Remove "The Executioner" from the AI's cheatable items pool.

[fast crown]

The AI is taking the instant death proc into calculation when it is picking targets (and it has done some weird targeting when wielding it), or it literally can't miss it. I was facing a Brutal AI where every hero they had had a copy of "The Executioner", and they were running around to random targets and instant killing them, breaking pinned if they had to.

For obvious reasons, a weapon with a low chance to trigger instant death, in the hands of an AI who knows what targets it will hit with it, is unfair. And even if the AI does not know, it simply feels cheap.

I lost more units that game to instant death procs by Heroes wielding The Executioner than I lost to every other source in that match combined and the result outright caused me and a friend to abandon the multiplayer game.

[upbeat void]

I think there's a bug where equipping items on AI heroes doesn't remove it from their empire inventory. I don't think any items are given to the AI for free so much as every item they do acquire legitimately, they have infinite copies of.

[dull zenith]

They are, the AI is cheating. Thus she can cheat Items.

How else would the AI appear to always have good items while you rarely have anything.

I've never gotten a T4 Hero equippment apart from getting it through a Hero kill.

[fast crown]

Yeah. Something is up, but even outside of that, the AI appears to know the results of its actions before it takes them when it comes to the weapon

or I ended up eating some absurdly long odds (sub 0.1%) in my first time experiencing the weapon in the hands of the AI

[brittle kraken]

they should really just have the AI pretend the axe doesn't have that affect

[dull zenith]

Sometimes I rather feel like the AI is able to controll it to some degree...
Like I attack that one fight deciding unit with 1hp and 50% hitchance, ofcourse I don't hit any of my three shots, nor does my next unit hit with her 2 shots and 50% hitchance...

[safe gulch]

This sounds more like a miscalculation on "harder to hit with ranged attacks" items rather than the AI controlling anything

[dull zenith]

No, the only reason for the unit having 50% hitchance are the units standing in front of it and the max range, I don't feel like their could be miscalculation. I've taken a look at the hero's items

If there can be that might be a thing, still it's annoying.

[heavy trench]

We discussed how AI Rulers and Heroes interact here:
#aow4-general message
#aow4-general message

[safe gulch]

Maybe the 20% chance racial or them having buffs or you having debuffs?

[dull zenith]

none of that, was pretty much early game, no racial traits, no enchantments yet, free city

[safe gulch]

Depending on the free city it could have had enchantments but from your description it was your races starter free city right?