Hi- I've just started with NWN2 after it sitting in my massive backlog of games for a couple of years. I'm having real trouble controlling the party though. They keep on legging it to distant groups of enemies (often archers), triggering traps as they do so and basically getting pulverised. I've tried fiddling with the individual characters' AI's, but nothing I do seems to make any difference. Is Puppet Mode the only option, or am I missing a setting where the characters actually do as they're damn well told?
Controlling your party- use Puppet Mode?
Débuté par
Mudface67
, oct. 06 2010 08:43
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#2
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 01:27
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
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Type "v" to bring up the voice command menu. These are commands that affect the entire party and can be placed in the quickbar by clicking on the command's icon and dragging it. The most useful are "attack", "follow me" and "hold your ground". For instance, if you are exploring click the follow command, then all your companions will follow quietly along, occasionally muttering "should I attack?" or "are we there yet, daddy?" (just kidding). Then, if you encounter an enemy they won't all rush off to attack. To get them to attack, click the attack command. Put these commands in the quickbar of your PC and anyone else you think might be leading the party, such as a rogue for exploring indoors and looking for traps or a ranger with search skill while exploring outdoors. If you want one companion to scout ahead, have him give the hold command and everyone will remain where they are while he scouts. If he gets into trouble, click the attack command and the rest of the party will run forward to his aid. Play with it, there are lots of possibilities.
When exploring outdoors, I equip everyone with ranged weapons so if I tell them to attack they don't run off into the distance. Switch them to melee weapons when the enemy closes. You can also try Tony K's AI modification, available on NWVault. Many people swear by it, though I generally end up swearing at it since in my opinion it introduces as many problems than it solves.
Any way you cut it, some micromanagement is required to play the game well, but pure puppet mode is not necessary.
When exploring outdoors, I equip everyone with ranged weapons so if I tell them to attack they don't run off into the distance. Switch them to melee weapons when the enemy closes. You can also try Tony K's AI modification, available on NWVault. Many people swear by it, though I generally end up swearing at it since in my opinion it introduces as many problems than it solves.
Any way you cut it, some micromanagement is required to play the game well, but pure puppet mode is not necessary.
#3
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 03:49
Mudface67
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Thanks very much for that, Sieben, I'll give it a whirl. It's been a year or so since I last played BG 2, but I'm sure it wasn't as fiddly as NWN 2 can be with party management.
#4
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 05:14
Vaalyah
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If I can express my opinion... except for the Warlock (the AI is faster than you to launch spells quick fire), the puppet mode is a blessing. I tried my best for weeks with my companions but the AI is too stupid (maybe an AS? Artificial Stupidity?) not to cast an extremely useful "stoneskin" on a character that already has it! (rolleyes)
#5
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 05:34
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
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Very true. Controlling spellcasters is the weakest part of the AS. I generally set the spellcasting mode of everyone to "None" and control them myself. That includes my PC if she is a spellcaster, since if you take control of a companion she's guaranteed to throw a fireball where you don't want it. The problem with puppet mode (and I'm no expert since I don't use it) is that you have to micromanage everything. A fighter kills one opponent and then stands there with his sword up his nose until you remember to tell him to attack the next adjacent enemy. Tactical control requires a mixture of AS and micromanagement that can only be learned from experience and will differ for every player. Some people like pure puppet mode; I don't. If I remember Baldur's Gate correctly (and the old wet drive spins slower with each passing year), it was all micromanagement, so puppet mode may suit you perfectly. At least, you will have no reason to cuss when they don't do what you want.
#6
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 07:11
Mudface67
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Well that's much better, so many thanks again for that Sieben. I tried puppet mode at first, and if there had been a 'select all' button it would have worked OK. Having to either switch modes back and forth (I prefer being able to 'sweep' the side of the screen a la Dragon Age to rotate, rather than having to hold down the mouse wheel and pivot around) so I could band-select with the mouse or repeatedly shift-click on the portraits got annoying very quickly. Your tips on voice commands made things much more palatable though. It's just a shame there aren't any auto-pause options as that made BG a breeze to play.
#7
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 07:11
Nightwoe
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I'm not fond of puppet mode...I like the NPCs in my party to do something standard upon sight of enemies, then manuely fine tune the sequence of spells/abilites/movements or w/e I need them to do. In BG, I always set a script to all companions, then during combat jumped from unit to unit. That way, even if I havnt given them an actual command yet, they are at least doing SOMETHING other then standing around 
; I'm partial to 1st person mode, or w/e its called.
; I'm partial to 1st person mode, or w/e its called.
Modifié par Nightwoe, 06 octobre 2010 - 07:12 .
#8
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 07:31
Vaalyah
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my PC is a cleric. A powerful one. A tank one. Middle of melee, I go to control Qara lo spell something useful and... my PC stops fighting and cleverly decides to... cast "Elemental resistance" on Qara... That already has it. ' so, also my PC is a puppet.
I have just let only the "fight" options to a mild level, just to avoid the effect Sieben described!
I never used the auto-pause. I like to pause the game just when I need and not when the game decide I should need :-P
' so, also my PC is a puppet.I have just let only the "fight" options to a mild level, just to avoid the effect Sieben described!
I never used the auto-pause. I like to pause the game just when I need and not when the game decide I should need :-P
#9
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 09:04
I_Raps
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Sieben Elfriend wrote...
If you want one companion to scout ahead, have him give the hold command and everyone will remain where they are while he scouts. If he gets into trouble, click the attack command and the rest of the party will run forward to his aid.
Careful with this, though. It is possible to get too far ahead and they won't "hear" your command. It's even more likely they won't be able to find a path to you. But most likely of all is that they will find a path to you - just that it's through unexplored rooms full of traps and enemies that they'll set off.
...
I also want to point you to X - the "X" key that is. From reading these forums I have concluded that X is the most underrated/underutilized command in the game. X selects all your characters at once. You can then click on an enemy, for example, and they will all attempt to attack THAT enemy. This tends to bring them back together far better than the voice commands. X is also better than "follow" for moving over distances where the group will tend to get strung out due to different speeds.
X will also work as a "reset" of the AI. Sometimes so much goes on that the AIs forget their instructions - literally (if you watch the chatbox, you will occassionally see something like "Dove error 78388 too many instructions"). This will cause behaviour such as companions standing around and not following, or more often not automatically picking up items or disarming traps and locks. Typing X and clicking on the ground to get them moving, then X again to free them up, will reset the AI to drop all the instructions that are tying things up.
#10
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
Posté 06 octobre 2010 - 09:40
Guest_Sieben Elfriend_*
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Mudface67, as you can see there are a lot of people who are happy to help you, so please feel free to post your questions. What I didn't think to write is, welcome to NWN2. The learning curve is steep, but the summit is worth the climb.
#11
Posté 07 octobre 2010 - 08:19
Mudface67
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I will, and thanks for the welcome. I was about to give up on the game through frustration but I had 3 hours of blissful gaming last night using the tips in this thread. 
#12
Posté 07 octobre 2010 - 10:43
dunniteowl
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Very glad to hear it and don't feel bad, many long standing Community members first come to these boards in complete and total frustration. I know I did over 5 years ago. Now look at me. I'm a happy owl these days.
dno
dno
#13
Posté 07 octobre 2010 - 02:57
Dorateen
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I like the way Obsidan phrased it in their load screen tip:
Puppet Mode is a companion behavior mode available for advanced players who do not want their companions to engage in combat or use items or spells on their own.
Somewhere in this thread I saw mention of there not being a group select? You can actually hold the shift key and click on some or all of the party member portraits, and have them execute an action. This is great for when you are ready to move the party forward all together, while still allowing to break into smaller teams or even have a character do some solo scouting.
Of course, this is all dependent upon the Player wanting to micro-manage the party right down to the last detail.
Harumph!
Puppet Mode is a companion behavior mode available for advanced players who do not want their companions to engage in combat or use items or spells on their own.
Somewhere in this thread I saw mention of there not being a group select? You can actually hold the shift key and click on some or all of the party member portraits, and have them execute an action. This is great for when you are ready to move the party forward all together, while still allowing to break into smaller teams or even have a character do some solo scouting.
Of course, this is all dependent upon the Player wanting to micro-manage the party right down to the last detail.
Harumph!
#14
Posté 07 octobre 2010 - 04:44
Mudface67
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I was doing the shift-click selection with puppet mode, but it was pretty tedious, especially as the game 'forgets' your selection when you enter a new area. Just pressing Ctrl-A would have been much better.
#15
Posté 07 octobre 2010 - 06:35
Haplose
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Puppet mode is fine if you like micro-management... a lot. But as far as Puppet mode control is concerned, the "semi-turn based" mode of Tony_K's AI is by far the best.
To enable it dowload the full Tony_K's Companion and Monster AI mod and set the following options in the Behaviour tab:
1. Pause and switch control (Global... scroll a bit down)
2. Puppet Mode (for each character)
3. Puppet Mode pause every turn (for each character)
This does offer supreme control over your party. But is not for everyone. And I don't advise this for easy encounters... can become tedious fast... but is excellent for more challenging encounters.
To enable it dowload the full Tony_K's Companion and Monster AI mod and set the following options in the Behaviour tab:
1. Pause and switch control (Global... scroll a bit down)
2. Puppet Mode (for each character)
3. Puppet Mode pause every turn (for each character)
This does offer supreme control over your party. But is not for everyone. And I don't advise this for easy encounters... can become tedious fast... but is excellent for more challenging encounters.
#16
Posté 07 octobre 2010 - 08:14
Vaalyah
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I_Raps wrote...
I also want to point you to X - the "X" key that is. From reading these forums I have concluded that X is the most underrated/underutilized command in the game. X selects all your characters at once. You can then click on an enemy, for example, and they will all attempt to attack THAT enemy. This tends to bring them back together far better than the voice commands. X is also better than "follow" for moving over distances where the group will tend to get strung out due to different speeds.
I love you for this! <3
One of the things that I think is totally frustrating is that I carefully plan how to move my characters and then... 2 meters and they seem a flock!!!
How I miss the lovely BG2 interface. You put your companions in the order that you prefer, and then, select a way of moving.
OOOOOO for narrow path
OOO
OOO for normal conditions
there was also a pyramidal choreography! Why here you just have a flock freely running wherever they want? I don't want Qara crashing the door and entering the dungeon on her own. She has 2 hit points, she should stay behind!!!
