So, I just had my first colony end due to frickin' alphabeavers- I think the mistake was to set the colonists to engage instead of run away. Just curious what settings other people use and why.
I use default which is I think is flee. If you catch the flee icon when a predator decides to attack then you could drop a meal if your pawn is carrying one.. This helps sometimes as the predator may choose the meal instead if he can't reach your pawn in time. Thats a more about luck really. Not only that, you can draft them and choose a safer route to take and hopefully get other pawns to intervene before/during the attack.
I draft and shoot down any groups of animals for hunting unless they're slow. The whole fight or flee state doesn't matter that much when a whole group decides to turn on you which is what usually happens with those pesky beavers.
I set all melee to fight, all ranged to flee.
I set them to fight because fleeing is almost never helpful in RW under any circumstances. Almost anything your pawn might be fleeing from is bound to be faster than them, and they often don't notice that they're in danger until it's right on top of them. They might as well at least try to punch whatever it is a few times, rather than get hit in the back futilely trying to walk away.
I find the fleeing AI is terrible; I'd rather set them to ignore if I have to.
I will typically have pawns set to defend themselves
Out in the field, fight is likely better.
Back at home, where Joel is going berserk for the 10th time because he doesn't like his bedroom? Just flee. Please don't fire miniguns indoors.
Fight is only useful if the pawn got a good weapon/armor and can survive a mellee fight for any predator on your map.
Otherwhile he might fight something and you don't notice and is mosttimes incap. or eaten.
So ignore is very good for fast moving pawn, when rarely anything can catch them.
Then fleeing is the best overall choise.
Fleeing pawns move faster than normal, actually giving them a chance to escape, assuming they can get to safety in time. It's a dice roll either way, as pawns set to attack will get one or two shots off at most. I prefer flee, as it usually gives the pawn a head start that may allow you to guide them to safety in time.