Guild Wars 2

I think Arena Net should include a medium difficulty jumping puzzle in the future Elder Dragon fights like Mordremoth. Which means… there has to be a phase where we have to ride on the Elder Dragon before it flies, and while it is flying we have to climb it and get to its head/wings/weak spot to attack it. When an elder dragon is barrel-rolling (slow because of its mass) we have to climb its sides to avoid falling off to death.

What do you think? Personally, I think Arena Net should pick up on this. Most raid/boss fights in MMORPGs require you to look at the telegraphed attack on the ground – always, so why not add something new, right?

NPC in the corner: “JUMP ON THE DRAGON’S BACK!!!” “JUMP ON THE DRAGON’S BACK!!!”…….

Yes, and then we have Deathwing make a cameo appearance.

That would be kinda awesome

RealBGB.9132:

NPC in the corner: “JUMP ON THE DRAGON’S BACK!!!” “JUMP ON THE DRAGON’S BACK!!!”…….

‘’WATCH THE LEDGES’’

i’ll just leave this other franchise’s elder dragon here.

would love it.

we need more new/permanent JPs

BrunoBRS.5178:

i’ll just leave this other franchise’s elder dragon here.

dude you’ve got it i was going to post the exact same link Monster hunter is the best game when it come to small parties pve content!

Jorvych.3064:

Yes, and then we have Deathwing make a cameo appearance.

Primordus vs Deathwing.

I’d pay big money to see that.

Teckos.1305:

BrunoBRS.5178:

i’ll just leave this other franchise’s elder dragon here.

dude you’ve got it i was going to post the exact same link Monster hunter is the best game when it come to small parties pve content!

the key thing i wanted to point out is the jhen mohran fight specifically. in it you must:

1. fire ballistas and cannons to damage it. ballista ammo you can carry on your “pockets” (say like a stackable buff in GW2), cannon ammo you must carry in your arms (like an environmental weapon).
2. use limited (and on long cooldowns) grappling hooks to immobilize him.
3. use a limited (and on long cooldown) gong to stun him.
4. use #2 and #3 as opportunities to climb on top of him to damage specific weak points.
5. use at very key moments in the fight a special weapon that deals massive damage and staggers him. this weapon requires timing, as it can only be used at the right moment, lest it be wasted.
6. use #2, #3 and #5 at the right times to prevent it from damaging the boat (too much damage and it’s game over)
7. attack him with your normal weapons on the second stage, where he stops swimming/flying and crawls towards a key location, with only the boat standing between it and the place.
8. defeat it within the time limit.

jhen mohran is the perfect elder dragon fight for GW2, everything about that fight can technically be done in-game (except maybe manual aiming the ballistas). it requires skill, coordination, understanding of the mechanics, and timing.

still hopeful that one day ANet will shamelessly copy it.

ugdup.2371:

Jorvych.3064:

Yes, and then we have Deathwing make a cameo appearance.

Primordus vs Deathwing.

I’d pay big money to see that.

Holy snapple.
you just came up with a great cross-over, my friend.

Exosferatu.2961:

I think Arena Net should include a medium difficulty jumping puzzle in the future Elder Dragon fights like Mordremoth. Which means… there has to be a phase where we have to ride on the Elder Dragon before it flies, and while it is flying we have to climb it and get to its head/wings/weak spot to attack it. When an elder dragon is barrel-rolling (slow because of its mass) we have to climb its sides to avoid falling off to death.

What do you think? Personally, I think Arena Net should pick up on this. Most raid/boss fights in MMORPGs require you to look at the telegraphed attack on the ground – always, so why not add something new, right?

I’ll reiterate prior sentiments about this feeling too much like a certain other MMO’s multi-segment boss.

And time-based jumping puzzles suck on many levels. Especially if you have any lag.

I’d much rather the Zephryites turn us into an Aspect of Glint (or us riding Glint’s offspring into battle: everyone wanted mounts) and giving us an entirely new skill set for an air battle with the dragon. (Ultimately resulting with a ground battle, which again, might resemble another MMO but what can you do…)

Granted, air combat would probably be disliked much like underwater combat.

I support this…
Jumping Puzzle element on a massive Elder Dragon Boss is going to make the game more skill based since you should die if you fall off. Making timing skills and movement whiling jumping key to combat success…

We need more skill based combat like this.

No. Seriously, if I wanted to play donkey kong, I would.

All I could think of when I read this was hearing “Get to da Dragon!” in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice…..

A jp to get to a dragon? Nope. Thanks.

I’d rather see a fight where the dragon is just not static and locked in one place. Maybe they can have the fight take part in a canyon, and have the dragon constantly attack from different angles. The players might have to seek shelter from its breath weapon, and move and jump around to attack the dragon. I can see jumping have some sort of a role in a fight against an Elder Dragon, but literally jumping on the dragon seems a bit much.

I wouldn’t mind a JQ to get to the dragon, or into the dragon’s lair, and it could even be bordering on difficult territory, but a jump quest ON the actual dragon is a little much, in my opinion. I am all for more challenging content, but jumping across a rolling dragon (even slowly) sounds like a doomed failure to me. Not that I wouldn’t try it a million times just to say I could. I do agree that the dragon fights should be more dynamic, difficult, and interesting with different mechanics to play with, but I don’t want to ride an Elder Dragon. Maybe a jump quest to get up to different weapons for phases of the fight… something like that…

Look up the Balrados fight on youtube for Phantasy Star Online 2 for some possible ideas too.

I found both vids (to show you the different strategies)
Ranged/melee only (on Very Hard mode/lv 55 boss): http://youtu.be/RZ8CuzpNQAY
Spellcasters (on Very Hard mode/lv 55 boss): http://youtu.be/l4eH73haxY8

Many different strategies employed here:

hunters fighter and rangers, gunners and bravers (Melee and ranged classes/hybrids) can use the gun emplacements to do continuous dps to body parts to get into weak points on his body as he flys/swims around. You could beat him totally with the turrets, but it takes forever.

Forces/Techers (spell casters in the game) can directly target attack and break parts with techniques (magic )and support the rest of the 4 man party.

This boss can do one hit KOs with a water bomb, a hydro beam attack, high speed rams and charges across the map in either direction (and from behind).

A grappling beam exists that can only be used once then had to recharge for at least 2 minutes. That should bring him down if it connected on his nose and allows the melee classes to wail on his weak point in his jaw.

I’d like to see fights like this in GW 2 honestly with elder dragons. ((Sadly this vid I found it was all melee classes so it was a bit disappointing.))

I remember a climbing-all-over-a-dragon phase in Castlevania LoS… I also remember mocking it because it was patently ridiculous. (PRESS A TO HOLD ON! Yeah, that vertebra doesn’t have anything to hold on to.)

They aren’t going to hold still for you to jumping-puzzle them…

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

I’d rather see a fight where the dragon is just not static and locked in one place. Maybe they can have the fight take part in a canyon, and have the dragon constantly attack from different angles. The players might have to seek shelter from its breath weapon, and move and jump around to attack the dragon. I can see jumping have some sort of a role in a fight against an Elder Dragon, but literally jumping on the dragon seems a bit much.

hmm… kalameet?

technically you don’t “seek shelter from its breath” as much as you get someone to cripple him so it doesn’t cheap you out by being smart and never actually landing or standing still.

I am not opposed to a new way to fight a dragon, but including a JP on the back of one would just not work. As of now having a largescale event like that already drops FPS down to nil, and in some cases lots of lag. Trying to do an intricate JP in that setting would be horrifically god awful at best. Also those trying to just kill the dragon VS those just upscaling the event to get the JP would cause even more rage then trying to do an unorganized Teq, or THW run, with those who just tag and die. Although I like the idea of a Shadow of the Colossus style fight in GW2, I just don’t see it working at all.

I was actually talking to my friend after we beat Zhaitan a few weeks ago how disappointing of a battle it was and that it should have tried to somehow copy ‘Shadow of the Colossus’. I would absolutely LOVE a sort of puzzle where you actually climb the dragon and fight ON it rather than just staying way back and shooting cannons at it until it dies.

BrunoBRS.5178:

i’ll just leave this other franchise’s elder dragon here.

Tracy Hickman just called, something about “Tomb of Martek” and “Lawsuit”….

A jumping puzzle in a dragon-encounter? Just the idea makes me feel sick.

DreamyAbaddon.3265:

I support this…
Jumping Puzzle element on a massive Elder Dragon Boss is going to make the game more skill based since you should die if you fall off. Making timing skills and movement whiling jumping key to combat success…

We need more skill based combat like this.

With the “I ain’t wanna play no Mario-bros” threads lately I’m not sure how well that’s going to go over. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer variety and think this would be fun and interesting. Just you know how some players get…

Wanderer.3248:

No. Seriously, if I wanted to play donkey kong, I would.

Not only Mario but also Donkey Kong. Some players just prefer their same-y not skill based encounters. Nothing wrong with that, the MMO industry for years was built on the raid-model which is all about same-y encounters with slight variations that require more memorization and repetition than actual skill or reactionary-play. GW2 has a fair number of these players as well, so ANet will have to make a very strong statement of: we are support this type of content or we are not. In doing so alienating a certain demographic.

tekfan.3179:

A jumping puzzle in a dragon-encounter? Just the idea makes me feel sick.

Yeah, GW2 did have the whole mantra of play the way you like, and there’s enough debate over whether they did so not not (so no need to repeat). However practically in terms of game design this meant that they had a number of ‘activities-types’ which were clearly separated from each other. Jumping puzzles were jumping puzzles, combat was combat, activities were activities etc. Combining the two would force the combat crowd to potentially do something which they neither like or prefer and which was up until that point purely by choice (however since the game is a MMO-based around mass murdering mobs the JP crowd would probably have less of a hard time adapting).
But like i said, I’d like it. It would just mean that ANet will clearly be making a statement: we want you to play this this way. Which might be a good thing, identifying the game you want, your target demographic and then designing towards them.

BrunoBRS.5178:

i’ll just leave this other franchise’s elder dragon here.

I could imagine this for the Kralkatorik and we would be chasing him on one of those giant charr tanks

Go for the eyes! Or its ankles, or behind the knees.

I understand the idea behind wanting to jump on the dragon (I’ve played enough Skyrim to appreciate dragon rides), but I don’t see it as a practical combat situation, given the size of the elder dragons. But what we do have in game is those pact airships and helicopters; let’s have them make mini-versions (rather, some sort of mini aircraft), individually piloted by the player! Yes, we can go out and out Independence Day style, Star Wars style! Proper air combat! First one to execute a victory barrel-roll wins a quaggan!

I also like the idea of the charr tanks coming back.

EDIT: Further thinking: if it’s open world content again? Some people fly. Some people drive tanks. And some people have anti-dragon cannons, etc. Woot! A dragon’ll never know what it hit it! We kinda have a lot of this in game as it is, but not on this scale (much pun).