"Disposable" combat colonists.

[ChJees]

I wouldn't mind some kind of armour bot. Like you can move it about quickly and it can deploy 2 'wings' to provide 3 cover spots. Moving cover basically.

That would be cool. it could even have a mini turret that deploys when it goes stationary too. But its primary purpose would be supremely tanky cover. Probably expensive too since I imagine it to be end game content.

Movable cover could be neat. Maybe let a pawn equip a shield as weapon that pawns around them can shoot behind.

[Cimm0]

Some parts of Rimworld need to stay risky to keep that survival feeling in the game, I think the idea of danger that you can't avoid is one of them.

Some things about combat everyone already knows:

- Don't send crafting etc. specialists in combat because of risk of injury.
- Send the "average" guys instead and train them by making them hunt and force-shoot things.
- Make helmets and body armor.
- Use cover and environment.
- Use firepower in a smart way and without thinking of costs - mortar them until they attack, fire miniguns at groups, use accurate fire against important point targets like raiders with launchers etc.
- Even use rocket launchers as a last resort against overwhelming groups...or as a first strike if they stay put in a tightly packed group.
- If possible, gather fire against smaller groups near the edge of the enemy area and eliminate a part of the attacking force this way. Repeat if possible until they attack.
- Always retreat when you face a tough situation, fighting is easier from better positions and against less enemies.
- Cover retreat with shield guys who stay behind for a short time to act as targets, retreat them too when the other guys are in better positions.
- Make killboxes and traps (this is probably the safest option).

The life of average guy is hard and probably consists of permanent injuries. Therefore you should think of "average" as "not 100% effective because of injuries but useful to the colony".

[RawCode]

real issue is excess randomness of combat, you may oneshot 10 raiders sitting behind cover, or got pwned by single muffalo, that oneshot your colonists instead.

[mumblemumble]

See, I think a bot RIGHT NOW would be bad, as it would be superior to pawns in every way for combat

Lets compare to xcom, briefly, since it was already mentioned

Soldiers in xcom have the following.
PROS:
-Relatively cheap for hire, 10$ a unit. Equipment is cheap too, since you can share it too.
-Can use ladders, devices, items, ect
-Have arguably better aim, maneuverability, and stats sometimes. Can also use items, cover, and have all kinds of skills...are arguably better and more versatile.
-Top tier soldiers are incredibly versatile and important, and are essential components of your teams. The sheer versatility of a top level soldier was far beyond that of a robots ability to adapt and be flexible.
-Training someone up is very satisfying, imo
CONS:
-generally more feeble than robots. They can suffer injury and damage more easily, are prone to poison, fire, and are far more vulnerable from flanking strikes.
-Panic prone,  a panicing heavily armed soldier, or mind controlled one is VERY dangerous, and could turn a perfectly calm scenario into a shit show in an instance.
-Take time to train, and due to this, losing one is a very hard blow. Even more so if they have really good stats which is rare. Quite simply, losing a good warrior goes beyond resources, its lost time, and lost investment.
-Also, because it takes time to train, rookie troops are almost useless at first, and you need to manage getting them experience.

SHIV, Alloy SHIV, Hover shiv...
PROS:
-Can be produced in a few DAYS, and operates 100% on day 1.
-Always perform exactly the same. No need to train, soon as it comes out, its running perfect. No worries about if one you produce is crappy compared to the last one.
-Relatively high aim for EVERY SINGLE ONE. Never have to worry if one is a crappy shot, as they are always manufactured identical.
-No panic, or mind control risk, as its circuitry, not a fragile human mind.
-Far higher default defense, which means you can much more easily operate in an area with less than optimal, or no cover.
-Because they don't panic, don't need training, and don't cause panic if killed, using one in ballsy maneuvers is far more likely to be an option. This ability to be ballsy is actually really great, since you can be FAR more aggressive, using a bot for a point-man, while others move in much deeper than they could normally. You can also kill targets much easier being ballsy, and one getting trashed isn't as bad as a soldier dying.
CONS:
-Bot can move, shoot, and do suppression fire.... ...and thats it. Dont get me wrong, they are good, but besides tanking, and shooting stuff, its not very flexible in what it can do. It cannot use items, cover, do special skills, ladders... They are objectively less flexible and adaptable.
-Bots are BLOODY EXPENSIVE to produce in terms of raw materials. An alloy SHIV (first one which is worth it) is a few HUNDRED DOLLARS while a hover SHIV is around 3-4 hundred (?) per unit. Might be wrong on exact numbers, but between the cash, and the alloys used to make them, they are a HEFTY cost.
-Even with the good stats they might have, they are sometimes outdone bv their organic counterparts. Because of this, they are a bit limited.
-Overall, incredibly simple for combat, they are good at what they do, but don't have the flexibility, abilities, or tools to deal with combat like humans can.

As you can see, there's a dynamic where, in xcom, SHIVS had a HUGE advantage in many ways, but also are outdone in many aspacts.... and my worry is, combat, and specifically, COMBAT ABILITIES for humans do not have all the little quirks and effects that they do in xcom, and I fear any combat robots would just be superior to pawns in every single way.

I mean, pawns don't have much special combat abilities, its just a shooting / melee cycle...but they can bleed, lose limbs, get infections, ect... .....annnnnnnnnd what could you possibly LOSE with a bot, in combat compared to humans? Seems humans would be inferior in so many ways, any possible advantages wouldn't be worth it.

Before they would be added, I would hope human pawns would have a bit more complex combat prowess. Abilities, special skills, ect... Granted you could just make them obscenely expensive, but that might defeat the point.

[adtrl]

I wouldn't mind seeing buildable combat drones/clones (like starwars) ^_^

Also, for those colonists who can't shoot the broad side of the barn (trigger happy), or those who take to long but can hit the broad side of the barn (careful shooter). I just made my own trait, trained shooter so they shoot faster and hit their target. (only if I can get to work, again. >_>)

[taha]

It's easy to forget that in other games, (x-com for instance) the combatants have one purpose only: combat.

Here, in RW, you have a bunch of civilians trying farm, craft, cook, build and sometimes fight.
Screw the colonist background, we all know that a level 20 shooting "assassin" will shoot exactly like a level 20 shooting "settler" in similar circumstances.

I don't know about other countries, but where I'm from we let the army to do the war stuff. In other words "keep civilians out of combat and let the grunts do the shooting and dying".

Too bad we cant have a dedicated force in RW to do the same. Why? Because their combat behavior will be the nothing better than the rest of the colonists. Placing "psychopath - masochist - bloodlust" people in power-armors, arming them with miniguns and keeping them asleep in cryo-pods at entrance does not make them a police force / army, you know...

And OF COURSE they drop like flies. They are CIVILIANS.

I honestly forgot when was the last time I lost a colonist to a raid. Maybe back in A10?
Not saying this to brag. However, I do believe a colony needs dedicated guards /  troops with very specific traits / skills. (Keeping the wild-west theme, a town needs a sheriff and a deputy, right?)

[Elixiar]

i don't get it. If people are so afraid of losing colonists then don't play with enemies on.

A game without any ups and downs is just boring. If you want a game in which no one gets hurt I don't have an issue with that, just stop pushing this agenda that it is somehow bad for the game that colonists can be maimed and damaged when that's the entire point.

[mumblemumble]

Actually, assassins and many others are used only for combat, so this isn't true... but it would seem a no brainer to use bots if you could...