LE Better Dragon & Giants AI

[Sanzennin]

It would be nice if dragons showed up more often period. They don't... appear often enough randomly to make it seem like dragons are back in force terrorizing the country side.

 

Has anyone ever encountered two dragons at once?

I too wish dragon's had more ground combat, crawling around or scaling walls to get at archers in a tower, etc etc.

 

Every time I go out I get like 2 dragons flying in the distance, all the time. Once I had 3 in a very small area. They spawn a lot as it is.

 

I think the dragons occur often enough without fiddling with.

I do dislike their AI, Afterall if your taking massive damage from some crazy guy with a bow/magic it seems unlikely that you'd then change targets to a mudcrab/wolf/skeever etx that is no threat........

 

Had this happen chased a frost dragon that kept flying away to oneshot little creatures 100m away while ignoring the fact that 50% of its health was shot away, and then move 100m again to another..... bloody annoying.

Another occasion a dragon decided to ignore me in favor of attacking a mill, killed the two working there and a couple of mudcrabs then i killed it....

 

BTW are quest npc's essential, cause with the way that these dragons strike and there illogical form of targeting it seems that npc's are more at risk than the player and i don't want to miss out on quests cause a dragon flew away and prioritized a villager rather than the one steadily killing it.

 

Why should the player be at higher risk? What part of that would make it more real-ish or logical? If I was a huge firebreathing creature, angry at the world and looking to do some damage, I would steer away from the guy that is doing serious hurt to me, and take my anger out on the weaklings on my path. Its not like any living creature would actively be looking to get killed by someone stronger than them.

 

It would be nice if dragons showed up more often period. They don't... appear often enough randomly to make it seem like dragons are back in force terrorizing the country side.

 

What is this, I don't even...

 

Dragons spawn too much as it is. Don't think so? Try getting out more. Go near mountains or something. Damn things are everywhere, like a virulent plague or something! I can barely walk out of a cave or something without hearing a dragon roaring overhead. Seems like a good percentage of the time I fast travel near a quest target, there just happens to be a dragon appear as I'm running to my marker. So aggravating...

 

Aggravating because 80% of the time they never land, and 15% of the time that they do it's in some very inconvenient location.

 

really? I've only killed 7 dragons so far and I'm level 32. I do go out and about more often. In a effort to get a dragon increase, I no longer use my horse or fast travel anymore. =/ can we switch RNG's then? :P They were nicely generated in the beginning, but now, they are scarce for me.

 

 

edit - been thinking. Does following the main quest has to do with anything with the dragons massive amounts of showing up? I've hadn't investigated the dragon burrows yet. So curious if that maybe why there has been so few?

 

In response to your edit, dragons appearing so often has EVERYTHING to do with the main quest. Once you get the "way of the voice" quest, you'll see more of them. Once you finish that quest, say hello to the Oblivion Gates of Skyrim! Heck, while doing the Mage quest line, I was attacked at least 3 times by fricken elder dragons in the College courtyard. Let me tell you, playing with light armor, those guys effed me up with their kill move over and over in close combat. Not fun.... o_O

 

On a side note, I wish dragons were more random/strategic (take your pick), like they were in the Demo vids, picking up giants and stuff! I haven't seen a dragon cart anything off and I'm 100 hrs in!

 

I have done just a few first main quests, the dragons spawn a plenty for me. Started spawning a lot once I hit level 30.

 

This is not completely dragon-related, but speaking of AI concerning dragon interaction:

 

it is quite annoying when you're fighting a giant dragon in the city with some guards, and after an extended bout of pummeling, you accidentally shoot one little spell that hits a guard because he got in the way of you and the dragon.. then once the dragons dead.. the guard tries to kill you. Come on man.. I just saved your life. Lol.

 

Tried sheating your weapons? Well, if I was shot by a friend in the back while fighting, I would seek out to exact revenge too tho, even if I knew it was unintentional. :P

[Reallyhairydave]

Has anyone ever encountered two dragons at once?

I too wish dragon's had more ground combat, crawling around or scaling walls to get at archers in a tower, etc etc.

 

 

Yep, I once got attacked by a dragon while on a mission, it got distracted by the mobs around the location I was about to enter. After a long and unproductive battle (plus a few loads due to death) that included a giant, many necromancers, a regular dragon and a fire antronach (and of course myself) with all but the dragon alive he decided to fly off. Naturally I followed yelling curses because I would get his attention and then lose it again chasing him, at one point I saw the dragon icon for a location (for the first time) and thought he must have come from there and is returning... anyway I caught up, started to fight that one when a frost dragon decided to swoop in (and I was barely holding my own against the regular one :P ), shortly after the frost dragon showed up a blood dragon attacked me for the first time and I found myself in a rather sticky situation. I did take out the regular dragon and took a fair chunk out of the frost one but decided to revert to a previous save because my goal seemed a little unobtainable at the time (probably the only fight I have HAD to run from :P )

[khbazur]

You want good AI? I got a story for you.

 

Just left Whiterun headed east past the Honey farm when a blood dragon attacked me. (was level 30 then) Dismounted and started hitting the beast with spells while it kept flying and doing strafing runs with it's breath weapons. The guards nearby joined in when it flew off and attacked and carried off a poor horse, didn't know it was my horse at the time :yucky::( Then it came back and hit the bandit camp on the other side of the river all the while staying out of my magic range.

 

When I chased after it as I saw it land several times instead of staying aloft it went back across the river again and killed off the guards there.

 

So I chased after it again. This time it flew off to a nearby farm, landed and killed off the npcs there. I recieved a quest message of "the last of the witnesses is dead" or something like that so yes dragons can kill off quest npcs.

 

By the time I got there the dragon flew off keeping buildings between me and it so I cant magick or shout it to death and LANDED on top of Lydia and a quick breath,tail swipe and bite and toss and she was dead.

 

Now I'm all alone, no guards, no follower, no horse, and the dragon goes back to it's fly around and breathe on me routine instead of landing.

 

I reloaded my autosave and hung around the city to get more guards to shoot arrows at it. Didn't work as it decided to leave instead. Oh well.

 

I was a level 30 heavy armor wearing with paralyzing sword and lightning bolt destruction magick

[Sanzennin]

Exactly, dragons aint dumb.

Tho they are overly easy to fight in my opinion.

Just get ice spikes with 50% more damage, dualcast and stagger. I haven't allowed a single dragon harm a single NPC.

 

If anything, they could be harder to fight.

[khbazur]

I noticed that there is a wide difference in dragon behavior. There are those rare smart dragons that use all thier advantages in combat, and there are also those really dumb overly cocky roar I'am a dragon! ph3ar me!! types whose only attack strategy is land, breath attack, bite/tailswipe until dead (which I love, paralyzer sword, ice spike, stagger shout + power attack FTW)

 

Frankly the only ones that I've so far feared are the elder dragons. They are smart enough to stop fighting and just hover out at range eyeing you while they heal up. With the occasional strafing attack to keep your magick down. I swear they recover HP faster than my magick recovers.

 

And they love eatimg my horsies. :(

Edited November 24, 2011 by khbazur

[Arcadiast]

I have only one wish;

 

when I hear a Dragon I want to think "oh sh**, run away run run run" and not "oh goody i can always need another Dragon Soul"

 

Dragons are to easy (not because of difficulty setting but a bear or a guard can be more trouble than a full grown, fully armored Lizard King that can spit fire for petes sake). A Mod that makes them stronger (not just more hitpoints please...maybe better tactics, better moves...just generally more badass) would be more than welcome.

 

Running away should be the most sensible tactic against a Dragon. Fighting should be nearly suicidel because the Victory over a Dragon would be so much sweeter this way.

[DeMocha]

@sanzennin

You are right any sane/logical/remotely intelligent creature would if it was getting slaughtered would likely run away from said threat and seek shelter...... but thats not what happened.

It attacked me- lost half its health- 'ran away' to another enemy that was not attacking it nor was the enemy a threat WHILE i kept hitting it with arrows. It did that multiple times till i killed it.

It didn't run away to shelter ie. safety, it instead increased number of enemies attacking it. That is not the actions of a sane/logical/remotely intelligent creature but rather that of a rabid/stupid animal ignoring all survival instincts.

What would have made more sense was

It attacks me- loses half its health- and 'runs away'/despawns or something. Its not like there are any threats to em once they are high enough to avoid arrows and spells....

 

 

I have come across 'smart' dragons but from what i've seen some of the random ones that i have come across in the wilderness/middle of nowhere seem to have unreliable methods of prioritizing targets.

 

@everybodysop

Does the plea or whatever from oblivion still work?

i think you do the 'guard' then press your 'use' key

 

As it is I have always wished for some form of 'lock' targeting in the TES games (like what fable and others have) especially in melee combat, considering how often friendly fire events happen. Thankfully not as often as oblivion tho.