So I've decided to try and grok how MW5's AI prioritizes targets and components in an effort to kill robots better, and I've found out some weird things. Enemy AI really, really likes taking off arms. Even if there's nothing in them. Given a choice, enemy AI will "pick on the fat kid" - I ran a few missions with an assortment of chassis in different weight categories. Most notable was the last one, where I chose a Marauder, and saddled my lancemates with a Stalker, a Hunchback, and a Cicada. Me and the Stalker were getting hammered fairly hard. The Hunchback was getting a few lumps. The Cicada (an X-5) took minimal damage in the whole deal. Most interestingly, the X-5 topped the leaderboard for kills and was tied for most mech kills with me. Once you've had your arms torn off, you become WAY less interesting to enemy AI. Friendly AIs shoot at incoming dropships even though as near as I can tell, you can't kill dropships. Sometimes enemy AI WILL try and keep their distance. Most notable with Locust-1M pilots, but I've also seen Rifleman pilots shy away from brawl range. Have not noticed this tendency with any other mech yet, even ones that need range like the Catapult-A1.
I believe they're actually trying to target the mechs inside the dropship, though the end result is the same because they can't hit them before they drop.
Agreed with shock. I'm not sure the AI is specifically hunting arms so much as "open component!" and not accounting for whether that component has anything in it or not.
