Less reliance on HP+Dmg+specific load-outs, more on tactics
in Suggestions
Posted by: Tarkaroshe.8370
There’s currently a debate going on in a different section of the forums regarding the use of HP and dmg output in the design of boss encounters. I posted the following in that thread, but realised that it’s possibly worthy of posting in this suggestions forum too:
I agree with others that in a lot of cases the bosses are not very “tactical”, but instead just have their abilities on timers and fire them when not on cooldown. Some of them give enough warning to actually counter their abilities whereas others either have “warnings” that are so subtle they could be easily missed (e.g. a VERY faint thin ring on a textured floor that almost hides it) or there is almost no time at all to react to what the boss is doing.
Yes, there might be a degree of “L2P” involved, but how is anyone supposed to “learn to play” a fight if the indicators and warnings are so easily missed and the fights are so chaotic as a result? I believe that IF those issues where addressed, then there may be less issues with Boss fights in general.
Anet have a measure of responsibility in this situation. So, I propose:
1) The AOE indicators (the AOE rings that you see on the floor) that the bosses put down should be more clearly identifiable. In my opinion, the rings should be thicker, brighter in colour, stand out better against the textures and colours on the floor, and perhaps maybe even look different to the AOE rings put down by players (thus making them more distinguishable).
2) The indicators and warnings that bosses give out prior to some of their abilities should be a little less subtle. For example, they shouldn’t just give a slight “twitch” which a player could only see if they happen to be staring at the boss, but perhaps have less subtle VISUAL indicators AS WELL as perhaps audible (and appropriate) warnings / indicators too.
Blizzard learned that clear audible warnings are a good accompanyment to visual indicators because then players don’t HAVE to be staring at the boss to know that they need to react to what’s coming next. And yet, those fights were still challenging even with such in-game warnings in place (not counting warnings from addons). Such indicators don’t have to be completely inappropriate, they could be lines of dialogue spoken by the boss during the fight (which could possibly add to the “immersion” factor of the encounter too).
3) Design of Bosses should have to rely more on the use of adaptable tactics and less on just slapping more HP and dmg on the mob. Devs should be making more use of the environments. Yes, throwing rocks and stuff is a good step forward, but more could be done. Interactive environments can not only help make encounters more tactical but also possibly add to how “immersed” a player feels.
4) Boss fights should be more “flexible” to different skill / trait / weapon / attunement load-outs.
THEN and only then, can people stand any chance of “Learning to Play”.