Hello there,
I have some ideas about future Dungeons development that I’d like to post here.
Now I won’t be talking about skipping, balancing, exploiting or need for build and gear diversity. I’m here to simply present you my vision how this part of PvE content could be developed, to, in my view, please almost everyone.
Only Story Mode Dungeons (Part I) are needed for “Dungeon Master” title
To start off, I decided to divide my look at the dungeons and proposal in 6 parts.
Part I: Story Dungeons
: Basic dungeons, focused on story-telling. Current Story Mode merged with the most important story-wise Explorable paths. Each Dungeon would have >2 bonus paths (like explorable now). Current paths which lack too much story should be given more of it.
: Accessible for everyone, in any group composition, pure fun. All Story Dungeons would be rescaled to match more variety of levels. Currently, there are no dungeons untill level 30 and in my opinion, it’s a mistake. Make basic Utilities all unlock (without elite, reserved for lvl 30) up to level 15 (5,10,15).
Rescale the dungeons so you can access first ones at level 15 (AC story probably). New “Bonus Paths” (Explorable previously) would unlock after completing the main story one after every couple of levels (Let’s take AC again. You complete the story at lvl 15, then the first path unlocks at 17, second at 20 and third on 23. Then on lvl 25 CM story unlocks etc. etc.).
That should give the better feeling of the “Living” world. You end the story and then you don’t abadon and forget about the dungeon, instead you frequently return there to complete various new tasks you’re called for.
: Rather easy, suited for newcomers, but providing some fun challange. Story dungeons should be designed to not only interest the player in the story, but also introduce them to PvE mechanics and dungeoning, provide some help. Players are accompanied by NPCs who frequently make suggestions, give advices and somehow explain the mechanics :
-NPC: “This ground looks very unsteady. We should better make sure we don’t fall” -> Tooltip pops out, informing the group that getting some stability or stunbreakers would be a good idea.
-NPC:“This guy seems big. He should be slow, we’re quicker, let’s strike him from behind!” -> Tooltip pops out, suggesting avoiding big telegraphed hits and striking on mob’s back, maybe equipping some swiftness for better mobility.
-NPC:“Hmm… See this aura around him? I bet it’s nasty, I wouldn’t risk touching it” ->Tooltip pops out, informing about possible projectile reflection/risky melee.
Players should be also taught about basic tactics of bosses, telegraphed attacks, usefulness of various utilities, movement or such. These things would help them greatly in future dungeoning.
~ 30 minutes up to 1 hour for newcomers.
- Good equipment box for current level, materials for crafting, special recipes, trophy/recognition in Home Instance. Major extra rewards for completing the Dungeon/Path on Hero’s Call
Most important among all dungeoning options, main focus
Part II – Explorable Dungeons
: This is a new form of the Dungeon. It’s exactly what you expect – the exploration. Remaining, less story related and important explorable paths are included in here. The whole area of the entire dungeon is open for all of you, no scripts. There are various Dynamic Events going on in the area (mentioned E.Paths are DEs activated by speaking with NPCs), lots of mobs, NPCs, Bosses. There are also Explorator’s Chests – chests that randomly spawn all over the dungeon. Some of them are guarded by mobs, some are in strange places, some need keys acquired by doing DEs, slaying specific mobs or such.
Tasks, outside of old explorables, mobs, bosses and chests are higly randomized in all explorable dungeons. Spawn locations, NPCs and even mob types differ on every enter
There’s also the counter, similar to one from Escape from Lion’s Arch Rescue counter.
Every mob slain, every chest found, every Boss slaughtered and every DE done give you certain amount of points. It’s something like a Vanquish from GW1
- Scaled for level 80. Accessible for a party with at least one member (“The Opener”), who has finished all Story in the dungeon (Bonus paths included).
[SALT]Natchniony – Necromancer, EU.
Streams: http://www.twitch.tv/rym144