"Boss" Encounters

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

I know there are no true boss mechanics allowed in the foundry, but is there a way to make something look like a boss encounter? Here's what I want to do:

+You encounter an NPC and talk to him/her
+The conversation takes you to a point where the NPC transforms/changes into a larger encounter NPC
+You fight the big, bad boss-like thing
+Maybe some adds come out and help
+Defeat the big baddy and get loots!

If anyone has discovered a way to make something along these lines work, without looking ridiculous (I'm still actively trying), please pass the information along! Thanks all!

wuhsin · May 2013

Change the costume of an Ogre and scale it down if you have to.

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

wuhsin wrote: »

Change the costume of an Ogre and scale it down if you have to.

Can you up the health of an encounter in the editor some where?

kamaliicious · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

Can you up the health of an encounter in the editor some where?

No, you can't change anything meaningful about an encounter.

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

kamaliicious wrote: »

No, you can't change anything meaningful about an encounter.

While I understand, kind of, why this is . . . I don't like it for what I'm trying to do, lol.

kamaliicious · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

While I understand, kind of, why this is . . . I don't like it for what I'm trying to do, lol.

Too bad, the Foundry does not give you the choice.

rasmenar2112 · May 2013

Find any Standard difficulty or Hard difficulty "Solo" and change it's costume/name. You can use objectives for when the boss spawns, waves of adds spawn (each with it's own kill objective alongside the boss) so as you kill each wave, the next wave spawns, and all waves have to be cleared to progress after the encounter.

forien69 · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

While I understand, kind of, why this is . . . I don't like it for what I'm trying to do, lol.

You can't because developers are afraid of authors making too easy/too hard creeps. Also because difficulty of encounter scales automatically to fit any level cap

boydzinj · May 2013

forien69 wrote: »

You can't because developers are afraid of authors making too easy/too hard creeps. Also because difficulty of encounter scales automatically to fit any level cap

Did you know not all mobs scale in a linear fashion compared to players?

The Mind Flayer "hard" encounters are not too tough until they hit level 30+ then they can be a pain... especially when combined with other encounters. Likewise, at higher level... closer to 60 they really start turning up the heat. However, a low level would not think twice about them ... while some high level characters would need a strategy to defeat them.

Likewise, a healing cleric would be hard press to defeat some mobs while a twister rogue has an easier time with the same set of encounters.

kenering · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

I know there are no true boss mechanics allowed in the foundry, but is there a way to make something look like a boss encounter? Here's what I want to do:

+You encounter an NPC and talk to him/her
+The conversation takes you to a point where the NPC transforms/changes into a larger encounter NPC
+You fight the big, bad boss-like thing
+Maybe some adds come out and help
+Defeat the big baddy and get loots!

In my foundry you can see last encounter as you stated above. Be sure to try it

forien69 · May 2013

boydzinj wrote: »

Did you know not all mobs scale in a linear fashion compared to players?

The Mind Flayer "hard" encounters are not too tough until they hit level 30+ then they can be a pain... especially when combined with other encounters. Likewise, at higher level... closer to 60 they really start turning up the heat. However, a low level would not think twice about them ... while some high level characters would need a strategy to defeat them.

Likewise, a healing cleric would be hard press to defeat some mobs while a twister rogue has an easier time with the same set of encounters.

I'm well aware that mobs scale isn't linear. As well as I'm aware that some classes late-game become weaker (guardian, cleric) or stronger (CW?), but I have only 22 level and I have no idea how late game looks like. That's why I would be happy for some brief introduction via PM with classes mid-to-late game pros and cons.

forien69 · May 2013

double post, my bad (forums are overused with these 100k of players raging here after servers down)

please delete please delete please delete please delete please delete please delete please delete

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

kenering wrote: »

In my foundry you can see last encounter as you stated above. Be sure to try it

Will do, I'll try it out and see if I can't tweak it for what I'm looking at, thanks!

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

rasmenar2112 wrote: »

Find any Standard difficulty or Hard difficulty "Solo" and change it's costume/name. You can use objectives for when the boss spawns, waves of adds spawn (each with it's own kill objective alongside the boss) so as you kill each wave, the next wave spawns, and all waves have to be cleared to progress after the encounter.

I'll try that out, that's not abad idea. Kind of like a mini-skirmish in the midst of my personal dungeon! Looking forward to trying it out.

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

Updated question:

Is there a way to create a costume and have that NPC be hostile? I have searched and searched for this function, but cannot seem to make it happen.

kamaliicious · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

Updated question:

Is there a way to create a costume and have that NPC be hostile? I have searched and searched for this function, but cannot seem to make it happen.

Assign the costume to something in an encounter.

boydzinj · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

Updated question:

Is there a way to create a costume and have that NPC be hostile? I have searched and searched for this function, but cannot seem to make it happen.

You can make a hostile encounter - an encounter that is anything but a guard and dress it up as a NPC. You can even set it up to when the creature dies... it spawns a new NPC that looks like the creature you just defeated. That way you can talk to it afterwards... does this help? or vice versa.

I made a half naked girl NPC. She is a contact, but not part of the main quest. You can click on her and ask her a few questions. One of the chat options asks her if she wants to hook up with you comfort you. The next dialogue option she screams, "guards!"

I set her NPC to disappear when that option dialogue text appears and set an encounter of bandits to appear and I re-name them as guards and re-skin them as guards. I also have the NPC disappear and a new NPC appear called "scared girl" and make her timid (where she runs away from the player). At that point, she is no longer a contact - or if she is... she can have different dialogue options. Likewise, I could also have her set to disappear and when the encounter appears one of the mobs could be her as well. After all, she is very angry at me.

myranuaa · May 2013

OK, I must be a complete idiot. I came to the forums looking for the same thing and notice everyone says put or change the costume on an encounter. I have chosen an Undead Melee Hard difficulty from encounters but don't see where or how to change it's costume. Please a little help for this blonde. LoL

anrix2 · May 2013

Select the detail view on your map, then select the unit of the encounter who's costume you want to change, then select the button on the pop up for the costume.

kamaliicious · May 2013

myranuaa wrote: »

OK, I must be a complete idiot. I came to the forums looking for the same thing and notice everyone says put or change the costume on an encounter. I have chosen an Undead Melee Hard difficulty from encounters but don't see where or how to change it's costume. Please a little help for this blonde. LoL

You change it on the individual monsters, not the encounter. The last option under the Properties section is specifically titled "Costume"

sundevil3 · May 2013

capt0bv10u5 wrote: »

I know there are no true boss mechanics allowed in the foundry, but is there a way to make something look like a boss encounter? Here's what I want to do:

+You encounter an NPC and talk to him/her
+The conversation takes you to a point where the NPC transforms/changes into a larger encounter NPC
+You fight the big, bad boss-like thing
+Maybe some adds come out and help
+Defeat the big baddy and get loots!

If anyone has discovered a way to make something along these lines work, without looking ridiculous (I'm still actively trying), please pass the information along! Thanks all!

I recently tried having an NPC attack the player at a certain point in the dialogue, but it didn't work well. You have to make the NPC disappear, and then you have to make a mob that looks just like the NPC appear in the same place.

I was able to make the NPC disappear, and I was able to make the mob look just like the NPC and appear just as the NPC was disappearing, but the way the mob appeared ruined the effect. Instead of just popping into existence where the NPC was standing, the mob came up through the floor with a fairly lengthy animation involving the mob pushing his way up out of the floor.

tokrayuma · May 2013

Would be nice to have boss battles.. with cutscenes, custom dialogs, etc... but in the meantime what I would like to see is a generic category of encounters in the Foundry.

Specifically arranged by difficulty + special attacks. That way at least I could create a series of quests that at least 'appear' to be becoming more difficult as it progresses. I have had a little luck with this already (using HARD encounters and encounters with special attackers as 'bosses' and other lesser encounters as trash mobs) but to have the difficulty levels organized better in the Foundry would be a very good first step.

*edit* if anyone has a spreadsheet of the current encounters and their details, that would suffice as well

boydzinj · May 2013

sundevil3 wrote: »

I recently tried having an NPC attack the player at a certain point in the dialogue, but it didn't work well. You have to make the NPC disappear, and then you have to make a mob that looks just like the NPC appear in the same place.

I was able to make the NPC disappear, and I was able to make the mob look just like the NPC and appear just as the NPC was disappearing, but the way the mob appeared ruined the effect. Instead of just popping into existence where the NPC was standing, the mob came up through the floor with a fairly lengthy animation involving the mob pushing his way up out of the floor.

Yes that does happen. It is a limitation of the game. Hope the players do not notice and move on. If players notice, then take the encounter out or just grit your teeth and blame Cryptic for not creating the PERFECT foundry. You have to work with limitations and some of those limitations have workarounds... but they are not perfect workarounds.

almostcool · May 2013

In my opinion, as long as we can't put real bosses in the foundry it comes down to environments. I try to find some standard - hard encounters with solo creatures and costume them accordingly but for the most part my main focus is making a detailed and epic boss battle stage that will stand out from the rest. I actually refuse to use ogres because I see it way too often, and an ogre boss is just too noticeable with his giant spiked club.

kyeo138 · May 2013

What I did is sort by hard encounters, and choose one that has only 1 mob in it. Then you can put whatever costume you want on it. You could then add more than one of those encounters to combine into one super encounter.

myranuaa · May 2013

anrix2 wrote: »

Select the detail view on your map, then select the unit of the encounter who's costume you want to change, then select the button on the pop up for the costume.

Ahh! I forgot about those two little buttons up top. Thank you very much!!

capt0bv10u5 · May 2013

I wonder if you could have the boss-mob be spawned but not visible until a certain component is reached, that way it would just appear in place of the vanishing mob? It sounds like a good idea in theory, I suppose practice could be a very different beast. Thank you, though, everyone for the input and help. I think this will get me started in the right direction for the big end-fight I want in my next Foundry.

"Boss" Encounters

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