There is no way you can justify in lore some random boss suddenly gaining invulnerability to damage just long enough for it to do its thing. In low-tier content, and arguably often in mid-tier content, forced invincibility phases serve as literally nothing but immersion breaking plot armor placed specifically for the purpose of making things take longer.
Please tell me who in the world thinks that is good game design? It heavily, and I mean [i]heavily[/i] (I can't understate how much I mean this), bogs down the experience. It feels like playing a ttrpg with an inexperienced DM who strips agency away from their players because they want their boss to do it's thing, so they just refuse to let players interfere.
I would like to propose the idea that these invincibility phases should only be active in higher difficulty content. If you have enough firepower that these random white shields actually stop you quickly, it's likely that whatever mechanic the plot armor is allowing them to do isn't going to be a challenge anyway.
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4 RepliesGameplay mechanics are not based in lore. Health gates are often used to add depth to an encounter. The GM last week had a boss that roams around the room while you manage adds and fight him. You’re then given breaks when he moves away and you do the dunking part. He comes back and fight me you for a big again, then leaves. You do a different dunk and then he returns with different attack style. Similar for something like lightblade, inverted spire and a few others. If you could just cook him, then the fight would be exactly the same as warden, where the boss spawns and then dies instantly, making the rest of the fight elements pointless.