question about cover

[onarum]

Hey, just started playing the game and I can't quite understand how cover works, like when you draft them and tell them to attack an enemy do they automatically seek available cover or do I have to manually place them behind cover?

[tommytom]

Drafted mode is "dumb mode", basically.
They will do absolutely nothing other than melee/shoot when in range or what you tell that to (besides eat, sleep, and othe rnon-military stuff). They never move from tiles (unless on fire). They can only lean or reach for adjacent tiles.

[Silvador]

Drafted = direct/manual control. Tell them to go somewhere and they will do their best to get on the tile you have instructed them to stand on. They'll automatically attack with their equipped weapon if something hostile comes within range of it, but they will not flee when injured or chase a target. If they get set alight, you will lose control of them until they stop "panicking".

So, yeah, if you want to make use of cover, you need to instruct them to go stand beside a wall's corner, a sandbag, or even a slag chunk or "boulder". They'll shoot over and around things, but won't move unless instructed.

It should also be noted that if you're colonist is instructed to attack a target that is not in line of sight, they will move to where the target is in line of sight, but won't actively seek things like cover.