Guild Wars 2

Back in fractured, we were introduced to the fun and frustrating concept of Mistlock Instabilities.

In HoT, we’re getting 50 new fractal scales… and 50 new Instabilities.

Thus I feel it is time to revisit an old but good thread:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/archive/fractured/Mistlock-Instability-ideas-for-fun/first#post3264415

So, post here your insane, challenging, silly, or just plain unfair mistlock instabilities for Fractals 2.0: The path to triple digits!

I’ll start with an updated post from the old thread!

• Button Mashing Using a skill places a random different skill on cooldown. Thief skills consume a random amount of initiative. Revnant skills consume a random amount of energy.

• Skill lock: You can not change skills.

• Weapon lock: You can not swap weapons, Attunements, Kits, or Legends.

• Down, but not out: Enemies have half as much HP, but revive themselves after 10 seconds unless there are no alive enemies within 2400 units.

• Scatter!: All enemy attacks have a 20% chance to cast fear or taunt. 10 second internal cooldown.

• Canthan Plague: All enemies explode when killed, leaving a persistant pool of poison. This pool spreads over time and is permanent.

• Vessel of Agony: One player is selected at random as the Vessel. Stepping within 500 units of this player (visible red circle) will add stacks of agony to any friendly players. When the vessel dies, another player is made the vessel. The vessel changes at random every 30-60 seconds, and each time the entire party leaves combat.

• Vessel of Fear: As Agony, but with 5 secs of fear for approaching the vessel.

• Vessel of Weakness: See above, but with 20 seconds of weakness.

• Vessel of Metagaming: See above, but with 20 seconds of Taunt.

• Business as Usual: You gain stacks of agony when not within 100 units of another friendly player.

• You Can’t Touch This: Approaching downed allies while in combat will launch you and the downed ally 200 units away from each other.

• Number One Stunner: The player with the most HP, calculated as a percentage of total HP, is stunned every 20 seconds for 20 seconds. If multiple players are tied for most HP, the stunned target is chosen at random. This stun can be removed normally.

• Mistlock Instability Instability: The party is afflicted with a random mistlock instability whenever a member enters combat, or the entire party leaves combat.

• Combo Breaker: Performing a combo finisher deals 10% of your maximum HP as agony damage.

• Mawdrey III: When enemies are killed, they spawn an elite Mordrem vine in a random space within 1000 units

• Down the Rabbit Hole: Fractals are filled with a large number of rabbits. When killed rabbits become Spectral Vaettir hostile to the party.

• Through the Looking Glass: Reflect skills also reflect friendly projectiles.

• Grave Digger: Enemies will regain HP when killed over time. Enemies must be buried with the Shovel to prevent revival. There is only one shovel.

• Stack Exchange: When killed, enemies revive allies within 400 units at full HP. Moving within 50 units of another player kills you instantly.

• Closer: Enemies are immune to ranged attacks.

• Farther: Enemies are immune to melee attacks.

• Game of Zones: Red and blue zones randomly appear in the fractal, and change places every 20 seconds. You may not use skills outside of red zones. Skills and resources only recharge in blue zones.

• CITIZENS!: Your party is immune to enemy attacks and you are accompanied by a non-combatant Consortium survey team. When a member of the survey team takes damage, suffers a condition, or is granted a boon, it is in stead applied to a member of your party at random. (Custom VO?)

• Smile!: Your party is granted an experimental Consortium Aggression Mitigator (C.A.M.) The holder of the C.A.M. may use it to Place the Smiling debuff on a target once every 10 seconds. Only targets with Smiling take damage or are affected by conditions. Targets afflicted with Smiling become neutral until struck. (Custom player VO?)

• Crab Battle: All enemies are replaced with a Veteran Karka.

• Madness Deux: Your party is persued by Scarlet Briar (As she appeared during the invasion events) who will appear and disappear at random intervals. (Custom VO?)

• Phase Two: Every time the party leaves combat, Horrik appears and bombards the fractal for 20 seconds with cannon fire as in the cannon phase of the Mai Trin fight. (Custom VO?)

• Apples: The fractal rains fruit. Enemies or allies that touch the fruit are healed. All other heals have no effect. (Custom Tibalt VO?)

• Adventures in Babysitting: The Lupikids join you in the fractal. If the Lupikids’ fear meter becomes full, they and you are extracted immediately. Maintain control of their zone of influence to stave off fear (Same mechanic as the event, Custom VO?)

• All for one: If Frostbite dies, your party dies as well.

• Vote for Kiel: If Inspector Ellen Kiel dies, your party returns to the Mistlock Observatory. All progress will be lost.

Some of these are neat ideas, but the ones that give stacks of agony I don’t really understand. In present design or for future except to keep under-prepared people out. The parts of fractals with unavoidable agony ticks already do that.

All that sort of design ensures is that people who ARE prepared want to run mistlock 40 or 50 instabilities (the ones that tick agony all the time while in combat) for quick runs that require no thought going into party preparation, because for all intents and purposes, it is like having no instability at all.

Dovienya.6597:

Some of these are neat ideas, but the ones that give stacks of agony I don’t really understand. In present design or for future except to keep under-prepared people out. The parts of fractals with unavoidable agony ticks already do that.

All that sort of design ensures is that people who ARE prepared want to run mistlock 40 or 50 instabilities (the ones that tick agony all the time while in combat) for quick runs that require no thought going into party preparation, because for all intents and purposes, it is like having no instability at all.

Could easily call it “stacks of super-poison”

I went with agony because it’s a very fractals thing. The 50 instability that ticks agony is an example of the kind of “gear gate” fractals are built around, so the general idea is that you can outplay or outgear certain instabilities the same way you do with the current ones. You can either dive in and outplay certain agony sources, or you can fail to do so repeatedly until you simply shrug off the agony. Still, the intent is those mechanics grant continual stacks rather than flat amounts, meaning that you could resist the effects, but not totally ignore them. more agony resist would simply allow you to resist them longer.

Agony works well for this mechanism because agony resist is a “free stat” so for instabilities where you want to encourage things like positioning but don’t want to penalize/reward specific stat setups, agony is kind of the best mechanism to do it.

• Special Snowflake: One player is designated the Special Snowflake. All other players can not deal damage. The Special snowflake can not heal or grant boons. When the entire party leaves combat, a new player becomes the Special Snowflake at random.

• Nope: All attacks, both enemy and ally, cause 2 seconds of fear on hit.

• Not in the Face!: All conditions are in stead blinds. Missing an attack causes damage.

• Sweep the Leg!: Enemies are immune to damage and conditions unless knocked down or launched. Dodging knocks down nearby enemies for 1 second.

• Outrun a Centaur: Your party is persued by a Mistlock Centaur. The centaur is invincible and only uses basic melee attacks. Being struck by the centaur kills you instantly.

• When It’s Ready: All skills have a 180s cooldown.

• Tip of the Iceberg: Receive damage over time when Chilled. Boons are converted into conditions when Chilled.

• Nothing’s Off the Table: Specializations, Traits, and Utility skills are randomly selected for the player and locked for the entire fractal.

Some of these are pretty cool. But especially this reference back to original Guild Wars.

PopeUrban.2578:

• Down the Rabbit Hole: Fractals are filled with a large number of rabbits. When killed rabbits become Spectral Vaettir hostile to the party.

Thank god you’re not in charge of developing fractals, I’d probably throw multiple things through the window if i had to deal with any of these.

• Skill Shuffle: Each time a utility skill is used, they shuffle positions on the bar. (Skills 7-9 only.)

• Overheal: Use of a healing skill heals nearby enemies as well.

• Decay: Every minute, one item of armor takes damage as if the player had died.

• Fractals on Ice: All surfaces are slippery.

Love most of the suggestions, it’d be hilarious to see some of them implemented.

? Lag-fest: Skills activate 2-5 seconds after you activate them.

? Easy does it : Running causes knockdowns, fractal must be completed while walking. Does not effect any other movement skills.

PopeUrban.2578:

• Special Snowflake: One player is designated the Special Snowflake. All other players can not deal damage. The Special snowflake can not heal or grant boons. When the entire party leaves combat, a new player becomes the Special Snowflake at random.

This is great. Especially if you´re not a zerker.^^

JoshuaRAWR.4653:

Thank god you’re not in charge of developing fractals, I’d probably throw multiple things through the window if i had to deal with any of these.

That’s kinda the point of instabilities is it not?

• This Won’t End Well: All enemies are elite Traherne, and gain Caladbolg in addition to their other abilities.

• Magnets: Enemies and allies are affected with positive or negative polarity at random. (Same icons at catbot fight) Enemies and allies with matching polarities reflect attacks and abilities. Enemies and allies with opposite polarities are pulled toward one another 50 units when struck (not launched, no CC)

• Do a Barrel Roll: Skills and resources other than endurance do not recharge as normal. In stead they recharge in five second increments whenever you dodge, or an ally dodges within 100 units of you.

• Annihilator 3: The Golem Uprising All enemies are replaced elite Golems. Corporal Bane joins you in the fractal. Golems will repair one another, but can not repair a golem that is Tazed by Corporal Bane. (Custom VO is a must here) Corporal bane has downed skills and a downed state. If Corporal Bane dies, you are returned to the Mistlock Observatory, and the future belongs to the machines.

Some of these are hilarious.

Hmm… let me try some.

Body Swap: Character control is shuffled such that no party member is playing as their own character.

The Floor Is lava: Standing on the ground causes stacks of burning to appear on you. Standing on objects/furniture prevents this.

Weapons Test: Environmental bundle weapons are strewn throughout the area (Frost Guns, Vacumagic Polerizers, rocks, Charzookas, etc.) enemies can only be damaged with these weapons.

Vodoo: Enemies take damage whenever they cause damage to you, and take no damage from your own attacks. (In other words, Go full healing mode)

Sudden Death: The enemies jump on the zerk gear bandwagon. They all do insane damage and have zero defense.

Temporal Distortion: All enemies have pulsing quickness, alacrity and super speed. Enemy attacks cause slow.

Zerg Rush: This fractal now has about 10x the mobs it normally does. Enjoy!

Heavy Rain: Meteors rain from the sky, causing AOE damage at random areas.

Vampiric Curse: Your whole party is invincible, but cannot be healed normally, and your health slowly drains. Your attacks siphon health from enemies.

Angry: Everyone has perma-rampage transformation.

You can’t see me: Enemies pulse stealth. (They’re still revealed for a few seconds if they attack you)

Professional foes: Enemies have player profession skills (like the ones used by the PvP training NPCs)

Interesting….

• Tentacles! – Jade Maw’s Tentacles randomly spawn in and out of the fractals.
• Masque of the Red Sylvari – Scarlet Briar replaces the end-fractal boss. She uses her Battle for LA armor.
• Eye of the Beholder – Every 30 seconds, one random ally is targeted by the Jade Maw’s beam. There are no reflection crystals.
• Trahearne Ahoy! – Whenever a fractal boss (legendary foe) is defeated, a copy of Trahearne in a pirate outfit is spawned and must be defeated to complete the fractal.
• That’s Strong Stuff – The fractal is full of pools of Toxic Pollen.
• The Affliction – All NPCs cause Death Novas when downed or defeated.
• Hammering the Sky – The Skyhammer periodically fires, targeting the party.
• He’s Not Dead Yet – All champion and legendary foes have a downed state.
• Instant Death – There is no downed state for players. Players that would be downed go instantly to defeated.
• I am THE Glass Cannon – For every piece of damaged armor, you gain 2% power and condition damage. You gain 10% for each piece of broken armor.
• Tanking Time – You have 500 less power and condition damage but 300 more Vitality, Toughness, and Healing Power.
• Power Overwhelming – You deal 25% extra damage, but take 1% damage every second.
• “Like a boss!” – When an NPC defeats a player, Dessa shouts “That’s the boss!” and the NPC gets a buff increasing their power, condition damage, boon power, condition duration, gets permanent quickness, and makes all their attacks apply agony, however they have reduced toughness and vitality.
• Minion Apocalypse – Anytime a player or NPC dies, a hostile Flesh Wurm spawns.
• Lone Wolf – If you are less than 800 distance away from an ally, you deal 10% less damage. If you are, you deal 15% more damage.
• Quickening Terrain – Your movement speed is increased by 15% and you lose 2% health per second while moving. You lose 10% health per second while moving if you move even faster.

To GW1 vets: Yes, I did get some ideas from GW1’s PvP Fluxes. The concept is essentially the same after all.

• Antisocial: Players can not see or by affected by allies, their abilities, or their combo fields. Allies still deal damage and normally affect enemies.

• Moletariat: Players are transformed in to dredge. All damage, healing, and condition timers suffered by an ally are split up and equally distributed among all allies. Players transformed this way do not become immune to blind.

• Mesmerized: Enemies randomly generate phantasmal copies of themselves with 20% of their HP and damage. These phantasmal foes shatter when killed, dazing nearby foes for 2s.

• Guarded: Enemies grant Aegis to allies within 400 units when struck once every 4 seconds.

• Loudmouthed: Enemies use a random shout once every 10 seconds.

• Best Friends: all enemies spawn with a random animal pet.

• Mistlock Blindfold: Enemies have 50% of their normal HP and are blinded. Enemies summon a random enemy with 120% of its normal HP when killed. These summons do not summon additional summons. (it would be hilarious if they actually wore blindfolds)