This week we continued with our work on the NPC AI. NPCs now navigate obstacles and ramps better in and out of combat. We’ve also made the AI behavior a bit more fair where perception and picking up weapons during combat is concerned.

Obviously there also have been a number of bug fixes and other minor changes. Most notably we have redesigned ‘base rings’ which indicate your target, their armor, and their orientation.

AI Improvements
- NPCs take time when picking up items during combat.
- NPCs are careful about when they pick up items during combat.
- NPCs can no longer see you through walls.
- Stealth and AI perception interacts better.
- NPCs navigate obstacles better during combat.
- NPCs navigate cliffs and ramps better during and outside of combat.

Gameplay Changes
- When a shield is ‘up’, it blocks regardless if you are taking an action with your other hand.
- When your shield is up, you cannot charge a power attack with the other weapon.
- The behavior and abilities of quan, quanites, and quanlings have been improved.
- Adding more variety to the type of ‘ruffian’ NPCs you can encounter.
- Tweaked the spread and speeds of the ‘forceful throw’ effect to make sure thrown weapons actually hit the target before the secondary bolts do.
- Tweaks some combat animations for better readability.
- Redesign of the ‘base ring’ to make armor easier to see.
- Base rings no longer get hidden below deep snow.
- Dust, shard, and ice devils have a new ‘hazard’ base ring.

Bug Fixes
- You cannot force gates during the tutorial.
- Asking Raaf to intervene on a bridge cannot push you over the edge and teleport you to the water below.
- The crafting conditions for Legacy Signets are implemented correctly.
- Improves targeting with the staff (the speed correction was off by a factor of 4).
- The soothing flute can be used to play sheet music.
- NPCs can no longer have two health components (it didn’t do them much good anyway).
- The time and weather in the tutorial isn’t copied from the last level you played.
- When the strength buff ends during camping it is removed correctly.
- Ranged weapons can hit shorter enemies when ranged attack aim assist is disabled.
- The death screen allows you to reload a save game with a controller.
- If clans cannot accept a gift they communicate the reason for it correctly.
- Prevents the generator from generating small holes filled with mud.
- Reduces the performance impact of ferns.
- Groups of NPCs remember better which ‘moves’ they already played.