Why Grasseater attacks my back line units?

[upstream99]

I'ts my first time of playing. I was attacked by Grasseater and he attacked my Medic! Why? I thought a front line units should block its attack.

Here's how my units are placed:
Front Line:
Landsknecht
Nightseeker

Back Line:
Medic
Sniper
RuneMaster

[Fluffernuff]

The only way to direct attacks is through a Fortress using Taunt and a Nightseeker using Decoy sign. the game has its own randomized targeting calculations and such. and even then, they only give ~85-95% increase chance to hit when maxed out

without those 2 abilites every single person has the same %chance of being targetted per attack. im not sure if any other factors (such as HP or line setup) have any sort of effect like they do in past games.

the difference between the lines is front row DEALS and TAKES full physical damage and the back line takes half. this is the same for you and your enemy (they have back rows too!)
ranged physical damage (such as bows and certain abilities, such as throws) deal full damage from the back row and deal full damage TO enemy back rows

of course elemental attacks from runemasters ignore this, but because of their low HP/def, they arent suited to take full damage from being in front

[upstream99]

>The only way to direct attacks is through a Fortress
So, a problem in my situation is that I don't have a Fortress. With her/him regular enemies (with physical attack only) won't be able to attach my back line, correct?

[Fluffernuff]

A fortress using taunt at level 4 draws ~80% of attacks towards themselves for 3 turns

a Nightseeker using Decoy Sign at level 4 draws ~95% to TARGET ALLY for 3 turns

so even with either of these 2 abilities, its still not assurred to pull every attack

however if youre overly concerned about drawing attacks, fortress is the better option, as the also get auto-taunt (~50% for free taunt at the start of battle) and access to other abilities to lessen damage, such as line shield, not to mention the best armor and access to shields.

youre early enough in the game if you want to just make up a fortress (and i suggest you do if its your very first EO game or playthrough of EO4), however you can have your nightseeker using Decoy Sign on your landy just as well. theyre not as defensive as fortresses, but they have access to the same armor AND get just a couple decently good defensive abilities, assuming you dont want to remake your team. though a nightseeker generally has something better to do

[upstream99]

Great explanations, thanks Fluffernuff.

[Wolkenritter]

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=1853&p=127824#p127824

Explanation on targeting priority.