Can Developers please make the change so units (and buildings) will not attack farms until manually targeted? I’ve seen so many times army dissipate to attack only farms or raids ineffective because units attack farms instead of villagers or military push halted because infantry attack farm instead of archer standing 2 tiles away.
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Yes. This is a simple and beneficial idea.
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think its a great idea!
Or even better, make it so farms always have the lowest priority among the possible targets, so the units will only start attacking farms if there is nothing else left.
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As far as i know this is already the case. I have atleast seen my light cav prioritizing TC’s over farms, not sure about other buildings (but i think they have least priority)
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I’d prefer no target at all, it would help controlling army while moving through enemy’s base rubble 
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This will be very helpful.
At least make the siege weapons not auto-target them.
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Yeah, I like to use enemy farms after destroying their base, so that would be most helpful.
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totally agree.
What i do to avoid attacking farms when i want to move my army is use the feature they added, you press Alt+left click and if u by accident targert a farm only will make an move comand until u target a unit.
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Agree on this +1
Attacking farms is literally pointless unless you have nothing else to attack
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This would be easy enough, by forcing diplomacy towards all enemy farms into “neutral”. I would like this in AoE1:DE as well!
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Where is all the outrage from players worried about changing a mechanic that has been in place for 20 years, and how it will close the gap between average players and good or elite players? Seems like this idea falls directly in-line with the worry for other suggestions that have been made the past year that are like, “If you’re not good enough to micro your units regarding this, then you’re where you belong in the ESO rankings.” Why level the playing field by holding the hands of average players?
I mean, I personally wouldn’t mind the change… but based on other ideas that aren’t well-received, I wonder how this one is so well-received.
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I don’t think this, particularly, has something to do with elite or non-elite players. To point and click is not that hard, really, specially if sensitivity is basically the same as in Windows. It’s more like an “under pressure” thing, that makes players just attack and not center their fire in specific targets.
A lot of resistance in the past has been for that very thing: pointing-and-clicking. Whether it be auto-scouting, auto-farm reseeding, or sheep as cartographers… when you boil things down, all the game is is a lot of pointing-and-clicking. If you automate, change, or enhance any element of those points-and-clicks, you’re messing with a game formula that has existed for 20 years and will affect someone. Some for the positive, some for the negative. I’ve seen and sensed a lot of ideas are shunned due to the impact it has on long-standing gameplay traditions and expectations. Regarding this thread’s idea, elite players will know to micro their units/buildings to avoid or minimize farm attacks. Non-elite players will end up wasting time attacking farms. So, by not having to micro this aspect, non-elite players will have one less thing to learn or worry about.
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Alt-click instead of just clicking
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I was wondering that as well. Some peeps just seem to not want anything changed. everything is perfect and nothing should be changed.
The OPs concept has been received so well here, but im doubtful it will change if the elite balance team doesn’t care for it…
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@Darkness01101 As someone against the points you mentioned, I find it rather disingenuous to reduce different mechanics down to trivial clicking. Totally ignoring the further impact they might have on the game.
I am in favor of OP’s suggestion, for the reason that units targeting farms to the degree we currently see seems to be a DE thing.
When I first started playing this game It was something I immediately noticed, if you send out a lategame scout raid they would kill a few vills and then be stuck hitting farms or lumbercamps.
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Yes, the AI isn’t ideal yet here nor it is in Age of Empires 1: DE. In classic first person shooters, AI tends to attack enemies depending on their priority, as of “more dangerous/less dangerous”.
Thus:
Buildings that produce 0 military units are mostly/generally harmless, and should have by default the lowest priority.
I think that farms definitely need to be dropped down in priority. There isn’t much more frustrating than seeing your rams attacking farms instead of the TC or the military buildings that are still spitting units out.
That being said, I agree that they should be attacked if nothing else is left. I don’t want my enemy going baCk to the farms if the attack stalls out.
1 Like