Guild Wars 2

First off: tl;dr version: This is a thought oh how a Zhaitan world boss event might work that follow’s the same trend of the Mordremoth fight at the end of Dragonstand event. This would be an open world Boss event of some significance that would encourage players to return for a large scale PvE style fight and rewards. Some of these concepts can be mixed and matched depending on the level of development requirements and is meant more for a directional concept for discussion and fun brainstorming. It could also be that I had a 3 hour drive into work so plenty of time to let the mind wander.

Story Relation

The world boss fight would play out as if the players in the fight are aiding on the additional airships that are present during the last stand of Zhaitan while it battles Destiny’s Edge on The Glory of Tyria. Players would join the ranks at Fort Trinity and embark in groups that would then assist in the assault of Zhaitan and its minions on board airships.

Event Mechanics

The event could run either on a timed event like other world bosses or on a Dragon Stand style timer that is related to the lands of Orr or potentially related to the capture of the Orrian-temples.

Once the event begins players gather in Fort Trinity and are able to board airships that are instanced for the fight. Though each airship is instanced its fight progression contributes to the larger event instance in that its success or defeat is added to the events overall success or failure.

The overall progress of the event is visible in each individual instance even if another individual airship’s fight is not visible to the player in a single instance. In this example both Zhaitan and The Glory of Tyria would be visible to all and be the visual sign of the progress of the fight. As players are successful the Glory of Tyria could either be seen to be more vigorously assaulting Zhaitan or Zhaitan shown to be hammering the Glory of Tyria if overall event is failing. The event would be timed and victory conditions would be based on how successful the airships were on their cumulative assaults on Zhaitan versus how many airships Zhaitan and its minions were able destroy. If players are successful then a cinematic would show the defeat of Zhaitan by the Glory of Tyria’s guns else the players would witness the evacuation and fall of the airship.

Overall Fight Mechanic

Each individual airship would be instanced to reduce the overall burden on servers and player’s PCs. An instance would contain 20 players that boarded the same airship. Either a dynamic party assignment mechanism could be used and/or allow players in parties/squads to join together. Once an instance is started it can not be joined by further players. The reason for this to follow.

Once the instance is started the airship sets forth to assist in the assault on Zhaitan. An instance stays active until one of the following events occur:
• Zhaitan receives enough damage from all airship instances to defeat it
• All players in an instance are killed
• The airship is destroyed by having all of its siege destroyed
• World Boss Event timer runs out

Once an airships’ instance is over the players are returned to Fort Trinity and if the overall instance is not yet over they may re-board a new airship to continue the assault again.

Fight Mechanics

The fight is broken into multiple stages and have mixed roles for players to fulfill. The fight is waged on an airship that has 8 cannons mounted down either side of the ship and 4 larger cannons which are twice as powerful as the side cannons mounted on the bow of the ship with a wide deck for boarding action fights. The stern of the ship contains repair and fire control mechanisms that are utilized for the fight. The mini-map for this encounter is centered on the airship showing the directions of Zhaitan and any inbound Dragons as well as icons for their types.

During the fight the airship is slowly turning from side to side with Zhaitan and the Glory of Tyria pictured further ahead of the airship. At any given time a limited number of cannons can be brought to bear directly on Zhaitan as the airship maneuvers through the raging fight. During the approach players will need to be applying direct damage via the cannons to Zhaitan while fending off Zhaitan’s minions’ counter attacks as they try to kill the players and destroy the airship.

The main role of the airship is to attack Zhaitan and apply damage to the Dragon directly via the cannons. The fight mechanic and challenge in this role is that the players will have to decide do they go with a safe shot on the body that applies little damage or chance a shot and miss at a more delicate part of the Dragon which applies greater damage while the Dragon and ship are slowly moving about. This means that players will need to determine their lead time and fire where they believe their target will be once the round reaches its destination.

Now while players on the Zhaitan facing portion of the ship are firing on Zhaitan they will also have to decide to fire on the Elder Dragon or at any of its minions that might be endangering the airship.

Dragons

The enemy Dragons will come in three forms. To simplify the example we will call them Fighters, Bombers and Transports.

Fighters

Fighter Dragons will arise on any of the three sides of the ship to fire on cannon emplacements in their range. These attacks will damage both the players that are maintaining that siege and the siege itself. Players will need to once again free aim at these targets to either kill them or disable their wings and make them fall away before they are able to destroy the cannon emplacement they are assaulting. If the Dragon is able to destroy the cannon before this happens it just falls back for a future assault. The goal of the players on the cannons will be to take down these targets and aid other stations. Players not on the cannons will be tasked with healing those on the cannon or repairing their siege via the repair tools available in the stern of the ship. Each repair tool will be able to repair a portion of damage before a new tool will need to be acquired. Since Fighters can appear on any of the three sides, players not actively attacking Zhaitan may also need to man cannons on the non-Zhaitan sides to repel these enemies.

Bombers

Some inbound Dragons will be bombers that are simply doing flyovers on the airship dropping firebombs at random locations on the deck. These fires will burn with a undead energy that will damage both players that may enter into them or any siege that it might land on. These fires will burn for an extended time and can either go out naturally or be extinguished via tools from the fire control stations at the stern of the ship. Bombers can be destroyed prior to dropping their bombs if focused down by the cannons in the direction that they are engaging from. Again these Dragons might be coming in from any of the three sides. Players on cannons will need to engage these Dragons else players just on the deck will need to deal with the aftermath of a bombing run via extinguishers, healing of players or repairing of siege if needed. Bombers are most deadly once a boarding action is underway since players engaging with boarders will have further obstacles to avoid while fighting off boarders. Both the fires and boarders being of an undead nature means that boarders will not be hindered by these ongoing fires.

Transports

Transports are another type of Dragon that might approach from any of the three sides of the airship. If they are not destroyed before reaching the airship they will deploy boarders. Boarders will contain a mix of melee and ranged grunts, two veteran Siege Smashers and one Elite Assaulter. The grunts goal will be to engage players on the deck that are not maintaining siege. The Siege Smashers that utilize break bar mechanics will target siege with a devastating power attack if left unchecked. The Elite Assaulter will also utilize a break bar mechanic but will target players manning the siege and if left unchecked will deliver a devastating blow to the player if the attack is successful. A limited number of transports can deploy troops in a given time and are replaced by fighters and bombers once a limit has been reached if not repelled. However if a defined number of transports are destroyed before ever deploying troops then a
Champion fight will be spawned. See below.

The role of players on siege will be to destroy transports before they can deploy troops while people not on siege will be left to defeat and reply the boarders and or deal with the aftermath of a boarding action by rezzing the dead or repairing damaged siege.

Champion Assaulter

If a defined amount of transports are destroyed before deploying their boarders a Champion Assaulter might spawn. This transport is invulnerable and will deploy a Champion Assaulter to the deck of the airship. The Champion will employ a break bar mechanic and can only be damaged while stunned. While in assault mode the Champion will attack cannon emplacements damaging them and applying launches and knockbacks to players to dislodge them from the siege. During this sub-event fighter and bomber activity is decreased but are replaced by inbound transports trying to deploy additional grunts and a veteran Siege Smasher. If the Champion is defeated the ratio of fighters/bombers and transports are returned to normal. Defeating a Champion Assaulter will reward players with a bonus loot chest for the sub-event. This event could re-occur if the required number of transports to destroy is again meet later in the event chain.

Winning / Losing

During the fight players can be downed and killed if not revived before they expire. Dead players can not return to the fight until they are rezzed by players that are out of combat. WvW rules of reviving should be used for this encounter. Players should not release, if they do they will be permanently removed the instance and receive no more contribution for the fight. It will be up to players in the instance to revive/rez their fallen comrades. If all players are killed then the airship is destroyed and added to the total required for Zhaitan to win the fight against the fleet. In the same fashion siege can be destroyed/repaired and rebuilt via the repair tools during the fight. But if at any given point in the fight all the siege is destroyed then the airship is destroyed and counted toward Zhaitan’s victory conditions.

Player Challenges

The challenges to the players will be in attempting to balance the assault on Zhaitan which adds to the players’ victory contributions while holding out against the counter attack by Zhaitan’s forces. DPS players might be needed to hold the decks, healers/rezzers to help the fallen or support the siege, CCers needed for Boarders and Champions and everyone to be able to free aim and fire at moving targets as the ship moves back and forth. Players will need to be mindful of how many of their comrades are down, how much siege has been destroyed and whether to continue the assaulter or try and bolster their defenses and rally their side. If Zhaitan is able to destroy enough airships or does not take fatal damage before the end of the event the Elder Dragon wins.

Rewards

Rewards are issued as ongoing loot similar to world vs world ticks. Contribution levels for a given airship are increased per tick based on that airships ability to land shots on Zhaitan. If an airship only engages and repels counter attacks they will be rewarded with far less rewards then a group going for the larger goal. An additional reward chest is issued when players are successfully able to spawn and repel Champion Assaulters and if the Airship is able to survive the entire conflict without being destroyed. Lesser and greater reward chests are also granted if the overall event has failed or succeeded.

Zhaitan Armor & Weapons

To reward players and create re-playability there should be interesting and inspiring rewards for the event. New Zhaitan Defender and Assaulter armors and weapons skins should be added. Potentially a new type of currency could be added or Arah tokens can be also rewarded in chests. These tokens can be used to directly purchase the Defender armors and weapons. The Assaulter can only be acquired via very rare random drops from the reward chests. Defender skins should be account bound on acquire but Assaulter skins should be account bound on equip and therefore trade-able.

If you made it here, thanks for the read, feel free to add in a drop feedback.

This sounds really interesting and has some very interesting ideas for new fights. However I think that making it a fight against Zhaitan breaks the story way to much as he is already dead. Even if it was a minion of his, it would still brake story.
That said making this a world boss fight for another dragon would be very interesting.

There are however a few things that caught my eye:

• “Defeating a Champion Assaulter will reward players with a bonus loot chest for the sub-event.”
  This could in worst case scenario encourage players to fail the pre-champ event on purpose for the loot. I think it would be better to give the extra reward chest if you successfully prevent the champ event to encourage people to try and prevent it.

• “Dead players can not return to the fight until they are rezzed by players that are out of combat. WvW rules of reviving should be used for this encounter.”
  This is pve content, not wvw, to suddenly change how the rules will most likely only be confusing especially for those who have never done wvw. Besides, it just doesn’t seem fitting to restrict rezzing as such, and could possibly only make it too hard or frustrating for what good is.

• “Rewards are issued as ongoing loot similar to world vs world ticks. Contribution levels for a given airship are increased per tick based on that airships ability to land shots on Zhaitan."
  Interesting idea, but to restrict it per ship – I read this as each ships players get loot depending on how their ship is doing – can be very dangerous depending on how groups are divided to the ships. I can easy imagine some groups raging about newer players failing so they get less rewards. I think all ships should add to a single progress bar, so even if you are on 5 loosing ships in a row, you don’t waste your time and get no loot.

BattleRattle.5420:

This sounds really interesting and has some very interesting ideas for new fights. However I think that making it a fight against Zhaitan breaks the story way to much as he is already dead. Even if it was a minion of his, it would still brake story.
That said making this a world boss fight for another dragon would be very interesting.

If it were made an actual open world event, it wouldn’t differentiate much from the Mouth of Mord meta fight. You defeat him in story just as well as you had Zhaitan.

Just the meta boss fight for the core game is missing it’s boss fight. They could/should also look into adding the Marionette as a boss fight for Lornar’s Pass as a timer event. Many people liked that fight as well.

BattleRattle.5420:

This sounds really interesting and has some very interesting ideas for new fights. However I think that making it a fight against Zhaitan breaks the story way to much as he is already dead. Even if it was a minion of his, it would still brake story.

He’s not really dead if you are in any of the maps even after killing him. He’s really only dead in the instance where you kill him. I know that sounds crazy but that’s how it is lol. Time has stopped so to speak on all those maps to the point before he was dead. Go to Orr and the mobs will say random stuff about him. It’s the same for Mordy as well even after you kill him.

Heck I can go to Eir’s house and even speak to her when she is supposedly dead!

I agree a world boss fight for Zhiatan could be fun and finally put to rest people’s comment’s on how lame he was as a boss.

mXz.4512:

If it were made an actual open world event, it wouldn’t differentiate much from the Mouth of Mord meta fight. You defeat him in story just as well as you had Zhaitan.

Just the meta boss fight for the core game is missing it’s boss fight. They could/should also look into adding the Marionette as a boss fight for Lornar’s Pass as a timer event. Many people liked that fight as well.

The Mouth of Modremoth is a manifestation of his hunger, not Modremoth himself, like Tequatl, it is still there after it’s maker is dead as it is a creature in it’s own right.
However, MoM event/boss was made to fit in the HoT story – meaning the current story at the time it came out. To add Zhaitan himself or suddenly add a a new minion of his is impossible since he cannot make anymore minions since he is dead and have been for a very long time – at least in pve, could be possible as a fractal.

Same goes for the Marionette, it would simply break the story / timeline. Scarlet is dead, so the one who made and controlled it is gone. That said, I started playing GW2 in the middle of season 2, so never tried it, and I would love to have a possibility to try it in some way, be it a fractal or some other way. Though that will most likely never happen.

Paulytnz.7619:

BattleRattle.5420:

This sounds really interesting and has some very interesting ideas for new fights. However I think that making it a fight against Zhaitan breaks the story way to much as he is already dead. Even if it was a minion of his, it would still brake story.

He’s not really dead if you are in any of the maps even after killing him. He’s really only dead in the instance where you kill him. I know that sounds crazy but that’s how it is lol. Time has stopped so to speak on all those maps to the point before he was dead. Go to Orr and the mobs will say random stuff about him. It’s the same for Mordy as well even after you kill him.

Heck I can go to Eir’s house and even speak to her when she is supposedly dead!

I agree a world boss fight for Zhiatan could be fun and finally put to rest people’s comment’s on how lame he was as a boss.

Though the maps are frozen in time, I believe it’s to give lvling players a feel of the world being alive. However, story-wise Zhaitan, Scarlet and Modremoth are now dead.
From the gw2 wiki (https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Tequatl_the_Sunless):
“_ArenaNet confirmed that “Tequatl’s evolution is an aftereffect of the death of Zhaitan. The magic used to create Tequatl is no longer being controlled by Zhaitan, but it still exists within Tequatl. Therefore, like many uncontrolled magics, it is experiencing an evolution and it is shaping itself.”_"

BattleRattle.5420:

This sounds really interesting and has some very interesting ideas for new fights. However I think that making it a fight against Zhaitan breaks the story way to much as he is already dead. Even if it was a minion of his, it would still brake story.
That said making this a world boss fight for another dragon would be very interesting.

There are however a few things that caught my eye:

• “Defeating a Champion Assaulter will reward players with a bonus loot chest for the sub-event.”
  This could in worst case scenario encourage players to fail the pre-champ event on purpose for the loot. I think it would be better to give the extra reward chest if you successfully prevent the champ event to encourage people to try and prevent it.

• “Dead players can not return to the fight until they are rezzed by players that are out of combat. WvW rules of reviving should be used for this encounter.”
  This is pve content, not wvw, to suddenly change how the rules will most likely only be confusing especially for those who have never done wvw. Besides, it just doesn’t seem fitting to restrict rezzing as such, and could possibly only make it too hard or frustrating for what good is.

• “Rewards are issued as ongoing loot similar to world vs world ticks. Contribution levels for a given airship are increased per tick based on that airships ability to land shots on Zhaitan."
  Interesting idea, but to restrict it per ship – I read this as each ships players get loot depending on how their ship is doing – can be very dangerous depending on how groups are divided to the ships. I can easy imagine some groups raging about newer players failing so they get less rewards. I think all ships should add to a single progress bar, so even if you are on 5 loosing ships in a row, you don’t waste your time and get no loot.

I appreciate the feedback, thank you.

The goal was to try and create a world boss fight that fit into the story arc. That’s the main reason I would want the Glory of Tyria present so we feel like we were part of that event even if not the main players leaving the story of the Destiny’s Edge in place.

In regards to the Champion Assaulter, it would only spawn if players were successful in blocking a defined amount of transports. If they aren’t they wouldn’t get a shot at the Champion and the extra loot. So if this came across as they can fail and get the event then I mis- worded that part.

Your points on the rezing is valid, key here is that I want to make the players stop and make a hard choice, do I need to get people back up or is there something more important. That’s one additional random element that might keep the encounter fresh, we didn’t do this so now we have to do this or this or risk failure.

There is a risk that you might a lame duck ship, wanted to reward people for doing the event but reward those that are doing better at it more. Could cause some strife but we did encounter that after the Teq rework and that seemed to pass pretty quick, but there is a risk.

Edit: Spelling

mXz.4512:

BattleRattle.5420:

This sounds really interesting and has some very interesting ideas for new fights. However I think that making it a fight against Zhaitan breaks the story way to much as he is already dead. Even if it was a minion of his, it would still brake story.
That said making this a world boss fight for another dragon would be very interesting.

If it were made an actual open world event, it wouldn’t differentiate much from the Mouth of Mord meta fight. You defeat him in story just as well as you had Zhaitan.

Just the meta boss fight for the core game is missing it’s boss fight. They could/should also look into adding the Marionette as a boss fight for Lornar’s Pass as a timer event. Many people liked that fight as well.

The Marionette event and reward structure was spot on in my book. Agree, would have loved to see that one remain in game. Guild would give shout outs as its timer drew near and people would divert over to this event.

If they did build this meta where a map’s players are shooting Zhaitan from airships, I’d want them to redesign the final personal story mission so that instead of being on an airship you’re ascending the inside of that tower thing Zhaitan is clinging to.

The instance fight would be similar to the attack on the pale tree where a dragon is trying to stick his head into the room and eat you, and you’re shooting him in the face.

In the meta maps from the airships, you couldn’t see inside the tower but you can see Zhaitan going after something in the hole by his head. It would be that same experience of two sides of the same fight you get with MoM, I thought they did that really well.

Zhaitan’s ded. There’s really no reason to bring it back just to make it a meta fight. Better off making the suggestion of altering the Tequatl fight.

I did read “Zhaitan – Worst Boss Ever” and was about to say I agree, when I noticed my mistake.