04-23-2016, 07:10 PM
Giving them all Accel would be a start, but, some bosses are just beyond redemption in their current state, some are okay-ish, and some just clearly outclass the other bosses.
For fun, I'll list all of them and detail why they suck, and throw an idea as to how to make them not suck/say why they're fine right now. Of course I totally expect you (Dev) to come up with something else/already have an idea as to how to make them better.
I will make one blanket suggestion beforehand, though: A lot of the issues bosses have is the fact the AI generally tells them to move forward and basic attack every round, or just basic attack--or just move forward and do nothing if they're not in range for their basic attack (even if they could use something like Black Hole). Afterwards, nearly every boss is at the mercy of the players, and, generally, they dont live more than 2-3 rounds. The most simple solutions I can offer for this are giving certain bosses Riposte, and offering flat DRs to more of the bosses to increase their survivability if the AI remains as it is (see: braindead).
Jammer Omega- It's just a wall of hp with Rampage and Focus. I cannot recall its stats off the top of my head, but, if I recall it gets rather poor LUC and only passable SKI, meaning it will frequently miss anyone with decent dodge, causing it to never use Rampage, and quickly turn useless with the one or two turns it has to live.
Suggestion: Give it Divide. Seriously, just that would make things interesting. Same way to counter it as any other Jammer, too, and the mass Rampage may cause issues if it spawns too many (which is good).
Goblin Giant - Same issue as the Jammer Omega, same deets as the Jammer Omega beyond it getting a noticeably higher amount of SKI, so it tends to be able to hit sometimes even on average dodge targets. Of course, it gets a massive Fire weakness, so, it tends to get murdered even faster if this is abused.
Suggestion: Give it something like Board Shaker (circle AoE earth damage). Otherwise I dont really have any ideas for 'em.
Lava Slime - Its stats are abysmal across the board last I remember. It lacks the SKI/LUC to hit most people, and its only offensive abilities, as usual, are Rampage and its basic attack, but, it has its repetoire of passive retaliation abilities...which sadly tend not to do much to anyone but melee attackers. Which is fine, but, this tends to make the boss powerless against nearly everyone else.
Suggestion: Give it permanent Channel Destruction and Fire Breath. Something like that. Either that or like, a map-wide fire attack of some sort. Create even more cinder tiles (that actually deal decent damage). Or even just make its tiles it leaves last longer or even permanent.
Fangs - It has fairly good SKI last I recall, but poor LUC--though its bonus to hit with Maul gives it about the same odds of hitting as the Goblin Giant. Its issue, though, is that bar the standard Rampage/Focus, it's literally a Sand Shark. Given the popularity and power of Earth damage, he tends to just die before he does anything whatsoever.
Suggestion: Remove its Earth weakness either completely, or just when it doesn't have the Dive status.
Bandit Boss - I cannot recall its stat lineup, but, I never recall it ever hitting my 200~ dodge character, so. Overall its an underwhelming boss, and its most potent ability is Headcracker. Unlike a lot of the bosses, it lacks any crowd control (see: Rampage) bar its traps that will almost never be tripped. The only plus it has is it always spawns with a good number of bandits.
Suggestion: Give it Tactician skills, like Assault Order and Enemy Evaluation. I mean, it drops the Vorso, so, it'd make sense. Even alone if it happens to have the brains to use them in proper order (see: not going Assault Order > Headcracker) it can be a bit tougher.
Alraune - Now we're starting to see the bosses that actually require a modicum of thought. Alraune has subpar stats to my knowledge, but, I don't recall her lineup off the top of my head. The key factor to Alraune is Alluring Beauty, which makes so you -never- want to end a round next to her, though this generally ends up making people kite her with Skip every round so she never -can- end her rounds near them, making this skill useless to anyone who can avoid it.
Suggestion: Give Alraune Wild Grass. Or something like it. An Immoblize skill on her would make it somewhat more possible for her to get the 1-range round ends ever. Embrace would also be fitting. The mobs that spawn with her could afford a rework to do the Immoblize task instead, too. (i.e. new mobs). Silence would also make escaping more difficult (and, hey, not a single mob in PvE inflicts silence.)
Spectre Knight I lied. Because I forgot to add him earlier. Spectre Knight is a joke of a boss who is only topped by Gigas Rex in how bad he is. His SKI/LUC is abysmal if I recall, only rarely ever hitting people. As of late it seems like he's forgotten he has Hellspike, and just opts to walk up people and wail on them/flail mindlessly until he dies. The small group he spawns with helps a bit, but, generally they're dealt with easily as he has no way to support them at all.
Suggestion: Give him Fleeing Spectres and better SKI/LUC so he can actually hit/inflict. The former is important as he has Fallcall...but no way to inflict Fear. The only things in his fight that can fear you? Styx Shout. When do Spectres use it? If they have multiple targets in range. This makes ever seeing him get a Fear on anyone and using it incredibly rare if it's not planned by the players fighting him. Not to mention he seems unable to make use of Hellspike > Calling. If Hellspike inflicted Fear (only for the actual boss please, and using the infliction formula, too) then it could make him much more dangerous, if giving him magic ain't gonna work.
Gigas Rex Last terrible boss, I swear. Gigas Rex is the absolute biggest joke in the entire game, Jammers are more lethal than him (because they have Divide and Accel). All he gets is an Earth damage Rampage, and Focus. That's it. His SKI/LUC isn't all that great, even though he -used- to have over 100 STR before the caps happened. Additionally, he has rather low HP for a boss. The only boon he gets ever is...two of him spawn in a Crazy. Which is great for farming him but it's just more fodder for the meat grinder.
Suggestion: I dont even know where to start with him. A total rework would be in order. Like, what's the concept of the boss here? Before when his strength was the highest in the game, yeah, I could see the gimmick there. If he ever hits you it'll hurt, a lot. So if you're aiming to keep with that (and it does fit considering his boss drop), raise the power of Extinction Fang, give it something akin to Terra Strike (earth AoE that inflicts Magentized, so it can deal damage to dodgers and make an attempt to be able to hit them ever) or even give it skills that can inflict Knockdown (a particuarlly mean combo I'm thinking is giving it Run Down -and- that, so it'd use the KD skill first then Run Down a KD'd person. Odds are it'd almost never miss.)
Shadow Guardian I'm torn on if this boss is Ravager tier or not, but, it's definitely above all the other bosses. Its stats are a mystery due to Record Erasure, but, unlike every other boss, it doesnt start moving in until its second phase. The issue is, it doesnt move until its second phase. Hell, if no enemies are in its skill range, and it already used Summon Unkindess, it'll just end its turn. Demon Translation and its many abilities make it a tough fight if you can't just insta-gib it, so, it's not a total pushover.
Suggestion: Give it something akin to Healing Discharge or Malmelo so it doesn't waste its turns for one. Other than that, I dont know what else to suggest, it's already in a pretty good spot other than the aforementioned issues.
Spatial Ravager - The undisputed most powerful boss in the game, mainly due to the fact it was the only one that was overhauled. Its only flaw is the same that all other bosses share, in that it will generally just move > stand there if nothing is in range, or move > basic/skill. Its passive light damage to all enemies on top of its heavy damaging skills make it an actual fight.
Suggestion: Don't do anything to it. It's fine where it is. The most I'd suggest giving it is some DR to make it not die as fast, but, considering its damage potential, making it tanky will just -require- bum rushing it down to ever kill it. The only buff I'd give it is Accel. Nothing more.
In conclusion, yeah, I'd love to see tougher bosses and even considered tossing up suggestions for new bosses in light of the 10* updates. It's just that fixing them isn't going to be simple.
For fun, I'll list all of them and detail why they suck, and throw an idea as to how to make them not suck/say why they're fine right now. Of course I totally expect you (Dev) to come up with something else/already have an idea as to how to make them better.
I will make one blanket suggestion beforehand, though: A lot of the issues bosses have is the fact the AI generally tells them to move forward and basic attack every round, or just basic attack--or just move forward and do nothing if they're not in range for their basic attack (even if they could use something like Black Hole). Afterwards, nearly every boss is at the mercy of the players, and, generally, they dont live more than 2-3 rounds. The most simple solutions I can offer for this are giving certain bosses Riposte, and offering flat DRs to more of the bosses to increase their survivability if the AI remains as it is (see: braindead).
Jammer Omega- It's just a wall of hp with Rampage and Focus. I cannot recall its stats off the top of my head, but, if I recall it gets rather poor LUC and only passable SKI, meaning it will frequently miss anyone with decent dodge, causing it to never use Rampage, and quickly turn useless with the one or two turns it has to live.
Suggestion: Give it Divide. Seriously, just that would make things interesting. Same way to counter it as any other Jammer, too, and the mass Rampage may cause issues if it spawns too many (which is good).
Goblin Giant - Same issue as the Jammer Omega, same deets as the Jammer Omega beyond it getting a noticeably higher amount of SKI, so it tends to be able to hit sometimes even on average dodge targets. Of course, it gets a massive Fire weakness, so, it tends to get murdered even faster if this is abused.
Suggestion: Give it something like Board Shaker (circle AoE earth damage). Otherwise I dont really have any ideas for 'em.
Lava Slime - Its stats are abysmal across the board last I remember. It lacks the SKI/LUC to hit most people, and its only offensive abilities, as usual, are Rampage and its basic attack, but, it has its repetoire of passive retaliation abilities...which sadly tend not to do much to anyone but melee attackers. Which is fine, but, this tends to make the boss powerless against nearly everyone else.
Suggestion: Give it permanent Channel Destruction and Fire Breath. Something like that. Either that or like, a map-wide fire attack of some sort. Create even more cinder tiles (that actually deal decent damage). Or even just make its tiles it leaves last longer or even permanent.
Fangs - It has fairly good SKI last I recall, but poor LUC--though its bonus to hit with Maul gives it about the same odds of hitting as the Goblin Giant. Its issue, though, is that bar the standard Rampage/Focus, it's literally a Sand Shark. Given the popularity and power of Earth damage, he tends to just die before he does anything whatsoever.
Suggestion: Remove its Earth weakness either completely, or just when it doesn't have the Dive status.
Bandit Boss - I cannot recall its stat lineup, but, I never recall it ever hitting my 200~ dodge character, so. Overall its an underwhelming boss, and its most potent ability is Headcracker. Unlike a lot of the bosses, it lacks any crowd control (see: Rampage) bar its traps that will almost never be tripped. The only plus it has is it always spawns with a good number of bandits.
Suggestion: Give it Tactician skills, like Assault Order and Enemy Evaluation. I mean, it drops the Vorso, so, it'd make sense. Even alone if it happens to have the brains to use them in proper order (see: not going Assault Order > Headcracker) it can be a bit tougher.
Alraune - Now we're starting to see the bosses that actually require a modicum of thought. Alraune has subpar stats to my knowledge, but, I don't recall her lineup off the top of my head. The key factor to Alraune is Alluring Beauty, which makes so you -never- want to end a round next to her, though this generally ends up making people kite her with Skip every round so she never -can- end her rounds near them, making this skill useless to anyone who can avoid it.
Suggestion: Give Alraune Wild Grass. Or something like it. An Immoblize skill on her would make it somewhat more possible for her to get the 1-range round ends ever. Embrace would also be fitting. The mobs that spawn with her could afford a rework to do the Immoblize task instead, too. (i.e. new mobs). Silence would also make escaping more difficult (and, hey, not a single mob in PvE inflicts silence.)
Spectre Knight I lied. Because I forgot to add him earlier. Spectre Knight is a joke of a boss who is only topped by Gigas Rex in how bad he is. His SKI/LUC is abysmal if I recall, only rarely ever hitting people. As of late it seems like he's forgotten he has Hellspike, and just opts to walk up people and wail on them/flail mindlessly until he dies. The small group he spawns with helps a bit, but, generally they're dealt with easily as he has no way to support them at all.
Suggestion: Give him Fleeing Spectres and better SKI/LUC so he can actually hit/inflict. The former is important as he has Fallcall...but no way to inflict Fear. The only things in his fight that can fear you? Styx Shout. When do Spectres use it? If they have multiple targets in range. This makes ever seeing him get a Fear on anyone and using it incredibly rare if it's not planned by the players fighting him. Not to mention he seems unable to make use of Hellspike > Calling. If Hellspike inflicted Fear (only for the actual boss please, and using the infliction formula, too) then it could make him much more dangerous, if giving him magic ain't gonna work.
Gigas Rex Last terrible boss, I swear. Gigas Rex is the absolute biggest joke in the entire game, Jammers are more lethal than him (because they have Divide and Accel). All he gets is an Earth damage Rampage, and Focus. That's it. His SKI/LUC isn't all that great, even though he -used- to have over 100 STR before the caps happened. Additionally, he has rather low HP for a boss. The only boon he gets ever is...two of him spawn in a Crazy. Which is great for farming him but it's just more fodder for the meat grinder.
Suggestion: I dont even know where to start with him. A total rework would be in order. Like, what's the concept of the boss here? Before when his strength was the highest in the game, yeah, I could see the gimmick there. If he ever hits you it'll hurt, a lot. So if you're aiming to keep with that (and it does fit considering his boss drop), raise the power of Extinction Fang, give it something akin to Terra Strike (earth AoE that inflicts Magentized, so it can deal damage to dodgers and make an attempt to be able to hit them ever) or even give it skills that can inflict Knockdown (a particuarlly mean combo I'm thinking is giving it Run Down -and- that, so it'd use the KD skill first then Run Down a KD'd person. Odds are it'd almost never miss.)
Shadow Guardian I'm torn on if this boss is Ravager tier or not, but, it's definitely above all the other bosses. Its stats are a mystery due to Record Erasure, but, unlike every other boss, it doesnt start moving in until its second phase. The issue is, it doesnt move until its second phase. Hell, if no enemies are in its skill range, and it already used Summon Unkindess, it'll just end its turn. Demon Translation and its many abilities make it a tough fight if you can't just insta-gib it, so, it's not a total pushover.
Suggestion: Give it something akin to Healing Discharge or Malmelo so it doesn't waste its turns for one. Other than that, I dont know what else to suggest, it's already in a pretty good spot other than the aforementioned issues.
Spatial Ravager - The undisputed most powerful boss in the game, mainly due to the fact it was the only one that was overhauled. Its only flaw is the same that all other bosses share, in that it will generally just move > stand there if nothing is in range, or move > basic/skill. Its passive light damage to all enemies on top of its heavy damaging skills make it an actual fight.
Suggestion: Don't do anything to it. It's fine where it is. The most I'd suggest giving it is some DR to make it not die as fast, but, considering its damage potential, making it tanky will just -require- bum rushing it down to ever kill it. The only buff I'd give it is Accel. Nothing more.
In conclusion, yeah, I'd love to see tougher bosses and even considered tossing up suggestions for new bosses in light of the 10* updates. It's just that fixing them isn't going to be simple.
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