410ce134fe
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DESIGN PHILOSOPHY: We prioritize STABILITY, PERFORMANCE, AND
PREDICTABILITY over behavioral realism.
Every action and decision executes PER BOT AND PER TRIGGER. Small
increases in logic complexity scale
poorly across thousands of bots and negatively affect all. We prioritize
a stable system over a smarter
one. Bots don't need to behave perfectly; believable behavior is the
goal, not human simulation.
Default behavior must be cheap in processing; expensive behavior must be
opt-in.
Before submitting, make sure your changes aligns with these principles.
-->
## Pull Request Description
<!-- Describe what this change does and why it is needed -->
The current strategy for Onyxia causes bots to get hit by her breath
attack relatively consistently during phase 2.
The problem was that the safe zone coordinates always use the bot's
z-coordinate. If the bots are standing at the lower altitude part of the
arena, `SearchForBestPath` inside `MoveTo` causes `INVALID_HEIGHT`,
resulting in the bot not moving at all and getting hit by the breath
attack.
This PR fixes this behavior by using the actual terrain z-coordinates
for the predefined safe zones instead of always using the bot's
z-coordinate. These values are chosen to ensure valid pathfinding
regardless of the bot's current elevation.
Additionally, bots now interrupt their spells if they are not inside a
safe zone during the breath. This causes the bots to immediately start
running instead of finishing their casts first.
## Feature Evaluation
<!--
If your PR is very minimal (comment typo, wrong ID reference, etc), and
it is very obvious it will not have
any impact on performance, you may skip these question. If necessary, a
maintainer may ask you for them later.
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<!-- Please answer the following: -->
- Describe the **minimum logic** required to achieve the intended
behavior.
Replaced the use of `bot->GetPositionZ()` in `GetSafeZonesForBreath`
with predefined safe zone z-coordinates to ensure valid pathfinding.
Added `AttackStop` and `InterruptNonMeleeSpells` to guarantee immediate
movement when outside safe zones.
No additional condition checks or branching logic were introduced.
- Describe the **processing cost** when this logic executes across many
bots.
Minimal. The logic only runs within the Onyxia encounter script and
calling `AttackStop` and `InterruptNonMeleeSpells` should be negligible.
## How to Test the Changes
<!--
- Step-by-step instructions to test the change.
- Any required setup (e.g. multiple players, number of bots, specific
configuration).
- Expected behavior and how to verify it.
-->
Enter Onyxia's Lair (10, 25 or 40 (mod-individual-progression)) and
engage Onyxia with the appropriate number of bots.
During phase 2 (Onyxia takes off), check if the bots move to the safe
zones during the breath attack.
Tip: Mark Onyxia as moon (RTI), so that phase 2 doesn't end too quickly.
## Impact Assessment
<!-- As a generic test, before and after measure of pmon (playerbot pmon
tick) can help you here. -->
- Does this change increase per-bot/per-tick processing or risk scaling
poorly with thousands of bots?
- - [ ] No, not at all
- - [x] Minimal impact (**explain below**)
- - [ ] Moderate impact (**explain below**)
The calls of `AttackStop` and `InterruptNonMeleeSpells` cause minimal
overhead compared to the original strategy. This should be negligible.
- Does this change modify default bot behavior?
- - [ ] No
- - [x] Yes (**explain why**)
Yes (encounter-specific). Bots will now interrupt casts earlier during
Onyxia phase 2 to prioritize movement to safe zones.
- Does this change add new decision branches or increase maintenance
complexity?
- - [x] No
- - [ ] Yes (**explain below**)
## AI Assistance
<!--
AI assistance is allowed, but all submitted code must be fully
understood, reviewed, and owned by the contributor.
We expect contributors to be honest about what they do and do not
understand.
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Was AI assistance used while working on this change?
- - [x] No
- - [ ] Yes (**explain below**)
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If yes, please specify:
- Purpose of usage (e.g. brainstorming, refactoring, documentation, code
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- Which parts of the change were influenced or generated, and whether it
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<!--
TRANSLATIONS:
Anything new that the bots say in chat must be in a translatable format.
This is done using GetBotTextOrDefault,
which you can search for in the codebase to find examples. Your code
needs to have English as the default fallback,
while the full translations need to be in an SQL update file. The
languages in the file are the nine language
options supported by AzerothCore: English, Korean, French, German,
Chinese, Taiwanese, Spanish, Spanish Mexico, and
Russian. See
data/sql/playerbots/updates/2025_12_27_ai_playerbot_fishing_text.sql as
an example of a translation SQL
update, whose content are called within the codebase at
src/strategy/actions/FishingAction.cpp
-->
## Final Checklist
- - [x] Stability is not compromised.
- - [x] Performance impact is understood, tested, and acceptable.
- - [x] Added logic complexity is justified and explained.
- - [x] Any new bot dialogue lines are translated.
- - [x] Documentation updated if needed (Conf comments, WiKi commands).
## Notes for Reviewers
<!-- Anything else that's helpful to review or test your pull request.
-->
The strategy for Onyxia might need additional work:
For example, the Onyxian Lair Guards are completely ignored while whelps
are alive and their Blast Nova doesn't get handled at all.
This PR focuses on fixing the Deep Breath behavior. Handling of Onyxian
Lair Guards is not included and should be implemented in a separate PR.
Playerbots Module
mod-playerbots is an AzerothCore module that adds player-like bots to a server. The project is based off IKE3's Playerbots.
Features include:
- The ability to log in alt characters as bots, allowing players to interact with their other characters, form parties, level up, and more
- Random bots that wander through the world, complete quests, and otherwise behave like players, simulating the MMO experience
- Bots capable of running most raids and battlegrounds
- Highly configurable settings to define how bots behave
- Excellent performance, even when running thousands of bots
We also have a Discord server where you can discuss the project, ask questions, and get involved in the community!
Installation
Supported platforms are Ubuntu, Windows, and macOS. Other Linux distributions may work, but may not receive support.
Important: All
mod-playerbotsinstallations require a custom fork of AzerothCore: mod-playerbots/azerothcore-wotlk (Playerbot branch). The standard AzerothCore repository will not work.
Quick Start
git clone https://github.com/mod-playerbots/azerothcore-wotlk.git --branch=Playerbot
cd azerothcore-wotlk/modules
git clone https://github.com/mod-playerbots/mod-playerbots.git --branch=master
Then build the server following the platform-specific instructions in our Installation Guide.
Testing branch: A
test-stagingbranch is available with the latest features and fixes before they are merged intomaster. To use it, clone with--branch=test-staginginstead. Note that this branch may contain unstable or breaking changes — use it at your own risk and only if you are comfortable troubleshooting issues.
Detailed Guides
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| Installation Guide | Full step-by-step instructions for clean installs, migrating from existing AzerothCore, Docker setup, adding modules, and updating |
| Troubleshooting | Solutions to the most common build errors, database issues, configuration mistakes, crashes, and platform-specific problems |
For additional references, see the AzerothCore Installation Guide and Installing a Module pages.
Documentation
The Playerbots Wiki contains an extensive overview of AddOns, commands, raids with programmed bot strategies, and recommended performance configurations. Please note that documentation may be incomplete or out-of-date in some sections, and contributions are welcome.
Bots are controlled via chat commands. For larger bot groups, this can be cumbersome. Because of this, community members have developed client AddOns to allow controlling bots through the in-game UI. We recommend you check out their projects listed in the AddOns and Submodules page.
Contributing
This project is still under development. We encourage anyone to make contributions, anything from pull requests to reporting issues. If you encounter any errors or experience crashes, we encourage you report them as GitHub issues. Your valuable feedback will help us improve this project collaboratively.
If you make coding contributions, mod-playerbots complies with the C++ Code Standards established by AzerothCore. Each Pull Request must include all test scenarios the author performed, along with their results, to demonstrate that the changes were properly verified.
We recommend joining the Discord server to make your contributions to the project easier, as a lot of active support is carried out through this server.
Please click on the "⭐" button to stay up to date and help us gain more visibility on GitHub!
Acknowledgements
mod-playerbots is based on ZhengPeiRu21/mod-playerbots and celguar/mangosbot-bots. We extend our gratitude to @ZhengPeiRu21 and @celguar for their continued efforts in maintaining the module.
Also, a thank you to the many contributors who've helped build this project: