Hi everyone!

A few versions ago, bots learned to move better, to pick their covers more wisely, and to find the best time for reloading. But their training didn’t stop there.

Bots will get even smarter with the 0.22.1 update. The main goal of all these changes is to improve their visual perception and make them feel more "alive".

Now, bots will not only pick their covers more wisely, but interact with them tactically as well. They will also start peeking from behind covers to detect players and fire at them from safety.

There are two types of covers: high and low. Depending on the cover type, the bots will be able to peek from a number of sides: two for the former and three for the latter.

While behind a cover, a bot chooses to do one of three possible actions, depending on the circumstances:

1. If a bot doesn’t see an enemy for a while, they will cautiously peek out from behind their cover. All bots except for Heavy Fighters can do this.

2. If a bot notices an enemy, they will start firing at them from behind their cover, while exposing themselves to retaliatory fire to balance things out. Again, all bots except for Heavy Fighters can do this.

The bots can also "spray and pray"—fire blindly, in other words. They will hold out their weapon from behind the cover and hold the trigger, firing with an increased spread. Only bots that use automatic weapons can do this.

Bots begin to spray and pray if an enemy gets too close, or if too many bullets fly near them.

The mission designers may make it possible for other types of bots to spray and pray. They also may correct the usage frequency of this type of firing as well. We will keep you posted!

Some missions have cars that the bots can ride in. Right now, bots simply spawn next to a vehicle after it has reached the intended destination. It looks pretty weird, so we’ve decided to improve this.

And this isn’t just a visual improvement, either! The bots will be physically seated in the car, so it’ll be possible to eliminate them before they get out.

A new mechanic has been added to one of the missions on the Al-Rabad map. If players can eliminate the bot driver to force the car to stop, the rest of the bots will get out and engage them in battle immediately.

We plan on gradually implementing this mechanic in other missions as well. As always, we will post the results on our official site and social media accounts.

See you on the battlefield!