"What I consider good and bad programming for Escort type missions I.E point A - point B"

The Good.

1. They are interactable to toggle between following and waiting which if done right can leave them somewhere safe to clear out enemies.

2. They are Semi-Auto this means they have a designated radius around them that makes them automatically follow if the player character gets within that radius or automatically wait if the player character leaves that radius in other words is dependent on how close or far the player character is from the NPC to determine if they follow or wait. This can be both good and bad pending if enemies are pre-spawned and engageable in the level/map or if the escorted NPC has to progress through the level/map and hit 'trigger zones' to spawn the enemies in to progress.

3. They are programmed to follow behind you which means unless they have a 'escort' radius their speed changes to keep up or trail behind you a set distance. 

4. The NPC is programmed with self-preservation and will try to flee/run/take cover from enemies when they appear or get too close, which also means they in most cases won't run towards the player character or get in the way.

5. I would say programmed to follow the quickest/shortest or straightforward path from point A to point B, try to avoid where enemies are and not follow janky winding paths that take them longer. But this one is kind iffy itself given that it in part requires the level/map to have properly programmed routes that A.I's pathfinding can follow and the NPC's weren't programmed to intentionally to follow erratic/janky long route paths which I believe is the tendency to be.

The Bad.

1. They are purely automatic meaning that as soon as you get close enough to trigger the 'escort' mechanic, they automatically begin to make their way from point A to point B regardless of whether you are within a set distance from them or not. 

2. They have no self-preservation meaning they won't attempt to flee/run/take cover from enemies and either stop and cower where they are or if they do try to run, they either run around erratically or run towards the player character and get in the way of fighting, which has the possibility of the player accidentally killing the NPC.

3. They are programmed to follow their path from point A to point B regardless if there are obstacles like traps or hazards in the way and won't take alternative paths meaning the player is forced to clear the path on top of dealing with enemies.

4. They aren't programmed to follow behind you and instead are programmed to go from point A to point B which combined with automatic movement means you have keep pace with them to 'escort' them 

5. Their movement speed is programmed to be higher than the player characters which combined with automatically going on their own whether you are close enough or not and no self-preservation making them head towards enemies, hazards, trap makes them a pain in the ass to escort