Companions and enemy stations.

[F50]

I was (just) with Rama attacking a Sung Fortress and told him to break and attack because there were a buch of wind slavers and the station couldn't hurt him. Rama shot at the station, and therefore was vanquished by the wind slavers. Now Rama does not have the sense to attack stations so I believe that the companion AI should prioritize *all* ships before stations.

It would also be nice, but not neccesary (I have gotten used to keeping my companions safe from stations), if the AI stayed away from stations that can shoot under the break and attack order unless the break and attack order was issued within the boundaries of the stations weapon range.

Also, there was literally about ONE HUNDERED other dead friendly ships near (some as close as 10 ls). I think that friendly corpses should be toned down in a warzone in which the danger level is less than that of equivelent enemy ships (Centurions = Rogue Fleet and such). Thus I lost Rama, salvaged a TEV9 from one of the wreaks (there was probably more than one intact TEV9 in that warzone) plus got a lot of free fuel. If Rama hadn't died I would have left it all alone. This happens most frequently with the Huari and Sung Fortress.

[Karl]

I believe that the companion AI should prioritize *all* ships before stations.

Interesting. That would also make the companions less likely to die in general as they'd be dealing with mostly ships rather then the more-dangerous stations.

Idea: A big tweak the friendly AI needs, IMHO, is to RUN THE HELL AWAY when hull damage is over 50%. This would go a long way towards keeping wingmen alive (and also makes a hell of alot of sense if there's a "human" AI pilot at the controls). As it is now, almost every time I tell my wingman to break and attack near a moderately difficult enemy, he suicides. I eventually got tired of babysitting him and just let him die.

Also, there was literally about ONE HUNDERED other dead friendly ships near (some as close as 10 ls).

I think that's another reason why there should be a quick and easy scuttle ship command in the game. I read that George already has something planned to deal with this, but I'm not sure what.

Another idea: It would be awesome if the enemy stations sometimes sent their ships to loot the wrecks that are near them. That would make for less item grabs from ships that died with no help from the player (which is kinda cheap, anyway), and also more loot in the stations once captured.

[F50]

running at 50% hull damage is not something I would see Rama do, maby lesser pilots, but Rama should not run, he is powerful enough to stay and is not afraid of death. You only ever have trouble with Rama (before Ares and Ranx) with Hurin, Ventari, and stations. He can take anything else. The other one you can get is horrible though.

[Karl]

Good point. A stronger ship might be able to safely fight up to a higher damage level, while a weaker ship might have to cut and run much sooner. As long as they're smart enough to keep themselves alive in most instances. A wingman should be an asset, not a liability.

...he is powerful enough to stay and is not afraid of death.

But some might be. A cowardly wingman could talk like he's the toughest dude this side of alpha centauri, then run after the first hit. "Hey! Where'd my wingman go? Get back here!"

[FAD]

I think there should be a way to repair and possibly upgrade the AI companion ship whenever docked or near a friendly station. At least, have a command to repair along with the "break and attack" and "regroup" commands, but I'd like to be able to upgrade my wingmans ship if it were possible.