It’s here. 2.0 Legend worthy bots.
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All credit goes to Bathrobe Rat!
I’ve been playing Dark Omen legend, and I’ve tweaked the bots enough that they are passable. I consider this the ultimate test (aside from Cataclysm), because the bot AI is sorely lacking against Beastmen. There were several hurdles that needed to be overcome.
I managed to complete a 3 boss (2 Chaos Spawns and finale minotaur) run on Dark Omen. That to me is a sign they are ready. On to the hurdles.
1. Flag bearers. Bots will never destroy flags, so it is entirely your responsibility. I would highly recommend that *you* play a character with high mobility. Hand Maiden, Shade, Zealot, Slayer.
Also, in case you don’t know. Flags boost the hp of enemies drastically, and heal them over time.
2. Minotaurs. They really mess up bots. Bots will basically just berserk rush him, while he berserk rushes them. Obviously, the minotaur wins. Take a character with a boss slaying weapon, and hold a strength potion. If you can keep aggro, it helps a lot too.
3. Team heal spam. You will need to take advantage of healing and damage reduction as much as possible. This means that Merc Kruber and Unchained Sienna are almost mandatory.
This leads to a playstyle that is: Don’t take too much damage at any given time. You’re all about the rebound.
Mercenary Kruber
I emphasize very strongly that you must have a Mercenary Kruber. If that is simply not possible, then bots might not be for you right now. Here’s why.
1. 25 thp to the team every ~1.5 minutes. Spearmen and archers can really chip you down.
2. Every ult, the team has 40% damage reduction for 10 seconds. That’s a long time in a combat scenario.
3. Team attack speed. This helps everyone, including you.
Equipment:
1. Arming Sword (1 hand).
It has stamina, it has dodge range, it has cleave. This is a well-rounded pick for Kruber that will let him use Paced Strikes often. I couple it with 50% more cleave power.
Executioner’s Sword is pretty good, too.
2. Repeater Rifle or Handgun.
Both are pretty good. Kruber will snipe specials with these choices.
3. Necklace: Damage reduction vs Chaos + Health + Barkskin.
Bots are awful at fighting Beastmen and Minotaurs. You need to stack their defenses as much as possible if you want to give them a fighting chance.
When the three bots surround the Minotaur, they will literally take every single hit and all die. That’s where the barkskin comes in. If they are taking 40% less damage + 40% less damage (from ult) + 10% less damage from chaos, you are giving them about 70% damage reduction while fighting the Minotaur.
4. Ring: Power vs Chaos + Attack Speed
5. Trinket: Cooldown Reduction + Crit Chance
Talents:
1. Either of the THP talents is alright.
2. 50% more cleave or +5% power per enemy. Both are good.
3. Honestly, I give all my bots enhanced power. I don’t expect them to have any sense of teamwork. Enhanced power is nice, because it gives you a bit more cleave, stagger, and damage. It’s well-rounded and universal.
4. Take the shared Paced Strikes. It’s just better overall to have 4 buffs instead of 1.
5. Take the 25% damage reduction. Bots aren’t good at damage mitigation, so he will need it.
6. Take the 40% damage reduction. You *need* this for Minotaurs. When all your bots go kamikaze on the Minotaur, their survival rate increases dramatically with this.
Ironbreaker Bardin
I’m going to take a pass on Bardin for now. He’s not on my winner team, unless I’m playing him (Slayer’s awesome now). I will leave some info behind, because some of you are probably playing Saltzpyre, which means you need Bardin.
Here’s the thing. Ironbreaker after taunting will literally run into patrols, because his AI is programmed to tank whatever is around. He *is* a liability.
Equipment:
1. Dual Hammers, Hammer and Shield, or Pickaxe.
He’s reasonably good with these three. Hammer and Shield gives him good crowd control. Pickaxe is a good all-rounder with armor piercing. Dual hammers are good crowd control, as well.
2. Handgun
This allows him to snipe specials.
3. Necklace: Damage reduction vs Chaos + Health + Barkskin
They need all the damage reduction they can get, especially for Minotaurs.
4. Ring: Damage vs Chaos + Attack Speed
5. Trinket: Whatever you want.
Talents:
In theory, you should go with 2:2:3:2:2:1 or 3
I don’t have enough experience with Bardin to confirm this, yet.
Elf
No, you play elf.
Zealot Saltzpyre
This guy is interesting. He’ll be the eater of health potions, but as his HP ticks down, he will become the eater of worlds.
5-30% damage reduction (talent) + 10% damage reduction (talent) + 40% damage reduction (Kruber) + 40% damage reduction (Barkskin) +10% damage reduction vs chaos. A max of 80% damage reduction when you calculate it together. You want this guy.
When the sackrat really hits the fan, he will actually be reaching this number. He’s your tank.
Equipment:
1. Flail
This is a pretty well-rounded weapon for Saltzpyre, and it hits through shields.
2. Dual Pistols
Saltzpyre aimbots with these. I’m pretty sure he only misses if the spread decides to miss.
3. Necklace: Damage reduction vs Chaos + Health + Barkskin
He’s going to need it.
4. Ring: Damage vs Chaos + Attack Speed
5. Trinket: Whatever you want.
Talents:
1. Either of the THP stuff will work.
2. Take the attack speed increase. This is actually really important, because bot AI is largely dictated by attack speed. The faster a bot attacks, the more openings he sees. This makes him more aggressive and effective.
3. Enhanced Power. It’s a good all-rounder.
4. Damage reduction.
5. More damage reduction.
6. The semi-invuln one. This one probably won’t help that much, but you never know when the stars align. The others aren’t particularly great, either.
Unchained Sienna
Everyone meet the new healer. She’s not as good as Kruber, but every 30 THP helps. This is the bot you will want to babysit the most, so she doesn’t blow up. That said, she’s a meatshield, she heals, and she has infinite ammo.
Equipment:
1. Arming Sword (1 hand) or Flail
The sword has really nice cleave, while the flail hits through shields. You decide.
2. Bolt Staff
The bolt staff did get buffed, and it’s one of the staves the bot doesn’t do stupid things with.
3. Necklace: Damage Reduction vs Chaos + Health + Barkskin
This is mandatory for bots. They like to take a lot of damage in burst.
4. Ring: Damage vs Chaos + Attack Speed
5. Trinket: Cooldown Reduction + Crit Chance
Talents:
1. Either of the THP talents work.
2. Increase attack speed while high overcharge. Attack speed is critical to the bot AI. The faster they are, the more openings they see, which makes them more aggressive. If she’s in trouble, this can actually save her.
3. Enhanced Power. Don’t expect teamwork from bots. Just give them a nice boost to all stats.
4. Block Cost Reduction. You can also stack block cost reduction on her equipment, if you want. I treat this more as a cushion rather than a feature.
5. 10% less overcharge. Burning Dreg seems like it’s good, but at the same time, the stars have to align for it to work. If they don’t align, it’s like you have no 5th talent. I think the overcharge one is just more consistent.
6. Obviously, we are taking the heal. It does not say so, but it does heal herself as well.
Now, Let’s Talk About You
Bots are nothing by themselves. Their success is ultimately dictated by the decisions you make. The best decision is to always choose teamwork with your bots. Your failure rate is going to skyrocket if you make them expendable.
1. Be the crowd control. Bots are incapable of crowd control, so this task defaults to you. You need to have high stamina/recovery and be pushing the bulk of the horde. If you happen to be Sienna, then conflag staff will work too.
Some weapons that are good for pushing: Spears, 1h swords, 1h maces, hammers, shields
2. Be the boss slayer. With the introduction of the Minotaur, bots are on a timer when he appears. If that timer runs out, you are alone and the three bots are probably dead. So, keep a boss slaying weapon handy and carry a strength potion.
Some of these weapons are: Swiftbow*, Dual Pistols, Repeating Crossbow, Volley Crossbow, Repeater Rifle, and Throwing Axes, Hagsbane.
*Swiftbow has been buffed, I actually used it to kill the 3 bosses on that run I mentioned earlier.
3. Dashing is extremely useful now. With the introduction of the flag bearer, your game will grind to a halt, until you destroy that flag. Anyone that can dash over to it is perfect for this task. Zealot, Slayer, Handmaiden, and Shade are good at this.
You may even want to consider Shade’s ult that gives 45% cooldown reduction, in case there are multiple flag bearers. 23-27 second cooldown is nice.
4. As always, ratling gunners are really bad. Do your best to kill them fast, because they really mess with bot AI.
5. Ping things. Bots are sensitive to pinging and will often shoot a special that is pinged, rather than a special that is not pinged. They will also pick up items you ping, but sometimes walk past them if you don’t.
6. Finally, don’t worry about going fast. Patience is generally better rewarded, I have found. Pick good spots to fight, always deal with a horde promptly. Remember, you have a lot of regenerating health with Kruber and Sienna, so it isn’t a rush.
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