I had an idea for a new end game dungeon, that gets it’s difficulty from a limit to how many times a party can wipe (as opposite of Fractals). This dungeon has a wipe limit of ten and in that frame the party tries to clear as many content as they can. The design of the dungeon is that there are no traps, no trash mobs and no skipping. The dungeon is a hexagonal grid (like a honeycomb) from 60 smaller hexagons, with the start in the middle.
Please look at my crude scetch to now what I mean: http://imgur.com/JFsWDpe
Every hexagon is a chamber, and when it’s cleared the glass doors (so you can see what awaits you) connecting to the others chambers can be opened. In total there are 60 chambers where you can battle. The dungeon has six end bosses, one at each outer chamber. A ‘very good’ run would mean that the party was able to defeated three bosses and a thus minimal of twelve chambers. An excellent run would be that the party can clear all six bosses, with a minimum of 24 chambers. And only the best of the best could clear out the entire dungeon as this means defeating five times more enemies then a ‘very good’ run (and killing the Super Boss as a final test of ability).
Each of the six end bosses gives rewards on level of the current explorables (other tokens off course, or just more coin). Every other chamber also gives a nice reward. And there is a mega award when a party manages to clear the entire dungeon. The first time that a player can do that, they also get an achievement with a title and the staggering one time only reward of 100 gold (you will have to fight in all the chambers, no swooping in at the last bit).
What makes it extra interesting is that the chambers have six types. In each of the types one game mechanic is essential for a quick victory. This also applies to the end boss fights. So the shortest route, might not be the fastest route for a certain party. By making the necessary detours, it’s possible to reach several bosses without having to clear a specific type of chamber. The six chamber types could be as followed:
1: condition removal
2: healing/blocking/invulnerabilities
3: single target damage
4: AoE damage
5: interrupts
6: kite/crowd control
An added difficulty is that the chambers positions are randomized at the start of the dungeon. So you can’t use a map and plot your desired route in preparation. The bosses are also randomized in location, but always in one of the six outer chambers. As the party starts, they find six veterans in the starting chamber. Each veteran guards a door to the chamber behind them. The locations of these veterans corresponds with the location of the bosses.
Once a party enters a chamber, they can’t get out anymore until it’s completely cleared (or they wipe). They also can’t get out of combat again. And every chamber has a time limit of five minutes before it resets. It’s thus essential to prepare for the battle before entering. Swap traits, skills, armor, make up tactics, … whatever you need. And while preparing, keep in mind that a wipe means more then just trying again. That also applies to deciding which chamber the party goes to. So the whole experience is a measure of how well the party can adapt to the chamber that awaits them.
The entire concept is only worth it when clearing all of the chambers in with only ten wipes is something that the community can’t reach until the dungeon has been around for months. To entice people to rise to the challenge, new official leaderboards are kept. Players are ranked by how many chambers they manage to clear, and then by how fast they did it. Should the player base evolve enough that the dungeon becomes easy, we can always add tiers to it. One tear would equal 10 fractal levels of mobs scaling.
Off course everything gets boring after a while, so here’s another extra twist. At the start of the dungeon, the party can chose if they accept the wager with the Dungeon Keeper. A wager is an extra challenge and playing with it provides a bonus for example 10% more coin throughout the dungeon. Every week there’s a new wager, that also gives an extra achievement if the party manages to clear the six bosses. An example of a wager is that during the boss fights, one party member must be a moa (like the Mesmer elite) at all times. The moa debuff can be passed around, but you can’t stay in it for more than 30 seconds or your dead. Another example of a wager is that only half of the doors in the dungeon can be opened. You could still get to every chamber, but with more detours.
Thank you reddit for the feedback. My origianl idea was just a time limit of two hours instead of a limited amount of wipes.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1h3x1n/an_idea_for_a_new_end_game_dungeon/
Greetings
