An Idea For a Challenge Mechanism

[Monos King]

I saw a quarrel about how current Challenge mechanics don't really encourage coordination to create their difficulty, and so that made me flesh this out. While working on a little fanfic storyline involving an Ouroboros Boss Fight, I was thinking of ways that it could be challenging, but also something I could see a Time Traveler doing. The Aeon Task Force had the ability to teleport players into different dimensions, and is heavily spatial based. What if there was something similar, but more time focused?

 

The idea is a boss who scrambles the teams ability to coordinate via looping (teleporting) players to a different point in the mission, separating them, and leaving them with an ambush or past boss fight. The teleported players would also be exemplared or debuffed. The brunt of the effect would be mitigatable via completing an objective ahead of time, or by fulfilling a condition on the Time Manipulator Boss. Failing to complete the objective leads to being ported elsewhere in the mission, being ambushed, becoming exemplared (while fighting level appropriate enemies of course), or just losing access to powers as though they were exemplared without the level loss. 

 

• Time boss randomly separates group via teleporting some of those not a certain closeness to the boss
• Teleported players have debuff and spawns (potentially a past boss) waiting for them, and have to get back to the boss room
• Time boss is weakened by a special power, limiting or removing the ability to send the team through earlier points in the mission
• Time boss loses access to the ability after reaching a certain health
• TP spots each teleport a certain Role. Players can strategically choose which role they want being teleported less by closing more of the corresponding TP spot. However, the chance of being TP'd is never zero, unless you are within 4-7 feet
• Completing objectives in advance of the boss fight will prevent this mechanic from transpiring
• Time boss also has the ability to exemplar players when below 40% health. At this point, the boss will no longer teleport the team, and the special power can be used to disable this power as well.
• The time bosses power damage ignores level difference

 

It would go as such: The Time Traveler will teleport random team members (not pets) to pre-ordained locations during set stages. This power has a very large radius damage but players that are very close (about 4-7 feet) will not be teleported. 

The rest will be left alone with the Boss. These teleport locations will come with an ambush, and likely an exemplar. There will be a large, but surmountable, gap in distance between the location and the Time boss. Fast players can recover with minimal downtime.

 

Earlier in the mission you will have had the opportunity to either click on items placed in certain places or to defeat an enemy in these same locations, which will remove the location as a possible teleport spot. This is useful, because the Time boss can only TP members to certain spots during their stages. Removing a spot can essentially skip a round of teleport, if you're lucky. 

 

However, the opportunity to remove the objectives will be a timed endeavor, probably happening simultaneously to another mission phase (like a boss fight). Both would be optional, but the skilled team could knock off both (for a badge, less teleports) or choose neither (for a badge, extra difficulty).

 

The catch?

 

Offing the boss from the simultaneous objective ensures they show up again during Time boss teleports. If you have left them alive, they will not respawn or reappear during the Time boss separations to avoid a Paradox. This is an idea that could be played with, but for now it works like this regardless because it's better for navigating the challenge. Maximum difficulty (also a badge) includes killing the bosses, and not clearing any of the objectives. This ensures teleports refresh or respawn the bosses, while also making sure the teleports keep happening no matter what before the boss is brought down to certain health.

• Players can, under a time limit, complete objectives that will limit the Time Bosses ability to separate the team
• Players can complete another objective (boss fight or mob clear) during this time limit
• Killing the boss ensures they respawn later, leaving them alive allows them to wonder and be killed during Time Boss fight
• Both are optional, players can choose to do neither, both, or max difficulty each for badges

I happen to like current Challenge mechanics, but I was curious how something like this would be received. With the exemplaring, some of the strategies of playing lower level TFs might come into play, making sure you have the right powers for the lower level, using attuned, etc. A well coordinated team could make an encounter like this go very smoothly, but one without any sense of mind will simply be getting separated left and right, and without having prepped a travel power would have a hard time getting back.

Edited March 12 by Monos King

[Greycat]

Ehhh...

 

I could see that being extremely frustrating more than fun. Especially when the players that *aren't* high damage/high durability suddenly get dropped into a team-size ambush and/or boss fight.

 

Some interesting bits in there, granted. But this *specific* implementation...

[Glacier Peak]

Isn't this Summer Blockbuster? The Heist one?

[Monos King]

55 minutes ago, Greycat said:

Ehhh...

 

I could see that being extremely frustrating more than fun. Especially when the players that *aren't* high damage/high durability suddenly get dropped into a team-size ambush and/or boss fight.

 

Some interesting bits in there, granted. But this *specific* implementation...

The ambush wouldn't be too much of a difficulty to clear, and it would be encouraged that you just skip it to get back to your group anyway. They're there mostly to slow you down with some threat. The boss is a purely optional thing as the team can just not kill them to avoid it's reappearance later, so if that ends up being a problem then that falls under "wanting people to coordinate" and I think that's legitimate challenge since it's easily circumventable otherwise. Appreciate the opinions on it, which parts did you find most compelling?

 

9 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Isn't this Summer Blockbuster? The Heist one?

I think a part of it involves players going off on their own, but that should be the only thing that's even a little bit like this, right? There's no constant group separation, or conditional teleport, demand to rush back to the boss fight, or any of the other things here. Unless I'm forgetting. Been a loong time since I ran that.

Edited March 12 by Monos King

[Glacier Peak]

23 minutes ago, Monos King said:

I think a part of it involves players going off on their own, but that should be the only thing that's even a little bit like this, right? There's no constant group separation, or conditional teleport, demand to rush back to the boss fight, or any of the other things here. Unless I'm forgetting. Been a loong time since I ran that.

Ah my apologies. I could've swore someone teleported me during the event to multiple places. It's been a while for me too!

[biostem]

Give enemy factions full-fledged debuffers, and you'll have yourself a challenge.

[Rudra]

1 hour ago, Glacier Peak said:

Ah my apologies. I could've swore someone teleported me during the event to multiple places. It's been a while for me too!

You may be thinking of Golden Roller in the Aeon SF. (Edit: Or King Midas from the same SF.)

Edited March 12 by Rudra

[Monos King]

3 hours ago, biostem said:

Give enemy factions full-fledged debuffers, and you'll have yourself a challenge.

This is something I'd like to see more of. Black Knights and Apparitions are absolutely destructive. They aren't too special, but man can they ruin you quick. Especially Black Knights, I'm surprised they aren't an incarnate specific group.

Edited March 12 by Monos King