Charging Crossbowmen

Some things I've tried, using the Moathouse courtyard bandits as a test bed:

• using the 5.5 .dll: no change
• replacing the .mobs with new identical ones: no change

Other observations:

• Using the 5.5 .dll, bandits with crossbows in random encounters will not switch weapons, will not approach, will 5 foot step, and will switch to melee weapons if they are cornered. Unfortunately, despite literally dozens of worldmap travels all over the place using the 5.6 .dll, I can't get a RE with bandits to compare against. Ironically, they appeared in the very first worldmap travel I tried using the 5.5 .dll.
• Spawning a crossbow weilding bandit using the 5.5 .dll will result in them switching immediately to their melee weapon. Because of the fact that they're spawned right on top of the party, I'm not sure if they're doing this as a 'go-melee' response or something more like the 5.6 weapon switch error.

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Further observation:

• Removing the generic spawner (the one that controls the appearance of the Big 3) from the Moathouse exterior map causes the brigand crossbowman in the easterly corner of the courtyard to behave normally. The other two crossbowmen still behave abnormally. The newly normal crossbowman is nearest of all brigands to the removed generic spawner: the gs is almost exactly where the last giant frog you encounter as you approach the courtyard is.

 

Okay, a forum search of "switch dagger" shows that this weapon switching thing has indeed been discussed before (in a 5.0.0 beta modpack thread), as Kalshane recalled:

So then, while we still don't know why this happens, and perhaps more importantly, why it's happening now and not before in some cases, we do know that the standard fix of yore was to remove the offending .mobs' daggers so they'd stick with crossbows. This solution has also worked just fine in modern testing. The only drawback I can see with it is that these .mobs won't be able to switch to a melee weapon in close quarter combat, but if we have to choose between that and them equipping daggers and rushing futilely at the party, I think no-melee is preferable. They do at least seem to use 5 foot step effectively, after all.

So until such time as we can figure out why this is happening (and I've just about given up on that personally), the fix we'll apply is to remove daggers from the affected .mobs. This means we need as many reports as possible referencing where this happens, so please continue to test and post your findings here. Thanks.

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See the first post for known cases and cases that need testing.

 

REPORT


Moathouse courtyard brigands

• Took away melee weapons for the 3 crossbowmen and they do not approach, do not switch weapons, and do use 5 foot step.

Moathouse first floor brigands

• Took away melee weapon for the 1 crossbowman and he does not approach, does not switch weapons, and does use 5 foot step.

Moathouse Dungeon guardsmen

• Took away melee weapons for the 5 crossbowmen and they do not approach, do not switch weapons, and do use 5 foot step.
  
• Took away daggers for the 2 sergeants and they stick with their morningstars and otherwise behave normally.
  
• Didn't do anything to the lieutenant and he sticks with his long bow, does not approach, does not arbitrarily switch weapons on his turn, does use 5 foot step, and will switch to a melee weapon when cornered. He has a dagger but switches to a longsword, I believe.

Emridy Meadows skeletons

• All crossbow-weilding skeletons did not approach and did use 5 foot step with Sitra's AI tweaks and no other modifications.

Temple Level 1 hall of bones skeletons

• All crossbow-weilding skeletons did not approach and did use 5 foot step with Sitra's AI tweaks and no other modifications.

Temple Level 1 Earth Temple guards

• In both locations where they're quartered, those weilding crossbows did not switch weapons, did not approach, and did not use 5 foot step. They have daggers but never switched to them. They would usually get AoOed as they fired their crossbows in close-quarters. They use the 'Flanker (with ranged)' AI. I added a clear target entry to that AI like the sniper AI has (that used by the brigands successfully), but it had no effect. Unless I'm greatly mistaken about something, the sniper AI has no five foot step entry, yet those using that AI do five foot step. I changed that back - not going to fiddle strategy.tab anymore since I have no clue how it works. I'm sort of satisfied that those guys don't switch weapons and don't approach at least. Although, of course, why not? They've got daggers. Kalshane said they used to. I see no mention of them being altered any other way.