STRAK'S PROFILE

Maybe a skill with a guaranteed critical hit, but has a really high cost/some sort of drawback? Low accuracy or something?

Or a skill that deals a random amount of damage, with a chance of massive damage.

Or an attack that never misses, but has slightly reduced power.

Or a multi hit skill.

Or an attack that gets progressively stronger the more times you use it in a given battle.

I'm pretty sure this has been done before, but I kind of wanted to create a revival of it. I also think the name has been used, but I couldn't find a topic with this name so I might be crazy. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, on to the point. I'm working on designing some bosses. I've got some ideas, but they're a bit flawed and could use some improvement. I'm looking for ideas and feedback on some good gimmicks for boss fights that can change up the basic gameplay but still tie in nicely with the overall theme.

So with that, here's a couple of ideas I'm thinking of implementing. Make use of them yourself if you wish, or offer feedback or what have you.

Sleeping Beauty
Not literally. Kind of. The idea with this boss is that it's sleeping throughout the fight. It will constantly spawn minions that fight for it, and it cannot be damaged while sleeping. Once you've defeated a few minions, it'll wake up and can be damaged. It still won't attack, but if it takes too much damage it will retaliate with a super move. At around half health it'll go back to sleep and the pattern repeats until it is defeated.

Pros: A boss that doesn't attack gives a nice change of pace, and having some brief periods of invincibility can change your optimal turn order, but the presence of minions still offers a moderate threat.

Cons: You've already been fighting these minions throughout the dungeon, so it may feel tedious to fight them again as a boss fight. Also, if they constantly respawn, it can feel pointless to defeat them while the boss is awake. A possible fix for this is to prevent respawns while the boss is awake, or add a delay before the respawn.

Any feedback on this one?

Mr. Invincible
A boss that continually regenerates 100% of it's HP. No attack causes lasting damage. Power gamers can find ways of one shotting the boss, but the real method of winning is to use a weapon that prevents HP regen. This can be done by having attacks with those weapons not only deal damage, but also reduce the max HP of that boss. This means that attacks with other weapons will still deal damage, but that damage can be regenerated, whereas attacks with the special weapons cannot be regenerated.

Pros: Can be used for some really cool story points. An invincible boss that shows up frequently can eventually be defeated through this method.

Cons: If there isn't a likely chance of using a weapon without this attribute, it may just feel like a normal boss. Need a special UI to actually display the bosses HP otherwise you may not notice the regeneration effect. If the special weapon is locked to a specific weapon, it may frustrate players who prefer a different weapon.

Feedback?

I may respond to this thread later with more ideas, but I wanted to gauge how people would respond to these ideas and see if anyone else has some rad boss ideas they'd like to see implemented.

Go home, Ozzy, you're drunk.



Also, thank you.

Thanks, I appreciate the praise! This was the origin of my latest project, Thrall. I've since expanded on this concept and am implementing it into an actual game. The system is far more fleshed out and streamlined in the new project. I'll probably take this page down at some point, but it for some reason got a mention as a notable game for Misao nominations, so I'll at least wait until after those to avoid any confusion.

EDIT: Wow, that's elaborate. Nice SPAM, bot.

I swear these spam bots are getting smarter.

Also, how the hell did I do this? I have no status? What?

I mean yeah, that's true too.