I had an idea today that I’d like to share and see what the dungeon community thinks. I’d love to hear about how this idea could expand further, so don’t be shy. Just keep this adult and constructive.
So there are some key issues popping up around the forums about dungeons. Everyone should know them by now, but I’ll list the big ones just in case you hadn’t:
1. Loot not being worth the time.
2. The “fun” or challenge of a dungeon is lacking.
Something that popped into mind was that most enemies are pretty much the same in effect, just variations of health and dps. So my idea is to turn this around a bit.
It all starts when we look at the Urban Battlegrounds Fractal. This is a good example of the types of enemies we should be encountering for a couple reasons:
1. They are a challenge, yet at the same time, they can easily be dropped with a good group (even without the NPC support).
2. The loot is amazing.
So taking that into consideration, one word came to mind… Agenda.
What if all of the enemy ranks had agendas to them? Each agenda would exercise a new challenge for the party, while still being difficult. For example, it could work like this:
Non-ranked Mobs
- These guys would focus primarily outnumbering us. So whenever we encounter them, it should always be in huge numbers. Sure they can die fast, but if the group isn’t prepared, they can overwhelm you. This sort of already exists, but it could be better implemented with the agendas for the ranks below.
Veteran
- These groups should be similar to the Battlegrounds Fractal. The agenda here is an organized group of 6-8 enemies that are more concentrated and therefor promote surgical-type tactics. These guys should be the most common enemy type we fight in any dungeon and should have similar drops to the Battlegrounds Fractal. They could also be groups that you’ll find supporting champions etc.
Elites
- Inspired by the new defending Magg change in CoF p2, What if Elites were strictly solo agents that focus on making a challenge more difficult if not dealt with when they appear? So in other words, people should freak out whenever they see an elite. So they would need to be hidden for the majority of a dungeon, until you get to a challenge that’s like the Magg event. They can be much more useful in escalating events though. Take the final boss fight of CoF p2. What if during a certain time, an Elite would appear to start conjuring some spell that would heal the Eternal Flame? If successful, the flame is healed to full hp and the acolytes are immediately rezed?
Champions
- These guys would basically be what they are now, but instead they have a group of veterans that work with their skills. It’s a foe that has gained a small following. A little gang and their leader, so to speak. Vets could rez each other and use skills to help the Champ etc.
Legendary
- Not much to change here, except to consider inserting an elite to make things more challenging.
Thoughts? Other ideas?