Blinded Enemies Mini-Rework: Feedback

[4MostlyHarmless2]

I know that this is a few weeks late, considering that we’ve had 16.5 out for a while already, but I’d just like to put my observations about the changes to Radial Blind that were supposedly implemented with the update.

 

According to the post made by [DE]Glen, blinded enemies after update 16.5 would do the following things:

- blind enemies will no longer run to cover (miraculously maneuvering around obstacles)

- blind enemies will no longer lob grenades with pin-point accuracy (for now they will not throw grenades at all; safety first)

- blind enemies will forget about the all-consuming desire to run to the defense pod no matter how badly they want stand next to it and kiss it

- blind enemies will attack nearby targets using sounds to guide where they think the enemy is

- blind enemies will fire weapons without regard for friendly units that may be in the way (sadly no team-damage, though)

 

              

I ran tests with the three frames that have blinding powers: Excalibur, Mirage and Oberon. Of the three, only Excalibur and Mirage proved to be useful, as enemies that were blinded by Oberon’s Ultimate remained blind for too short a time to show any reaction.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures or videos, but I will list the weapons used and actions taken so that they can be easily replicated.

 

 

 

Test A: Excalibur w/ MK-1 Braton and Lex Prime, unsilenced, no Radiant Finish Augment

 

Mission: Exterminate on Ludi, Ceres

 

Behaviors Noticed

 

 

 

- Unalerted enemies that are blinded will continue to walk around unalerted. Stealth Kills may be performed on said enemies. (Stealth finisher prompt will appear)

 

- Unalerted enemies that are blinded then alerted via player gunfire will turn to face player gunfire, but will not fire. Enemies begin to patrol with alert animations, but may switch back to unalerted animations while walking. Stealth Kills may not be performed on blinded enemies, though they will still receive stealth damage from melee weapons.

 

-Unalerted enemies that are blinded then alerted via enemy gunfire will turn towards the sound of enemy gunfire, but will not fire. The enemies may patrol and walk around with alert/ unalert animations while battle rages on around them. Stealth Kills may not be performed on blinded enemies, though they will still receive stealth damage from melee weapons.

 

-Alerted enemies that are blinded will stand their ground momentarily, then begin to patrol alerted.

 

-Alerted enemies that are blinded will turn to face player gunfire, but will not turn to face enemy gunfire from whatever distance. Alerted enemies will turn around in all directions to face player gunfire.

 

- Alerted enemies that are patrolling blinded will turn to face player gunfire, but will not stop patrolling. Running alongside enemies and firing a gun will sometimes result in the upper torso of enemies twitching rapidly between looking forward and turning to face the sound of gunfire.

 

- Melee enemies, whether originally alerted or unalerted before being blinded, will run towards the sound of player gunfire and will swing blindly at the location.

 

 

 

Test B: Excalibur w/ MK-1 Braton, and Lex Prime, unsilenced, with Radiant Finish Augment

 

Mission: Exterminate on Ludi, Ceres

 

Behaviors Noticed:

 

 

- Unalerted enemies that are blinded will stand still. Stealth Kills may be performed on said enemies.

 

- Unalerted enemies that are blinded will not react to player gunfire, no matter the distance. Stealth Kills may still be performed on said enemies (a.k.a the stealth finisher prompt will still appear

 

- Unalerted enemies that are blinded will not react to enemy gunfire, no matter the distance. However, Stealth Kills may not be performed on said enemies (a.k.a the stealth finisher prompt will not appear, but stealth finisher animations due to augment will still take place)

 

- Alerted enemies that are blinded will permanently stand ground, and will not patrol.

 

- Alerted enemies that are blinded will not turn to face gunfire from any source. A player firing an unsilenced weapon behind the said enemies will not cause the enemies to turn around.

 

- Alerted enemies that are blinded may occasionally track the player with their weapon, but only if the player runs directly in front of them. Oddly enough, they will continue to track the player even if the player is invisible through the effects of Shade’s Ghost Precept.

 

- Melee Enemies, whether originally alerted or unalerted before being blinded, will make no movements whatsoever.

 

 

 

Test C: Mirage with Hek, utilizing Prism’s Blind

 

Mission: Exterminate on Ludi, Ceres

 

Behaviors Noticed:

 

-All behaviors of enemies affected by unaugmented Radial Blind are present in Mirage’s Prism Blind.

 

 

 

UNTESTED FACTORS

 

 

1.)    Enemy reaction to Sentinel gunfire/ precepts

2.)    Enemy reaction to Kubrow attacks/ precepts

3.)    Enemy reaction to Specter gunfire

4.)    Enemy reaction to Syndicate Companion gunfire

5.)    Enemy reaction to teammate gunfire

6.)    Enemy movements in Defense missions

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Out of the 5 changes that were to be implemented in [DE]Glen’s topic, only two of the changes seem to have made it into the game: blind enemies do not run to cover, and blind enemies do not throw grenades. Considering that [DE]Glen also provided in his topic video evidence of the enemy behavior that had been changed, it seems to me that the implementation of his idea either bugged out somewhere, or something was changed. 

I hope that this feedback can help in examining the changes to Radial Blind a bit more, in the light (pun slightly intended) of Excalibur's upcoming rework. 

 

[CTanGod]

Leave Excalibur alone. Blind enemies are fine the way they are. Maybe Glen grew a a heart or listened to people when they said that Enemies firing at random sounds is a terrible idea. Also Melee Blind enemies respond to melee attacks (only after a certain level or if Loki disarms them, because why wouldn't Radial Disarm ruin Radial Blind every chance it gets huh ?).

 

Enemies behaving this way is fine. Do you really think the mojority of the player base will notice these ? If anything Blind is currently our best form of crowd control and should stay the way it is. We need something that is 100% safe when we do high level runs.

 

(Yes, I am overreacting because I don't want to stop using Excalibur just cause I like melee. Enough with the nerfs on Excalibur is Crowd Control forms that are good.)

[4MostlyHarmless2]

Leave Excalibur alone. Blind enemies are fine the way they are. Maybe Glen grew a a heart or listened to people when they said that Enemies firing at random sounds is a terrible idea. Also Melee Blind enemies respond to melee attacks (only after a certain level or if Loki disarms them, because why wouldn't Radial Disarm ruin Radial Blind every chance it gets huh ?).

 

Enemies behaving this way is fine. Do you really think the mojority of the player base will notice these ? If anything Blind is currently our best form of crowd control and should stay the way it is. We need something that is 100% safe when we do high level runs.

 

(Yes, I am overreacting because I don't want to stop using Excalibur just cause I like melee. Enough with the nerfs on Excalibur is Crowd Control forms that are good.)

 

Sorry, but I am reporting this as feedback because this is a feature of the game that does not seem to be working properly.

In the same thread that Glen proposed the changes to Radial Blind, he also provided video evidence that the features that he promised to implement can and actually do work in-game. The update page for 16.5 even links to the thread of Glen so that people can see the changes that are supposed to happen. 

 

Glen put a lot of effort into adding another layer of gameplay into the game. He worked on adding these changes as a side project that he was not necessarily instructed to do; that shows how much it was important for him to add it into the game. To not give feedback about his work just so that we players can use it to our advantage is disrespectful to him. 

[shut]

I was wondering why enemies seemed to be behaving differently with Radial Finish equipped. I thought it was just me.

 

Thanks for doing all this testing!

[4MostlyHarmless2]

Thanks for doing all this testing!

 

RIP my Excal, he died one too many times to get this knowledge :((

Really though, I was surprised at the changes to enemy behavior with Radial Finish equipped, especially with the unalerted enemies. Radial Finish seemed to render them both mute and deaf to player gunfire, since the stealth attack prompt would appear on them, but when enemies fired their weapons, the stealth attack prompt disappeared. I don't really know what to make of it, but from the behavior of the enemies alone it looks like the effects of Radial Finish conflict with whatever tweaks Glen made to the AI. 

Considering that the effects of Radial Finish will be combined into Radial Blind, I hope they manage to look at the behavior of blinded enemies before the rework of Excalibur rolls out.