What do you call a FUN encounter?

zovya

As a Foundry author, we can't make boss encounters yet. Although we do have some tricks we can use to make an encounter fun to play. I was wondering what you like about combat, and what aspects of the combat is fun to you. At the end, what leaves you feeling excited and what makes you mad?

maho4200

Just keep adding more spawning adds that's how boss encounters work anyway

unknown1456

I like a bit of a challenge where i have to keep moving around waiting for an appropriate time to strike. In my map the last fight is a little over zealous but manageable if you don't try to hack n slash your way through it since you'll just get tossed around like a rag doll. Check it NW-DDAUGMTCJ and review, I will say it is totally doable solo, probably will need several pots to keep yourself going.

nornsavant

I call being able to do what I should be able to do fun.

Wizard –
Dialogue that lets me gain some sort of arcane information not available to the rest of the characters.
Mechanics that make it seem as though I am drawing on arcane energies is fun.
Puzzles where the character has an advantage because he or she is a wizard and good at such things.

Rogue –
Being able to use stealth to gain objectives.
Mechanics that resemble lock picking or sleight of hand
Being able to get to places other classes can’t reach because I am dexterous

Guardian Fighter –
Being able to smash open locked doors
Being able to move stuck or heavy things
Contests of strength and power

Great Weapon Fighter -
Causing fear in monsters because I am so fierce
Facing hordes of minions
Facing another great weapon fighter in a battle of techniques

Cleric –
Dialogue that lets me gain some sort of theological information not available to the rest of the characters.
Mechanisms that make it seem as if I am calling on the power of a deity
Puzzles in which theological lore (perhaps provided earlier) plays some part

I think the suggestion of a bigger world beyond just the mission is fun and being able to develop or use skills that would seem logical for your class yet don’t exist in the game proper is fun.

pressexpose1

you appear to have confused this game with Dungeons and Dragons

labbb

space to fight in . I hate a small room or traps everywhere in the boss room. I can beat anything eventually if I have room to circle . healing bosses annoy me , but hey that's just couse I'm lazy :P

steampunky

As someone who plays, primarily, a GWF and a CW I have to say I love swarms of adds.

The key is to make those adds puny, like D&D 4e minions. Things that if you hit them one time: Just die. Beating on adds for longer than 1-2 attack chains before they drop is a touch tedious and makes me feel far less powerful than I should. Let me drop lightning on a squad of legion devils to fry them to death. Or hack straight through a crowd of yapping kobolds.

Just make it easy to do so and make them plentiful enough to still be something of a threat.

From a boss mechanic standpoint I loved the terrain-disappearance and add-buffing of the Aboleth. I loved the red Dragon's retreat to high ground. I'd love to fight an immense giant monster upon whom my character must climb, or an enemy I have to stand up on a high ledge to blast in the face in combat rather than swatting impotently at it's ankles. I enjoyed having the Elder Brain recede into it's pool while we fought against memories of foes we'd killed before.

Things I hate? Teleporting bosses.

For how the Foundry is currently structured: Could you do a Rocks Fall geographic change to shut off sections of the battlefield with rubble? Or have an enemy disappear at half-health and require players to chase it to the next chamber to finish it off? Things like that could be neat.

Though for general ambiance and the like (of dungeon atmosphere) the different "Looks Like" mechanics mentioned previously could be great.

-Rachel-

zovya

Thanks for the feedback. I'm getting the sense that a prolonged fight feels more epic. And I like the feeling of being overpowered against minions myself.

nirrudnsok

I like multi-stage fights. Maybe the bad guy runs away and you chase him down. Or fighting in the same area but find ways to change the environment. Like maybe the walls are closing in, so every time you "kill" the boss he respawns and the old walls go invisible while new ones become visible, and you fight in tighter and tighter quarters.

Another author did a cool fight where a single large elemental kept "splitting" into multiple weaker elementals after you killed each encounter. I quite enjoy that one, too.

My favorite mission has a really large end fight, I think he used an entire map's budget in a single fight. But you also get a ton of NPC help to counteract the huge swarm of enemies.

glannigan

The most "Fun" I ever had was when that first Treasure Chest came to life and attacked me.

stadulator

One of the best threads I've seen so far.

Fun for me in an encounter centers around a complex dungeon to start. Not just traps but passageways, hidden doors ect. Having mobs placed so that through good pulling and smart fighting you don't automatically get adds. But getting adds should always be a danger (not an mandatory aspect of every fight.) Being careless and just charging mobs or AOE'ing an area should result in a wipe.

Mini bosses: After a good bit of fighting, puzzle solving and exploration you should happen upon a mini boss. 3-4 per dungeon is nice. They should have unique fight mechanics. I.e. caster, melee, teleporter ect..

The boss: This mob usually should bring adds. It's the leader of the area after all. The adds should come with variety and perhaps reference areas of the map you passed to get to the boss. Sometimes it's fun to have a couple of the mini bosses appear.

Above all it has to be challenging. Not just the fights but also getting to the fights.

Hope this helps, I tried to get as much down without droning on

GL!

spyke2009

I personally like encounters that don't start with a ridiculous ton of bad dialogue and cliche... So guess I'm out of luck with the foundry quests I've seen :P

Long encounters should be used SPARINGLY also. I expect the big bad boss that's been blown up for a "chapter" or two to be tough, but making them all take forever would just bore me. Then again you're working with severe limitations in foundry.

steampunky

Cragsteep Crypts. Devilishly hard to duo. Love that one.

-Rachel-