====== Guard Behaviour ======

[[:Guards:]] behave in defined, often predictable ways. By default, most guards are either [[#stationary]] or [[#patrolling]]; guards react to [[:agents:]] and other suspicious things in their [[:vision]], [[:noise]], and other triggers from some [[:security measures]] or [[:mission]]-specific events. Guards can also change their status on some [[:alarm level]] changes.

Information about a guard's current status is given by the status icon (if any) shown above them, and further information can be revealed by [[:observing]] them.

A guard typically tries to take a shortest possible path to his destination. If possible, he moves diagonally first and orthogonally then.

===== Stationary =====

A stationary guard stands on a particular tile, and stays there facing the same direction until their status changes. If a stationary guard [[#investigating|investigates]] a distraction without becoming [[#alerted]], they will afterwards return to their assigned position, turn to face their assigned direction, and become stationary again.

Due to a bug in the game, the [[:guards:Captain]] in a [[:missions:Detention Center]] and the [[:guards:Financial Executive]] in a [[:missions:Chief Financial Suite]] do not remember which direction to face when they return to their stationary position, so they will remain facing the direction they took to walk back.

===== Patrolling =====
[{{ :status:patrolling.png?160|A patrolling guard.}}]

A **patrolling** [[:guard]] has two patrol points. Provided that he is not [[#investigating]] something unusual, his goal in any given turn is to walk to the patrol point he has visited less recently.

Guards that start the mission patrolling will always start on one of their patrol points, but their initial facing direction may not be a direction he'd naturally be facing during this patrol.

On [[:modes:Beginner]], a [[:guard]]'s patrol points will always be in the same room, and will always have a shortest-path of 5 tiles between them. On [[:modes:Experienced]] and up, the shortest-path between the two tiles will be equal to the [[:guard]]'s AP (which is usually 8), and they will often be in different rooms.

Patrolling [[:guards]] usually have a 2-turn patrol cycle because they will always reach a patrol point every turn. [[#Interest points]] can disrupt this temporarily. In addition, if two [[:guard]] patrol routes interfere with each other, the [[:guards]] may need to make extra moves to get out of each other's way, making 3 or 4-turn patrol cycles possible.

A [[:guard]]'s patrol points do not naturally change, though the [[:missions:Executive terminals#Security Response|security response when accessing executive terminals]] will change a [[:guard]]'s patrol points, as will [[:alarm_tracker|Alarm Level 1]] when playing with [[:alarm_tracker#Advanced Alarm Stages]]. A [[:guard]] completely forgets his patrol points once [[#alerted]].
===== Interest point =====

> //I think I saw something.// \\ ---[[:guards#Civilians|Civilian]]

When a guard is [[#investigating]] or [[#alerted]], they have an **interest point** which is a tile they intend to move towards and investigate. A guard's interest point is revealed to the player when [[:observing]] their movement, and in some situation's the interest point is revealed automatically; when the interest point is revealed, it is shown as a floating question mark (if the guard is [[#investigating]]) or exclamation mark (if the guard is [[#alerted]]).

Some interest points are "persistent" --- if the guard is distracted with a new interest point, then if they finish [[#investigating]] the new interest point without becoming [[#alerted]], then they remember the original "persistent" interest point and continue to investigate it afterwards.
===== Investigating =====
[{{ :status:investigating.png?160|A guard who is investigating.}}]

> //Investigating... guess it was nothing.// \\ ---[[:guards|Guard]]

The status icon of a yellow triangle with a question mark indicates that a guard is investigating.

If a [[#stationary]] or [[#patrolling]] guard receives an [[#interest point]] without becoming [[#alerted]], they will move towards the interest point, and investigate it when they reach it:

  * Human guards investigate their interest points by [[:peeking#Peeking by guards|peeking]], first to the right, then to the left in the direction them end their movement; while peeking, they have a wider effective [[:vision]] arc, and may [[#interest_point|notice]] an agent even behind [[:cover#soft cover]]. If a guard reaches his interest point orthogonally, he will peek from both his interest point and a tile in the front of him. If a guard reach his interest point in the front of a door, he will open this door before peeking. 
  * All [[:drones]] except [[:guards:Pulse Drones]] investigate their interest points using their [[:Local Scanner]], which detects [[:agents]] within a radius of 4 tiles, even behind [[:cover#soft cover]]. [[:guards:Pulse Drones]] only scan at the start of their movement.

The guards will prefer to reach their interest points orthogonally instead of diagonally.
If the guard is investigating because they noticed a [[:door]] open or close, then they will turn to face through the door, and open it if it is closed, before peeking or scanning. When a guard investigates their interest point, their next behaviour depends on what they find:

  * If the guard finds nothing suspicious, then they return to their previous behaviour.
  * If the guard notices something suspicious but without becoming [[#alerted]], then they turn to face the new [[#interest point]] and continue investigating on the next enemy turn. The guard never becomes alerted if he notices something suspicious only from a tile in front of his interest point, even if it is an agent hiding behind a cover.
  * If the guard sees a [[:KO|knocked-out]] agent or guard, a dead body, or a destroyed [[:drone]], then the guard turns to face the new interest point, becomes [[#alerted]], and [[#hunting|hunts]] there immediately if the guard has enough [[:AP]] to continue moving on the same enemy turn.
  * If the guard sees an [[:agent]], a rescued [[:Courier]] or [[:Prisoner]], or a [[:drone]] or [[:mainframe devices:turret]] known to be a "traitor", then the guard turns to face the new target, becomes [[#alerted]] and immediately [[#overwatch|overwatches]], [[#tracking]] the target.

Guards sometimes peek or scan from a tile near their interest point, if their interest point itself is blocked by an impassable object or another guard. If a guard has no valid path to their interest point, they will peek or scan on their current tile instead, however far away the interest point is.

===== Alerted =====

> //Located something suspicious!// \\ ---[[:guards|Guard]]

The status icon of a red triangle with an exclamation mark indicates that a guard is alerted. Once a guard is alerted, they remain alerted as long as they are active in the mission. Guards are more dangerous when they are alerted, because they actively hunt around the whole facility for [[:agents:]], and their movement becomes much less predictable.

Guards become alerted in the following circumstances:

  * Human guards become alerted when they wake up after being [[:KO|knocked out]].
  * [[:guards:#Drones]] become alerted when they wake up after [[:rebooting]], except [[:guards:Pulse Drones]].
  * Guards become alerted when they see an [[:agent]], a rescued [[:Courier]] or [[:Prisoner]], a [[:KO|knocked-out]] or [[:lethal damage|dead]] guard, a destroyed [[:drone]], or a captured [[:guards:#drones|drone]]/[[:mainframe devices:turret]] after it has shot a camera/guard. If a guard becomes alerted in this way, the [[:alarm tracker]] is also raised one step. If they see an [[:agent]], a rescued [[:Courier]] or [[:Prisoner]], or a traitorous [[:drone]]/[[:mainframe devices:turret]], they will also shout, causing nearby guards to become alerted and investigate the agent/traitorous [[:drone]]/[[:mainframe devices:turret]]'s location.
  * Guards become alerted when a [[:mainframe devices:Sound Bug]] sufficiently near to them is triggered by a [[:noise]].
  * Guards become alerted if they see another guard [[:KO|knocked out]] or [[:lethal damage|killed]], even when the attacked guard is on a tile which would provide [[:cover#soft cover]] to an agent.
  * [[:guards:Enforcers]] and [[:guards:Elite Enforcers]] are always alerted, as soon as they enter the facility.
  * All guards in the facility become alerted at [[:alarm level]] 5.

There is one confusing point here - when a guard has an ability referencing becoming Alerted (e.g. [[:guards:flack_guard|flack guards]] and [[:guards:siren|sirens]]), this does NOT mean changing state to alerted state, in the above sense. Rather, it refers to the situation when a guard sees an [[:agent]], a rescued [[:Courier]] or [[:Prisoner]], or a traitorous [[:drone]]/[[:mainframe devices:turret]], causing them to shout and go onto overwatch. This means that such abilities still trigger if the guard was already alerted before the shout, and do not trigger when these guards become alerted in other ways, such as [[:alarm level]] 5.
==== Preparing to hunt ====
[{{ :status:preparing_to_hunt.png?160|A guard who is preparing to hunt.}}]

Guards prepare to hunt after waking up from being [[:KO|knocked out]]. The guard's [[#interest point]] will be the tile they were attacked from; for [[:attack#melee attacks]] this will be the same tile they were knocked out on, but for [[:attack#ranged attacks]] this will be the agent's tile when they made the attack.

At [[:alarm level]] 5, all guards in the facility who were not previously alerted will prepare to hunt. Each guard's interest point will be their own current location, unless they are the nearest guard to the agent who is located, in which case their interest point is that agent's location.

When a guard is preparing to hunt, they behave the same way as an [[#investigating]] guard, except that they remain alerted regardless of what they find when investigating. After preparing to hunt, the guard begins [[#hunting]] the next turn.

==== Hunting ====
[{{ :status:hunting.png?160|A guard who is hunting.}}]

> //You can run, scum, but you can't hide! // \\ ---[[:Guard]]

When a [[:guard]] is **hunting**, he is actively looking for [[:agents]]. A hunting guard always has a specific tile of the [[:facility]] that he is [[#interest point|heading towards]] in order to [[#investigating|investigate]]. When he reaches [[#interest point|this point]] and doesn't find anything, he will go [[#interest point|somewhere else]] in the facility. When this happens, the hunting guard's new [[#interest point]] is not revealed to the player except by [[:observing]] him or causing him to be TAGged - if the guard is already TAGged, his [[#interest point]] will not be passively revealed.

Hunting [[:guards]] are trying to sweep the whole [[:facility]], and when they're deciding where to go after [[#investigating]], they will search the closest area they haven't previously explored. ("Area" roughly corresponds to "room", but some large rooms may have multiple areas).

Hunting [[:guards]] can be [[#interest point|distracted]] by anything that would [[#interest point|distract]] or [[#interest point|alert]] other guards, and will reset their sweep of the facility when this happens.
==== Panicking ====

> //Aaaaaaah! // \\ ---[[:guards|A civilian]]

In any situation where an armed guard or drone would become alerted, [[:guards:#civilians]] will instead panic. A panicking civilian will run towards the nearest [[:facility#guard entrances|guard entrance]] that they have a valid path to. Once the civilian reaches the guard entrance, they teleport out of the facility.

While a civilian is panicking, they will still [[#tracking|track]] agents or other targets in their [[:vision]], but their behaviour never changes from panicking.

Due to a bug in the game, if a panicking civilian has no valid path to any guard entrance, the game gets stuck during the enemy turn, and the player must press the ''Esc'' key to continue the game. Other guards will not move or perform any other actions, even if they have not already moved or acted yet during that enemy turn.

===== Overwatch =====
[{{ :status:overwatch.png?160|A guard who is on overwatch.}}]

> //STOP THERE!// \\ ---[[:guards|A guard]]

When an armed [[:guard]] sees a non-[[:KO|KOed]], non-[[:lethal_damage|lethally wounded]] [[:agent]], a rescued [[:Courier]] or [[:Prisoner]], or a traitorous [[:guards:#drones|drone]]/[[:mainframe devices:turret]] with their primary [[:vision]], they immediately turn to most directly face the spotted enemy, shout and alert all nearby guards, and **overwatch** the seen enemy or enemies. If any guards hear this shout and are able to see the spotted enemy by turning, they will immediately do so and overwatch the target as well.

If an overwatched enemy performs actions that do not result in the [[:guard]] no longer being able to see them, the [[:guard]] will shoot that enemy, dealing [[:lethal damage]]. In addition, if the enemy is still in the [[:guard]]'s vision at the beginning of the [[:corporation]]'s turn, they will be shot as well. (A few actions will not cause an overwatching [[:guard]] to shoot, such as using a [[:items:Buster Chip]], and inventory management actions, such as equipping, dropping, picking up, or trading items.)

[[:Agents]] and other agency-controlled units can escape overwatch themselves with any action that immediately results in them not being seen by any overwatching [[:guard]], such as:

  * Moving behind [[:cover]]
  * Closing a [[:door]] in a way that breaks all lines of sight towards them
  * Using a [[:items:Cloaking Rig]]
  * Attacking the overwatching guard with a [[:weapon]]. 
    * On [[:modes:Expert Plus]], [[:weapons#melee]] weapons cannot be used against [[:guards]] by enemies they see.

In addition, other [[:agents]] can assist the overwatched [[:agent]] by closing [[:doors]] or attacking the overwatching [[:guards]], and [[:Incognita]] can sometimes help with [[:programs:Shade]] or [[:programs|Lightning]], or by [[:firewalls|hacking]] overwatching [[:guards#drones]]. If an enemy escapes overwatch, the guard will gain an [[#interest point]] on that enemy's current tile after escaping.

As long as a [[:guard]] is overwatching and sees at least one enemy, they will not respond to any other distractions and will not remember them. They will immediately shoot any enemy that enters their primary [[:vision]] cone, even if they did not originally overwatch that enemy.

If all enemies leave an overwatching [[:guard]]'s vision, the [[:guard]] can be [[#interest point|distracted]] as normal. However, if an enemy enters the overwatching [[:guard]]'s [[:vision]] again this turn, they will still immediately be shot.

Unarmed [[:guards#drones]] follow all the same rules that armed [[:guards]] do, except that they cannot shoot. In addition, [[:guards:Camera Drones]] and [[:guards:Refit Drones]] do not shout and alert other [[:guards]] when they see an enemy - the effect of being seen by them is similar to that of being seen by a [[:mainframe_devices:security camera]].

==== Tracking ====

> //Lost 'em!// \\ ---[[:guards|Guard]]

Enemies that a [[:guard]] has seen are **tracked** by that guard (in addition to overwatched if the [[:guard]] is armed). This means that the guard will turn to most directly face tracked enemy if they move while in the [[:guard]]'s [[:vision]], including peripheral [[:vision]]. Armed [[:guards]] can immediately shoot the tracked enemy if the [[:guard]] sees them after turning. This means that it is not possible to escape a [[:guard]] overwatching at point blank range by trying to move around them.

Guards will not turn to see tracked enemies that merely end a move in peripheral [[:vision]] - they will only turn if the tracked enemy started the move in their peripheral [[:vision]], allowing the tracked enemy 1 tile of safe movement through that guard's peripheral vision. If a guard has turned to track an agent, he will shoot any agent that is in his direct vision after turning, even if it's not the agent he was originally tracking.

If a tracked enemy opens a [[:door]] that is noticed by the overwatching [[:guard]], the [[:guard]] will turn to track that enemy's next move.

A guard will not turn to track enemies moving through his peripheral vision if the enemy was not directly seen by the guard, and therefore isn't **tracked**. It is, however, possible for a guard to attempt to track multiple enemies at the same time.

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