IDEAS FOR RYZOM

This idea started simple, when I noticed that a simple LA NPC requires more organization than some HA NPCs.

Take Pei-Ruz, you need a team that satisfies stringent requirements level-wise, then the team must perform almost flawlessly in order to avoid wiping (MPA for igaras, moving to stone, chaining Warcry, having exactly 4 tanks who stack bleed). Should you fail to meet any of the above, you lose: igaras kill you, launcher damage kills you and locks some people's clients, lack of consistent bleed means you never beat Pei's regen.

In contrast, because the heavy NPCs are free-for-all, they become actually less punishing to kill. You just throw more firepower at them, and you're set. Moreover, most of them heavily favor magic masters. I could simply make an assist macro and press ONE button continuously for these kills.

So, my proposal to make the heavy bosses more challenging:

- Moved to their own mini-maps. No fancy decorations necessary, just a place that can be themed and customized a bit. You enter these "dungeons" using a vortex at their former residence, or by using some other device (Dante's box?).

- Heavily dependent on mobs that need to be killed. Similar to how Pei spawns raguses and igaras, each heavy boss could spawn his own region-themed minions. Aen could throw varinx and ocyx, Sirgio could throw torbaks and cuttlers, and so on. Randomize spawn points to make things less predictable.

- Add some NPCs that fight back. It's a complete shame that Sirgio's guards can be taunted in groups, and killed with relative ease. Why not have some mage NPCs that bomb people with random spells, or use afflictions?

- Actually, mass debuffs could be pretty interesting. Simultaneously release blinding aggros (torbak) and NPCs that try to madden/stun/fear the players, with the effect that the group can easily lose half its fighting power suddenly. Time 1-2 NPC launchers to attack 20 seconds after, and chaos ensues.

- Increase the role of tanks. Introduce mobs or NPCs that can dish out an insane amount of damage and with good attack speed, that would wreck large groups of players if not presented with a meatshield. Practically mini-bosses.

- Make the actual NPC boss easily killable after. If the group has managed to react quickly to everything that was thrown at them, they deserve the kill. Plus, no part of the fight should take too long.

- [completely optional] Maybe random drops from the stuff attacking you? A 15% chance to loot 50 q500 sap crystals, or some catalyzers. If you bend to loot, you might fail to deliver that critical heal necessary for your team's survival.

- [completely optional] Certain points of the mini-map should be goo-infused, doing low but constant damage over time. If you choose to limit yourself to non-goo spots, you're more tightly packed for the mob attacks, launcher damage, etc.

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Every part of the above can be explained using lore terms:

- Aen is growing old and she's replaced by her daughter, who is much fiercer (hence the sudden change)

- The new marauder generation is much more adept at controlling man and beast, thriving off the experiments of their predecessors. (hence the new mechanics)

- They are also becoming more bold, encroaching previously barren lands and claiming them as their own (hence their own dungeon).

Certain parts of this could be impossible or difficult to implement. However, if a sufficiently large portion of the proposal is actually feasible, then the idea should be considered.

Sure, this would take a LOT of effort to implement, so my first question is : can such a scenario be experimentally built using Ryzom Forge? Are there sufficient tools and privileges on the test servers, to attempt a first-draft design without requiring Winch Gate manpower?

All opinions / questions / concerns are welcome.

aren't the HA bosses already pretty tough if you want to do them with your own team? i mean, the chanchey hunts make them pretty easy but i assumed that that was simply a 'power in numbers' thing...? i may be wrong as, having never tried to kill them with just a team, i can't really be sure.

i do like the idea of them having their own little area though. i like that a lot.

I'm against the idea of instancing any more of the bosses of Ryzom. One of the things I've liked about the "classic bosses" is the fact that you've got to watch the environment as well as the boss, and that you can call in reinforcements if you need them. Perhaps this is what you mean by "free for all", but I see that as a positive, not a negative. Also it seems to me that if you limit your attacks on the heavy bosses to one team, they are plenty challenging right now. I've seen (been part of) plenty of wipes on Aen.

Marceline-

The lowest numbers I heard for Aen are 14 elemental masters, 2 good tanks, and the fewest number of healers that will manage to keep everyone alive; sure, it will take closer to an hour instead of 10 minutes. I actually did manage to put together two hunts for Aen, and the only challenging thing was finding masters and staying awake :)

I'm not saying the new bosses should require more people - well, maybe slightly more; but they *should* require said people to use more varied skills in order to finish the task.

Bittty-

You would still be able to call in reinforcements, afaik there's no way to forbid people going through a vortex. I don't mind the free-for-all format, just I find the current setup dreadfully boring (half the people nuke, half the people heal, solid fun).

As it stands now, you don't have to watch the environment (except for the stray frahar at Aen); Pei is isolated, Lixie is isolated, Sirgio's camp is in a mostly safe place. Hence the point about pre-programmed aggro spawns.

MJ I already think far too much content is this game has been removed then replaced. The end result is the same- no progress (not meaning this in a negative manner but it is true of many things).

Instead of replacing bosses just adding new bosses would be a much better idea. Mezixhas already been proposed and a detailed copy has been written up for the devs. The location where Mezix could be has also been suggested.

Rather than remove old content to favour new content why not put forward an idea for a MA NPC boss? Failing that why not a LA+MA NPC boss to plague the forest? (doesn't mean has to be on the forest map- just the portal to it is?)

(Also there are other tactics to Pei-Ruiz that would therefore contradict your statement)

The prerequisite for an MA NPC boss is having someone design said armor, afaik there isn't a complete model.

At any rate, both ideas have space in game. Even if Mezix were to be introduced first, I would still say the HA bosses are dreadfully boring and could use a revamp sometime in the future :)

Yep LA, MA and HA NPC pieces are already implemented into the game. You can see them on reckless toons (as Icus said) and on marauder guards.

I do understand that it would be good if HA NPCs had a revamp, I just think they actually work so don't dabble around with them! Can you imagine the annoyance if they were revamped and then bugged out?

I would still be in favor over adding new NPC boss content instead of fiddling around with the current content.