On the higher difficulties in Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, the squad mate AI during any combat sequence would act in a way that would quickly lead to its own death. That is, the AI squad mates would leap out of cover and head directly toward oncoming fire. There were also instances of the AI deciding to take cover in an area far beyond their current position and therefore suffer a heavy barrage of damage en route. The only way to avoid this was to micromanage their moves.
My question is, has the AI improved enough to the point to where my squad mates prioritize not taking damage versus futily rushing the enemy? That is, will my squad mates still take a few foolish hits early in the battle and become useless on the ground unless I micromanage every move, or will the AI act with self-preservation in mind and remain effective in combat longer?
Best Answer
On Insanity mode the AI actually seems stupider, and does not have much sense of self-preservation, though I wouldn't call them actively suicidal. The AI will simply sit on an active grenade and let themselves die, they'll ignore an enemy bum-rushing our cover. They don't seem to get that they're about to die.
The AI also largely ignores their own powers; I often have to manually order my squad to use powers on roit shield targets, which they often happily ignore.
However, they are not suicidal in that they won't actively attempt to bum rush enemies and get themselves killed, but they seem very content to sit still and not use many powers or bullets. Yes, micromanaging is often necessary to keep them alive, and yes, they're going to spend a lot of time "dead" if you don't play a very good game on Insanity. But if you take charge in the battle and leave them behind they generally won't go out of their way to get killed.