Some many months ago they broke BOTs weapons + pilots so that they are always stronger than you. This isn't a huge priority for them to fix since there has been hundreds of players who complain about it and it has persisted for over half a year at this point.
Like you, I was robbed of the joy of my recently FIRST maxed out mech (panther). Now my opposing bots are ALWAYS maxed out for all 5 mechs, even when I do not have panther in my hangar. Unlocking higher level gears/weapons makes the opposing bots strong. It does also seem to correlate very strongly that the bots scale their HP (rank + level) in such a ratio that you will not be able to easily kill them with a single clip of ammo without damage multipliers , such as side or back damage.
I have tested these algorithms on 6 accounts at various SP from 1.5k all the way up to 10k. The BOTs are simply ALWAYS stronger (30-60% stronger).
What is also a fun kicker is that when you are performing too well in the game (I cannot tell if it is based on overall win ratio, recent win rate, or else current points in the match), that your BOTs just act like morons while the opposing ones activate some weird terminator mode. They will always AUTO aim you even when there are other targets 50m closer to them. They will always hit you through random key holes and around corners that you do not think are possible. They will purposefully spawn drop you as you approach a control point.
Your observation of BOTs blocking your shot does seem to happen with high enough frequency that it cannot be accounted for simply by random chance. Having observed BOT behavior for many thousands of matches, it does appear that their movement (both enemy and your own team) is based upon yours. You can actually use this to your advantage sometimes in hilarious ways, such as when you are standing on a higher level of elevation than the BOTs...you can advance to make them retreat momentarily (exposing their back) and then retreat a second later and they will advance towards you. You can actually repeat this multiple times to force them to and endless loop of circling around themselves. About the shots blocking, it does seem that BOTs are programmed with some notion to travel in certain pathways on each map. They rarely ever go straight for the control points (they actually used to do this routinely about a year ago), but rather head for certain "choke points" on the map. I swear that it does seem they are programmed to get in your way on purpose, but it is more likely that they all just want to go to the same location via a common pathway and it ends up blocking your way a high percentage of the time.
As a suggestion, it is generally the best idea to upgrade all your mechs evenly given the current AI behaviors and matchmaking system. This way you'll always have 5 mechs that can contend with the opposing team. Having a single stronger mech on your team will scale up your opponents and essentially all you've done is weaken your other 4 mechs.
Have a great one, fellow pilot!
