ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

This is slightly spoilerish, so if you haven't gotten to the end and don't want to be spoiled, then please stop reading

The difficulty of the final fight can vary considerably depending on who Aeryn decides to attack. Specifically, it seems that if Aeryn attacks Elandar first, then the fight is much, much harder than if she attacks Argoniel. Of course, the best strategy may be different for different characters--and may vary throughout the fight (and also depends on who the sorcerers attack, of course)--so I propose that the player be able to communicate and coordinate with Aeryn. For instance, I think the player ought to be able to tell Aeryn to:

(1) Attack!
(2) Attack Argoniel
(3) Attack Elandar
(4) Protect yourself

where (1) is what she currently does, (2) she tries to target Argoniel (and if she switches to target something else that is hurting her, try to switch back to Argoniel soon), (3) is like the previous, but with Elendar, and (4) she tries to, you know, not die

Sounds like a good idea.

That being said, a first-time player probably won't know which one is which. It'd be a good idea to make their roles clear. For example, change the options to:

1) Thank you, my lady. We'll take them together!
2) Elandar has the Staff; take him down first!
3) Focus on the swordsman Argoniel!
4) Thank you, my lady, but (the Sunwall needs you more / you have suffered so much already). Please, let me bear the brunt of their assault.

I'm all for the more role-playerish theme to the commands, but I just don't see Aeryn going for option 4. Actually should option 4 be needed? Doesn't the tactical AI already prioritize healing and self-preservation when getting close to death? Or shouldn't it?

Another possible option is to ask Aeryn to move to specified spot: "He's over there!"

I see this as being similar to the kind of control you have with escorts, where each command has a cooldown on it.

This is a really good idea.

do it