So, I haven't updated this topic for about 11 days now. It shows how busy I have been once joining evolution and gaining the requirements to be part of the raiding guild.
Something I can't help but notice however is a rising similarity to every single boss encounter when you hit about 55.
Do you know what I'm talking about?
That's right. AE Rampage.
This was a boss attribute that you seldomly stumbled upon on live. I recall Rallos Zek having it, a few other bosses here or there, but considering the overall size of bosses found throughout the expansions of everquest, why is it that AE Rampage has been decided to be the very defining role of the this server?
I suppose with the rising amount of mana regeneration out there simply adding more HP to the mob is not as ideal as it would have been on EQ Live, since cleric's mana pool is not as serious of a factor.
Area of Effect Spells used to rule in a lot of situations. Dragons were feared because of it, as was the dragon fear skill. Alas, resists are very strange on this server. I'm unsure they work properly as is.
And no matter how much you make the monster hit for, about all that does is limit who can tank it, or how many clerics needed in rotation, not so much the challenge in taking it down.
What do I suggest? Well, some versatility would be great. Versatility and situations of hard bosses is what defines an adventure and it's memorabilia. Strategies should be planned out prior and distributed to the guild members to discover what they must do in order to successfully slay this upcoming foe, not.. "This one AE ramps. If your HP sucks, go hide behind a wall the whole fight". "This one AE's. Bring bots to #bot group cure".
Here are some suggestions:
With rampage being fixed, create a boss that rampages a LOT (this is not AE rampage, it is where the rampage eater is set by who first aggro'd the mob /not on top of list). This creates a situation where a second tank is needed. Make him rampage enough that coordination of healing not only the main tank, but also the ramp eater tank is needed. It requires a lot more coordination and can make for a much more interesting encounter.
Create Emote systems. This can be as simple as, a monster gets very angry. It gains spikes and begins shooting them at people who are in close vacinity (melee range). When this emote triggers, all melee must quickly get out of range for it's duration. Since the current design of bosses encourages non-casters, creating encounters that promote casters (such as this one) will help add need to them.
On the above, make a short range AE charm, like the basement ssra fight or Katta used to do. These can be a lot more tricky to figure out how to overcome.
If all else fails, DT mobs can create a scary raid encounter without just adding 0's to the end of how hard they hit. Banishing is another one of these trademark aggrivations.
What am I hitting again? Encounters that have multiple targets can create a lot more interesting of an experience. Emporer Ssra was a real let down on here, as strategies such as:
http://www.wanderingwolves.com/forums/s ... php?t=2793, show how emp was originally. Simplifying this sort of system to make it doable for our size of community is possible, and you can even *gasp* make enchanters a needed class again to mez adds that repop every 10 seconds and guarentee aggro during the fight... Things like that.
Essentially, sitting down and thinking of ways to make encounters more complicated not because "the main boss hits like a truck and we need more DPS/Healers!" but instead because it takes some planning and coordination, you can make even 1 group encounters into a very memorable experience.
