Riot, could you please check on bots' AI?

Aztrophobic·12/8/2015, 6:14:48 PM·63 votes·4,525 views

I'm talking mainly about intermediate difficulty bots, as I do not play against beginner ones. I usually like to play a custom game to try new things or just to pass some time when I can't really play normals (eg, when I don't have enough time to or just don't feel like it) and I put bots on the enemy team to make a little bit more of a challenge. Well, after the last update to their AI, they have become gradually dumber as the patches go on. For starters, they've forgot how to use most summoner spells besides heal, exhaust and ignite - and even when using those they can be sometimes quite stupid (using ignite when all they needed was a basic attack, for instance).

Secondly, I LOVED it when you guys "taught" them how to combo. It was nice seeing Annie bot pulling off those flash tibbers combos for instance, or lux bot 100-0 someone with her full combo as well. Right now, they can't even do that. Annie bot started using tibbers randomly, mostly just to secure kills (instead of beginning the combo with it), and I haven't seen lux bot combo in ages. It is worth mentioning that some bots still use their respective combos (Cassiopeia for instance, or Zilean).

Third, what about their builds? They seriously need to be updated. It's annoying watching graves bot rush bloodthirster as if it was still core on him. Or kog'maw bot building trinity force when it's not even good on him anymore. ;(

Fourth, they don't have masteries. I'm pretty sure they did have masteries in the past, but they don't anymore. It's feels like they could do much better if they did, it would also make them much stronger and cooler overall. I'd really like bots to be both more human and a little bit more challenging.

Fifth, their behaviors are weird overall. They go in and retreat in a way that looks pretty random sometimes. Sometimes if you are standing in low health right besides them they will ignore you for no apparent reason and other times they will ignite, exhaust and use every single ability they have just to kill a 10% health Caitlyn. And they can't siege, they will just stand there doing nothing by the tower if there's at least one enemy champion standing there, too afraid to attack the tower or dive them. Their pathing also has some problems - if they are in the second tower of mid and they want to go to the inhibitor tower of top, they will go down the lane back and forth while taking hits from the mid lane tower until they die, instead of just going through the jungle. Oh, Shyvana bot also randomly dives into the enemy base until she dies for no reason (I've only seen Shyvana bot do this, I can't say about the other ones)

Lastly but not least, Sona bot is deactivated from custom games ever since her rework. I remember she got back for some time but then was deactivated once again. Will she ever come back? And also, will Riot ever make more bots? It'll be nice if there was, say, a Jinx bot or a Zac bot, which I think are simple enough to code and it'll bring different options for Coop vs AI lovers or just people who play customs, like me. c:

I hope someone from Riot reads this and answers some of my questions and suggestions! And English isn't my native language, so sorry for any mistakes.

45 Comments

LuluInWonderland12/8/2015, 6:20:54 PM18 votes

Agreed. Bots seem to be broken right now. Many haven't been updated for the champion changes so they just act weird. They also don't know what they are doing most of the time...dying to turrets for no reason or walking back and forth non-stop doing nothing.

Biff Manly12/8/2015, 10:04:32 PM11 votes

Malphite Bot still uses his Ult as an escape more often than he hits people with it. http://i.imgur.com/51Rubdx.jpg

livefreordiebard12/8/2015, 7:20:02 PM10 votes

I believe that bots are a great tool for trying out new things without worrying about other players interfering. It is the closest thing Riot has to sandbox mode. They need to either update the bots or give us a sandbox mode.

Chroyo12/9/2015, 12:18:34 AM6 votes

[deleted]

Stillname12/8/2015, 10:24:01 PM6 votes

Does Soraka Bot still randomly stand still when she gets to about half health? I always assumed it was because she was trying to cast w on herself but she couldn't anymore so it broke her.

AnArousedCactus12/9/2015, 4:03:41 PM4 votes

I made a very similiar thread about the AI in bot games not even a week ago. They're very exploitable.

http://boards.na.leagueoflegends.com/en/c/gameplay-balance/vvMnYQIH-rewrite-rammus-bots-ai

They also did away with them warding efficiently maybe a year ago. Once the trinkets came out every bot was warding bushes instead of facechecking. That alone made them harder to fight and made newbies realize the importance of warding. When I went over to PvP I immediately saw that the PvP players were warding consistently in every game. But they removed that feature overnight and now the only bot that wards is Jax and only to hop away from a fight.

There's also the factor where the bots no longer use flash nor do they use teleport. Two years ago they were programmed to use these spells. They didn't use flash 100% effectively but they used it. And teleport they would always teleport into a lane and sometimes those teleports were pretty clutch for the AI team. If not they got back to lane faster and they didn't get outleveled as heavily as the ones who didn't take it. Reprogram them to use these spells again.

HexaDecimel12/8/2015, 8:43:58 PM4 votes

I remember when bots use to be a bit more blood thirsty, chasing players under turrets to get a kill then flashing to safety. I really do wish that they could make another level of difficulty that still tries to simulate a real match. I would also love to see some new champions added to the current pool of bots.

RisenDarkKnight12/8/2015, 9:35:48 PM4 votes

If they dont' want to work on the bots ai, they should just add doom boots again. I found doom bots to be a fun game mode, and I'm sure reading that would be easier than trying to code better ai. Just because the bots are cheating doesn't mean it isn't fun.

euJHINius12/8/2015, 10:14:37 PM3 votes

I also noticed that they won't continue their item builds at a certain point. Once they pretty much get full item slots, they don't build anything else.

KoKoboto12/8/2015, 10:55:46 PM3 votes

Yeah when bots build sightstone but never ward, when boughts buy dorans shield and never sell it

  • give bots masteries
Brightful12/8/2015, 10:00:36 PM2 votes

yeah, in tt i was playing a game a long while ago with and against bots and i put our soraka on intermediate. throughout the game she would stand in one place near the middle of the lanes for a long time and eventually die because another bot would come and kill her. she'd react a short while after losing health but would be dead by then

also beginner bot master yi got a quadra and another as intermediate rito nerf yi pls

Taarki12/8/2015, 11:45:08 PM2 votes

I played a game against the intermediate bots and every time I would go ANYWHERE near the minions, the bots would all charge me, missing their own CS. They would follow me anywhere as long as I stayed within a certain distance of them. Once I lured them from their turret all the way to mine.

Ariel the Cruel12/8/2015, 7:59:25 PM2 votes

They've been gradually contracting bot AI out to the Dominion and TT players.

BLU Medic12/9/2015, 9:02:41 AM2 votes

Please make them ward again! The only bot who wards is Jax, and that's only to hop around. He barely even does that any more.

Also Ryze Bot has been using Q incorrectly since his rework.

AnArousedCactus12/9/2015, 4:05:29 PM2 votes

Oh and the bots buy green wards still. Where is the secret access shop that still sells those because I want some of those green wards.

Matezoide12/9/2015, 5:26:37 AM1 votes

Bots need a complete rework.

MakersF12/9/2015, 6:28:27 AM1 votes

If in some way they get ahead (I had once a feeder who gave 3 kills to shivana), they litterally suicide to the tower to give you the kill. Shivana "dove" me when I was full hp at level 3 taking like 4 tower shots. Her minions where not even near the turret.

That is really bad, really give the impression that you can not lose a bot even if you try to!

They also have terrible focus, like using all the ultis on a tank or on a full HP champ, when they have a fed low life champ near.

As well as running when they have like 15% hp, but the enemy is just 1 AA away to being killed.

Their CS suck as well.

Blue Moon Wolf12/9/2015, 6:57:06 AM1 votes

I was ganking a had a Shyvana bot and was between her and her base. suddenly she started running for our turret and got killed by it... I don't know what is worse, the fact I know it was caused by a programed response to run from a strong enemy or that the AI is too stupid to run for the jungle instead of tower diving to get away from me. It's season 3-4 Brand bot tower diving bug(?) all over again :L

Michael Sykes12/10/2015, 2:27:25 PM1 votes

Some AI's for newer champs would be nice (after they fixed the existing ones)

DREADN0UGHT12/9/2015, 12:53:36 PM1 votes

I just played the new poppy vs bots and I did indeed feel like their were completely clueless. Just going ack and forth around me with no intent of fighting.

3ofGot40ve12/9/2015, 3:52:15 PM1 votes

I personally would like to see some high level bots that are actually hard to play against (E.g. Pro or expert ones) IDK if that's possible but I think it would be fun.

Aezanthya12/8/2015, 11:05:08 PM1 votes

Bot should have 37/37/37 masteries imo

DeathcapShaco12/9/2015, 4:20:40 AM1 votes

I remember when fiddle bot actually knew how to combo and was oddly scary.

Bots indeed seem a lot worse currently.

MrSlowDie12/9/2015, 5:19:13 AM1 votes

yep I never seen bot use TP, or flash. I haven't seen them diving tower again, I quite remember they did it back then.

annie flash ult? I didn't even know if she can do that. I think the bots just.. miserable. Bots' purpose is to teach new players right? How can they teach someone if they are just this weak? Bots should know some popular techniques, so new players can learn it then apply it. It will help new players even more in preparing to play normal