I would even prefer to have doom bots. Right now, bots are too easy and there is no practice to be had in there. The only place to try weird, fun builds (I know, fun things are generally not allowed) which might fail is in normals where, if you fail, you waste the time of 4 other people unless they can carry you.
Bots are actually a great place to practice control of your own character. They're terrible opponents, but they allow you to learn how a champion works, and, ideally, how to use their kit properly. Obviously, when playing against players, you have to change because players don't play by the same rules, but it still lets you build a solid, basic understanding of the champion's design and purpose.
Otherwise, they're pointless. After learning the basic mechanics, you move to blind/unranked draft queues to learn vs players.
It still baffles me that people have memorized perfect micro against bots, and will play specific champions in bots to maximize that. There's no challenge in mastering a predictable AI's reactions and using them to get a high kill count.
Riot take these gametypes away to improve on them, doom bots was very successful and I can't wait to see it again. Riot really needs to implement another permanent gamemode.
It's difficult to make an AI behave like a human (read: near damn impossible), so the simplest options for Riot to "improve" bots using would involve fast reaction times, precise spatial awareness (including knowledge of ranges and movement speeds), and generally just buffing these up to the point where the AI have surpassed humans in these specific regards. But, if they do that, while the bots may be harder, they still won't be particularly helpful in preparing you to play against actual humans, and would likely prove extremely frustrating to deal with.
I see too many new players get rekt by bots :l
It would be awesome if there were better bots. However, it is hard to program better ones. And quite frankly it really isn't priority for Riot.
That's why I never play bots... I just play passive with a champion in normals until I am comfortable with that champion to go out. Once you're level 30, normals don't really matter that much, and then people yell at me for not playing a bot game even if I'm going 11/13/20 in a LOSING game and deem me as unskilled player. AI isn't going to teach me how to play against people who can actually move side to side.
I guess I'm just that terrible, but before Rift was changed, I remember Intermediate being much more difficult than it is now.
Try Intermidiate
They are too easy, but at least they don't rage in all-chat when their ADC has 0 kills and 10 deaths and threaten to report everyone.
I swear though, different bots have different skill levels. The Ryze bot is rather simple, the Morgana bot has uncanny dodging skills and the Ashe bot will randomly fire a frost arrow of doom off into the distance and hit that low health tank in top lane before going back to fighting you.
Only thing that bots have is that frustrating moment when a bot starts to run away faster than you despite you have more Movement speed
There was a period of time a year or two ago when they were tweaking bots that they would do some pretty brutal things.
I once had 3 bots tower dive me prelevel 6 and just totally take a shit on me. I was in the I know how the AI acts mindset and they switched it up on me. That same game had more WTF instances that I don't remember but I think they patched the bots again that same week and they stopped acting that way.
+old Ryze and Annie bot were terrifying.
I basically only use Bots for getting a feel for a newly purchased champion. Their ranges, movement capabilities, kill potential at various percents, etc. If you're looking for actual serious practice, just play Normal Draft.
In my opinion if they make one more AI bots that are more difficult than the intermediate would be nice. Sometimes I like to play bots to not deal with toxic people and try champs and styles but I would like the AI to be even more difficult after intermediate like close to doom bot level but without the extra abilities.
I have a few issues with bots. I play bots often, sometimes to help new friends learn, others just to go full derp. Lately though, the bots have gotten worse. The two major issues I have?
In addition, they need some more work. As it stands now, one of two things will always happen. You will faceroll a dumb bot, or the bot will do its math magic and combo you so perfectly you die (which is ok too I guess). I just want more... "AI" in my AI.
doom bots just got tons of AOE, and CC. even on the hardest level you could still win and not die once. the best champ for it was kogmaw, the doom bots would try and teleport away and you could level 2 ult them and then they would get hit, run a little bit, then port, over and over again. would would never register you being there for some reason??
I think bot games are for new players trying to level their accounts... Although playing against bots is easy for experienced players, I've seen some players have real problems fighting bots. I've seen players feed 0/12/0 and when the surrender vote doesn't go through, they afk. No way to know if they are trolling bot games by dying as fast as they can respawn, but it doesn't matter. Playing bots is so easy for experienced players that when I want to use bots to practice, I create a custom game vs Intermediates and 1v5 them. I do this with champions I've never played before and am just learning and walk away with an insane KD. Playing bots is so easy for experienced players that I'm sad RIOT made it so you can't own machete if you don't have smite - forcing me to jungle without machete if my account is lower than level ten. RIOT please. When Doom bots came out, I went straight wins against them until I got the Icon. Then I did the same thing on all my alternate accounts. Then I lost interest. If you are still playing against bots after you hit level 30, it's because you are still learning the game. Right now, bot AI cannot measure up to other players in terms of the challenge they present on the "Fields of Justice". Unless our society hits a technological singularity, improving bot AI might just be a waste of time for RIOT.
By the way, after 10 games in Season 5, RIOT placed me in Bronze III.
Besides the first poster, I do agree. They are too easy. Instead of chasing kills, they let em off. Even when the bots show ignite. =/ Doesn't teach new players much. Maybe "Tutorial, Easy, Intermediate, Real"? One difficulty higher?
Bots being relatively easy gives incentive to play PvP.
This is good.
I remember when my friends and I longed for a difficulty between beginner bots and intermediate bots. One seemed so easy, the other so hard...
The ways in which they can make the bots "harder" just makes them a right pain in the ass to play against because they're just poke you to death with perfect mechanics; teaching them common sense is much more difficult.
It's fairly easy to abuse bots in 1v5 custom games with the right strategies, I'd recommend 1v3 or something if you want to try weird builds.
