AI needs revamped targeting priorities.

from Sins Forums

As the title states, the AI needs to re-prioritize what ships it attacks first. I can be attacking a heavily guarded neutral planet and the first thing my fleet tries to take out are the flack frigates? Seriously? When we have heavy cruisers and siege frigates that need to be taken down first. This is my opinion of what the Ai needs to deal with first.

Captial ships(if there are any)>Heavy cruisers>Seige frigates> Missile frigates> Light frigates> and finally flack and corvettes.

It makes no sense to me why the Ai prioritizes ships with minimal damage output when there are more serious threats right next to them.

8,004 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Generally speaking, auto-targetting is guided by the damage tables...I'm going to take a guess that your fleet was mostly LFs, which are best against heavy armor (the armor type of flak)...the LFs attack the flak first because that is what they are best at killing...

I won't claim the system is perfect, but target selection by armor type I would say is preferable to what you are proposing (where all units follow the same hierarchy of target selection)...consider two fleets: fleet A has LFs and LRFs while fleet B has flak and LRFs...your hierarchy would make all of fleet B attack the LRFs first...however, it is more efficient for fleet B's flak to attack the LRFs while fleet B's LRFs attack the LFs...by having each unit target what it's best at, you provide the most efficient means for destroying the enemy...

High value targets like caps or siege frigates should be enough to get your attention and force you to micro your fleet...also, it is not always wise to go for the cap first (wiping out large amounts of frigates, or key support ships may be a better idea) since caps are harder to kill and may cost you valualbe time you could have spent wiping out frigates and reducing enemy firepower...

 

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

My fleet was all captial ships, its always been an issue for me, flacks go first, regardless of whats around.

And yeah I always micro battles until the major threats are removed but when attacking a neutral well I should not have to tell all my caps to kill the cruisers and siege frigs first

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

If you own the planet, then cap ships do prioritize siege frigates in my experience. The targetting code just doesn't see them as a threat if you don't own the planet (which is true, they're not a threat). In a closer fight you wouldn't want to waste time attacking them instead of the more dangerous stuff first, so I think the logic is being reasonably intelligent there.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

I see I tend to do thing differently then. I want the siege frigs out first so I can take that planet ASAP. Aside from that I still can't figure out the ignoring of the heavy cruisers when flack is around.

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Well if your fleet is strike craft heavy I'd imagine that is the correct course of action.

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Polistes, reply 2
My fleet was all captial ships, its always been an issue for me, flacks go first,
End of Polistes's quote

This explains a lot...capital ships weapon type is equally good against all armor...after the damage tables, the next priority that autotargeting uses is DPS per fleet supply, and flak are the clear winner there when looking at militias...

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Well thats interesting... it still makes no sense to me, I would think the ships that can cause the most damage or the most heavily armored would be targeted first, the heavy cruiser wins all those... but well at least I can somewhat see the method to the madness.