. [b]Give bosses more abilities and variety[/b] --------------------------------------- A simple way to give the grind of bosses (for starters at least) more life is through variety of gameplay, and this can be done with some randomization. [i][u]Example:[/u][/i] Bosses have a kit of 3 abilities they can choose from: 1 close ranged attack, 1 primary attack, 1 special attack. From here, each boss will have at least 2 abilities to choose from for each category. So each time guardians start an instance against a boss, that boss will randomly choose it's kit from a table of abilities. Lets use Phogoth for example: [b]PHOGOTH[/b] [i][u]Primary Abilities:[/u][/i] Auto firing plasmas (what he has now) Burst cannon (fires 3 slower projectiles that explode on impact) [i][u]Close Ranged attack:[/u][/i] Stomp Vicious swipe [i][u]Special Attacks[/u]:[/i] Glob Mines (explodes multiple globs off his back that act as mines if guardians step on them) Chains of Fury (put those chains to use. KRATOS! lol) Roar (Increase damage and aggression of mobs for a brief time) Now, to spice things up. As Phogoth reaches a threshold for health, he will evolve one of his abilities---There can even be a Modifier that allows Bosses to upgrade 2 or even all of their abilities as health reaches separate thresholds. So for example: [i][u]Evolved Abilities[/u][/i] Auto Firing cannon evolves into fire damage and leaves a trail of fire burning briefly. The burst cannon could do the same OR shoots ice that does less damage to guardians but slows or even freezes them. Stomp could cause rocks to fall from the ceiling. Vicious Swipe can turn into a raging combo of heated swipes. For Glob Mines, if they don't get destroyed by the guardians after a certain time, they will convert into thrall. Roar could briefly slow and daze guardians. And as for Chains of Fury, just have some -blam!-ing fun with it ;). [i][u]Counter Attacks[/u][/i] Bosses should also have some form of antic and ability for counterattacking after sustaining a certain amount of damage. EXAMPLE: Phogoth arches head back in pain and on 1 foot, then quickly turns and swings chains down at a targeted guardian. [i][u]Dodge/Movement/Antics[/u][/i] LASTLY, give the bosses some more antics, such as taunts, and move sets. No reason Phogoth should always be moving in pretty much 1 direction. Heck, all bosses should have at least 1 quick dodge move. Phogoth could quickly (or as quick as a big guy can move) side step. And as the game progresses through the months, Bungie can add to this table of abilities to keep things fun--adding just 1 more ability (like the roar) to Phogoth's table increases variety of play by a lot more. There's also a less reliance on mobs during the fights. Now instead of just having a strategy going into a match, Guardians can be tested further by thinking on the fly as they adjust to bosses' different abilities and approaches. NOTE: this mechanic could be used for Raid bosses also, but with maybe a bit larger kit, making them more interesting NOTE: Some people think this would take longer to complete strikes. It would if you had a group of less skilled players, of course. But the idea behind this is to throw more focus onto the bosses themselves and less on the mobs around them. So, changes such as these would allow lower mob counts and lower boss health pools. NOTE: Some people brought up the idea of destructible/altered environment for bosses like Phogoth. Great idea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]MODIFIERS[/b] Specific Modifiers can be designed around this mechanic. Here are some I or someone else have come up with so far: 1. Enraged: at random points during the fight, a boss could become "Enraged" and for 20 seconds, ALL of his abilities become "evolved" and the cooldowns on them are halved 2. Evolution: instead of evolving only 1 ability when the boss reaches half health, he can now upgrade 2. 1 ability will take effect each time the boss loses a third of his health. 3. Evolution 2.0: Same as the original "Evolution" but now 3 abilities will evolve. One ability will evolve when every quarter health is lost. 4. MORE!: Will bring 1 additional ability to the fight (chosen randomly). 5. A modifier that allows a boss to reroll his kit of abilities at half health. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]VALUS[/b] An expansion on Valus could be different weapons he brings, each with different abilities or attacks for variety: Primary: Chaingun ----Special: 1. fires all four chambers at once in a burst that if guardians get hit by, are dazed (slowed and blurred vision) and take decent damage. 2. puts a stationary gatling turret down--oh boy could this be fun if evolved ;). Shotty ----Special: 1. boosts shotty, giving pellets small explosions for aoe effect. 2. boosts shotty, giving it 50% more pellets per shot and wider spread Grenade Launcher ---Special: 1. Shoots mines out. 2. Grenade explodes, creating cluster bombs as after effects. 3. Bouncy grenades. 4. Elemental grenades. Flamethrower ----Special: 1. launches Fireball. 2. Engulfs himself into flames, making him invincible to Solar, causing damage to nearby Guardians, and guardians receive minor damage if they attack Valus (double that damage if they use Solar). Rocket Launcher ---Special: 1. Missile Barrage (what he has now) 2. Electric Missiles-missiles are much slower in velocity but cause continuous damage if they pass nearby guardians. ---Close ranged could be universal to all weapons: 1. swings gun 2. Pulls machete out and swings aggressively 3. Whips out a hammer or maybe just whips out a whip lol ;) Now, you have quite a variety in gameplay that still meets a simple universal need for easier programming (modifiers mainly). Hell, allow him the ability to bring TWO weapons to a fight that he can switch out lol. Of course, everything could be evolved with simple additions: such as flamethrower engulfing Valus could increase radius of damage around him and increase damage Guardians receive if they shoot him. NOTE: The primary ability are the weapons themselves and their basic attack. If these evolve, they could increase in rate of fire, explosive radius, or range of flamethrower. Of course you can do more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [b]PSION FLAYERS[/b] Psion Flayers I believe are the most boring bosses and are very lazy design (might as well throw a bunch of mobs at us), but they could actually be very unique in reality. Have it so their abilities work off one another in some form or fashion. Each Psion could have a specific stance--my imagination is running thin so we'll use elements as examples: Ice, Solar, and Void (could expand for more). Now, have the abilities create combos if worked together. For example: Solar Flayer gets into trouble (taking lots of damage), the Void Flayer can teleport himself AND Ice Flayer to help, then Ice Flayer can put down a shield similar to Titan's. OR void flayer can teleport solar to him. Another example: Ice F. could put little ice mines--could slow guardians if hit-- around and if Solar hits the ice with a fire attack, they could explode for good damage. Doing it this way creates a fun strategy, which Flayer should the guardians focus first??? For instance, if the Ice and Solar Flayers bring abilities that coexist very well (such as the mines i mentioned), then getting rid of one of them could be very helpful. But if the teleportation of the Void Flayer and the defensive abilities of Ice Flayer are causing problems, then maybe the Void should be focused first. Now next! The match needs to keep up intensity and be a challenge still. So if a Flayer dies, the other 2 will "evolve" and one of the abilities they bring to the fight will have additional effects or something. Edit: The thing to remember when designing Flayers in this fashion is to create abilities that still have effects by themselves such as the mines. It's just more brutal when combined with other abilities. The other thing to remember is a well designed AI using this kind of cool collaboration allows for very entertaining fights, but can now have much smaller health pools. This can address the length of Strikes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [b]AKSOR, ARCHON PRIEST[/b] The way I envision Aksor may require a decent amount of programming, but that's because Aksor has the benefit of actually travelling around the entire map compared to most bosses (and I actually like this map layout). I envision him as an aggressive leader and warrior. He will follow the same kit as mentioned, BUT to make him unique, he could have a rage meter. This rage meter is filled by the amount of nearby mobs he has--more mobs, it fills faster. These mobs are also protective and will stay near Aksor trying to defend him--Aksor will be passive during this time and boosts mobs with Mods that he is linked to. That is until his Rage meter is full. Once the Rage meter is full, he goes into a brief moment (say 15 seconds) of increased armor, increased damage (maybe 20%), and is aggressive as hell--full blown offensive. With these changes, you can drop his health pool from where it is now.