies, are low on health and energy and need a break to recover, but 30 feet away you already spot the next patrol on their way up to you, and the next patrol behind you, too. No place to go, and the next fight is just about to come up, yet your healer is drained and the party lacks life energy. It should be okay to use this one if you are low on energy, have a spirit around and are outside of combat. The spirit party is important though, as this usually means "we just were fighting and the spirits are still standing", since only Life and Preservation are summoned outside a fight (as of now). --Golgarit Raven 07:10, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Life

Issue: The AI just spams this skill continuously, regardless of been fighting or not. This may seem usefull if a minion master is on the group, but may end up not having the spirit ready when a battle comes up (out of range of the healing and not recharged i mean), and not having it within earshot to take profit of the synergies of some skills with spirits (ending up having to take more than just this spirit if u want to make the AI take profit of Spirit Light, for example).
How to fix: Update the AI so that it uses the skill only during combat, like they do with Rejuvenation or Recuperation.
Additional info: none

--FunnyUsername 15:29, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

I reported this issue before so I definitely agree with you, but it wasn't considered to be a problem by Q&A: ArenaNet talk:AI bugs/AI Issues Archive 1#Hero_.26_Henchmen_skill_usage_--_Spirits. --Draikin 17:52, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Well, i just can say sorry for double posting the same issue... and i hope they reconsider their opinion ^^ about it.--FunnyUsername 18:39, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

I'd just like to mention that the odd update (was it released too early perhaps?) that made the AI use this skill only when they went into double aggro range from enemies was a near perfect solution for this skill. --Draikin 22:59, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

In fact it was a good solution for many skills (not all) that heroes keep out of combat, such as preparations, attunements, Infuse Condition & Dark Bond, etc. This way those skills will not end too early during combat. Even this could be extended to some support skills such as: Critical Eye, Way of the Master, Way of Perfection, Conjure Frost/flame/lightning, Boon of Creation, Explosive Growth, etc. --FunnyUsername 14:52, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

People would complain if they changed anything else. As a general rule I'd say that if the skill can be maintained 100% of the time then they should maintain it. Spirits are a special case since they don't follow your party. --Draikin 11:34, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Thinking carefully it maybe a problem if a group of monster pop up (mandragors for example) cause heroes would not have those skills up...yep, ur right its better that they maintain them. --FunnyUsername 12:35, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

It seems like we've come to a consensus of "not a bug" on this one, so throwing up the X to make it official. I left it clear in case any more discussion is needed, but feel free to close it out if it's not a problem anymore. :) Leah Rivera 18:07, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

It's still somewhat of a problem when you don't flag your heroes in Hero Battles: when they follow you they end up stopping to use the spirit, similar to how hero minion masters can't keep up with the rest of the team in PvE since they stop to cast skills on minions. --Draikin 18:27, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I totally understand this one. My roommate loves her MM heroes but they're always falling behind and even as a human playing a Ritualist I'm frequently playing catch up. Unfortunately, the only way I could see to fix this would be to have them not cast, but that sounds like an even bigger can of worms than the current situation. If anyone comes up with a viable suggestion that would work for both PVP and PVE, I'd be happy to open an inquiry on the subject. Leah Rivera 18:29, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Well, as this (and Preservation too, by the way) behave the same (buggy) way, and are party heal skills, how about using them only if any party members are below 100% health? My monk does not spam Heal Group, so why should my ritualist spam his version? :) --Golgarit Raven 06:55, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm of the opinion that having the hero/npc cast this spirit when they get into agro range is now acceptable after the June 19th update. After all, since the cast time is only 3/4 of a second-and the only objection that was raised to the idea of an npc not casting before a fight was the question of "what if you run into pop-ups?"-I think that should be plenty of time to cast a spirit and be ready to cast other heals in short order. The issue before was greater with the 3 second cast time-which would translate into 3-3/4 seconds of no healing-but (I know I'm repeating myself here) with that significantly reduced, I think the idea deserves merit once again. -- Timeoffire45 14:05, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Good thought on that.. yet casting a healing spirit after battle can save lifes and would fall short if we only look to aggro for this. It also would help replenish energy after a battle, if the next one is about to start an instant later, since Ritualists have that "if a spirit is in earshot" bonus a lot. I'd prefer casting only when party members lack health, that would cover infight and afterfight. --Golgarit Raven 16:50, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Hmmm... So make the AI consider it a heal and give it priority over other rit heals? As in, when they notice a party member is damaged, they first cast life and THEN start casting other skills? It sounds good to me, actually, given that (as I stated above) the cast time is significantly shorter in PvE now... Although, what about PvP? Is it possible to split the AI on the two versions of a skill since they are sorta-kinda different skills? Or am I missing a mechanic here? -- Timeoffire45 17:57, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

You're missing a mechanic. Look at UA for example, it's a totally different usage in PvP.. they know how, I'd say it'll work perfectly. --Golgarit Raven 12:04, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Hold on, what? I understand that UA and UA(pvp) are totally different skills with completely different usages and different mechanics that govern their use, but by that token shouldn't it be POSSIBLE to create separate AI's for Life and Life(pvp) to account for the differences in usage/cast time despite them being basically the same skill? I think the second half of your comment got cut off, by the way, so it was alittle hard trying to tell what you were saying at the end, there.-- Timeoffire45 21:25, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

That's what I wanted to say. It's possible to handle (Skill) and (Skill)(PvP) differently, so PvE Life could be made a priority-1-heal (technically) while PvP Life could get a lower priority and still be put to good use, while not spamming it. Sorry, guess I was in a rush there. --Golgarit Raven 17:28, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Resilient Was Xiko

Issue: I was looking into using this skill on a hero after the update and I think further small improvements can be made to the way the AI uses this skill.
How to fix: Update the AI so that they cast the skill again when the total amount of health degeneration from the conditions exceeds the health gain from the skill. This will both drop the old bundle and remove conditions and still have the hero maintain a bundle 100% of the time. Additionally, update the AI so that they drop the bundle immediately when suffering from Dazed or Deep Wound. These conditions are far too dangerous and should be removed as soon as possible, casting the skill again would take too much time in the case of Deep Wound (which usually means the hero is being spiked) and Dazed practically guarantees the hero won't be able to cast spells.
Additional info: This isn't really an issue since the skill can already be used effectively the way it works now, the above update request is only intended to reduce the amount of micro needed for heroes in PvP.

--Draikin 18:03, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

I think this one will have to be confined to the realm of micro managing Draikin. It looks great and there are some very sound strategies in there, but it might not work for everyone's style/build. Leah Rivera 21:09, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

I understand, I think this can be closed then. --Draikin 16:07, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Spirit's Gift

Issue: When used by a necromancer primary, it does not try very hard to keep this up, probably because a necromancer has 0 in this skill's attribute. However, even at a 0 attribute level, this skill is very useful.
How to fix: Ignore the attribute in the skill line when determining the importance of using this skill.
Additional info: none

Gigashadow 22:42, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

It's not the attribute level that causes this but rather that the AI doesn't prioritize using the skill, a lot of other skills that should be used as often as possible suffer from the same problem. Glyph of Lesser Energy is probably the best example of a skill that has a very high priority, enchantments like this would benefit from having the same AI. --Draikin 02:02, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

I wasn't able to reproduce this issue with a Necromancer MM bar and Spirit's Gift. My hero is keeping himself enchanted 100% of the time while the party is in combat. When you noticed this, were there any other skills that the AI could have seen as more important or were you out of combat? Leah Rivera 23:35, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

A friend of mine and I are just exploring this issue, as my heroes tend to use this skill very wisely, while his heroes seem to ignore it completely. Will take a while to figure out what's the big difference between our heroes, but we're on it. --Golgarit Raven 19:51, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

In such a case there's probably going to be skills on the hero that doesn't use Spirit's Gift that have a higher priority. Look at the skills that it does use often and see if there's something that would explain why the AI uses them so much (if they have conditional effects for example, see if there's another skill that triggers them). --Draikin 20:48, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Boon of Creation

Issue: The AI does not recognize the skill is useable like attunements and only casts it after the first spell in battle is cast, just like Master of Magic used to be before the update.
How to fix: Update the AI so that the skill is used in the same way it uses Master of Magic.
Additional info: none

--Golgarit Raven 19:51, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

After the recent ritualist buff, there are a number of skills that basically should be used the same way as elementalists use attunements, by using it on recharge so that they can take advantage of the extra healing or energy from raising spirits before aggro of any mobs. The length of the enchantments means they can be maintained permanently, but the AI needs adjusting as currently they only use the enchantments when aggro'd, which leaves the casting of the enchantments open to interrupts. Other skills in this same category include Spirit's Gift, Explosive Growth. And I'm sure a number of others. Anon-e-mouse 16:53, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Correct.. I'll make a list of those.. and here it is: Armor of Unfeeling, Ritual Lord, Explosive Growth, Sight Beyond Sight (discusseable), Spirit's Gift, Spirit's Strength, Wielder's Remedy, Wielder's Zeal. I'll check on them tomorrow, would appreciate some help on the elite skills, as I don't have them yet. --Golgarit Raven 22:58, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Signet of Spirits

Issue: The spirit of suffering has a very slow attack rate, compared to his two collegues. From the looks of it, he attacks at .75 times the speed of the other two spirits.
How to fix: Raise his attack speed so that all 3 spirits act the same way
Additional info: The german version of the spirit of anger is translated exactly the same as the spirit of fury, "Geist der Wut". Granted, minor flaw. Yet if you use Gaze of Fury AND this skill, you end up mixing up those two, resulting in not casting Gaze of Fury because theres still the ghost with its name floating before you, where in reality it's the one from the signet. I'd suggest changing the name to maybe "Geist des Zorns" which means the same but is not already in use.

--Golgarit Raven 20:19, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

The problem i think, is the fact that each of the 3 spirits make use of the skill Pain (attack). If i remember well, AI was updated to try to avoid the use of a skill at the same time if multiple allies have that skill. That may explain why most of the time 2 of the spirits alternate the cast of Pain while the other one idles. --FunnyUsername 14:30, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Then, by all the love, those ghosts should really have their very own attacks and not try to alter them.. they would be much less cannonfodder that way and they'd even have some small form of a spike if they choose the same target. --Golgarit Raven 19:56, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Energetic Was Lee Sa

Issue: Heroes drop this bundle immediately if casting it brings them to low energy, which it almost certainly will because it takes away their weapon and off-hand energy bonus, and they cast it when low on energy. Waiting until they are low on energy to cast is also often counter-productive, because they lose the energy bonus from their weapon and off-hand they will have "negative energy" for several seconds
How to fix: Heroes should not drop this, rather they should only let it expire. They should also only use it below and above a certain amount of energy.
Additional info: None.

76.84.34.210 19:59, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Preservation

Issue: The AI tends to use this skill on recharge and to not cast the spirit if that causes to destroy an existing copy of that spirit, even if there's no target that can benefit from the healing.
How to fix: Update the AI so now the spirit is cast within the apropiate range even if that causes another copy of that spirit to be destroyed. Also since the range of healing is rather limited, it would be nice that the skill is not used on recharge, so it is available when a combat begins.
Additional info: The AI for Rejuvenation works just fantastic, AI will try to keep it within range all the time during combat, it would be perfect if it is applied to this skill too.

--FunnyUsername 19:39, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Warrior

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Healing Signet

Issue: Whenever I try to bring this skill on a hero I just end up spending most of my time manually activating it. Apparently the AI is set to only use this skill when its below 50% health, but this isn't a good thing since the -40 armor drawback actually becomes more of a problem when they're low on health.
How to fix: Update the AI so that the skill is used more often.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 20:50, 10 March 2009 (UTC)

The -40 armor is a kicker, but I'm not sure I follow your logic. How is the armor penalty better at higher health levels? Either way, my warrior is taking the same amount of extra damage and because of that drawback, I like the fact that my heroes save Healing Signet for when they really think they're dying. What are other peoples thoughts on this? If it's a popular complaint I'll gladly open an inquiry. Leah Rivera 20:30, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

It's better to use it at higher health levels because damage you are taking during the 2 seconds that you're casting the skill is less likely to get you killed in the process. In other words if you use it at 25% health, you might end up dying before you even finish casting the skill. When you're at 75% health on the other hand, you're far more likely to finish the cast. --Draikin 21:03, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

There is a fair chance the AI will waste a lot of time casting Healing Signet if the trigger is set at higher health levels. In addition I would expect the damage to be cleaned up by healers. --Zora 00:52, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I was thinking along the same lines Zora. I would prefer my warrior to rely on his support at higher health levels and use his risky heal when that support isn't keeping his health up. Are there any other advocates either way on this subject? Leah Rivera 18:44, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

If heroes don't overheal with Healing Signet then I don't see how they're going to waste time using it at higher health. Furthermore, at higher health you're not going to be a priority target for the opponent so you'll often take less damage then when you use it at lower health (at which point you'll very likely be the target of a spike). To answer your question Leah, that's why the armor penalty is better at higher health. It also means monks don't have to waste their energy keeping you at full health, so they can save their energy for when it's really needed (when you're dropping below 50% health). Lastly, look at it this way, is it safer to use Frenzy at lower or higher health? To me it's simple, the way the skill is now it's never going to see serious play in Hero Battles. --Draikin 20:16, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero skill usage -- "To the Limit!"

Issue: Used in combat as soon as at least one foe is within range when it would be more effective to wait a few seconds for more foes to get within range.
How to fix: Update the AI to only use the skill when more than one foe is within range, wait a few seconds after entering combat, only use the skill while a foe is within attack range or only use the skill while attacking.
Additional info: none

-- Gordon Ecker (talk) 01:09, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Currently, this skill is activated when the fighter reaches melee range. I agree that ideally it should be used when more than one opponent is in range, but putting a multiple foe limitation in place would cause the warrior to never use this skill when facing off against a single opponent. While "To the Limit" is more wasteful in those situations, it still has some benefit to the hero so should be used if needed. Leah Rivera 20:54, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Giving the skill the "more likely to be used when near multiple foes" clause would make the hero still use the skill against a single opponent while somewhat improving the overall usage against multiple foes. --Draikin 21:14, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

It does look like this skill is given priority when even one foe is in range. I've put in an inquiry to see if we can optimize this a little better. Thanks for the second opinion Draikin! Leah Rivera 19:03, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero skill usage -- Cyclone Axe

Issue: The AI simply spams this attack skill as energy allows even against a foe without any adjacent foes (the +damage the skill adds is rather small). This causes serious energy problems (especially for warrior heroes) and also a poor use of this attack skill AOE capability.
How to fix: Update the AI to only use this attack skill when more than one target can be hit.
Additional info: none

--FunnyUsername 20:25, 15 April 2009 (UTC)

While checking this, it seem like Cyclone Axe was prioritized against multiple foes and used much less frequently if there was only a single target. This is consistent with other AoE skills and is, in my opinion, a desirable approach for our heroes to have. It ensures heroes will throw everything they have, including AoE skills, at a target to kill it. Even if it's the last man standing. Leah Rivera 22:18, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Maybe its just that im getting too paranoic with e-management, but i do think its more preferable the heroes save their energy for other more usefull skills on a 1 on 1 (interrupts, KDs, more powerfull attack skills, utility skills like IAS or adrenaline gaining skills, etc). Anyway as you pointed their current behavior isnt that bad, i think im expecting too much from heroes ^^. --FunnyUsername 19:44, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Agonizing Chop

Issue: The AI uses this skill whenever it's available, regardless of whether or not the target is suffering from a Deep Wound and using a skill.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it only uses the skill when they can actually interrupt a skill with it or when the 1 second activation time can help to quickly finish of a target that's below 50% health.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 13:45, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Critical Chop

Issue: The AI uses this skill whenever it's available, regardless of whether or not they can interrupt a skill with it.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it only uses the skill when they can actually interrupt a skill with it or when the 1 second activation time can help to quickly finish of a target that's below 50% health.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 13:45, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

Common skill issues

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Heroes trying to overextend to use skills

Issue: Heroes will sometimes overextend from their position in order to use a skill on an ally/foe who is outside of spell casting range, but they do not take into account what obstacles are in between them and that ally/foe which ends up confusing the AI. An example of this can often be seen on the map The Crossing: a hero standing on the Battle Cry shrine will try to use skills on allies/foes standing on the Cultist's shrine (since they're just outside of aggro range to him) but he can't get to them directly and he just ends up walking back and forth between the two shrines, forcing the player to reflag him constantly.
How to fix: Update the AI so that they do not overextend from their position when flagged to a specific location.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 20:34, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

A bug has been submitted on this issue. Ben Kirsch 23:29, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Heroes repeatedly activating and canceling skills

Issue: Heroes will sometimes get stuck trying to cast a spell and will repeatedly cast and then cancel it, this bug also seems to happen most often on The Crossing (for example on a hero who is standing on the bridge and who tries to heal the players at the Cultist’s Shrine) which might indicate that the bug is triggered because of a difference in altitude (Z-Axis) between the hero and the ally/foe. This can cause the hero to rapidly lose all of his energy.
How to fix: Fix the bug that causes this problem.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 20:34, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

I've been trying to find out what causes this and I think I found a way to reproduce this issue: in Hero Battles, flag one hero to a specific location and let him die (simply send him into the opposing team for example). When the hero is resurrected he will often start to cast and cancel spells repeatedly while walking back towards his flag. I mentioned this happens a lot of The Crossing, and this might simply be because the Cultist's shrine is close to the base so it's easier to notice this bug there. The altitude difference will probably not have anything to do with this after all. --Draikin 01:27, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't able to reproduce this bug. Was it fixed in an update, or is it still occurring? Thanks! Leah Rivera 22:35, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

It's still occurring, there are multiple causes to the bug and Joe mentioned it's on his task list but it's a difficult bug to resolve. This bug and the variations on it were also voted as the number one AI issue in Hero Battles in a survey on the GW Guru forum, seeing how it can easily decide the outcome of a match. --Draikin 22:46, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I tried this again and got a successful reproduction this time. There is still an active bug on this in the system so I updated it with the current functionality. Thanks for the confirmation Draikin. Leah Rivera 19:17, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure if it's helpful since you already managed to trigger the bug, but here's a video showing the bug on The Crossing: [1].

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Heroes stop responding after using shadow stepping skills

Issue: After using skills like Recall or Shadow Meld, heroes will sometimes completely stop moving and using skills until you reflag them.
How to fix: Fix the bug causing this problem.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 23:46, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

My heroes were behaving normally after using these skills. Are you still seeing this problem? If so, can you tell me a little more about what kind of situation you're seeing this in, what other skills are on you're heroes bar, etc? -Kim Chase 21:22, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

The problem doesn't occur often, but it didn't seem to happen with particular builds or settings. This bug happened most often on the Desert Sands map for me, where I canceled Recall on a hero standing on the BattleCry shrine to let him shadowstep to my main team on the Warsong shrine. The same bug also happens on Bombardment with heroes shadowstepping from the Health shrines to the Center shrine. I'm reasonably certain that every time I encountered this bug, I set the hero flag on top of the shrine before canceling Recall/Shadowmeld. The hero seemed to get stuck and wouldn't kite or use skills on its own until I flagged it to a different location. I once encountered a similar bug when I ordered a (melee) hero to use a skill on a character that was running towards a shrine, after which I flagged the hero to the same shrine. The hero chased the target all the way to the shrine, used the skill and then stopped moving and using skills altogether until I changed the flag location again (this exact same bug happened twice in the same game, which is also the only time I ever encountered it). --Draikin 21:49, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

I gave this one another try but I had no luck in the current build. Has something changed since this report was made, or is this still occurring? Thanks! Leah Rivera 22:49, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

It's definitely still occurring, but it doesn't happen frequently so it's difficult to reproduce the problem and even more difficult to figure out exactly what triggers it. --Draikin 22:56, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Yuck, definitely something worth tracking down then. If anyone has more information on this bug, please post. I'll keep looking for it as well, hopefully we can find a good repro for it. Leah Rivera 19:21, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Heroes and weapon buffs

Issue: There seems to be an issue with the way the AI prioritizes allies on which to use skills intended as a buff for martial weapons. First of all when using weapon spells, they will use them on allies depending on the weapon they're using (for example when using Warmonger's Weapon, they first use it on allies wielding a spear, while weapon spells like Brutal Weapon are first used on allies wielding a melee weapon). Unfortunately they do not take into account that casters might be wielding martial weapons, so they end up using Warmonger's Weapon on a monk carrying a spear and shield but who isn't even attacking. From what I've seen other weapon buffs like Judge's Insight are used more intelligently, the AI always seems to prefer using it on a ranger instead of a monk if both are carrying the same weapon, unlike when they're using weapon spells. This behaviour is still not flawless however, since the AI will still use these skills on allies who are not attacking (for example heroes set to "Avoid").
How to fix: Update the AI so that they prioritize weapon buffs not only depending on the weapon an ally is using but also based on their profession. In other words if an ally has to choose between a warrior wielding a sword, a monk wielding a sword and a paragon wielding a spear, the ally should first use Brutal Weapon on the warrior, then the paragon and then the monk (which seems to be the way they use Judge's Insight). Also, the AI should not use weapon buffs on allies who aren't attacking.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 19:12, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Good find Draikin. There are a few fishy things going on with these weapon spells. I've entered a bug on both the fact that the AI doesn't take character class into account and the fact that the aggressive spells are used on characters that aren't attacking. Thanks for the report! Leah Rivera 19:59, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

The weapon spell changes from the June 18th build touched on this behavior. How's this looking now? Leah Rivera 18:37, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I tested the new behavior with Warmonger's Weapon, and it seems every problem I mentioned has been resolved. Allies who are not attacking did not receive a weapon buff, and the AI now takes into account which profession their (attacking) allies have when deciding on which ally to use the skill. This means that warrior wielding a martial weapon will have the highest priority, so casters wielding martial weapons would only receive the buff after all the warriors, paragons, etc... already have a weapon buff active on them. Excellent! I didn't test other weapon spells (yet), but I'm assuming all offensive weapons spells now have this AI linked to them? --Draikin 19:37, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Heroes repeatedly activating and canceling skills #2

Issue: Basically the same issue as the one I posted a while ago, but after the new update this bug now also happens whenever the hero is at about 1.5 to 2 times the radius of the aggro circle away from you. This can be verified by ordering your hero to use a skill (preferably one that takes 1 or more seconds to cast) on your character and to repeat that same process while gradually stepping further away from it. At some point the hero will start to cast, cancel, cast, cancel until they either succeed in using the skill or run out of energy.
How to fix: Fix the bug causing this issue.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 17:52, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

Joe is already looking into this, thank you for the report.-Kim Chase 18:28, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

The issue wasn't fully resolved in the latest AI update: the problem mentioned above seems to be resolved but heroes still cancel skills in other situations. I haven't been able to figure out a way to reproduce that particular bug. --Draikin 17:45, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Magehunter's Smash, Earth Shaker, Shock

Issue: All of these skills are used even on targets that are already knocked down.
How to fix: Update the AI so that these skills aren't used on targets that are already knocked down.
Additional info: I'm not 100% certain if the other hammer elites don't suffer from the same problem, but they seem to be used correctly.

--Draikin 22:51, 26 August 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't able to reproduce this issue reliably. Occasionally the heroes would overlap their knockdowns, but it didn't seem frequent enough to warrant a bug. Has this issue improved since August? Or is there a particular skill set that does this frequently? Leah Rivera 19:17, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

It happening at all seems like an issue to me. Heavy Blow suffered from the same problem and had its AI updated to resolve the problem, so it would make sense these were updated as well. --Draikin 23:29, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Offensive spirits confusing hero AI

Issue: I've reported a problem with the skill Empathy before since the AI didn't respond properly when using that skill whenever an offensive spirit was nearby. That problem was fixed but similar issues can be seen for other skills. Skills like Life Transfer and Insidious Parasite aren't used correctly (the AI tries to activate them as can be seen on the hero skill bar but doesn't actually cast them) while skills like Faintheartedness aren't used at all whenever an offensive spirit is nearby. The spirits also seem to make the AI hesitate when trying to wand a target, as they often cancel the attack repeatedly.
How to fix: Solve the issues that make the hero AI act differently when nearby offensive spirits.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 18:52, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Here's a video showing the problem described above. --Draikin 19:04, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the report! I've put an inquiry into the database about this. Leah Rivera 21:17, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero & Henchmen skill usage -- Wounding Strike, Pious Assault, Dismember, Eviscerate

Issue: The AI does not try to inflict deep wound as soon as possible. If its current target is not under the effects of a deep wound and any of these attack skills and other attack skills are available, the AI will randomly use one.
How to fix: Make the AI chose any of these skills over other attack skills if their current target is not under the effects of a deep wound.
Additional info: For dismember and eviscerate, its easier to see this issue if other adrenaline attack skills with the same cost (in terms of adrenaline strikes) are used.

--FunnyUsername 08:54, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

I agree that this would be an improvement. Melee heroes are the worst heroes available, in a large part because the AI don't understand adrenaline spikes or when to use an IAS or IMS, not even counting more advanced play like quarterknocking. This change would approximate the way real players would play a warrior a bit more, it would be even better if the AI tried to "group" their adrenaline skills so that they can follow up on the Deep Wound with other attack skills, instead of just using Dismember and following it up with auto-attacks. --Draikin 17:17, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Yeah it would be nice if heroes could use skill chains properly. Something like "marking" or "flaging" as a "skill chain" some skills so they will be used in a certain order and, once the chain is completed, the AI will wait for all the skills in the chain to be "ready to use" to start the chain again. --FunnyUsername 11:44, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Combat and Behaviour Issues

Hero -- General Morgahn

Issue: Still have the old bug where heroes attack outside of the aggro range.
How to fix: Make it par to other hero's behavior.
Additional info: none

This system has been addressed through updates. I didn't notice anything noteworthy about Morghan's aggro range when I checked. Has anyone run into this issue recently? Leah Rivera 21:20, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Tried provocating this a few times but could not get him to show that misbehaviour. --Golgarit Raven 13:43, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero -- All Heroes

Issue: When attacking an invulnerable for (I.E. something with Spell Breaker, heroes will not change target or stop attacking, rather they continue to attack and fail until their energy is depleted.
How to fix: Make them stop auto targeting invunerable foes or at least stop spamming skills once they have failed in such a manner.
Additional info: none

On April 24th, 2008, the following update was pushed live: "Improved Hero/Henchmen responses to effects that cause skills to fail, such as Spell Breaker. If the target is immune to a skill, Heroes will now stop activating that skill after a small number of failures." Did this effectively address this issue? Heroes will still attempt to cast on invulnerable targets for a few casts, but will not waste all of their energy. This is meant to simulate an average player's behavior rather than making them instantly respond. Ben Kirsch 21:30, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Hero combat behaviour -- AI not attacking when outside of radar range

Issue: This seems to be a rare bug but I've seen this happen while watching my own battles on observer. What happens is that a hero who was ordered to run to a shrine that was out of my radar range started to act as if he were on "Avoid" even though he was always set to "Defend", so it stopped attacking its target and only used defensive skills. The hero only started attacking again when he returned into radar range of my character. Unfortunately I don't know exactly what triggers this bug.
How to fix: Fix the bug causing this problem.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 12:50, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Is this issue still occurring? Leah Rivera 21:22, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure it does, but it happens very rarely so it would be difficult to find out what exactly what's causing it. --Draikin 23:33, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero combat behaviour -- AI attacking pets

Issue: When not given a specific target the AI seems to regard pets at the same level as normal characters. This means that melee heroes will often attack pets if they are not given a specific target lock. In the case of AoE attacks or hexes, the AI will sometimes (depending on what skills are being used) even ignore target locks altogether and still attack pets (examples are Vampiric Bite, Parasitic Bond and Searing Flames). This means team builds with multiple pets can divert damage away from the main team. In the case of Searing Flames for example, a hero ele will try to maximize the efficiency of the spell by hitting as many targets as possible. This means that three pets chasing a target will end up being their target.
How to fix: Update the AI so that it doesn't attack pets unless no other valid targets are available. This means they shouldn't use AoE attacks on pets if there's a player/hero they can use it on regardless of how many pets they can hit with it. Melee heroes shouldn't attack pets either unless they're the only target in range or they are locked on to it. It's important to note however that this behavior shouldn't apply to spirits and minions: heroes using AoE attacks on a bunch of spirits or minions is intended behavior and that shouldn't be changed.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 15:08, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I'd also like to emphasize that this issue is one of the many causes for the degenerate gameplay in Hero Battles. Players using multiple R/P or R/W heroes with pets can run around all over the map and force the opponent into several simultaneous 1v1 fights. The issue here is that by simply using pets, their opponent is forced to constantly target lock his heroes which adds a lot of extra pressure on the team (since there's less time for microing skills and flagging heroes around). The player using the 3 R/P build on the other hand doesn't have to lock targets at all and is free to flag heroes to other shrines (again forcing the opponent to change hero target locks) and micro skills. This kind of advantage is simply unfair. --Draikin 00:11, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

I tried this out and it seemed like the animal companions were a lower priority than the Heroes in the current build. Is anyone else noticing this, or has it been addressed since July? Leah Rivera 21:34, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

They have the same priority. This is something people have been complaining about for over two years in Hero Battles, it's really a major issue and something that should have been resolved ages ago. I can create a video for it if you want, this happens 100% of the time. --Draikin 22:01, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the reply Draikin. I've entered this into the database as an inquiry. Leah Rivera 00:48, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero combat behaviour -- AI not prioritizing certain skills

Issue: I've mentioned this on some of my AI issues reports above (Attunements, Flesh Golem, Attacker's Insight), and it seems this aplies to many other skills such as Warrior's Endurance, Flail (most IAS in fact), Master of Magic, Glyph of Immolation, Way of the Master, Way of Perfection, Zealous Vow, Zealous Renewal and Onslaught are a few of what i've noticed. The problem seems to be that they use their available skills -attack and support skills mainly- in a random way if at any moment during battle it is not given the proper situation that triggers the use certain skills (i mean those that have a particular behaviour coded, like most healing skills, those with secondary effects like glowing gaze, res skills, condition/hex removal skills, etc.). This usually leads to a poor use of many builds if not microed often, especially the ones that rely on those skills for the build to actually work.
How to fix: I've been told many times that heroes tend to use more often skills if they were placed to the left of their skillbar, i discovered eventually that it isnt true (or does not rly work...). But in fact this could be a solution for this AI issue: the implementation of a skill priority system for heroes based on the position of the skills on their skillbar. This system should be ignored if a particular situation that triggers the use of a certain skill is meet (like using ZB when theres an ally with less than 50% health). This also will allow us to have some control over the order AI uses some skills, so assassins can use properly combos with 2 off-hand attacks and 2 dual attacks, or Dervish can use wounding strike before any other attack skill for example.
Additional info: none

--FunnyUsername 18:41, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Interesting solution Funny. I've forwarded that on to the designers to see what they think. As for the skills with strange priorities, those will have to be handled on a case by case basis. If you find any really terrible offenders (especially underutilized elites) please post them up in the appropriate class section and I'll get them into the system. :) Leah Rivera 22:06, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- AI Pathing/Targeting Issue for Purple Siege Turtle

Issue: Sometimes the Purple Siege Turtle will get "stuck" at the Outer Purple Gate or in the area between Outer and Inner Purple Gates, even after everyone else including the Luxon Warriors from the Purple Squad have run past and into the Green Gate area. Seems to happen randomly when the turtle goes to "fire" at targets that are no longer there. Happens more frequently if there are Minion Masters creating corpse armies from enemies the turtles were targeting. Turtle will sit there and fire at nothing.
How to fix: Make Turtle Siege Attack AoE General instead of AoE Targeted
Additional info: Pathing/Targeting AI Issue, Fort Aspenwood Purple Squad

207.255.164.193 20:23, 25 December 2008 (UTC) Ichi Setune Hiroshi

This issue is reported in the database. Thanks for the post! Leah Rivera 22:26, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero combat behaviour -- AI go out of their way to target enemy spirits

Issue: Whenever there are enemy spirits, regardless if they are Nature Rituals, Binding Rituals, etc., the AI will go out of their way to target and eliminate them. During actual combat this is usually a non-issue. However, outside of combat this often results in unwanted or even deadly overaggro, especially because monsters are considered aggroed and start to give chase if you kill a spirit which belonged to their group (except in Prophecies, if I remember correctly). The AI will move to engage spirits even if they are outside of the aggro bubble (roughly 1.5 distance, I'd estimate). Even if this is an intended behavior, they do not discriminate between spirits which cause no harm anyway if left alone (e.g. Destruction) and spirits which it would actually benefit the party to kill (e.g. Quicksand).
How to fix: Drastically lower spirits on the "priority target" list; don't make AI attack them at all unless the player calls/attacks first; etc.
Additional info: Issue has existed approximately ever since the update that made the AI more "aggressive" in combat. Despite that update being scaled back some, this particular tendency remains. Setting Heroes to "Guard" does not change this, "Passive" is an unnecessary burden as it interferes with the usage AI of many important skills, and perhaps most importantly, players can't change henchmen combat modes anyway. Allied NPCs such as Master Togo also suffer from this, though to a lesser extent.

Vili 20:13, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

While I can understand your reasoning here, I'd like to note that in Hero Battles it's very important that heroes do target spirits. I'd even go as far as to say that spirits should get a higher attack priority in PvP, since at the moment heroes will too often leave the spirits alone and allow the opponent to build a spirit nest. I admit I do find it annoying how this can trigger mob aggro, but I'd rather see that behavior changed instead of lowering attack priority on spirits. --Draikin 17:21, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Then we have a case of incompatible fixes. You can either fix it for PvP, or fix it for PvE, not both. And either way you're going to get pissed off players. Vili 22:10, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

I understand your reasoning Vili, I've had to hastily set flags to keep from getting unwanted aggro on more than one occasion. Personally, I've always found the spirits pulling their group to be handy for separating dense groups in difficult maps so the pro's seem to outweigh, or at least balance the cons for PvE. That coupled with the potential heavy impact to PvP that Draikin pointed out inclines me to leave this as a won't fix. Leah Rivera 22:48, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

To provide some PvE workaround, I'll add this: know your spirits well. As ranger I treat every spirit differently, i.e. I'd never cast Favorable Winds in a place too close to the enemy, but far away from them, so it barely reaches the backline fighters of my own team. This won't draw aggro. Edge of Extinction on the other hand has to reach enemies, therefore I cast it after the team started the attack run, when every enemy already has picked a target and damae is dealt. Again, unlikely to draw aggro - and saves unnessecary waiting before the effect can be used. Etc. --Golgarit Raven 10:06, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

This has nothing to do with me using spirits...the enemy AI (as far as I know) doesn't seem to have this extended aggro problem, so I can set up Life etc. right outside aggro range if I want to, and that won't suddenly attract their attention. If "earshot" range were even larger, I could probably even get away with Agony and kill foes without them reacting. I know that the enemy AI goes after spirits because they are designed to go after weak targets. Spirits fulfil that in multiple ways: low health, low armor, low level, stationary...

The issue is when I'm trying to sneak past patrols who leave spirits behind, or there are two mobs tightly grouped together and heroes will sometimes run all the way to the other group just to kill Favorable Winds or something. A pretty classic example of this can also be found in Moddok Crevice, whether it is the Toxicity spirit from the Corsair patrol (the one you're supposed to hide from) causing one to fail the bonus, or the Infuriating Heat spirits that make heroes go an hero versus the ledge full of Kournan Bowmen. I just find that totally unnecessary, but I guess it's not going to be changed. (I've taken to setting all my non-melee, non-ranger heroes to "Guard" these days because of things like this.) Vili 点 19:34, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Minion -- AotL Bone Horror

Issue: After a fight with Am Fah, I used Aura of the Lich to create minions out of all their corpses. A few of the rangers had laid Spike Traps, and died before they triggered. Of course, as I raised a minion from their corpses, the Spike Traps immediately hit the minions. Afterwards, they would not move at all. Even after the crippled wore off, they stood rooted to the spot.
How to fix: Make them follow you like normal
Additional info: It only happened when they got hit with a Spike Trap the very instant they spawned. Not sure if the same thing happens with other minions, or even regular (non-AotL) bone horrors.

--Macros 05:33, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Confirmed. Just happened to get a shambling horror pop up inside a trap and refusing to move. --Golgarit Raven 08:37, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh yeah, this, too hapened against the Am Fah, Sunjang cleaning showed it pretty good. --Golgarit Raven 08:30, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Fort Aspenwood Siege Turtles

Issue: There are several spots where a Kurzick player can stand that will cause the Siege Turtle to attempt to hit them with Siege Turtle Attack (Fort Aspenwood), but will be unable to due to there being a wall in the way.
How to fix: Have a check for LoS before using Siege Turtle Attack (Fort Aspenwood).
Additional info: One such spot (highlighted player's location):[2]

Forgot to sign. --Curse You(talk|contribs) 07:38, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry

Issue: They still don't move out of Ray of Judgment.
How to fix: Next time you put it in the update notes, don't forget to also put it in the game.
Additional info: none

~Shard 09:17, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I've played a fair bit of Jade Quarry as a RoJ Monk since the update. They move, just not with any sense of urgency. I almost always require two uses of RoJ to take a quarry now. --Curse You(talk|contribs) 05:32, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

RoJ doesn't ever cause them to move. This is 100% provable. ~Shard 00:26, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

As I said, I've used RoJ in Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood a lot since the update. In both instances, the NPCs will flee, though not always right away. It takes A.I. a few hits from any AoE spell to notice it and since RoJ only lasts 5 seconds they usually only notice after the 2nd or 3rd hit, which is often a little late. --Curse You(talk|contribs) 17:35, 7 August 2009 (UTC)

Spirit -- Signet of Spirits

Issue: Blah, spirits, 5...whatever damage per spirit. The damage from the 3 spirits was being treated as 1 "packet" when they all hit the same target at once.
How to fix: Treat the damage as separate packets
Additional info: I have screencaps of the spirits randomly doing 100+ damage in HM Crystal Overlook. Happens once in like 50 attacks, but I'm not complaining. Note that I also had Agony, Bloodsong, and Vampirism up, and Painful Bond on the target. EDIT: Upon further evaluation, I have concluded that (issue)

-- euphoracle | talk 20:50, 19 July 2009 (UTC) * I transposed this; it not my original report

Since this seems to be just a cosmetic flaw (simultaneous damage from the same skill used by 2-3 spirits at once, being added together into one number) rather than mathematical, I'm marking it as "probably won't fix". Maybe, someday, if anyone gets bored.. yet there's much more serious work to choose from. The other post was removed by me, for it was duplicate, still open and discussed at the Signet of Spirits issues section on this page. --Golgarit Raven 21:26, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Independent NPC issues

NPC -- Monk NPCs in Aliance battles

Issue: Monks pursue targets they are trying to cast spells on relentlessly until they have cast thier spell, abandoning their shrines in the process
How to fix: Give a maximum range around the shrine which they may not cross
Additional info: none

-- Curse You sometime, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

Fixed this up for you. Good report, always forgot to mention. --Golgarit Raven 06:35, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Ally -- Cowl Fiercetongue

Issue: During Warband of Brothers, after Seer Fiercereign joins the party on the second level, he won't fight until you reach the third level.
How to fix: Switch Seer Fiercereign to "combat mode" after he joins the party.
Additional info: none

Gordon Ecker 05:45, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

A bug has been submitted on this issue. Ben Kirsch 00:07, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

NPC -- Dwarven Ghost

Issue: NPC will sometimes not attack.
How to fix: Set so when player attacks so does NPC
Additional info: From what it seems because the npc is following your character it doesn't see the enemy sometimes and will just wait there. also ive witnessed the Ghost running back and forth as if the enemy wants to attack but cannot move close enough.

~ Zero rogue x 06:28, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I wasn't able to reproduce this issue. What dungeon did you notice this in? Was it a specific Dwarven Ghost? Leah Rivera 17:31, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Also, were you alone in there or with other players? Dwarven Ghosts follow the whole group, not one member in particular. Just like Budger, if a party member moves and another one stands still, they run up to the moving guy and protect him. If a party splits up, they keep on running back and forth between the party members. This behavior is intentional because they would otherwise run up to warrior tanks and back to the midliners and backliners in a fight. As tanks do not move, they stay back and defend (intentionally moving) backliners rather than trying to play second tank and building aggro bridges, which would wipe whole partys. --Golgarit Raven 21:05, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero Battles Mercenary -- Mercenary refuses to stay at one location

Issue: The mercenary gained from specific shrines in Hero Battles can be ordered to stay at his location, but he will still follow enemies on which he wants to use a skill. When the mercenary manages to use the skill, he will then stop and not return back to the location where he was ordered to stay.
How to fix: Update the mercenary AI so that they do not continue to chase targets further than “in the area” range from the location where they were ordered to stay. They should also return to that location after they stopped chasing the target.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 12:08, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

This issue has been reported. Ben Kirsch 20:42, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

NPC aggro -- Hassin Softskin and the group of insects around him

Issue: Hassin Softskin and the group of insects around him on the plains of Jarin don't try to attack you or come towards you if you shoot them with a long bow, also if your pet goes and attacks them while you are attacking them with the long bow they will not attack the pet either.
How to fix: Make them attack
Additional info: None

issue originally given by User:Ninja Dragon, posted by Brains12 \ Talk 03:10, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

A bug has been submitted on this issue. Ben Kirsch 21:09, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

NPC -- Master of Healing/Enchantment problems

Issue: The hero AI doesn't seem to recognize the Master of Healing and the Master of Enchantment as Monks or even casters, meaning that they won't use skills like Backfire on them. The Master of Enchantment also stops kiting after being under attack for a while.
How to fix: Fix the bugs causing these problems.
Additional info: none

--Draikin 12:31, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

That's because they don't have weapons, AI targets enemies based on what weapons they wield. --Ckal Ktak 17:20, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Good point, in that case giving them a wand/staff would solve that particular problem. I guess that means it's not actually the NPCs but rather the hero AI that is at fault here. --Draikin 22:25, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

A bug has been submitted concerning heroes not using Backfire on these NPCs, and their kiting breaking. Ben Kirsch 22:17, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

NPC -- Luxon Priest

Issue: Only uses protective spirit to heal injured allies even though they possess Word of Healing
How to fix:
Additional info: None.

I wasn't able to reproduce this issue. Has anyone noticed this recently? Leah Rivera 17:37, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

They don't have Word of Healing, the Luxon Monk does. However, they do have Healing Breeze, which they never use. --Curse You(talk|contribs) 08:44, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

npg -- Trooper Deeter Saberlin

Issue: In prophecies mission Fort Ranik sometimes Trooper Deeter Saberlin is blocked by captive soldier, so he can't exit from prison and give the extra.
How to fix: Invert position in prison between captive soldier and Trooper Deeter Saberlin
Additional info: None.

I wasn't able to reproduce this issue. Leah Rivera 17:50, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Purple Quarry at The Jade Quarry

Issue: (copied from http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/ArenaNet_talk:Miscellaneous_bugs#Purple_Quarry_at_The_Jade_Quarry)

Not sure if this is the right section to post this bug but anyway. The Purple Juggernaut Carrier at The Jade Quarry seems to glitch out almost 1 in 2 games I play. What happens is it makes one or two runs and then stops moving at all next to the "jade crusher". What this means is that the purple quarry becomes useless for the Kurzicks and the juggernaut won't respawn as the Luxons can't walk into the base to kill it.
How to fix:
Additional info: None

--kaheiyeh 03:13, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Whatever the cause, it's not specific to purple or juggernauts. It happens with the others too. And it's not a case of the quarry changing sides. 66.190.15.232 08:14, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Kaheiyeh is right, for some reason it happens mostly with the Purple Juggernaut Carrier. I've lost countless battles because of this bug. Please fix this bug already.--Itamar 13:56, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

(copied by Itamar 13:59, 5 January 2009 (UTC))

This issue has been reported. It's a tricky bug, we're working on getting a repro. If anyone can get this to occur consistently, please post. Thanks! Leah Rivera 18:07, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Ghostly Hero

Issue: In Dunes of Despair, when you approach the first wurm, the Ghostly will wait for the wurm to be destroyed before he lowers the bridge. If the players do not posess enough firepower to kill the wurm and want to take the other path, the Ghostly is still stuck in his position near the bridge and does not move.
How to fix: Change the Ghostly's behavior so that he will lower the bridge when the wurm is dead, but does not stay locked in position.
Additional info: This bug has been around since Prophecies release.

Ghostly hero will lower the bridge if you do not respond to the wurms attacks and hurry to the location he can use the skill "claim resource". If you do cause the hero to agro on the wurm he will not move until the wurm is dead as if your in combat. MrPaladin 19:14, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

I've added this issue to the database. Until a fix is in, there's an easy workaround. If the hero gets stuck, you can bypass the first draw-bridge entirely by using the suspension bridge near the second worm. At that point, if you can't kill the Siege Worm, continuing the mission by killing the creatures near the second draw-bridge will trigger the appropriate cut-scene and return the hero to your position. Speaking to the hero after that cut-scene will put him back into follow mode so the mission can be completed. Leah Rivera 18:56, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Mursaat Elementalist / Catapult

Issue: In Ice Caves of Sorrow, the Elementalists walk towards the end of the mission only to be killed by a dwarven catapult around 2/3 of the way. Sometimes, however, some of them can get past the catapult and survive. The number of surviving Elementalists can be as few as 1 or 2, but in rare occasions even more can get past, which is quite devastating as they stop near a boss who is a monk most of the time.
How to fix: Make the catapults more effective against the Elementalists (ignoring their armor?) or make the dwarves after the bridge hostile to the Elementalists.
Additional info: This bug has been around since Prophecies release.

Jade Quarry -- Jade carrier gets stuck in base

Issue: In the Jade Quarry (PvP), the turtle or juggernaut carrier can get stuck in the base base even though the respective team has control of the quarry.
How to fix: Opposing team must cap and then your team must cap. (I'm not sure if this always works.)
Additional info: none

--Selflove 08:44, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Nerashi

Issue: Nerashi (And other random NPCs) will block players into resigning.
How to fix: Make it so you can move through these NPCs like henchmen
Additional info: Nerashi isn't the only problem, but I had just "finished" the quest To Vabbi! and she has blocked me onto a ledge, preventing me from finishing the quest or moving at all.

NPC -- Turtles and Juggernauts

Issue: In the Jade Carrier, the turtles in the luxon side, or the Juggernaut in the Kurzick side, are sometimes bodyblocked by eachother inside the base of the faction (I mean, in the place where they give their jade shard) and so, they don't move at all anymore during the rest of the battle.
How to fix: I don't really know how to fix it. Maybe by not allowing the turtles to arrive at this point at the same time ?
Additional info: none

--Mystical Celestia somewhen, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Kurzick Mine Cleansers

Issue: Kurzick Mine Cleansers in Fort Aspenwood (Mission) have PvE versions of the skill Pain, Bloodsong and Displacement.
How to fix: Make the skills the PvP versions.
Additional info: Left unchanged since the June 18th update.

NPC -- Luxon Jade Carriers

Issue: Apparently, there seems to be a problem with the carriers not respawning.
How to fix: Check and fix
Additional info: Will check on that tomorrow, just wiped it off the front page to mention it here.

--Golgarit Raven 21:52, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Still didn't see that happening.. if anyone runs into this one, say so.. 'm giving up on searching for it. --Golgarit Raven 00:02, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

JUGGERNAUTS

→ moved from User talk:Linsey Murdock

Do something about these damn juggernauts and turtles who get stucked. JQ offcourse. And I also know that recapping is the solution of many to this problem.... Point is, this shouldn't be a problem in the first place. Especially when it's 8-6 and you lose 8-10 while having 2 shrines who's juggernauts don't give a sh*t. Ty.(86.82.36.54 11:29, 17 April 2009 (UTC))

Stuck? How so?~>Sins WDB 16:30, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Sometimes when a Juggernaut needs to head back to a mine, but the mine gets capped by the opposing team they may get locked in position once the mine is retaken again. I've been in games one night where mines were changing hands almost as fast as toons could spawn and reach them. Once they switched back to blue we were left wondering where the Juggernauts were, only to find them standing idly around back in the Kurzick base. The only remedy is to abandon the mine and try to recap it again later. Edit for clarity: It looked to me like the bug surfaces under circumstance where the mines change hands rapidly, but I could be wrong.

PS. This probably belongs in a bug page. -- WarBlade 17:14, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, not only is this a bug, but it is also an AI issue (that means code, not design) so it doubly doesn't belong on this page. Really, it should be posted on the bug reporting pages as stated in the guidelines for posting on this talk. - Linsey talk 15:34, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Moved ~ Kurd 18:35, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Thank goodness for that, thought I was going insane today - I tried kicking my Turtle up the *** real hard and it still didn't move! – josəph 18:53, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

It's still not fixed. I don't need extra storage, I would like excisting content to work properly!. Thank you.(Ate of DK 14:21, 1 May 2009 (UTC))

NPC -- Ebon Vanguard Assassin

Issue: The Assassins have a tendency to not attack the target which the spell Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support is cast on. Furthermore, they seem to have a predisposition to attack nearby spirits instead of the intended target.
How to fix: Somehow focus them on the intended target.
Additional info: Tested this with both the Master of Damage and Master of Spirits. In the case of Damage, the assassins (I echo-chained them) refused to attack him until the dummies on either side of him were dead; in the case of Spirits, they would roughly 3/5 of the time attack the Master himself, but I have seen them break agro off of him (one once in the middle of his chain, even) to attack a nearby Spirit of Shadowsong.

--The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:Timeoffire45 (talk).

Confirmed.. he seems to pick the targets with the lowest health for attacks, no matter what they are, even when a Rit summons a spirit after the Assassin spawned, he will switch over to the spirit and attack it instead. This destroys every intention of aiming an Assassin attack, should be fixed. --Golgarit Raven 21:45, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

On a similar vein, I've observed the assassin, on occassion, using Iron Palm on a monster with ranger spirits on top of it and then running away from said monster... It seems spirits cause him to act strangely... -- Timeoffire45 21:14, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

NPC -- Ebon Vanguard Assassin

Issue: (Different bug than the one above, I promise.) If Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support is cast on a target and that target dies before the assassin has a chance to finish casting Iron Palm on said target, he will not then go and use Iron Palm (which should still be recharged since it never finished being used) on a different target and start his chain again.
How to fix: Have the Assassin use Iron Palm and thereby his chain as often as possible: any time Iron Palm recharges or is availible for use.
Additional info: If I'm not mistaken, the Assassin will use his chain twice when cast on a Charr at high enough rank because it gives Iron Palm enough time to recharge. Therefore, I'm confused as to why he won't use it if it seems to recharge instantly because it simply never finished casting.

-- Timeoffire45 17:58, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

Strangely enough, I did observe the assassin failing to finish casting Iron Palm on a Warden of the Branch in a Drazach Thicket speed clear, and then it turned around and started its chain on the then-dead Warden's spirit of Brambles...-- Timeoffire45 21:14, 6 August 2009 (UTC)

General & Miscellaneous issues

Shield Golem losing his shield -- Oolas lab (The Elusive Golemancer)

Issue: I noticed the shield of the Golem wandering off to the left while we moved through the flame traps, while the Golem itself was heading straight forward. This shouldn't happen.
How to fix: Check why they seperate and fix it.
Additional info: Could have to do with the group being in front of the Golem every now and then to fend off attackers, so he has to find a way to get through.

--Golgarit Raven 00:48, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Hero Not Attacking -- M.O.X.

Issue: I had been in the middle of a fight when I noticed M.O.X. did not attack, even though I had him set to attack whomever I attacked, until I put a flag directly on the enemy
How to fix: Make him attack when I am fighting.
Additional info: I had recently set M.O.X. to flee, and that might have something to do with it. There were no obsticals- I went over and joined M.O.X., trying to find any obsticals, and when I flagged him, I watched his movement.

I've been having issues with MOX as well, but running on guard where I haven't been pinging targets. He sometimes runs between targets taking a shot or two and/or returns to my side. More information is provided in this video clip MOX Trot and also on one of my pages. Aba Malatu means Forbidden Truth 23:29, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

<Stuck NPCs in general really but today it's: Ally in Arborstone> -- <Danika>

Issue: <Ally NPC, Danika, gets stuck frequently and moves on own accord sometimes>
How to fix: <How to fix? Make it so you can talk to Ally NPCs and get them to follow you for a few seconds>
Additional info: <Additional info She gets stuck at the Urn, she gets stuck on chests (per wiki), she gets stuck at doorways.>

I've attempted to do this Hard Mode mission 5 times today and failed for various reasons. Twice was because of Danika being stuck somewhere. First time she's stuck at the urn and I cleared the entire path including the end. I went the route going through The Ancient. I go back for her, she gets un-stuck and decides to not follow me at all and walk her own path (the [warden] path which I didn't clear and die). Second time she got stuck at the doorway by The Ancient, once again I cleared all mobs and the end part. I could not get her to budge at all. Each time I was successful in clearing the entire way, with 10 minutes left and still able to get HM Masters to try to get Danika to follow, and killed all those stone NPCs with The Judge. But because of Danika I've had to resign or just fail the mission. This is not an extremely hard mission and I know I can complete it but having AI fail the mission for you and having to do it repeatedly just for a chance of not having her stuck again. It is entirely redundant when I know I have completed it multiple times except a stuck NPC is necessary to actually have the mission end successfully. I've also had my pets stuck at various areas through the game, but I can just suicide and wait to be resurrected at a shrine to reset it. Also, it doesn't mean I will fail a mission and have to re-do it multiple times.

Simply wait until she completes her dialogue and this won't happen. -- Wyn talk 13:52, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Discussions

NPC Ally -- Yellow & Purple Carrier Juggernaut

Issue: Sometimes the Yellow and/or Purple Quarry Juggernaut will not move after he turns in a jade slab, even though we control the shrine. He just stands there
How to fix: Make him do his job after he drops off a slab.
Additional info: This puts kurz @ a major disadvantage since it slows jade production. It doesn't really matter tho cuz half of the luxons are always bots

The same thing happens on Luxon side as well. --Shard 21 July 2009

Competitive missions -- All NPCs

Issue: All NPCs are using PvE versions of thier skills, this is particularly noticable with the Kurzick Mine Cleansers as they can spam their spirits terrifyingly quickly.
How to fix: Update their skillbars into the PvP format
Additional info: Probably the case in GvG npcs too.

--User:Ckal Ktak 21 July 2009

Good catch, confirmed. --Golgarit Raven 07:50, 21 July 2009 (UTC)