Barbarians won't attack AI if player is nearby/barbs preferably att. player over ai?

[Ciproflox]

Hi again,

playing the latest game version (will update), but also before I've had a feeling as if barbarians would preferably attack the player instead of the AI. Now taken the situation there's barbs in one field, an AI scout in an adjacent, a player warrior in another adjacent field, barbs will go for the player unit, eventhough it would stand better chances against the AI scout. And that's not all, Barbarians would in many cases go for "irrational" goals, like attacking the nearest city instead of acting somewhat clever.

I'm not sure whether to put this as a bug, so I'll put it as balancing matter. If barbs are supposed to act irationally and irationally stupid, which I could understand for gameplay matters, it really should be doing so. Otherwise I'm asking myself, if barbs attack AI units at all, if the player is not nearby.

Savegame is not likely at this point, but will come back to it, if this is worth the while

Any observations?

 

[EndoConvert]

No, barbs attack AIs just as often as they attack players. You may perceive them as attacking you may more because you will always notice when you come under attack, but the AIs often come under attack (not just offscreen) without players noticing. There have definitely been lots of times when a barb could attack either an AI unit or one of my units (they were all standing next to each other), and the barb went for the AI instead of me.

 

[DaveGold]

I believe that in CIV4 the AI had a combat bonus against barbarians based on difficulty level, which led led them to attack the weaker units of the human player. This could be happening in CIV5 too. We also can't see the promotions on AI units. We don't know if the barbarians have another target such as a pillage site, worker, or encampment.

Having said all that, they do still seem to pick on a human player's units!

 

[jtb1127]

I've notice this problem. A few days ago I had a spearman sitting in front of a barb encampment and Monte had an injured scout also sitting out front. Of course, the brute attacks my spearman and not the weak aztec scout.

 

[EndoConvert]

I've notice this problem. A few days ago I had a spearman sitting in front of a barb encampment and Monte had an injured scout also sitting out front. Of course, the brute attacks my spearman and not the weak aztec scout.

I've seen the exact opposite. My warrior was at 1 hp, standing next to a full hp warrior of an AI civ and a barb. The barb went after the AI's full hp warrior on the hill instead of my warrior in the marsh. So it really is quite random.