Guild Wars 2

Let’s talk about Megabosses and what we would like to see from them in the future.
These bosses come in two flavours:
1) A completely new boss.
2) A revamped existing boss.

When posting an idea for a boss, it can be detailed or vague, just get it out there. What would you think would make for interesting mechanics during a battle? What scale should the battle be at?

For that last one, we can use a simple difficulty scheme like this:

Tier 0) Snorefest (20-30 people pressing 1 on their keyboard wins. Aka, most world bosses as they are at the moment.)
Tier 1) Easy (The boss has one major mechanic that makes people want to watch out for what it does, but it doesn’t need coordination or tactics aside from the basics.)
Tier 2) Average (The boss has at least one major mechanic and at least one minor mechanic. Basic coordination is advised, zerging is discouraged. Think of the current Marionette event as a good measuring stick for an average difficulty boss.)
Tier 3) Difficult (The boss has several major mechanics and minor mechanics. It requires organisation to defeat and can easily decimate entire groups of players. Think of Tequatl.)
Tier 4) Insane (The boss has multiple major and minor mechanics. Organisation and group play alone will not cut it. Players must practise to survive the fight and get used to its conditions. The boss is deadly and cannot be taken lightly.)
Tier 5) Hellspawn (The boss is an unforgiving spawn from hell and is designed to kill players over and over. It will attack players relentlessly and be deadly from the first to the last second of the battle. Players will need to bring specific skills, setups, and tactics to even have a shot of beating this monster.)

Note: In an ideal world, most bosses should be of average difficulty. While it’s pretty easy to pull every statistical factor over the top to create a Tier 5 boss, not many of them should exist and bosses should always favour interesting mechanics/skillful play over having higher stats.

So, mention the boss, difficulty scale aimed for, recommended number of people, and if there are any time limits/other gamey restrictions.
Describe what abilities you’d like to see them use, what mechanics would make for interesting play, and the various things players should do to bring these bosses to their knees.

Edit: As for instances. Think of whether your boss could work in the Open World. If it absolutely cannot, then mention putting it into an instance and why.
Obviously, it would be better for a lot of people if we could have these bosses in instances so we wouldn’t have to deal with overflows in the first place, but that is not the discussion topic here

I’ll go first:

New boss: Giant Ascalonian Ghost Knights

Difficulty: Tier 3) Difficult
Recommended number of players: 30+
Timer: None.

Background: Since they don’t want to lose to the humans in any way, the Charr decide to build a colisseum in Ascalon in an attempt to outdo the Queen’s Jubilee.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long after it’s finished before three powerful ghosts invade the colisseum and start wreaking havoc.

Description: There will be 3 ghostly knights, each of a different size.
The smallest knight is about double the size of a player character, the second is about double that size, and the last one is enormous.
The smallest wears light armor, the bigger one wears medium armor, and the giant knight wears heavy armor. Each has a different weapon loadout.

Battle flow and mechanics:
The three ghosts stand in the middle of the arena. They each have a healing skill that will heal other ghosts in range.
The players will need to split into three groups and kite the ghosts away from each other.
The light ghost is weak to direct damage and casts AOE spells. The medium ghost has more toughness, but is extra vulnerable to conditions. He will, however, wield two weapons and attacks very fast. Ranged combat and CC is advised.
The heavy ghost cannot be damaged a lot through normal means and wields a greatsword. His swings cover a lot of ground and deal heavy damage, but are highly telegraphed and can be dodged.
At the edge of the arena, the Charr have set up an armoury with some anti-ghost weapons. Players must grab these weapons, which will have a skill to weaken ghosts.
Once weakened, the heavy ghost can be damaged. However, the players weakening the ghost must use this ability constantly.
While weakened, the ghost will call on the aid of lesser ghosts that seek the supporting players out and try to kill them first.

Anti-zerg mechanic:
If any of the bosses is low on health, the other two bosses will target the player furthest away from them, thus making them approach each other.
With their powerful heal, they will reset the battle unless the players dealing with these respective bosses can stop them by generating more aggro.
The conditions for what makes a lot of aggro differ per boss.
The medium one will always target whoever has immobilised him last and will need at a full immobilisation stack before this rule comes into effect.
The light one will always target the last person who dealt enough damage to him.
If the players fight in 3 groups, this mechanic should not pose a threat.

New World Boss: Ancient Deep Sea Kraken

Difficulty: Tier 4) Insane
Recommended number of players: 80+
Timer: 20 minutes
Background: Claw Island, still under repairs from the war against Zhaitan, finds itself dealing with some amount of karka, aggressive sea creatures and the remaining Risen. However, something else is coming up, something that should never have seen the surface…

Description: A monstrous Kraken rises from the deeps of the sea as it retreats north from whatever is scaring it from the south, finds itself blocked by Claw island itself.

Battle Flow and Mechanics:
Lionguard and the group feel the ground quake as multiple tentacles rise up on either side of the island, the beaches.
Beach Phase: The objective of the zerg is to deal with lashing Tentacles on both sides of the island, there are three champion tentacles on the east side of Claw Island and two on the west. Along with these tentacles are vicious veteran karka both small and large. This is not difficult as the tentacles do not carry too much life but they do inflict poison, daze on an AoE, blow-out and knockback. Rather this phase’s intent is a simple delay for the zerg in terms of the timer.

Sieged Phase: This is where things get difficult. Quite a distance from the eastern beach of Claw Island the Kraken begins to show its shadow and itself in the water. This part of the encounter the group’s objective is to deal enough damage to the ’Kraken’s Shell’ to break it, and proceed to the final phase. To accomplish this the group can work in three ways, either use the four trebs with good aim to hit the beast, or attack it straight on using underwater combat, or a mix of both.
Some things to note during this phase:
- The tentacles respawn (Kraken has a lot of them). During this phase these tentacles can be killed like before, however while each tentacle is alive adds will continue to spawn on an interval. If a tentacle dies, a few more champion karka spawn under its location and that will be the end of spawns for that area.
- The intent of the tentacles is to send karka stampeding to kill the trebuchets and players operating them. Realistically the trebs are really wanted in hopes of finishing the encounter sooner by breaking the shell faster than those trying to deal with the Kraken underwater.
- For those wanting to swim and attack the shell directly, there will be merciless attacks of waving tentacles (with animations and AoE fields) as well as ink being spewed everywhere, blinding and slowing DPS. It is possible to swarm the Kraken in this phase with raw numbers, but you might lose quite a few people.

Enraged Phase: The Kraken finally decides to come ashore, forcibly as it shakes Claw Island itself landing where Blightghast led an assault, its size equally as formidable, with tentacles flailing off the edges, some tentacles cut off! Its body is leaking ink and other parts are fuming with hot steam! This is the real fight and where the group can finally attack the Kraken on land!
- Like most world bosses, there are multiple areas to target, however because the Kraken is spanned so wide it is not possible to cleave three parts like other bosses. However there is reason to deal damage to the left and right sides of it.
- The Kraken’s main body will volley smoldering ink across the field of battle! These are blinding fields that also apply burning that stacks intensity. The burn is substantial and is recommended to be cleansed! It will also screech periodically and daze everyone in a cone in front of it.
- The left and right sides of the Kraken are a series of Tentacles, which much like the previous parts do the attacks but in rapid linear AoEs across the battlefield. The damage is also adjusted up a notch so that any glass cannon might only take one to two hits from one before they get downed. Considering the WP is at the dock, the walk is rather far…
- Finally, and constantly as the left and right sides exist more Karka will spawn from the east and west sides of the field of battle, turning the entire south side of Claw island into a warzone fast!
- However, to alleviate a lot of the pressure going on, the Lionguard have set up ballistas which will ‘pin down’ the left and right sides of the Kraken respectively to prevent excess AoE lashes. The Karka however will continue to rush the siege like always…
The main objective of this phase is to kill the Kraken, whom is at full health. Even under ballista support, the tentacles will get a few lashes out and create chaos thus forcing the DPS to slow down. If the ballistas are not kept in check, the karka will swarm them! Without ballistas the dodging of tentacles becomes twice as hard! Too many defenders however and you might not kill the Kraken in time!

I don’t have any ideas in mind on how to specifically detail a mega boss fight, but I will say that the difficulty should definitely vary depending who we are going up against.

For example, I will list these in categories, taking in mind your tiers and GW2’s wiki listings categories – http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/List_of_world_bosses

Epic = Tier 4-5

Legendary = Tier 3-4

Champion = Tier 2-3

The Mega Giant Skrittomaton
(aka the Trojan Rat)

Legendary difficulty
30+ players
10 minutes

Background: Inquest-tormented skritt have made a gigantic hollow mechaskritt filled with some scrap mechanisms and as many skritt as they can cram into the blasted thing. This many tightly-packed skritt are as dangerously clever as the Inquest they’re escaping.

Description: Stop the enraged-yet-suddenly-ingenious skritt from leveling the local village and nuking the whole region! Stop the Inquest from brainwashing the skritt and taking over the Skrittomaton! It’s a three-way battle of wits and brawn!

Pre-event: Local authorities hear rumbling from a nearby cliff, and see an influx of Inquest. An evacuation order is issued by guards. Protect NPC’s and carry supplies to an underground shelter while hindering the Inquest support headed in from all directions.

Transition: The holographic cliff face disappears as the Skrittomaton crashes out into the open. It’s headed for the nearby Inquest reactor!

Fight: There are two gauges:

1. Skrittomaton Health
2. Brainwashed skritt in Skrittomaton

• It takes 10 minutes for the skritt to reach the reactor and exact their revenge. This is the only fail condition. Bring the Skrittomaton’s HP to 0 to win.
  • If the Brainwashed gauge is full and they reach the reactor, they will not destroy it. Instead, they will rampage back toward the Inquest hideout.
• As the Skrittomaton takes damage, skritt will fall out of it. They are friendly to players, and will try to run away.
  **Inquest agents will try to defeat and capture them. Downed skritt are brainwashed, making them turn hostile to players. They become stronger and try to get back to the Skrittomaton.
  • Pieces of tech scrap can fall off with the skritt. These are environmental weapons, but you’ll have to beat Inquest and brainwashed skritt to them. Players using scrap weapons become priority targets for the Inquest who want them.
  • As the Brainwashed gauge fills up, the Skrittomaton’s attacks become stronger, faster, and more erratic. At full, the fight becomes nearly impossible.
• When the Skrittomaton is preparing a Wreck or Burninate attack that would damage property, it telegraphs for a few seconds and generates stacks of a buff. The more stacks present when the skill triggers, the more damage is done.
  • Wreck needs Primed Pistons. Use control skills to deplete stacks as they generate.
  • Burninate needs Burny Gas. Inflict conditions and use boon-stripping skills to lift stacks.
  • The less property damage inflicted during the fight, the better the rewards at the end. Each intact building will have a reward bundle, varying in quality with building condition.
• The Skrittomaton has constant Stability, so that its march will always take exactly 10 minutes.
• The “Trojan Rat” is not immune to critical hits. However, it is not without defenses:
  • When the Skrittomaton takes a high amount of damage in a short period of time, it gains Protection and Retaliation, and releases an arcing electric blast that inflicts Weakness and Chill.
  • If any condition stack on the Skrittomaton would exceed 25, it removes 18 stacks and releases a cloud that deals Confusion and Poison.
• Inquest agents range from trash mobs to elites, and have multiple goals during the fight:
  • They will try to rig local structures into giant shrapnel bombs. When one of these goes off, it will inflict Burning, Torment, and Cripple on players and non-brainwashed skritt in the area.
  • They will attempt to capture and brainwash skritt that fall out of the colossus.
  • They want to pick up or steal scrap weapons. Acquiring a scrap weapon upgrades an agent to a tougher enemy class.
  • Some agents use special attacks on the Skrittomaton that deal no damage, but will make more skritt fall out for them to brainwash.
  • Agents do not want players to get near the Skrittomaton. They will use various control skills, containment devices, and even portal traps to keep players away from it. Even though the skritt made the thing to escape them and exact revenge, the Inquest find it a promising surprise, and would rather get it under control than see it destroyed.

Great ideas. ^^

Here’s one for a revamp.

Revamped boss: Shatterer

Difficulty: Tier 3) Insane

Recommended number of players: 80+
Timer: 30 minutes.

Battle flow and mechanics:
The Shatterer arrives on the battlefield. As he lands, a series of sharp crystal spike waves are sent to the spots where players are likely to gather. This initial attack serves as an indication this battle will be tough.
Instead of 2 places for players to be, the Shatterer battle should have 5.
1) The mortar & cannons platform.
2-5) 4 spots around the Shatterer where he can be assailed. North-west, north-east, south-west, and south-east.
To accomodate this, he should get extra hit zones on his hind legs and tail.
As a first attack, the Shatterer will use his main mechanic:
Create Storm.
The create storm ability will create a random field around the Shatterer that affects all players.
Storms are chosen from the following list:
A) Sandstorm.
When the Shatterer casts this storm, all players are blinded. This blind is reapplied every second.
B) Crystal Storm.
This storm causes all players to take periodic damage.
C) Lightning Storm.
This storm ability takes a while to kick into action, but once it does it will target random players and zap them with a powerful bolt of electricity that chains to nearby players.

Create Storm has a 60 second cooldown. The Shatterer will always cast this ability when it is up.

Behind each of the player DPS spots, there are 3 crates. (Say, at about 1750 range removed from the Shatterer.)
One crate of goggles. These give a buff that makes the player immune to the sandstorm ability.
One crate of new Asura personal forcefield generators. This makes the player immune to the Crystal Storm ability.
One crate containing a single lightning catcher. As long as one player is carrying the lightning catcher gives nearby players the “Safe from lightning strikes” buff. If a lightning bolt strikes the lightning catcher, the player can use its first ability to throw the bolt back at the Shatterer.

The catch is that Crystal Storm will give the players wearing goggles the “They do nothing!” debuff, which blinds the player for 20 seconds. This blind is not removed by attacking.
Wearing the Asura Forcefield during a lightning storm makes the storm hit you immediately and makes your character explode (putting them in an immediate downed state), dealing severe AOE damage to nearby players.
Carrying the Lightning Catcher during a sandstorm can damage the device, resulting in overloading it and shocking nearby players instead.

The Shatterer will still use its normal attack. (Uses one of its limbs to strike at the players.)
His slot 3 ability will be Crystal Prison, which imprisons a single player on the battlefield.
The other players must damage the prison before the captured player’s health runs out. If his health runs out, the Shatterer will spawn a branded version of that player’s class that attacks the players. (The player can still be ressed as normal)
Slot 4’s ability will be the Spawn branded ability. This spawns a number of branded creatures that assail all 5 player positions. (This also makes it recommended to have some players defend the turrets and mortars team)
Slot 5’s ability will make the Shatterer spawn Power Crystals around himself. Players must kill these crystals fast as the Shatterer gains power stacks. Every 20 power stacks, the Shatterer unlocks one of his 3 deadly support abilities.
Healing slot should spawn Healing Crystals. These will restore his health while they are up, the faster the players deal with these crystals, the less health he gains.
Aside from these, the Shatterer also has access to his elite skill, which has a 5 minute cooldown but will spawn victory crystals. These tough crystals grant the Shatterer a Crystalline End stack every 30 seconds. As soon as he hits 20 Crystalline End stacks, the battle ends in his favour.
Use the cannons and mortars to kill these crystals fast.

Should the Shatterer ever gain full power stacks, he will unlock one of these abilities. (Or more, if you allow him to do it more than once)
Slot 7: Crystal Wave. This is like what we see him do when he first spawns, but bigger. A massive wave of crystals shooting out of the ground hit the players and shatters immediately, dealing heavy damage and inflicting many bleed stacks.
Slot 8: Crystal Breath. Fires a massive beam over at the turret team, incinerating them on the spot unless they dive for cover. When combined with any crystal spawn, this can be deadly.
Slot 9: Crystal Scales. Grants the Shatterer one minute of protection, retaliation, and regeneration.

If the timer runs out, or the Shatterer’s Crystalline End stacks reach 20, he will fly up before swooping down and covering the entire area with a devastating Crystal Breath attack, killing all remaining players in the area.