The partial independence of AI companions ruins gameplay and loadouts.

[Famecans]

The companion's action should not be associated with attack mods as this wastes mod slots and is very limited to the diversity of warframe abilities and game strategies, meaning the action must be strategically triggered by the player in real time within the mission.

In this case, the companion can have at least 3 modes of action:

1. Evasive Mode: always stays close to the warframe; does not alert any enemy; becomes frightened or fierce when attacked but does not attack any enemy; evades and evades most enemy shots and attacks; does not make the companion immortal.
2. Defensive Mode: Stays close to the warframe but will only attack when attacked; will also attack when attacking the warframe; the attack area is reduced(12 meters) so the companion will always be close to the warframe's line of sight; All companions must begin the mission in this mode.
3. Aggressive Mode: Attacks any visible enemy within a maximum range(24 meters); he is never still and is always looking for a target; The warframe can change the target with the classic hunter mods, but the companion will immediately hunt a new target after the previous target dies.

I have no idea how to associate these action modes with any button; perhaps it is possible to associate them with warframe skill buttons so the player can choose which skill will trigger one of the modes; perhaps these modes could be activated by a combination of two keys such as Ctrl + 1 2 3 4: logically this mechanic would be modular for the loadout, meaning the player should have the freedom to choose which skill will trigger one of the modes or simply not associate any; Maybe there are new ways of companion action mode, feel free to comment, criticize or refute anything I have written here.

thanks for reading👍

[Agall]

9 minutes ago, Famecans said:

The companion's action should not be associated with attack mods as this wastes mod slots and is very limited to the diversity of warframe abilities and game strategies, meaning the action must be strategically triggered by the player in real time within the mission.

In this case, the companion can have at least 3 modes of action:

1. Evasive Mode: always stays close to the warframe; does not alert any enemy; becomes frightened or fierce when attacked but does not attack any enemy; evades and evades most enemy shots and attacks; does not make the companion immortal.
2. Defensive Mode: Stays close to the warframe but will only attack when attacked; will also attack when attacking the warframe; the attack area is reduced(12 meters) so the companion will always be close to the warframe's line of sight; All companions must begin the mission in this mode.
3. Aggressive Mode: Attacks any visible enemy within a maximum range(24 meters); he is never still and is always looking for a target; The warframe can change the target with the classic hunter mods, but the companion will immediately hunt a new target after the previous target dies.

I have no idea how to associate these action modes with any button; perhaps it is possible to associate them with warframe skill buttons so the player can choose which skill will trigger one of the modes; perhaps these modes could be activated by a combination of two keys such as Ctrl + 1 2 3 4: logically this mechanic would be modular for the loadout, meaning the player should have the freedom to choose which skill will trigger one of the modes or simply not associate any; Maybe there are new ways of companion action mode, feel free to comment, criticize or refute anything I have written here.

thanks for reading👍

So you basically want WoW's companion controls in Warframe?

[SDGDen]

nothx, i'm very happy with the way my taxon works atm, he's a great addon to almost every single one of my loadouts (only exceptions are immortal frames and health-only frames)

[MBaldelli]

Seriously this is a hold over from the times when we used to have to escort prisoners from their jail cell to the extraction point in a rescue mission.  I can't begin to tell the players that have come after they teleport when we leg it to extraction how frustratingly bad it used to be watching the NPC AIs turn around and go back to the jail cell instead of going to extraction.  

The companion durability is sort of a quick solution to this problem which you're bringing up, and reinforced by the fact that companions and sentinels also have the ability to recover from being downed.  However, I reinforce that while they're more durable than they have been in the past, it still requires careful planning and forma investment to make them definitely survivable.  Since the stop-gap solution, I still maintain 3 - 5 forma are required to make them extremely durable.  

This would be nice to see. Even if it's something seen in WOW.  I know that Pablo Makes has talked about a laundry list of things that he wants to address for improvement to the game, and I'm curious to see what's on that list. 

Although...

10 minutes ago, Famecans said:

Aggressive Mode: Attacks any visible enemy within a maximum range(24 meters); he is never still and is always looking for a target; The warframe can change the target with the classic hunter mods, but the companion will immediately hunt a new target after the previous target dies.

This caught my attention...  Just to make sure.  You are aware that pets do have precept order going on?  As this is from the Wiki: 

I can tell you from experience, putting aggressive/attack mods in the first 3 slots the pet will perform more aggressively doing as expected from the mods in those places (headbutting as Huras, Biting and disarming as Chesa, Howling/Scaring enemies as Raksa, etc).   This also applies as Hounds, MOAs and Sentinels.  

[ominumi]

Pets attacks dead bodies because the player already killed the enemy before the pet weapons can even attack. This is compounded by the fact we as the player doesn't stand in one spot for long. Kahl missions already showcase how AI can improve. Being able to command a hoard of mimions at a button press. Though, how can a player do that in quick succession on the phone?

[Famecans]

5 hours ago, Agall said:

So you basically want WoW's companion controls in Warframe?

I don't know what you're talking about.

 

5 hours ago, SDGDen said:

nothx, i'm very happy with the way my taxon works atm, he's a great addon to almost every single one of my loadouts (only exceptions are immortal frames and health-only frames)

You are probably referring to the shield regeneration precept mods. The topic talks about action modes for AI and not mods for slots.

 

5 hours ago, MBaldelli said:

This caught my attention...  Just to make sure.  You are aware that pets do have precept order going on?  As this is from the Wiki: 

I can tell you from experience, putting aggressive/attack mods in the first 3 slots the pet will perform more aggressively doing as expected from the mods in those places (headbutting as Huras, Biting and disarming as Chesa, Howling/Scaring enemies as Raksa, etc).   This also applies as Hounds, MOAs and Sentinels.  

I understand, but this makes the mechanics confusing for the description because precept mods are intended for skills and not for attack/action modes. In kubrows and kavats the companion's action is not a skill but rather a common instinct, this could be ordered in real time by the player/warframe through mods similar to hunter munitions or skill buttons.

Make all companions completely obedient to companion mods makes them problematic especially for kavats and kubrows who need these free slots for those useless dual stat damage mods.

new mods to manage attack/action mode on kubrows and kavats goes against the class description of precept mods that are intended for skills, this would also make the mod capacity even more reduced for elemental mods.

for me the companion's modes of action are not related to the precept skill mods, the skill mods are associated with the RNG while the companion's mode of action is associated with the aggression/evasion/defense AI of which they are part of the fidelity that the companion has to the player.

Edited January 17 by Famecans

[SDGDen]

1 hour ago, Famecans said:

You are probably referring to the shield regeneration precept mods. The topic talks about action modes for AI and not mods for slots.

 

most of the mods i use on my taxon are "abilities" and would thus be affected by the change suggested in this topic. for example molecular conversion strips shields off of an enemy and gives you those shields, if i had to manually toggle that every time that'd make my experience with my sentinel worse than it currently is.

hell, the way i have offensive capabilities in my build wouldnt work at all with your suggestion because i specifically rely on duplex bonds automatic attack feature while not running a weapon attack precept on my sentinel so that the vulnerable main body doesnt get attacked but the clones can deal significant damage (using verglas) 

[Famecans]

55 minutes ago, SDGDen said:

most of the mods i use on my taxon are "abilities" and would thus be affected by the change suggested in this topic. for example molecular conversion strips shields off of an enemy and gives you those shields, if i had to manually toggle that every time that'd make my experience with my sentinel worse than it currently is.

hell, the way i have offensive capabilities in my build wouldnt work at all with your suggestion because i specifically rely on duplex bonds automatic attack feature while not running a weapon attack precept on my sentinel so that the vulnerable main body doesnt get attacked but the clones can deal significant damage (using verglas) 

Dude, I'm not talking about "abilities" I'm not talking about "precept mods", I'm talking about "companion action mode".

Kubrows and Kavats cannot be evasive as there is no attack mod to remove while Sentinels have attack mods that take up slots. Kavats have attack mods as [Sharpened Claus] that increase attacking chance

[xXDragonGodXx]

I first want to say that Warframe is not an RTS game, it's a Looter Shooter and Action RPG. What you want is full control and a secondary character. You fail to realize that Companions are tools for your loadout. Each Companion has a different use case, and you as the player should be able to pick and choose what pet and with what mods would benefit your playstyle and build the best. Venari is different because it is not a tool but an ability. The difference is that Venari is part of Khora's kit, while Companions is an optional addition to the players loadout.

You also have to understand that the Precept order is there as a way for you to somewhat control their behaviour as well. You as the player can put action mods in the order that you want the companion to prioritize in, as without the order and mods, it will default to the main AI behaviour that they have on the various companions. 

Don't take me wrong, I understand that certain mechanics in this game can be frustrating at times but if you can't deal with the mechanics as is and don't have a good understanding of how they work, you won't be able to give good reasons as to why your idea is better. For next time get a better understanding and think of more than one perspective before coming up with unnecessary concepts that lead to nowhere. 
 

[RyllusPurple]

This is a problem i've noticed with beasts and Hounds. He will stop attacking and stand right in front of me with the magnetic bubble active. i only moved a couple meters. Hounds need their max range away from the player raised. To at least 75 - 100 meters. The hound wastes so much time breaking off each time I move a short distance.

[RyllusPurple]

Personally I feel like this might be the ripe spot for a pet focused operator school, and it's waybounds involve adding more control to pets. Penjaga polarity doesn't have a school.