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Cleric companion AI is painfully bad
gannot
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 15 Arc User
The starter companion only goes to level 15. Ok, I can handle that. I get that it's a way to drive money into the game.
The problem is that at level 50 the companion is useless in boss fights. They don't try to dodge power attacks at all, so what happens is that they fall down and so I kite the boss for a little bit. Knock the boss down and run back to my cleric.
I pick them up right about the same time the boss goes into a power attack. I dodge the red zone while my cleric stands there staring off into space. Bam, down goes the cleric. Rinse and repeat.
It gets even sillier when the adds spawn and immediately run for my cleric even though I am wailing on them with combat advantage from behind.
Between the crazy amount of ag that healing draws and the poor AI of the cleric boss fights go from being an epic battle to a babysitting job.
Hit boss, drink potion, revive cleric. Deal with adds, revive cleric, drink potion. Hit boss for a few seconds. Revive cleric. Deal with more adds. Drink potion. Revive cleric.
Wheeeeee! This is always how I imagined the thrill of battle!
The problem is that at level 50 the companion is useless in boss fights. They don't try to dodge power attacks at all, so what happens is that they fall down and so I kite the boss for a little bit. Knock the boss down and run back to my cleric.
I pick them up right about the same time the boss goes into a power attack. I dodge the red zone while my cleric stands there staring off into space. Bam, down goes the cleric. Rinse and repeat.
It gets even sillier when the adds spawn and immediately run for my cleric even though I am wailing on them with combat advantage from behind.
Between the crazy amount of ag that healing draws and the poor AI of the cleric boss fights go from being an epic battle to a babysitting job.
Hit boss, drink potion, revive cleric. Deal with adds, revive cleric, drink potion. Hit boss for a few seconds. Revive cleric. Deal with more adds. Drink potion. Revive cleric.
Wheeeeee! This is always how I imagined the thrill of battle!
Post edited by gannot on
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Do I need to spend astral diamonds on anti-depression medication so my cleric is not suicidal?
Yea, that's my cleric companion, indeed.
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine ...
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Get better companion, let companion do it's thing, if it dies ignore it, use potions to heal yourself, win. The cleric is fine for what she is, but people using her past where level 15 ones are useful is laughable. If you are going to use her later, learn to dodge, avoid the bad, and use potions. She will die, all the time. There are plenty of other companions, use those. I've seen a ton of blue and purple ones on the AH, if you don't want to buy one. When i see the cleric in epic dungeons, i know people will not be the best players, and watch people not even using potions when they are about to die or then complain when they do die.
I'm 45, & my Cleric has been dying constantly ever since around 38 or so. She's not "useless," but in boss fights I take it for granted that the wave of adds will kill her & I'll be stuck kiting the boss around until it dies or I do.
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine ...
Sounds like you need to learn to play and keep aggro off your cleric.
I'm a Trickster Rogue. We don't do aggro, especially when the wave of adds ignores you completely, & even when you're beating on them with Combat Advantage they ignore you to beat on the cleric.
But thanks for the totally meaningful, thoughtful & helpful suggestion, I can't believe nobody else thought of that :rolleyes:
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine ...
It's so annoying...
I can't wait to get a freaking cat or Stone so I don't have to worry about them ever again. It'll be great.
I wasn't talking to you, so no I don't understand why would offer your nonsense opinion on someone else s conversation.
Look, the big boy who spent 60 dollars on a game before it even launched is getting defensive about his jerkass post that showed he has no reading comprehension.
The game is fun, at first. After about 30 the game starts to fail a little at keeping peoples attention. After 40 the game falls apart. I honestly stopped putting in my time. I do put in an hour here and there ... maybe ... knock out a quest and call it a day. I spent $40 and got a few items ... still nothing worth my time. FFXIV:AAR should be back online soon and im sure most people will be heading back over. Sad, this game had potential.
Since you very clearly didn't understand what I was talking about, you weren't talking to me, either.
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine ...
Yeah because terrible AI is just a feature of the game? You seem to have missed the point of this thread, to bring attention to the ridiculously bad AI of the cleric companion. Ignoring this is not a "fix".
1) Yes, there are other companions that one could use. That was acknowledged in the original post. I understand the capping of the initial pets at level 15 and have no issues with that aspect of the game. This is fine.
2) What is not fine is the AI that compels the cleric to commit suicide by running into red boss damage zones.
3) Constantly reviving the cleric companion is not, to me, "fun". When the level designer envisioned the boss fight their storyoboard probably didn't contain the phrase "and then the player revives their cleric!". Yes, the rimehound encounter is winnable (I beat it on my third try, I believe), but it went from "Yeah, I'm gonna kick this giant dog's ***!" to "Oh geez, the cleric is standing in the blast again. Guess I'll knock the dog down and revive her... again..."
This has very little to do with player skill. Adds will jump on the cleric pretty much immediately when they spawn and it takes a lot of threat to drag them off. When adds spawn the first thing I do is hit my daily AOE to try and generate threat and it still doesn't matter. Considering how little damage and healing the cleric does comparative to the player at level 50 it's absurd that they are drawing aggro.
This game is in beta, so bringing up issues like this is, I would think, one of the points of playing the game.
1. Concentrate on healing
2. Concentrate on damaging
3. Concentrate on protecting player
4. Avoid damage
5. Aggro mobs
6. Attack at will
7. Attack mobs targeted by player
8. Do nothing.
A workaround is to just get a Cat or a Stone. They are the best companions for end game and they are non-combat companions, so they can't die. The advantage of the higher ranked blue/purple companions is that they have better stats, so standing in the red marker isn't as fatal as it is for the cleric. Once the upgrade tomes are available, she will probably be more sturdy too, regardless of the being the way it is.
I almost never have that particular issue -- my Cleric stands back & tries to heal for me, she very rarely ever runs up into combat. Sometimes she does, tho, & the inconsistency itself is maddening.
This is the issue I have, everywhere. It's not as bad in the "overland" zones, & usually I can keep her alive during solo dungeon trash -- or, at least, if she dies to them it's not as big a deal :rolleyes: -- but against 40+ storyline dungeon bosses, it's almost impossible to keep her alive. Scalefather, for example, she dies in seconds flat -- no matter what I do -- because I can't fight adds, heal myself, & stay out of Scalefather's nasty circles all at the same time.
I agree, but so long as the Cleric companion draws mass aggro, telling her to stay back & concentrate on healing isn't going to solve the issue. Other than that, your idea is excellent.
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine ...