Better bosses

[stars2heaven]

Im currently working on a mod that has a series of several bosses that you must fight. I dont want them to be the typical hack and slash type of boss. I want them to be interesting with varying strengths and weaknesses so that the player couldnt possibly pursue the same path to defeating each one of them. Im also not ruling out the role of the environment during the fights.

 

Ive got a few ideas of my own on how to accomplish this, adding reflect damage so that magic becomes more important, making one hit very hard and slow, another less hard but very fast. Im afraid my imagination may be a little limited here, so thats why Im asking for some ideas.

 

So, what would you like to see in a boss fight? What would make the fights more interesting for you?

 

Btw, if I use your idea I will certainly give credit :)

[sinisterassasin]

are you a modeler/animator ???

[kieranfoy]

You could have an enemy with little health and armor but a ferouciously strong weapon, and have him in a big hall with lots of shadows and nooks and crannies to snipe frrom, so the only feasible way to kill him would be stealthly, with an arrow.

[stars2heaven]

are you a modeler/animator ???

 

No I have no experience with that yet.

[stars2heaven]

You could have an enemy with little health and armor but a ferouciously strong weapon, and have him in a big hall with lots of shadows and nooks and crannies to snipe frrom, so the only feasible way to kill him would be stealthly, with an arrow.

 

I will keep that in mind, thanks

[Peppez]

Im currently working on a mod that has a series of several bosses that you must fight. I dont want them to be the typical hack and slash type of boss. I want them to be interesting with varying strengths and weaknesses so that the player couldnt possibly pursue the same path to defeating each one of them. Im also not ruling out the role of the environment during the fights.

 

Ive got a few ideas of my own on how to accomplish this, adding reflect damage so that magic becomes more important, making one hit very hard and slow, another less hard but very fast. Im afraid my imagination may be a little limited here, so thats why Im asking for some ideas.

 

So, what would you like to see in a boss fight? What would make the fights more interesting for you?

 

Btw, if I use your idea I will certainly give credit :)

 

 

Here are some ideas for complicated boss-fights:

 

A three-stage boss.

Stage 1: Can only be killed by magic (can't get hurt by physical damage), moves slowly, has a spell that can only be used once that fully restores its health.

Stage 2: Can only be killed with weapons ( can't get hurt by magic damage), moves quickly, has a spell that can only be used once that fully restores its health.

Stage 3: Can't be damaged by the player and can only be hurt by killing minions that spawn around the room, might have a spell that can only be used once that fully restores its health.

 

Or maybe a boss that has a ton of health, and can be killed in three ways:

1. The classic, simply hacking & slashing until the boss is dead (Should be the hardest, like maybe he should have strong reflect spells, or strong hits)

2. More complicated, there are buttons throughout the room, each button adds a spell that once casted on an activator in the room damages the boss (maybe the boss is a golem or something that runs on a power source in the room) and there are so-and-so buttons around the room and you have to use them all.

3. A combination of ways one and two :D

 

Or how about a boss that has multiple forms he switches to throughout the battle (One form after the other), like he turns into a huge bear at one point, and a dragon or golem at another.

 

Just some ideas :D

 

Edit:

 

And how about a huge boss with a ton of health and damage, but you fight him in a huge room with small secret doors leading into small "safe" tunnels (Not separate areas, like in aylied ruins) where you can safely do whatever you do in safe spots (;)).

[stars2heaven]

@peppez, thanks for the ideas! I like the 3rd one you mentioned, and the buttons one. The minions can represent certain aspects of the bosses powere or whatever also, weakening him as you defeat them.I already have some shapeshifting in mind for one of them :)

[Flavio0210]

As I looooovvvveee peppez 3rd idea too, i would really think of minions in a energy-type form like will of the wisp but colored differently (blue or purple) that actually are the source energy of its protection (kind of Final Fantasy like but well i just love it!)

 

You can do also an extremely huge boss (not as tall as a certain Daedric god but well that could be an idea) that is extremely powerful but is extremely weak against some kind of "ultimate magic spell or scroll" which is the only way to kill the creature...so you could also do a small quest for it.

 

You could do a quest starting with a village completely burnt down, with a survivor telling it was a monster X,Y,Z that attacked, then you would know more about this monster, take informationss from mages guild or so, know of a magic scroll that can weaken it and so on go to its lair, (using Peppez idea) making minions that are actually the "keys" of some magic door...would be an epic one :P

[Slawter500]

How about a boss where, when his health is low, he spawn copies of himself, these copies have low health, but if you dont find the real one soon enough, his healh regenerates.

[stars2heaven]

How about a boss where, when his health is low, he spawn copies of himself, these copies have low health, but if you dont find the real one soon enough, his healh regenerates.

 

Good idea! Ive already had something in mind about regenerating health that can only be counteracted by a certain action, but I like the copies idea. Only one is real, but all can kill you. There would have to be some subtle way of distinguishing them. Maybe a spell or something that the real one does that none of the others can do, or slight differences in the way they look.