TIPS: Mixing standard NPC's into custom groups

Started by BlueBard, May 29, 2009, 04:11:42 PM

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BlueBard

For those of you who didn't realize you could do this, it is possible to add standard NPC's to custom groups.  Aside from any other considerations, standard NPC's don't consume as much of your mission file.

You have to create the custom group first, which means that you have to create at least one custom character as a member of this group.  Once you've populated your group, you should be able to remove this custom character if you want but I haven't tested this yet.

At the time of this writing, it is best if you create ALL of the custom characters you're going to put in this group before putting in any of the standard NPC's.  The reason for this is, if you add in a custom after you add in standards, and you didn't save your group after you added the standards, all of the standards you just added disappear.  This is very annoying, especially after the third time or so.

If you need to add in a custom after you've added standard NPC's, save your group before you do.

You can add any NPC to more than one group, but they will always belong to the base group they were created in.  For custom characters, you can edit them to move them to a new base group if need be.
STO/CO: @bluegeek

Viking

Here's another tip on adding standard NPC's to custom groups:

Remember that custom enemies scale from levels 1 through 54, while most standard NPC's have a fixed level range.  This can have unintended consequences if you're trying to craft an arc for lower-level characters.

For example: in one of my arcs, "Cutthroat Competition," (ID 10171), I have a mission that is supposed to add some custom enemies to the regular Circle of Thorns lineup.  I chose to make a Custom Group that I named "Circle of Thorns".  (Yes, it does seem possible to give a custom group the same name as a standard group.)  Since my arc was geared towards the level 15-20 range, I inserted all of the standard CoT enemies in that range, as well as my custom enemies.

Then I ran the arc with my level 50 Brute.  When I got to the mission in question, I was only finding my custom enemies, and none of the regular CoT.  I then realized that since I was running the arc with a high level character, the mission was selecting only those enemies from my custom group that would meet my level.  Namely, my custom enemies.

Ultimately, if you make a group that is a blend of custom and standard enemies, you may need to force the mission to spawn at the level you want.  Fortunately, they should be making this easier in Issue 15 - there should be a tool that allows you to designate what levels your missions should run at.  Until then, you can also artificially limit the level of a mission by inserting a boss or ally that only spawns within a certain level range.