Are we sure we really do understand the DS games' AI?

[Espinosa]

I've previously expressed concern about Luke randomly prioritizing Ryan over low defence Fighter MU in the FE3 DS tier list a while back. Ryan also gets hit by Fighters in P-3 if exposed to them even with the lower defence guys available, possibly indicating that even in the DS games whether or not your units can counter matters.

I was recently trying to grasp the 9/10-turn strategy of beating H5's chapter 1 and noticed the AI will sometimes go after Jeigan to deal 7 damage (not KOing) instead of dealing 8 damage against a Cav who has a sword equipped (this might be the explanation but the general idea expressed is that the AI only cares about the damage it inflicts in a single turn).

And I guess everyone knows that if the AI can KO, the KOing enemy will go first regardless of the usual order of actions.

More is most likely observable when carefully observing what's going on (no skip enemy phase) and not playing too casually/slowly where these things don't matter and aren't as common.

[Aircalipoor]

I assume that it is the crit rate. Enemies skl variies. If the crit rate is 2+, then the enemy may prioritize the target over someone who would get more damage. This could be the reason for attacking Ryan instead of MU. The fighters have sometimes 5 crit. They would target Ryan (3 Lck) instead of MU (4 Lck). Or Luke in P-2, who has 4-5 crit and faces a low HP-Def MU. With 5 crit, he will target 3 Lck Ryan if MU has 4 Lck. With 4 crit he will attack MU.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Aircalipoor

[Espinosa]

Right, I forgot that explanation. I guess that also explains why Jeigan would be targeted instead of another Cav - because a crit would KO him when weakened. I'll pay attention to this and see if I can manipulate the AI further with this knowledge.

[Gryz]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the enemy takes critical chance into consideration. In Lunatic chapter 3, the ballistae (5 crit) will target Bord (1 luck, 5 def) instead of Linde (8 luck, 2 def). Also, my memory is a bit hazy, but I seem to recall the Lunatic chapter 1 Bandits switching their preference between Marth and General Arran - which might have depended on whether the Bandits had 1 or 2 crit on Arran.

I think hit rate may also play a role if it drops below a certain point (perhaps 50%). I recall a Hard mode Meteor Sorcerer targeting Ogma instead of a lower-Res Cord. I think this happened due to Cord getting avoid boosts from Ogma and Barst.