@BasicallyACat
The Raider faction, hmmmmm. I think we can blame their irregular behaviour on their addicition to Nuka and its secret ingredients.
I've had some easier moments with the NPC Raiders, particularly lone wanderers and those moments have helped me understand behaviour patterns, but also some very unexpected moments that were quite deadly.
I really go for the questing side of 7D2D in Vanilla and the custom POIs have not disappointed at all. In fact, they have been the highlights and I appreciate those Raider encounters a lot. I met my first batch of Raiders from a Tier 2 quest and naturally the intensity increased with the Tier Level. I think as you move into Tier 3 the experience will change. In addition, the environment itself can either bring out the best in the Raider behaviour or cause them to lose the plot. Their pathing and decision making leaves much to be desired but that is intrinsic to the current Alpha build and I can only see improvements from hereon. Its good to see TFP are hiring programmers with specific a AI and pathing background.
Raider inhabited quest POIs, will offer a greater challenge and require more planning and caution. Those sole wandering Raiders will seem like it's just one being sent out on an errand to pick up some Nuka beverages. If a POI has 30 Raiders (which can increase/decrease based on the random spawning system) you'll never know for sure exactly where they are or how they'll behave regardless of how conditioned you become to the POI. One Raider that ran around like a headless chicken may soon get it together and suddenly become a crack shot. With Raider volume increase comes more probability that at least a few of them become more 'elite' and a Health Pack supply becomes essential as any memories of easy pickings have to go on hold. It seems that if a Raider cannot path to your location it can get a little confused which shares some traits with the Zs who will ultimately claw at a wall.
Without adding too many spoilers, some of my favourite Raider confrontations have occurred in confined quest houses and more open but restricted areas such as the Prison. The Raiders are pretty sharp on their toes and if we miss a room or a dark corner where they are resting, it's not long until there's a rear attack which really throws off aim if you're tackling something in front. As for the prison, you can encounter both distance firing and close encounters in quick succession.
Another decent feature is that as your level increases, the gunfire will also attract higher level Zs into the POIs. The Raiders will also attack the Zs and of course the Zs will attack you so it becomes a free for all. Throw a screamer into the mix and bedlam can ensue. A couple of radiated Zs clawing at you when you're trying to concentrate elsewhere makes all the difference a can tip any balance.
The Raiders can act as potty as they are potty mouthed and there can be some 'meh' moments, but when they get it together it gets intense.
Some things to beef it up a little:
- Install the
WalkerSim Mod (I believe this is the correct one that bdubyah installed and can really change the dynamics). It's customisable, but the Zs can become hyper sensitive to gunfire and I got sandwiched halfway down a ladder heading to a Bombshelter quest POI with Raiders below, Wandering WalkerSim Zombies above wanting to get in on the action, followed by some Screamers due to my heavy use of ammo. It didn't end well, and with backpack set to stay where I fell, it took a few attempts to retrieve everything.
- Check the names of the Prefabs in the Wasteland Mod package and focus more on those for Quest selection. The loot is decent too ^^.
And when you want a little change, look out for some of the 'Remnant' Quests (business and wasteland) where the mutants are waiting. I'm sure you've noticed the Mutants have both brawn and brain and having a squad of those intent on your destruction around a small quest POI, where you don't want to leave the quest zone, is heavy regardless of what weapons you are packing.
A few tweaks here and there, with a few more conscious choices of where to go as you become familiar with the abundance of custom POIs, and I think the experience will become a lot more rewarding.
