Pilot

"Look, we just spotted a hostile Pilot flying around the area."

―IMC Grunts commenting on FMITO Pilot on foot wallrunning and parkour

Pilots are types of elite soldiers that usually possesses superior equipment and weapons to Grunts and other infantries and as the name suggests, they can use mechs called Titans, however in this case, the name is little bit of a misnomer because even without Titans, Pilots are considered "super-soldiers" due to being better-equipped with jumpkits and having superior skills and training when compared to other type of infantries.

This page focuses on more well known Titan Pilots as well as non-Pilot individuals equipped with jumpkits, rather than pilots of other vehicles like dropships as they behave much like Grunts, Spectres, or MRVNs if they're on-foot.

As an enemy type

An NPC Pilot on foot in Titanfall 3's campaign, which is an IMC Pilot in this picture shown

In Titanfall 3, Pilots can appear as enemy type in both campaign and Frontier Defense, and some of them doesn't have corresponding Titans (as some of it are rookies or trainees who haven't gotten the combat certification), though if they do, they can call a corresponding Titan to drop on the battlefield after being destroyed once.

Having exact same stats and set of abilities (wallrunning, double jumping, sliding, airstrafing, and other movement options) as the player (that other enemy types don't have some of abilities like wallrunning) makes this enemy type formidable to fight against and in addition to that, they can also easily dodge some attacks from the player, especially grenades and slow projectile weapons (particularly with rocket launchers) and they throw grenades back in the same way players do. In-addition, enemy Pilots on foot can rodeo your Titan; either stealing batteries out of your Titan or latching into your Titan and shooting at the weakpoint, slowly damaging them until the enemy Pilot in question is forced out (e.g. when doused by Electric Smoke countermeasure) of your Titan.

At close proximity, an enemy Pilot can even spot you in cloaked state, making it difficult to perform stealth execution on them and stealth in general and since Pilots aren't fooled by Double Agent kit, it forces you to avoid the line of sight of hostile Pilots if you're infiltrating highly-fortified areas.

In-addition to these, enemy Pilots on foot can use tactical abilities and boosts (though used almost exclusively by Specialized-class Pilots though any other classes can still pick up weapons and abilities if they're disarmed), and have Pilot Kits equipped as well and sometimes pick up dropped weapons and equipment to change loadout on-the-fly like adaptive Grunts but to the lesser extent.

The choice of weapons (and especially how they use weapons in particular ways) used by friendly/neutral/enemy Pilots are roughly based on faction and their classes; the IMC counterpart often use conventional weapons as well as some alien weapons while the Militia counterpart uses non-conventional weapons on the some part more often.

Movement patterns

The NPC Pilots outside or without Titans have a range of movement behaviors that depend on the surrounding entities (including the player) and their actions around/towards/against them. However, some of movement patterns are not exclusive to Pilots and also used in adaptive variants of Grunts and Spectres too:

• Moving around the target: The engaging NPC Pilots will choose a direction, prioritizing paths that minimizes exposure to target(s) and maintaining a line of sight. This sometimes involves wallrunning and double jumping to get over obstacles and when they approach anything close to any obstruction(s), they will choose a new direction to continue their fight.
• Strafing around the target: They will strafe around target(s), slowly closing in to the target while employing certain movement techniques to disrupt target's aiming and trying to avoid incoming fire. This makes NPC Pilots who doing this more difficult for an opponent like the player to land accurate hits while NPC Pilot(s) doing this gets closer to target(s) simultaneously.
• Rushing the target: When they opt for an assault, they charge at target(s) and try to kill them either with a single melee attack, or a shotgun shot or a sustained fire from fully-automatic weapons at close and point-blank range. This can be deadly if the player caught off-guard.
• Retreating: When faced with overwhelming odds, they will gain distance away from adversaries to retreat and tries to find suitable cover(s) and use it until their health regenerates just enough to re-engage effectively. This behavior is more common on NPC Pilots who are hurt than ones with full health or close to it.
• Dodging: They usually exhibit erratic movement patterns as well as quick reflexes to dodge incoming projectiles, especially slower-moving ones. This can be countered by homing projectiles on some weapons or leading the target with any projectile-based weapon.
• Flanking: When they break the line-of-sight between target(s) and them, they can try to navigate around the periphery of the surrounding environment to flank opponents and catch them off-guard.

In-addition, the NPC Pilots on foot can utilize the surrounding environment to navigate through the warzone using the same abilities as the player:

• Wallrunning: On areas with suitable vertical surfaces, the NPC Pilots can wallrun to reach long gaps and elevated positions (especially when combined with double jumping and wall jumping techniques for the latter) that standard enemy infantry types can't reach on its own. This technique bypasses some of terrain-related restrictions on navigation.
• Double jumping: They can jump twice (one from surfaces, horizontal or vertical, and another in mid-air), allowing them to cover long gaps and reach greater heights and elevated positions, allowing them to also bypass some terrain restrictions that other enemy infantries can't reach on their own.
• Airstrafing: Like the player, the NPC Pilots can also control movement mid-air to perform evasive maneuvers and precise positioning upon landing.
• Bunnyhopping: Again, this move is no longer exclusive to the player as the NPC Pilots can also perform bunny-hopping in a similar manner too; maintaining the momentum and evading some gunfire from retaliating opponent(s).

Classes

The enemy AI Pilots comes with different classes, which is easily distinguishable by its different colors and silhouettes, serving for its different roles, and general AI behavior. However, regardless of Pilot classes, they can equip any weapons and equipment that they see fit, thus they can adapt to different situations to certain extent, and their AI behavior is different for each class even if they're using the exact same weapon and equipment as other classes.

Standard classes

These are common classes of Pilots encountered in Titanfall 3 single-player campaign and Frontier Defense listed below.

Some classes of enemy Pilots comes in specialized forms, which are distinguished by their differences on what they're wearing and their voices between regular and specialized variants.

Rifleman

A general appearance of common Rifleman-class Pilots.

The most common class of enemy Pilots encountered in both campaign and Frontier Defense. They often use assault rifles as primary weapon, pistols as secondary, and conventional anti-Titan weapons as tertiary. In terms of AI behavior, they typically wallrun and double jump to get into areas unreachable by anything other than Pilots (including other classes) and they can shoot while wallrunning, though less common. As for the typical starting weapons, for the IMC counterpart, they often use R-401 Carbine as primary weapon, and for the Militia counterpart, they use VK-47 Flatline Mk.2 as primary weapon.

As for these enemies using weapons outside the usual category, the Rifleman-class Pilots wielding SMGs can fire at longer range (similar applies to shotguns) compared to CQB-class enemy Pilots but at short bursts, as for LMGs, the aforementioned enemy fires at shorter range and more often while moving compared to Heavy-class Pilots using the exact same weapon, and as for sniper rifles, the enemy fires at mid-to-long range albeit a little bit shorter than ones fired from Assassin-class Pilots.

Their appearance for this enemy class is similar to ones from first Titanfall.

CQB

CQB-class Pilots that sometimes blends in their appearance into the Grunts and use parkour abilities to the fullest extent.

This class are specialized for close-quarters parkour-oriented combat, as such, they can use movement abilities to the greatest extent; making full use of movement techniques (e.g. airstrafing and bunnyhopping), and movement-based abilities like grappling hook as well as kits like Spacewalk and Pilot Dash, and they often use SMGs (e.g. R-99 and Alternator A-3) and shotguns (like Peacekeeper, EVA-8 and DBSG-12) as primary weapons as opposed to assault rifles to engage at close-range. They tend to shoot while wallrunning and sprinting, which thankfully is less accurate than shoot while standing still or moving slowly.

CQB-class Pilots wielding sniper rifles usually fire at short range with greater accuracy only at very close range (akin to real-life law enforcement and police snipers) and they can use Kraber anti-materiel rifle as a shotgun to instantly kill you (unless with Body Armor boost effect active) at close range if you stand still or moving very slowly.

In terms of appearance, most of the CQB-class Pilots having their faces exposed unlike other enemy Pilot classes, which have their faces fully covered. This is to blend in to the Grunts.

Assassin

General appearance of enemy Pilots of this sniper/surprise-attack class

This subclass of these enemies usually either use sniper rifles and DMRs like the Kraber-AP Sniper, or suppressed weapons of any kind, and they parkour into higher grounds and vantage points like rooftops and sometimes hide behind covers.

When the enemy Pilot of this class are not using sniper rifles or stealth-oriented weapons, this Pilot class prefers surprise attacks through any means (e.g. flanking the player), hence flanking movement pattern is used more often by Pilot AI of this class irrespective of weapons and equipment used.

They can use cloaking ability to hide from you more effectively than other classes and they're trying to hide or retreat from the adversaries if they perceived you as too dangerous to fight against.

Heavy

A heavy-class Pilot that often use heavy weaponry and armor over parkouring.

This Pilot class usually use two or more heavy weapons (LMGs, grenadiers, and anti-Titans) and sometimes holds three primary weapons at once, and it usually equipped with A-Wall ability and Body Armor boost. They often use explosives and heavy weapons against Titans and other large targets.

Unlike other classes, this class of enemy Pilots are unable to bunnyhop nor airstrafe effectively and their mobility abilities are utilized less in favor of heavy weapons and better armor and shielding.

Their appearance is distinguished by either having ghillie suit and robotic arms in addition to heavy armor, or just having heavier juggernaut-like armor in general.

Engineer

One of many appearances of enemy Engineer-class Pilots

This class has an ability to deploy sentries, ticks, and drones more effectively as well as being able to use tactical abilities more often than other, same goes for rodeoing Titans, and makes use of some weapon's alternate fire-mode more effectively. They are commonly equipped with specialized weapons, including regular weapons with specialized attachments and ammo types and special ordnance types like Pulse Blade, which used to spot players behind walls and/or in cloaked state. They can also throw grenades back mid-air in addition to tactically using weapons especially when this class of enemy don't have ticks or drones to deploy and dodging attacks more effectively. When they have Pulse Blade equipped, they can throw it in a purpose of spotting you, unlike Assassin-class Pilots, which they use this kunai to primarily kill the player through direct hits.

Due to their ability to deploy drones and ticks better than other classes, it is considered a superior (but more like quality-over-quantity as they appear in lower quantities) version of Specialist enemies from Titanfall 2 (at least the ones who have ticks, sentries, or drones) except with the ability to steal batteries and gives them to enemy Titans just as would as other classes but more often.

In terms of their appearance, they are unhelmeted unlike other classes, which do wear protective headgear.

Commander

A general appearance of Commander-class Pilots. However, it comes with different colors than black and white pattern shown.

These act as a field officer that commands other Pilots and even other enemy types like Grunts and Titans, as well as utilizing their auto-Titan to the fullest extent as they are only ones that not like to embark Titans unless necessary, for some Commander-class Pilots.

However, they can also use support-related boosts like Orbital Strike far more effectively than from other classes and can use Strike Team boost more effectively (though other classes can use this too albeit far less effective against the player and their allies and almost none of them spawn with this boost pre-equipped for other classes), which the player should focus on taking down Commander-class Pilots first because it can spawn more enemy Pilots through drop pods and can destroy both players and allies' Titans by calling airstrikes.

Their appearance is roughly similar to common Rifleman-class enemy Pilots but with either much darker or different colors, or having different silhouette but with otherwise similar colors.

Scavenger

A depiction of enemy Scavenger-class Pilots.

As the class name suggest, they often pick up and use dropped weapons and equipment from the map. They can also steal your weapons and/or friendly NPCs for their benefit. Players are encouraged to not leave useful equipment and powerful weapons with remaining ammo left behind, lest the enemy Scavenger-class Pilots would use that against the player.

Although enemy Pilots of the other class can still pick up weapons and ordnances (albeit less often compared to inferior Adaptive Grunts), these Pilots of this class will use this mechanic more often than adaptive variant of Grunts and even Spectres.

Non-standard classes

These are special cases (or in other words, esoteric class) of enemy Pilots on foot, especially at certain part of few campaign missions, minibosses and even boss battles.

They appears less often in Frontier Defense and in some cases, only appears in single-player campaign.

Specialized

This is the least common enemy subclass as it only appears at certain missions as a normal enemy, and it also serve as a miniboss at some missions, and this class is highly varied since it encompasses all Pilots that don't fit into either of other classes.

Some enemies of this class can use campaign-only tactical abilities like Active Personal Shielding and even Gunsmither that other classes don't have access to and kits like Musclemass and Observer that are normally almost exclusively used by the player (at least for other classes).

Jumpkitted non-Pilot soldiers

A jumpkitted FMITO opportunist unit equipped with Electrified Javelin weapon

Just because they have Pilot jumpkits doesn't automatically mean being a Pilot as they still require the combat certification to even become one and gain a neural-link necessary to use Titans, though the jump kit can be sometimes handy both inside and outside the combat.

The main difference between this and the actual Pilots is that gameplay-wise, the AI is dumber but still slightly smarter than adaptive Grunts and they come in larger quantities (essentially quantity-over-quality), and they can't use Titans but they still able to drive other vehicles, and in-addition, the usage pattern for throwing ordnances and firing weapons are more indiscriminate in nature and lore-wise, these jumpkitted soldiers do have basic knowledge on using these kits but they're not trained enough to even become a Pilot.

These are mostly a member of weaker enemy factions like but not limited to FMITO opportunists and even local militias and jumpkitted non-Pilot soldiers belonging to either IMC or Militia (barring from some FMITO opportunist subfactions) factions are rarely seen as they just become either an adaptive variant of Grunts or a full-blown Pilot for some if not most parts anyway.

Notable members

Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation

• p0358 (except during the betrayal by Jeanue, which was partly affiliated with FMITO pragmatists until rejoined after Switching Sides mission event, which in turn re-joined the IMC)
• Jeanue (formerly, defected to Syndicate after being kicked out and condemned by reformed IMC members)
• Kuben Blisk

Frontier Militia in the Outlands

• p0358 (formerly, temporarily partly affiliated with FMITO pragmatists until rejoined the IMC)
• Jack Cooper (as a member of one of FMITO pragmatist subfactions)

Mercenary Syndicate

• Jeanue (after defection from the IMC after reformed IMC subfactions turned against him for being a traitor working for the Syndicate)

Pop-culture references

AI behavior

Note: While the AI behavior of enemy Pilots on foot have its own characteristics, jumpkitted non-Pilot enemies have their AI behavior being more of (but not exactly) the hybrid of two or more enemies from other games listed below.

Respawn/Gravity Well used the Evolved from Prototype 2 as an analogy for making of NPC Pilots on foot (or in other words, outside Titans), especially their mobility and combat abilities in comparison to the player when using a melee weapon like Pilot Sword and Electrified Javelin

Though Ceph Stalkers including its variants from Crysis 2 better describe this enemy infantry with wallrunning ability than the Evolved from Prototype 2 especially when not using either of Pilot melee weapons

• V2 from ULTRAKILL:
  • Enemy Pilots (outside Titans) have similar if not same abilities and moves as the player.
  • Also a general reference point for Pilot AI in all variations (normal, minibosses, and bosses) but with added wallrunning and double jumping.
• Ceph Stalkers and its variants from Crysis 2: The general behavior for AI Pilots, especially when comes to mobility. Though wallrunning is extended and have double jumping compared to the reference point.
• Elites from Halo: Reach and Halo Infinite: Enemy Pilots on foot are true equivalents to the player and also a reference point for the rest of AI behaviors, primary for heavy-class Pilots and secondary for the rest of Pilot classes like the Rifleman-class.
• Skirmishers from Halo: Reach: The secondary reference point for behavior of CQB-class Pilots.
• Pursuit cops from Mirror's Edge: The fact enemy Pilots on foot are truly player-equivalent enemies encountered in Titanfall 3 campaign. Also as a rough reference point for non-Pilot human enemies who used jumpkits.
• Evolved from Prototype 2: When Respawn use this enemy type from this game as an analogy for enemy/friendly/NPC Pilots on foot in the single-player portion of Titanfall 3. Also, when the player or even any friendly units steals one of their weapons from a hostile Pilot, the hostile Pilot in question would performs a knee strike counterattack that instantly kill the player (especially with inadequate or no shielding) and/or even a friendly NPC if not dodged in time.

Trivia

• On the single-player campaign and Frontier Defense, the voicelines and death sound of enemy Pilots sound similar to certain characters from other games and it is dependent on the class and the faction, which not only to distinguish this enemy type from other types of infantry units, but also serve as references to other games and a developer's take on cautionary tale about voice cloning.
• Originally, the enemy Pilots that fully utilize their jump kits and player's abilities supposedly to be added to the campaign of Titanfall 2, but it was scrapped for some reasons like the fact it is hard if not impossible to program the AI for these enemy units.
  • However, this enemy type was finally added into the campaign as ones that counter the player by using their own tactics and have similar set of abilities to player, in a similar fashion to pursuit cops in Mirror's Edge as well as super-soldiers and Evolved from Prototype and Prototype 2 respectively, and in-addition to that, they have an unique ability to adapt to certain situations to certain extent.
    • Of course, their enemy's wallrunning paths are unscripted as in order to make it unpredictable, but their AI is designed so well that it is fun to fight against enemy NPC Pilots.
  • The AI for Pilots are also used for adaptive variant of other infantry types like Grunts and Spectres. One big difference is that there is no wallrunning nor double jumping for other infantry types than Pilots though Spectres can still long-jump and secondly, the adaptive variants of other infantries can't use tactical abilities nor Pilot Kits and they only carry two weapons at the time instead of three.
• The enemy type has same regenerating health as you, meaning if you don't shoot it after being hurt for a long time, the enemy will have full health again.
• If you aim at the enemy Pilot, the health bars (and to the extension, shields) are shown, just like enemy players in multiplayer counterpart.
• While any other Pilots classes other than Specialized can't use campaign-only tacticals and kits, these kits and/or tacticals can be dropped and used by players upon death as usual despite they can't use some of these.