🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <10bkvt2...@corp.supernews.com>, kren...@ySaPhAoMo.com 
says...
> My control over my party's actions in combat is less than perfect.  Less 
> than acceptable, actually.  Maybe I'm missing something.
> 
No, you're not missing anything.

> Case #1 -- the bad guys are on the other side of a mine.  I have two party 
> members who focus on melee and one with a ranged weapon.  Giving the 
> ranged character combat instructions means juggling back and forth among 
> the other two to keep them from charging forward into the mines.  Is there 
> some kind of "no combat script" option like in Baldur's Gate, so I can 
> hold back the melee characters until I want to use them?
> 
Sadly, no. Setting the game to pause after each combat round will give 
you better control of them though. Once the NPCs level up a bit I find 
it easier to just let them run through the mines. 

> Case #2 -- fighting bad guy and his three henchmen.  I tell Mission to 
> shoot the henchmen, and the other two characters to go after the bad guy.  
> But every time I toggle back to Mission, she has the crosshairs on the 
> main bad guy.  What gives?
> 
One possibility aside from the crappy combat AI. Characters tend to 
switch their attacks to the hostile that most recently caused them any 
damage.

I'm sure that you've already noticed, but ranged weapons in this game 
suck. Badly. You're far better off building most of the NPCs as melee 
fighters. Especially Canderous. His strength and high HP make him a 
killing machine in melee combat.

> And finally, is there a way to set a default attack for a character?  The 
> game seems to like fancy attacks like Power Attack and Sniper Shot, so 
> that I have to continually click that back to normal attack in most cases.  
> Maybe I don't *want* to be using feats that decrease my defense!
> 
Again, no. The only thing that I can suggest is that you set their 
scripted behaviors to standard attack which is the default. I set them 
all, including the ranged fighters, to Jedi/droid support to *make* them 
start using their feats and/or force powers in combat. The only problem 
with this is that the Jedi NPCs use their powers neither wisely or well.

> I'm enjoying the game, but the micromanagement demands are making the 
> prospect of a single-character party very attractive...
> 
It's doable. Even on the hard setting.

-- 
Nothing in life is more exhilarating as
to be shot at without result.
                  - Winston Churchill -