Enemy behavior is nonsensical, absurd!

[Vanden]

Maybe it's just my tinfoil hat showing, but I think mob AI basically says "I'm not DPSing enough, time to flee!"  I've noticed that if their recharges are hosed, or their End is drained, or their hit chance is trashed, mobs will default to running like mad instead of trying to stand their ground.

 

Well, wouldn't you?

[Black Zot]

Maybe it's just my tinfoil hat showing, but I think mob AI basically says "I'm not DPSing enough, time to flee!"  I've noticed that if their recharges are hosed, or their End is drained, or their hit chance is trashed, mobs will default to running like mad instead of trying to stand their ground.

 

Well, wouldn't you?

 

That depends greatly on whether my team has active auras/bubbles that are keeping me alive.

[Coyote]

Some of this is getting downright silly. Last night I exited a mission just one bubble shy of leveling, so I figured I'd do a bit of streetsweeping to get that last bubble.

 

Spotted two yellow Warriors. Ran up to them, and before I even landed a blow on the first guy, the second guy said, "Farewell!" and legged it out of there. I didn't see where he ran off to, so after defeating the first guy I just moved on to another small group. I finished up that group, and when I looked around I saw that the runner had come back, and was standing there by himself. So I ran over, landed one punch ... and off he went again, making no attempt at all to fight back. Seeing that he ran into a fairly large group that I didn't feel like dealing with, I again moved on to a different small group. And again, the guy came back and stood in his original spot. So I tried one more time, and he ran off again.

 

There were no -Recharge or -Endurance issues for him. He just preferred running over fighting.

 

Right. I think it's actually a deliberate design where in some of the street spawns, there is one "designated runner", a mob whose AI says "I'm not here to fight, so if some hero shows up, I'm outta here".

[Extor Prime]

This behavior extends to the biggest and the scariest villains it seems.

 

For funzies on my private server I spawned Cap'n Mako and Black Scorpion for my ubercharacter to fight. Mako got the hell out of dodge when his health hit 50%; BS just kept running away like a little girl every time he got hit, and then coming back; but as soon as he'd receive a hit or two he'd run for cover again. It was less of a battle and more of a Benny Hill show.

[Legree]

Right. I think it's actually a deliberate design where in some of the street spawns, there is one "designated runner", a mob whose AI says "I'm not here to fight, so if some hero shows up, I'm outta here".

 

It's usually possible to predict the runners.  If the group is talking about buying/selling something (weapons/superadine/whatever) then the seller will almost always take off as soon as the group is aggro'd.  Purse snatchers do the same thing, and amusingly if you don't run after them and defeat them the NPC you just saved will just stand there and not give the usual thank you speech, since you didn't get her purse back!

[justicebeliever]

This behavior extends to the biggest and the scariest villains it seems.

 

For funzies on my private server I spawned Cap'n Mako and Black Scorpion for my ubercharacter to fight. Mako got the hell out of dodge when his health hit 50%; BS just kept running away like a little girl every time he got hit, and then coming back; but as soon as he'd receive a hit or two he'd run for cover again. It was less of a battle and more of a Benny Hill show.

 

Now I totally have the music stuck in my head playing the game...-1 Inf to you Extor...

[Rumors]

Other Scrappers laugh at me for taking Confront.  I laugh at them when they're chasing a running mob across the map.

 

 

...but seriously, the eagerness for the A.I. to hightail it is sometimes a little ridiculous.  I totally understand dodging the damage patches, that makes perfect sense.  I understand thematic running, like purse snatchers or gray-con mobs encountering an angry super being +10 levels to them.  But other times, it's like I breathe on a level 54+6(+1000) AV and it'll wet its pants and run away at first opportunity.

 

At least Taunt effects keeps them more under control.  I imagine my Scrapper's Confront is less taunting them and stuff and just yelling at them to come back.