[Suggestion] Combat pindown

HofNerd

Colony
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
In EotU all enemies (as far as I know) will target whatever enemy has the lowest health from those in range first. This results in enemies, (mostly praying mantises) attacking workers that never were any danger to them (as they were not attacking them) while at the same time being bitten by soldiers. It would look far more logical for the enemies to be forced to attack whatever is attacking them first. (This would also reduce the trouble of enemies spawning from portals almost on the paths, see mission 3.2 northwest of the nest)
 
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pakitane16

Colony
With how the game works, your number is your strength, so it is wise for enemy without AoE to target the weaker, your number got reduced faster, less damage over time. This is why hermit crabs are so dangerous to meelee species even though their attack are weak. Worker-bait is still a viable trick that make Formicarium challenge 3 and The Crucible easier to handle so I don't see why we should get rid of it.
 

HofNerd

Colony
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
With how the game works, your number is your strength, so it is wise for enemy without AoE to target the weaker, your number got reduced faster, less damage over time. This is why hermit crabs are so dangerous to meelee species even though their attack are weak. Worker-bait is still a viable trick that make Formicarium challenge 3 and The Crucible easier to handle so I don't see why we should get rid of it.
The ants getting targetted first are not the ones attacking the creature. They are workers nearby ferrying things. (I see I did not specifically state the workers were not attacking the creature.)
 

MikeSlugDisco

Community Manager
Staff member
Community Manager
According to the guys the ants target the nearest enemy, not the one with the lowest health, and there's also a threat system (some creatures will be targeted at a greater distance if there's deemed more dangerous).
 

JohnSlugDisco

Administrator
Staff member
Developer of EotU
The mantis pickup attack has a minimum range. It may be the ones that are attacking it are too close for it to use the pickup and so it is having to select one of the ants further away.
 
In EotU all enemies (as far as I know) will target whatever enemy has the lowest health from those in range first. This results in enemies, (mostly praying mantises) attacking workers that never were any danger to them (as they were not attacking them) while at the same time being bitten by soldiers. It would look far more logical for the enemies to be forced to attack whatever is attacking them first. (This would also reduce the trouble of enemies spawning from portals almost on the paths, see mission 3.2 northwest of the nest)
o_Oo_Oo_O
 

HofNerd

Colony
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
According to the guys the ants target the nearest enemy, not the one with the lowest health, and there's also a threat system (some creatures will be targeted at a greater distance if there's deemed more dangerous).
"According to the guys the ants target the nearest enemy, not the one with the lowest health"
Do the enemies use a similar targetting system as the ants?
If I were to put a lvl 3 major with a few minor leafcutter ants up against a large mantis in battle arena. The mantis will focus down the minors first, then attack the major. (Even retargetting from the major to the minors if the major got in attack range first.)
 
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pakitane16

Colony
If the distance is calculated from the center of the unit like most rts game then it makes sense that minor will be targeted first. Its distance from center to head is smaller than major's.
Something similar in Age of Empire 2:
 
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HofNerd

Colony
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
If the distance is calculated from the center of the unit like most rts game then it makes sense that minor will be targeted first. Its distance from center to head is smaller than major's.
Something similar in Age of Empire 2:
I will see if I can find out if that is what happens.
Edit: As far as I was able to test in battle arena mode it looks like it is indeed a matter of distance.
 
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HofNerd

Colony
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
As far as I can see the enemy would generally do best to target the creature with the highest damage output per health point (dps/hp) to stay alive for as long as possible. Workers may be close and many, but those majors gnawing at the mantis' legs are a much bigger problem.
 

HofNerd

Colony
Beta Tester
Extremely Helpful Person
According to the guys the ants target the nearest enemy, not the one with the lowest health, and there's also a threat system (some creatures will be targeted at a greater distance if there's deemed more dangerous).
Right now I have leafcutter media in combat against beetle larvae and minor workers walking past them without attacking (attack disabled). The beetle larvae change targets to the minor ants even though they are clearly not as dangerous as the media ants biting away at them.20190902154258_1.jpg
 
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