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Bosses, and How to Add Variety
kulrig
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
Bosses... well, there's not too much variety. Let me say now that I'm not advocating the complete removal of add swarm bosses. For some, it makes perfect sense. Warlords of once powerful clans making their last stand, necromancers skulking about in a tomb or battlefield with plenty of bodies to work with, I would expect to have to fight swarms of minions. But lesser champions? They might have a few cronies, but nothing like what the warlord would be able to call upon. Some mages may command demons, but rarely more than a few unless in the possession of some great artifact. They have a few bosses that aren't add swarms (competing adventurer party comes to mind), but are sadly too few at the moment.
That out of the way, let's come up with a few ideas on how to make bosses more varied, shall we?
This game has a line-of-sight system, making it so that if you can't see the target you can't hit it. This means that some bosses can have a one-shot attack that relies on an uninterruptable cast to go off, and can only affect those in LoS. Have it go off every some odd % of their health, or for exceptionally durable bosses every some odd seconds. This would need a different sort of warning than a red circle alone, maybe a taunting line or a warning emote?
They have the ability to make sections of the floor move to make bridges; why not make sections of the floor move to make pits? These missing sections would make unwary players fall to their deaths, or perhaps a pit of some baddies waiting to rip the poor adventurer apart.
Some of the tougher enemies occasionally drink potions, but this can be interrupted. Why not a boss? Or perhaps have the occasional add come in who channels a heal on the boss that can only be stopped with the add's death?
There might be an arena pit where you fight off waves of attackers, with the crowd pelting you with rocks and rotten food for minor damage or a short stun. Wave 1 is minion swarm, wave 2 is a team of champions, wave 3 is a big bad beast, for example.
How about a boss that eats a random party member, and while being nommed on can't do anything; after a few seconds, winds up in the beast's gut. Cause enough disruption on the inside, either via damage or some other method of mischief, and the beast vomits the player back out and is stunned for a few seconds.
That's what I can come up with for now, and I'm sure many of you have more ideas on interesting mechanics and ways to make boss fights great. So let's hear 'em! With any luck, the devs will use some of the ideas and we'll have a better game for it. Their inclusion of the Foundry tool set is proof enough to me they value our creativity and opinions, and want to make Neverwinter a community game. Let's show them what we can think up!
That out of the way, let's come up with a few ideas on how to make bosses more varied, shall we?
This game has a line-of-sight system, making it so that if you can't see the target you can't hit it. This means that some bosses can have a one-shot attack that relies on an uninterruptable cast to go off, and can only affect those in LoS. Have it go off every some odd % of their health, or for exceptionally durable bosses every some odd seconds. This would need a different sort of warning than a red circle alone, maybe a taunting line or a warning emote?
They have the ability to make sections of the floor move to make bridges; why not make sections of the floor move to make pits? These missing sections would make unwary players fall to their deaths, or perhaps a pit of some baddies waiting to rip the poor adventurer apart.
Some of the tougher enemies occasionally drink potions, but this can be interrupted. Why not a boss? Or perhaps have the occasional add come in who channels a heal on the boss that can only be stopped with the add's death?
There might be an arena pit where you fight off waves of attackers, with the crowd pelting you with rocks and rotten food for minor damage or a short stun. Wave 1 is minion swarm, wave 2 is a team of champions, wave 3 is a big bad beast, for example.
How about a boss that eats a random party member, and while being nommed on can't do anything; after a few seconds, winds up in the beast's gut. Cause enough disruption on the inside, either via damage or some other method of mischief, and the beast vomits the player back out and is stunned for a few seconds.
That's what I can come up with for now, and I'm sure many of you have more ideas on interesting mechanics and ways to make boss fights great. So let's hear 'em! With any luck, the devs will use some of the ideas and we'll have a better game for it. Their inclusion of the Foundry tool set is proof enough to me they value our creativity and opinions, and want to make Neverwinter a community game. Let's show them what we can think up!
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