Hey,
I would like to preface this by saying I do enjoy the dungeons and boss fights in guild wars. I have dungeon master and fractals 30+ done so I have seen most of the group PVE content in the game.
These are just some thoughts I had on how I feel Guildwars 2 could improve its boss design moving forward when designing new group content.
I feel that this game is an action MMO, yet a lot of its boss designs are being taking from the MMO design space when I feel the mechanics better support an action game design space.
Guild wars. should really be taking some of its boss design direction from games such as Monster hunter as opposed to Wow.
1. Bosses work best with large models:
In a game with active dodging and reading patterns of bosses a larger model works best. It keeps players spread out when meleeing and more importantly allows the animations to be more distinctly seen.
Lupi is a perfect example of how to make a large model work in the game. If was player sized his animations would be more difficult to read and he would become harder in an “unfun” way. Dodge or die is fine in a game like this, but you must make it apparent when such things are going to happen.
Its not really a question of difficulty, as you can make said attack very difficult to dodge but it makes players feel like they died unfairly when they get downed from an animation that got obscured by an ele’s lava front.
2. Make the dodge moves more visually striking if they are a “dodge or die” move.
EX: you are fighting an azura with a railgun for a boss, he has a charge up lazor then you need to avoid. Have lighting crackle on the ground with a charge up “hum” as he is charging up his move as opposed to ’just" a red lines on the ground.
This is really just makes the game make more sense to newer players. Having thing such as visual and audio ques to the danger attacks makes sense. Currently the moves that are a danger to you are telegraphed though red circles or a boss animation, but things such as bosses glowing colors or sound effects could do a lot in removing the “unfun” learning curve of bosses. This goes hand in hand with larger bosses.
3. Make bosses have “danger phases” and “hit me phases”
In action game a lot of bosses have phases where they are “open” to getting hit. I feel like this could translate well into guild wars.
For example lets say you have boss that does a leap attack at players at range. Sometimes he will do 3 leaps in a row right after eachother (danger phase) but then has a second or two (not to long) where he can’t do any attacks. This rewards the player in knowing the bosses behavior and in general is more rewarding then learning things like “he drops rocks that you throw at him”.
using the azura with a railgun example again. Lets say sometimes he will shoot a 4 way shot that is more difficult to avoid, but after that shot he is stunned for a moment. Mechanics like this lead to more engaging fights.
These “hit me phases” could also be a good way to get CC back in boss fights. Maybe they lose defiance for a second or two after certain attacks. That way players with CC and timing still get to knock down the boss to increase its “hit me phase” duration for everyone and at the same time removing the issue of “chain knockdowns till the boss is dead”.
Another thing about monster hunter that would translate well into guild wars is “rage phases”. Monsters in MH when they took X amount of damage would become more dangerous with faster animations and more damage for X amount of seconds. Bosses could do the same.
Having a boss gain quickness (or even better frenzy for a risk/reward dealio) for X seconds at 75-50-25 is a interesting mechanic. Newer players would know “ok time to focus on defense instead of offensive for the next little bit” while experienced players would know the bosses well enough to just continue to DPS though this.
TL:DR
make bosses take influence from action games over other MMOs for GW2’s dungeons.