Zyra plant AI

Intimidator·9/24/2014, 2:15:55 PM·12 votes·1,374 views

I play Zyra quite a lot both mid and support and to me it seems like the plant targeting is so unpredictable.

E.g. when you QW poke a champion then autoattack the champion the first plant shot hits the champion but often the second shot will randomly hit another target in range (even if the champion is still in range).

Also plants sometimes switch aggro from champion to minion even when continuously autoattacking said champion and the champion is in range.

Also the targeting is quite slow, when spawning a QW plant in an area without minions but a champion nearby the plant seems to hesitate before finally acquiring the only target in the area. When poking this way versus adcs they usually kill the plant without receiving damage at all. A smart player can even abuse the slow targeting by stepping in and out of range of the plant.

The plants are also happily shooting minions while other champions (in range) get aggro on Zyra. Perhaps as a balancing tool but I feel Zyra would be a bit safer if plants would stop prioritizing minions when a champion has aggro on you.

6 Comments

Deep Terror Nami9/24/2014, 2:24:42 PM4 votes

I think the plant AI prioritizes maxing the number of attacks the plant does, rather than attempting to get a specific target; so when the enemy champ moves out of plant range for a split second, the plant just goes straight to attacking something else and not refocusing the champion unless Zyra herself auto's them to direct the plant.

I do agree it should prioritize and focus enemy champions better, even at the loss of total number of attacks (stupid thing is just going to steal CS anyway).

Intimidator9/24/2014, 2:35:23 PM2 votes

It almost seems if like the plants periodically just targets something and shoot and if it can't find a suitable target then it skips that shot and wait for the next cycle to retarget and shoot. Perhaps some Rioter can comment on this?

If my assumption is correct then perhaps the targeting interval can be lowered and be kept separate from the shot interval so the next shot will be ready with a fresh target.

Awesome Bowler9/24/2014, 4:36:19 PM2 votes

Can I include Annie's Tibbers here as well. When you summon tibbers right next ot an enemy champ, he just stands ther euntil you instruct him to attack. This is very pointless. Perhaps there should be an AA function like Heimer on the pets that various champs summon.

Hex the FenFen12/22/2014, 3:40:49 AM2 votes

Coming back to this after a while, I have noticed something irritating about Zyra's plants. I have seen my Thorn Spitter attack minions from a really long range, but when it starts attacking an enemy champion and they get to that long range, the plant stops attacking and sits there. I have no idea why it does this but it is irksome. There have been times where i will spawn a plant under a champ and the plant will never attack

Intimidator9/25/2014, 8:08:55 AM1 votes

Didn't notice it on Annie since I rarely play her. Perhaps other pets like Yorick's ghouls have the same targeting issues. I feel like Heimer's turrets are much smarter than the other pets (maybe because he was reworked?)

Hex the FenFen12/11/2014, 8:31:37 PM1 votes

her plants can be very stupid some times lol it bothers me too