Quasimorph Enemy AI Guide

Quasimorph enemies stopped being scenery in Patch 1.0.2 (August 14, 2026). Magnum Scriptum’s Steam notes focus on Investigating, patrol speed, Pact consumption, weapon selection, and melee on stationary hosts. This guide translates those notes into door habits you can use on Mars and on horror stations. It does not replace Room Clearing or Midgame Combat — it explains why a peek that worked in 1.0.1 now wakes a squad two rooms over.

Read Patch 1.0.2 Notes for the full changelog. Combat still runs on Combat Stances: Sneak for information, Walk when the lane is verified, Sprint only on a known extract path.

Investigating is not combat yet

When an ally shouts an enemy alert, NPCs now enter Investigating instead of switching straight to attack. The combat mode attached to that alert is stored and applied once they actually engage. A missed shot against an NPC can also put them into Investigating. New noise refreshes the Investigating timer instead of being ignored.

Practical read:

• A grunt who heard a door or a ricochet is looking, not yet dumping a magazine through the wall.
• You still have a short window to break line of sight, close the door, or leave the tile before they convert Investigating into a firefight.
• Do not assume the window is infinite — the timer updates if you keep making noise.

Sneak door peeks remain the cheap information tool. Ending a turn on a hot doorway while a squad is Investigating is how 1.0.2 punishes the same last-AP mistake Getting Started already warned about.

Patrols match the slowest member

Patrolling squads now cap movement to the slowest member. Heavy armor, wounded legs, or a slow robot in the group drags the whole loop. That is good news for Sneak players: you can time crossings against a predictable pace instead of watching one sprinter peel off and flank you.

It is bad news if you used to bait the fast scout out of formation. The pack stays together more often. Doorway kiting from Midgame Combat still isolates one hostile at a threshold — you just cannot rely on the rest of the squad outrunning each other into your kill box.

Stationary hosts melee again

Stationary enemies that could not swing melee weapons now can. Turrets, bound hosts, and “furniture” threats that looked safe at adjacent tiles will cut you if you stand next to them. Examine before you loot the tile beside a motionless body or a mounted gun. Room Clearing already said not to stand on the last AP next to an uncleared adjacent; 1.0.2 makes that adjacent melee real.

Keyboard and controller users can open a corpse inventory when the body is on an adjacent tile behind a door — that used to fail. Combined with empty corpses deleting after inspection, loot focus is cleaner, but the melee fix means you should confirm the host is actually dead before you open the panel.

NPCs pick better guns — and keep them

NPCs now select the best available weapon during combat. That behavior used to apply mainly to player-controlled allies. Expect swapped loadouts mid-fight: a pistol grunt who loots a rifle will start using it. Your examine snapshot from two turns ago can be stale.

A related math fix stopped enemies from always choosing the theoretically optimal attack mode. They still try to pick well; they no longer cheat the dice every time. Treat that as slightly more readable, not as free mistakes you can farm.

Surrender chance calculations were also corrected. Do not plan extracts around a surrender you saw in a pre-1.0.2 clip.

Gifted Pacts are consumed

If you give an NPC a Pact and they use it, the card is consumed. You cannot pull it back out of their inventory afterward. Pre-1.0.2 “lend a metamorph, retrieve it later” loops are dead. Plan Pact economy on the Magnum via Pacts and S.K.U.L.L. and the Pact department in Magnum Ship, not as a reusable field battery you recover from allies.

Quasimorphs summoned through Pacts or Baron transformation now receive the Quasimorphosis stage bonus immediately, not after the next stage tick. If you spawn help near Rapture, they arrive already scaled. That cuts both ways: your summons are stronger, and hostile summons from the same pipeline are too. How to Beat Baron covers Banes that now persist through Baron transformation.

Reloads no longer reset AI brains

AI state timers used to reset after a reload. Save-scumming or accidental reloads no longer wipe Investigating or combat state. Play the timer you see. If you must reload after a crash, assume the squad still remembers the last noise.

PMC dodge and spawn presentation

Patch 1.0.2 also raised PMC dodge by about 2–5% and prefers spawning augments and implants in containers rather than on the floor. Neither is “AI” in the Steam header, but both change how fights feel: shots miss more on corporate security, and the good cyberware is more often behind a locker you have to open under fire. Sort the haul with Loot Priority and Inventory Management; implant cards live in Augmentations.

Habits that still work

1. Examine every new silhouette — weapon in hand can change mid-fight.
2. Sneak to the door; do not Sprint into Investigating cones.
3. Break LOS when you hear an alert instead of peeking again on the same turn.
4. Isolate at doors — slow patrols still funnel if you do not step into the room.
5. Do not gift Pacts you cannot afford to lose.
6. Confirm melee range on anything that looks idle.

Related reading

• Patch 1.0.2 Notes — official Steam digest on this wiki.
• Room Clearing — door doctrine Investigating punishes.
• Midgame Combat — kiting when squads stay packed.
• Combat Stances — AP budget while they investigate.
• Keyboard Controls — corpse loot through doors.
• AnCom — Telegraph escort pressure with smarter NPCs.

Enemy AI in 1.0.2 is stricter about noise, slower as a pack, and honest about Pacts. Slow the room down to Sneak speed until Investigating expires or converts — then fight the doorway you already paid to see.