If Tequatl is to remain an encounter that 80 players are required to accomplish they really need to add a mechanic like the breakout events in WvW, where the encounter will not even start until 80 players show up. However, I’d just prefer they resolve the issues with the fight through other means. Some of the problems I see with the encounter are:
- Lots of people are required for the fight, which can place a heavy burden on smaller population servers
- People aren’t prepared before the fight starts as waiting around on the shore is pretty boring.
- Unlike traditional instanced raid content, which I do not support adding to Guild Wars 2, Tequatl lacks a means of practicing him in a timely manner. If you fail, that’s it for potentially 1.5 hours. Few people are willing to put up with this.
- Overflows magnify the first two problems by dropping players into the middle of a fight with a population that may be incapable of handling the event
To improve the event I would work on scaling, event initiation, reattempts, and post-event zone ramifications.
To address scaling I think events like these should scale based on server success and account for smaller populations (perhaps as few as 20 players). The more successful a server is, the harder and more rewarding Tequatl will become. If they fail, the easier and less rewarding he will become. An easier/smaller group Tequatl would generate scales much less frequently (to allow for a smaller number of turrets to be used), spawn kitten ne fingers and other minions, have less health. In turn, NPC allies would gain more health/attack power/skills, turrets and megalaser batteries would be more durable. Reverse this for a harder Tequatl.
The cons of this approach are servers that have a higher rewarding Tequatl will see much more guesting. However, I see this as a problem not unique to this solution, but with guesting in general. I think many people are interested in roping in guesting somehow. I have no solutions to offer on this point, unfortunately.
To improve event initiation, reattempts at a failed encounter, and post-fight zone ramifications I would add pre- and post- dynamic events related to (re-)starting the encounter, which places control of starting the encounter into the player’s hands. A flow chart would be helpful here, but I’ll do my best in text. If Tequatl was previously beaten (the default state), then the Vigil controls the shores. During this time they are actively preparing for Tequatl’s return. Events spawn related to rebuilding the shores forces, establishing power to the pact megalaser, and arming the Hylek turrets by making potions with the Hylek. After all events are completed, Tequatl attacks after a few minutes break to prepare. These events would start about an hour after a successful Tequatl kill.
If Tequatl was successful, he takes to the skies above Sparkfly Fen with his fully hardened skin and initiates an invasion. At first the invasion events are concentrated to the shores, they include help the pact clear the corruption, rebuild the Hylek turrets, and rebuild the megalaser. If all are successful, the megalaser shoots Tequatl out of the sky and the fight resumes. If these events fail, the Vigil retreats further back to various outposts in the zone, which Tequatl now invades with his minions. Players must successfully push these events back to the shores, to restart the cleansing the shores/rebuilding the megalaser events.
The benefits of this approach are it gives a sense of consequence to success/failure of the event, encourages players to stick around and practice even if they fail, and allows for adequate time to prepare for the fight. The negatives are it introduces multiple avenues where people could potentially game the system (i.e., they find combinations of failing events that result in not fighting Tequatl, or failing him that become more rewarding than beating him). To prevent a system of diminishing returns needs to be in place at every step of the encounter. Beating Tequatl should always remain the most lucrative option.
As an aside, I would really love for them to remove the timers from these events. I think challenging events can be made where there are actual in game objectives rather than beating an external timer. For example, Tequatl could be failed if he builds X number of bone walls successfully, making himself too durable to defeat at this time; destroys X number of turrets, damages the megalaser beyond repair, gains X number of enraged stacks, which can be removed with Hylek tranquilizer potions.
Which will be good enough to have Teq declared a “success” (“we managed to reduce inflow of yellows from easy-to-kill dragon, yay!”). Regular players will ignore it and move to some other less frustrating content
