Here’s some information that I think will help explain the differences between some of the targeting modes. Sure, it’s a big simplification, but I think it’s still useful.
Mode Emphasis Personal Safety
0x00 Expected Damage Yes
0x08 Low HP No
0x18 Exp.Damage + Low HP Yes
0x88 Expected Damage No
Emphasis:
Factors that have a larger influence in the targeting decision.
Expected Damage: (damage * accuracy)/100
Prefer attacks the have higher average damage. Accuracy plays an important role.
Low HP:
Prefer attacks that will get target to below 20 HP. Lower HP = higher priority.
Enemies are more likely to gang up on the same character.
Personal Safety:
Factors in how much damage the enemy will receive from the defender’s counterattack.
Helps keep enemy alive and healthy, but may dissuade them from picking stronger offensive options.
Note that ALL enemies (even those who don’t care about personal safety) get increased priority against units who cannot counterattack.
It’s important to note there won’t be a targeting mode that is always “best”
Let’s say the player has a myrmidon and a knight within the range of 2 enemy brigands.
With mode 0x00, the brigands are more likely to attack the knight. Weapon triangle advantage gives the brigands a good chance to hit and a decent chance to dodge. However, the knight can tank those hits and has a 0% chance of dying during the enemy phase.
With mode 0x08, the brigands are more likely to attack the myrmidon. While the chance of missing is high, landing an attack will knock the myrmidon into low HP. If both attacks hit, the myrmidon will die. So while risky, there is an actual small chance to get a kill.
Usage in GBA FE:
Modes 0x00 and 0x08 are by far the most common.
FE6 uses 0x00 and 0x08 about equally, but FE7/FE8 heavily prefer 0x08.
END
Some background info:
Modes 0x00 and 0x08 were obviously included because of their high usage.
Mode 0x18 is actually used only a little bit in FE6, but I think it’s cool enough to include.
Mode 0x88 is unused but similar to mode 0x28. FE6 assigns mode 0x28 to nearly all bow users and aircalibur users. Mode 0x28 has high priority against flying classes which makes it undesirable as a generic option. Mode 0x88 has the same targeting multipliers as mode 0x28 and the same normal class bonuses as 0x00, 0x08, and 0x18. Although if you’re dealing with FE7/FE8 then 0x28 is fine.
So hopefully this can give users some meaningful options without having to burden them with the technical details. It’s kind of frustrating, the implications won’t always be obvious but different targeting strategies can easily change the entire outcome of the enemy phase. It’s not a simple decision, but on the other hand, none of these options will ruin your game and make enemies refuse to attack or whatever. I guess at the very least you can use this simply as a fun way to give personality to your enemies and commanders.
Now there’s the issue of naming conventions. I don’t like long names with subjective descriptors, so I think I would prefer to just call the different targeting modes A, B, C, D (you will need to reference the chart anyways) followed by the HP percentage that triggers recovery mode. So, B30 = AI3 0x09 (0x08 target + 0x01 recovery). But that’s just my own preference, so I won’t be surprised if you disagree.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE POKEMON???
(based on your last response, it’s probably not the Vanillite evolution family)