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[size=4][b]BetterBots — Smarter bots for Darktide Solo Play[/b][/size]

Vanilla Solo Play bots leave most of their tools unused. The game already gives them a way to fire abilities and use player-like inputs, but only a small part of that system is active by default.

BetterBots opens that system back up and adds the missing decision logic around it. The aim is simple: bots should use the abilities, grenades, blitzes, weapons, and pickups they already have in ways that make Solo Play less frustrating.

[b]Solo Play only.[/b] Darktide uses dedicated servers for public and matched games. Gameplay mods only affect locally hosted missions through [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/176]Solo Play[/url]. BetterBots does [b]not[/b] command bots in public matchmaking, public Havoc, or private duo lobbies with server-side bots.

[size=3][b]The short version[/b][/size]

[list]
[*]Bots use combat abilities instead of holding them all mission.
[*]Bots throw grenades and blitzes, including Psyker powers, Zealot knives, Arbites tools, and Ogryn rocks.
[*]Bots revive more intelligently, free netted allies, prioritize disablers when someone is pinned or grabbed, and use defensive tools before committing to danger.
[*]Bots ping elites and specials, push poxbursters, avoid sleeping daemonhosts, and stop chasing distant specials quite so eagerly.
[*]Bots carry books, respond to tagged pickups and limited command-wheel calls, and leave scarce ammo and healing for humans first.
[*]Bot profiles give you a class-diverse squad instead of the default all-veteran lineup.
[*]Almost everything new can be toggled or tuned in the mod settings.
[/list]

[size=3][b]What changes in-game[/b][/size]

[b]Abilities and blitzes[/b]

Bots can use the full combat-ability set for Veteran, Zealot, Psyker, Ogryn, Arbites, and Hive Scum. The same goes for the grenade/blitz slot: frags, kraks, smoke, fire, shock grenades, Ogryn rocks and clusters, Zealot knives, Psyker Assail/Smite/Chain Lightning, Arbites whistle/mine, and the Hive Scum tools.

The important bit is that they do not just fire everything on cooldown. Abilities have per-class rules: shouts get used under pressure, charges are aimed toward useful targets or rescues, shields and relics are treated as defensive tools, and team cooldowns are staggered so three bots do not spend overlapping abilities at the same moment.

[b]Combat behavior[/b]

BetterBots also patches several smaller behaviors that matter in actual missions:

[list]
[*]melee attacks are biased toward light/heavy/special choices that fit the target
[*]many weapon specials are used deliberately, including power weapons, chain weapons, thunder hammers, force swords, Ogryn shovels/clubs/pickaxes, rippergun bayonets, and supported shotgun special shells
[*]staff charged attacks, sustained-fire weapons, and close-range ranged weapons behave more sensibly
[*]poxbursters are pushed at close range instead of being shot beside the player
[*]daemonhosts, barrels, ledges, and hazards get extra safety handling
[*]the Arbites Cyber-Mastiff gets smarter target tags
[/list]

[b]Resources and team play[/b]

Bots can carry tomes and scriptures, pick up tagged items, deploy crates when the team can actually use them, and defer healing/ammo to humans first. If you call [font=Courier New]Need Ammo[/font] or [font=Courier New]Need Health[/font] while a bot is carrying the matching crate, that bot will drop it right away instead of waiting for a quiet moment. If you want stricter resource behavior, settings can require a human tag before bots use health stations or before they proactively take ammo, grenade refills, books, crates, and stims. [font=Courier New]For the Emperor[/font] still makes the bots a little more aggressive for a short window.

This is conservative on purpose. I would rather have bots miss a marginal pickup than take the medicae charge you needed.

[b]Bot profiles[/b]

With [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/725]Tertium 6[/url], BetterBots can run class-diverse bot squads with bot-optimized loadouts, talents, blessings, and curios. The built-in BetterBots profiles cover the original four classes; DLC-class bots come from your own Tertium 6 profiles. The defaults are meant to be durable, low-maintenance builds that bots can actually pilot.

Advanced users can edit BetterBots profiles manually. The guide is here: [url=https://github.com/hummat/BetterBots/blob/main/docs/bot/custom-profiles.md]Custom Bot Profiles[/url]. It is source editing, not an in-game editor or preset browser, so copy exact strings from the reference tables if you go down that road.

[size=3][b]Settings[/b][/size]

BetterBots is not trying to decide the one correct way to play Solo Play. The settings let you tune the broad behavior of the bots and disable pieces you dislike.

[list]
[*]behavior presets: Testing, Aggressive, Balanced, Conservative
[*]toggles for ability groups, grenades/blitzes, melee/ranged behavior, weapon specials, daemonhost safety, poxburster safety, healing deferral, ping-only health-station use, ping-only pickup use, grimoire pickup, and debug logging
[*]sliders for sprint range, chase range, ammo reserve rules, melee horde bias, player-tag response, close-melee danger, peril thresholds, and human-likeness timing
[*]profile options for bot class selection, weapon quality, survivability tier, and incoming damage reduction
[/list]

[size=3][b]Latest update[/b][/size]

[b]v1.2.4[/b]

[list]
[*]Fixed for Darktide 1.13. The patch removed the inputs BetterBots used to switch a bot into its ability or grenade slot, so the Zealot relic (Chorus), Psyker Force Field, the Arbites drone, and every grenade or blitz the bot has to take in hand first quietly stopped firing. Thanks to DiomedeBro for the report. Bots use all of them again.
[*]1.13 also removed the function BetterBots watched to see when an ability or grenade charge was spent. BetterBots listens to its replacement now, so grenade charge tracking and team cooldown staggering work again, and [font=Courier New]/bb_state[/font] shows cooldowns again.
[*]The built-in BetterBots bot profiles load again. 1.13 changed how talents are stored, so the profiles failed to load and bots fell back to their vanilla loadouts.
[*]Fixed a relic Zealot spending both charges back to back. 1.13 shortened the relic channel, and BetterBots pulled the bot back into the relic as the channel ended, which started a second one. My test bots only had one relic charge, so the tests cover this fix but no mission run has. If your relic bot still double-dips, please send me the log.
[*]The relic (and the other held abilities) no longer collides with a knife or grenade throw from the same bot. In one run the relic came about 14 seconds late because of it.
[*]Fixed bots crashing in melee after a mod hot reload ([font=Courier New]Ctrl+Shift+R[/font]). After a reload BetterBots stayed unhooked, and vanilla melee code then tripped over weapon data BetterBots normally filters out. Thanks to RussKie for the report and crash log.
[*]Checked in five Solo Play runs on Darktide 1.13.2, with BetterBots both first and last in the load order and one hot reload: no BetterBots errors or warnings. The same Nexus report mentioned a crash in the Mourningstar after 1.13. None of my runs crashed there, so if you hit it, the console log would help a lot.
[/list]

[b]v1.2.3[/b]

[list]
[*]Fixed two Ogryn animation crashes reported on Nexus: one after a Poxburster launched a bot during Rock use, and one when Gunlugger stance collided with the grenade slot.
[*]Combat abilities and grenade throws now wait for each other instead of trying to take the same slot at once. Forced unarmed states can also interrupt a grenade lock, as the game expects.
[*]Bots now let go of the grenade slot when they start reviving someone or picking something up. That collision has the same shape as the Poxburster one and happens a lot more often, so it is my best guess for anyone who was crashing every mission.
[*]Added a backstop. If a bot animation still ends up somewhere the game does not expect, BetterBots logs a warning instead of taking the whole run down with it.
[*]Checked across four Solo Play missions on Damnation with Ogryn bots running Rock and Point-Blank Barrage: no crashes, no errors, and the two abilities correctly waiting for each other. I could not get a Poxburster to launch a bot on command, though, so the original crash is fixed by reasoning rather than by reproduction. If you still hit it, please send me the log.
[/list]

[b]v1.2.2[/b]

[list]
[*]Fixed the game-update safe-hook spam reported on Nexus when bot pocketable/resource pickup support was active. The failing path was the bot pocketable-pickup update, which could read engine userdata like an ordinary Lua table after Darktide 1.12.1.
[*]Bots carrying med or ammo crates now answer [font=Courier New]Need Health[/font] / [font=Courier New]Need Ammo[/font] by dropping the matching crate when combat is quiet. If enemies are already close, they keep fighting instead of starting a vulnerable deploy sequence.
[*]Hardened several hot paths around missing engine extensions, stale pickup/healing reservations, unsafe target-facing reads, and reload/packaging edge cases. Mostly boring work. Good.
[*]Validated in a fresh Solo Play run after the fix: no BetterBots errors, no old safe-hook signature, and the pocketable-pickup path ran through a full mission segment without spamming the console.
[/list]

[b]v1.2.1[/b]

[list]
[*]Fixed close-range guns — shotguns, the Rumbler, and other close-range families — staying out when enemies are already in melee range. There is a new [i]immediate melee pressure cutoff[/i] slider (default 2.5m, range 1–6m) if that is too tight for your setup.
[*]Retuned Arbites Remote Detonation so bots spend it when the mastiff is in a real cluster — 5 enemies, 3 elites/specials, or any monster within 5m of the dog — instead of wasting it on one elite or holding because the dog drifted away from the bot's current target.
[*]Added a crash guard for the vanilla [font=Courier New]suppression.lua:344 UnitApi node failed[/font] crash MFL87 reported on Nexus. The guarded case is an attacker unit missing the [font=Courier New]enemy_aim_target_03[/font] node during minion suppression.
[*]Hardened mod cold boot and hot reload: cached [font=Courier New]hook_require[/font] installers replay correctly across reloads, and the ability metadata patch survives a Lua state reset without re-warning.
[/list]

[b]v1.2.0[/b]

[list]
[*]New tag-required pickup mode. Turn it on and bots only pick up items you have tagged, instead of hoovering everything in reach. Off by default — the original "grab opportunistically" behavior still works.
[*]New bot compensation controls. The base game silently buffs bots on coop and expedition (extra HP, toughness, an extra wound, stun immunity above Malice). The mod now lets you toggle the buff off or pick a different tier, so you can run a real squad of "no-buff" bots if you want the harder fight.
[*]Fixed bots interacting with medicaes and downed allies from way too far away. Both paths now respect the game's interaction distance, the same one humans are held to.
[*]Fixed several smart-tag pickup edge cases — tag orders from non-owning bots no longer get lost, owners route to the correct target, and Solo Play tag sessions are detected properly.
[*]Tightened mule-pickup visibility so bots stop trying to fetch items they cannot actually reach.
[/list]

[size=3][b]Requirements[/b][/size]

[list]
[*][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/19]Darktide Mod Loader[/url]
[*][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/8]Darktide Mod Framework (DMF)[/url]
[*][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/176]Solo Play[/url]
[*][url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/725]Tertium 6[/url] is recommended for class-diverse bots
[/list]

[b]Tertium 5 note:[/b] Tertium 5 can crash on Arbites and Hive Scum profiles. Use [url=https://www.nexusmods.com/warhammer40kdarktide/mods/725]Tertium 6[/url] if you want all current classes.

[size=3][b]Common questions[/b][/size]

[b]Does this work in public matches, public Havoc, or private duo?[/b]
No. Those bots run on Fatshark's dedicated servers, even when the lobby is private or starts with empty slots. BetterBots needs a locally hosted Solo Play mission.

[b]Does this add rewards or progression to Solo Play?[/b]
No. BetterBots changes bot behavior. Rewards, progression, and backend access are separate from this mod.

[b]Do I need multiple leveled characters?[/b]
No. BetterBots ships bot-optimized profiles for the original classes, and Tertium 6 can use your own characters as bots if you prefer that setup.

[b]Can I get multiple built-in loadouts per class?[/b]
Not through the in-game UI right now. Manual profile editing is documented, but a proper profile manager is future-work territory.

[size=3][b]Install[/b][/size]

[list=1]
[*]Extract [font=Courier New]BetterBots.zip[/font] into your Darktide [font=Courier New]mods/[/font] folder.
[*]Add [font=Courier New]BetterBots[/font] to [font=Courier New]mods/mod_load_order.txt[/font] below [font=Courier New]dmf[/font].
[*]Re-patch mods.
[*]Start a Solo Play mission and check for [font=Courier New]BetterBots loaded[/font] in chat.
[/list]

Darktide disables mods after game updates. If the mod suddenly stops loading after a patch, re-run the mod toggle/patch script first.

[size=3][b]Known limits[/b][/size]

[list]
[*]Hive Scum support is implemented but not validated by me in-game because I do not own the DLC. Reports are useful.
[*]Item-style abilities such as Zealot relic, Psyker Force Field, Arbites Cyber-Mastiff, and Hive Scum Stimm Supply use wield/use/unwield sequences. Darktide patches can break those paths until the mod is updated.
[*]Bots do not rescue teammates who have died and respawned tied up. Darktide filters those teammates out before its rescue logic runs, and BetterBots does not patch that path yet. Ordinary revives, net removal, and ledge rescues are separate and still supported.
[*]Bots are still bots. They do not animation-cancel, dodge, aim, or manage risk like a strong human player. The goal is better Solo Play support, not human-level play.
[/list]

[size=3][b]Bug reports and source[/b][/size]

If something breaks, the most useful report is: what happened, your bot lineup, whether you were in Solo Play, and the relevant [font=Courier New]bb-log summary[/font] / [font=Courier New]bb-log warnings[/font] output if you can grab it.

[url=https://github.com/hummat/BetterBots]Source on GitHub[/url] — MIT License
[url=https://github.com/hummat/BetterBots/issues]Issue tracker[/url] — bug reports and feature requests