Tapping the Mists (Hardmode)

Tapping the Mists (Hardmode)

in Suggestions

Posted by: Swish.2463

Swish.2463

Omg another hard mode thread right?

While its true the game has various ways of keeping the challenges there for players I think an elegant and effective solution for a PvE (non-dungeon) Hard-mode would be to somewhat rip off what FoTM currently does.

So after a few months of thought and a few final pieces just clicking today: Swish’s Suggestions on Hardmode~

1.
Tapping the Mists
It’s fairly well established that the mists is a kind of Miasma that contains remnants of the magic and history of Tyria, a somewhat alternate reality or Purgatory. This is the place where (In Gw1) domains such as the Under World, Fissure of Woe, and Domain of Anguish were held. The mists are bendable and easily entered (but not survived) and allow for a certain amount of error or ambiguity to what they contain.

What does this mean and how does it relate? The Mists can easily contain the PvE environments we play in every day (past and present versions). They can also contain a vast variety of the standard monsters we pound on as well as a new terrifying batch never encountered.

To paint a vague picture for those having trouble still.. Imagine walking through a hazy version of Queensdale or Ascalon where you stumble upon a Gigantus Lupicus or Jotun Stargazer as a world boss. Or if the dev team feels so inspired, a Pristine and shining, never sunken, Orr.

Want now right? Well before we get there..

~Elyssion~
“Gw2, It’s still on the Table!” – Anet

Tapping the Mists (Hardmode)

in Suggestions

Posted by: Swish.2463

Swish.2463

2.
Mechanics

It’s very hard to not just slap on the old “more health and higher dmg makes it harder” idealism to a hard mode. So what could possibly make this mode hard without just making it take 3 times longer to down trash mobs?

Short of adding Agony to every veteran beast out there this seems like a huge road block, but I disagree. So to avoid the agony/ascended crawl and QQing.

A. Removal of Hints

AoE Circles and Attacks with massive wind ups that telegraph for 2 to 15 seconds that “Hey guys, you outta dodge soon” Should vanish from this mode. As well as predictable Rounds that enemies tend to make with attacks (Ex: Wait 3 seconds, Attack 3 times with sword, wait, 3x sword, block with shield, repeat)

B. Armor Damage.

One death causes damage in regular PvE to one slot of your armor and only after dieing a ridiculous amount of times does it become a hindrance when your armor actually breaks and severely weakens your stats. Death is not feared so much as it is an annoyance in regular PvE.

Up the fear of seriously emptying your bank and ending up in serious trouble with poor play by having armor pieces break entirely upon death and even perhaps become damaged upon down.

C. Debuffs/Boons/Conditions

Theres plenty of room for new things here to up the challenges here are the thoughts I had. Some are things Anet has avoided and will most likely continue to avoid for good reason but perhaps their reintroduction wouldn’t hurt the game too terribly.

I. Death Penalty: Alternative or Compounded with armor loss, a small decrease in stats and in the spirit of Gw1, a decrease in overall health and endurance and stats for dieing that requires the player to preform a given task to remove it (Killing Critters, effectively evading attacks, ect..)

II. Swallowed By the Mists: A Debuff that effects casting times, movement speeds and Skill Recharge rates forcing players to be far wiser and more precise with what they use and when. This would combine with a later suggestion to avoid the “Well i’ll just spam 1 and save everything for later” issue that makes combat incredibly stale.

III. Forced Exit/Respawn: Upon death your team has a limited portion of time to resurrect you before you are forced from the mists version of a map and placed back in the over world as there are no Waypoints. Alternatively, Higher WP costs added with far fewer Waypoints to pick from and rez-rush events from.

IV. Cleansing vs Miasma: Playing in the mists applies an environmental Debuff that can be removed via preforming events/kills/puzzles as the player battles their way through each map. This debuff can vary from map to map and if left unchecked (going afk or trying to run across a map without participating in various events) can result in sever punishments to the player.

V. Infusions: a Buff gained by players for completing events/maps/challenges which can be applied to their armor or self to counter act debuffs such as Current infusions do with Agony. Perhaps allowing players to spend more extended periods of time in these areas rather than granting them some type of serious advantages over those just beginning their journey here.

D. Entering Hardmode

Easy as pie if using alternative versions of open world maps. Simply add an option in the UI that allows players that have achieved level 80 access to the Mists (fractal) version of the map that they are on.

Note this also means that cities could become battle zones (remember the Karka attack in Lions Arch or The Shatterer’s assault on Ascalon and the inquest invasion of Divinitys Reach during the Beta?)

~Elyssion~
“Gw2, It’s still on the Table!” – Anet

Tapping the Mists (Hardmode)

in Suggestions

Posted by: Swish.2463

Swish.2463

4.
Keeping the world Alive

I find it almost vital that Hardmode be a non-instanced experience. Alternative versions of zones with rules that don’t need to conform to Lore would allow for insane events to take place upon these maps (King Adlebern assaulting Metrica Provence with his ghastly army anyone?). While taking some finessing and work It does allow the Dev team to apply some of their hard work to gain places in the game outside of their natural habitat (Dungeon bosses that some people may have only ever seen once). This could also be used as an outlet for “Massive” events without hindering a new players progress in a given area as well as further weekend “Trail” events to avoid excluding previously stated new players.

5.
Rewards

Everyone loves the Shiny stuff, everyone wants the Shiny stuff, Gotta get the shiny…
This too is a balancing act, avoiding rewarding players with what they can already attain else where, while still providing harder to obtain items that avoid becoming an economy ruining “Fire hose”.

A. Ushering in the Old.
Bringing in a larger loot table to each given enemy with a slight increase to certain drops means players can (and often already want to) spend a little less time getting what they want or at least something they can trade up from. This doesn’t mean making Hardmode a place where only rares and exotics drop, nor does it mean making it a place where you are guaranteed a rare or higher drop from a boss-like monster.

B. Rolling out the New.
Tieing this in to dungeons such as Fractals is extremely easy by applying drops of Mist themed items or Dungeon tokens (in very small amounts). New Mist themed (or racial themed) weapon skins as well as armors. This is also a good way to insert hints of where the World is headed next (Can I get my Kurzick armor back.. please Anet?) or to throw in goofy off the wall skins (Shield that looks like a dagger? they’ve done it before..)

C. Currency
Adding more to the Laurels cant be such a bad thing can it? Adding ways to get them here can’t be that bad either. We may even add in a new currency but that’s treading a bit far into the deep end of Stuff to keep track of.

D. Skills
Hardmode only PvE Skills. No crossover to sPvP, WvW, or regular PvE. Nuff’ Said here.

F. Getting Risky
Introducing new ideas.. always Consult Tom Cruise about this kind of Risky Business..

I. Similar to other games (and some people are addicted to it) A new leveling teir, for hardmode only. Regrettably this is effective at letting players re-explore and slowly climb back to the top of the PvE world but does tend to go against the semi-anti-treadmill policy of Gw2. While rewarding I personally am against this as it promotes gating content and a larger gap between “noobs” and “Vets”.

II. New HM only Gear also plays on the above problems, but is still very rewarding to some players: getting that next new and best thing that is. This would also ultimately cause HM to become Medium Mode PvE as it would trivialize the lower ended HM content.

III. Titles and achievements seem to fit in perfectly here and be a real “no brainer”.

IV. Ascetics are what GW has always revolved around, and It’s my personal opinion that I’d love to see a set of Mist related armor and weapons come from this type of HM. As a reward showing that you have completed various tasks (100%HM Map completion?) and have truly mastered PvE. Presenting players with tokens to purchase a box containing their chosen gear or a Mystic Forge recipe. This could also be a way to add in Legendary Graded Armor and new Legendary Weapons.

7. (cause I forgot what number I was on)
Final Statement

I a, in now way, shape, or form, a Game designer; only a mere Player. I have given the above a lengthy amount of thought and have done my best to keep it short and sweet and to the point. If any of you have suggestions, criticisms, or thoughts to add or rehash, Please open the flood gates. I will gladly amend and update this thread as it grows to reflect the general populations wants and dislikes, and hopefully… Anet can use this as a blueprint for the future of Gw2. Thank you all for the Read <3

~Swish~

TL;DR
Make HM using existing Open world maps, Keep it Open World, Make it hard, Add New Stuff, Talk about it people.

And for good measure, Kitten.

~Elyssion~
“Gw2, It’s still on the Table!” – Anet

Tapping the Mists (Hardmode)

in Suggestions

Posted by: Swish.2463

Swish.2463

Did I really make it too long?

~Elyssion~
“Gw2, It’s still on the Table!” – Anet