Story Boss Design

[SDb.8072]

This is a good game and I find it most enjoyable but there is one thing that bugs me and that is the end of chapter story bosses. I am an average player, definitely not an elite player. I can hold my own in most content. But I find that the bosses in the story mode just ridiculous.

I have just redone Caudecus in LW3 and the fight is just stupid. There is so much crap on the floor that it is almost impossible to avoid, especially when the Veteran Jade armour spawns at 25% health. I spent the best part of 40 min reentering the fight after death, renetering via the port into the centre of Caudecus shield only to be knock back and jumped on by the Jade armour with out been able to target anything let alone using an ability. This isn't the only fight like this, Balthazaar among others, are the same. Other bosses in open world, fractals and dungeons are not like this. The best story boss I have played is Mordremorth, thought the mechanics were great

I have no problem with making bosses hard and having to execute mechanics correctly to be successful, actually I quite enjoy it as you feel a sense of achievement in finally getting the boss down, but designs like this are just an unenjoyable time wasting trudge to get through.

I am based in Australia so the ping is quite large, around 300ms, so this doesn't help, but it is not a huge problem with other content. I am sure that there are players out there that have no problem with these fights, maybe I am worse player than I think I am.

I am not writing this to have a whinge, just to get some feedback and hopefully some improvement in the story boss design. I would be interested in other peoples as well as Anets comments on this.

Thanks in advance

[Vayne.8563]

First of all, stories don't have to be soloed. I almost never do stories alone, and that fight is perfectly doable by two people. However, it's also relatively easily soloable...once you know the fight.

People expect to have to do raids multiple times, but everyone wants a story to be doable on the first try without dying/failing. That's not the way these stories are necessarily designed. The first few times through a story I learn the mechanics and how to deal with them and I get better, until I can do most of this stuff without any help at all. But I still find the stuff more fun with friends anyway.

Not sure if you're a keyboard turner or mouse turner, or if you click skills or use keys, but that makes a huge difference in this fight. People who can circle strafe have a pretty big advantage. Also, going ranged over melee helps a ton.

[SDb.8072]

I agree that my skills could be a lot better. I tend to move with the mouse and have keyboard keys bound in a tight bundle with key skills mapped to mouse keys. The first part of the fight is not too bad. The real problem was that jade construct. Once I died I tried being rezzed in game (think it was anise) but when I was alive again the jade construct was on top attacking Anise and I was down again in seconds. Coming back in via the portal I arrived in Caudecus' shield was knocked back then the Jade armour finished me off before I could do anything. Once I got free and established the Jade armour went down quickly and Caudecus not long after. But it was 40 min of constant death before I could get established. That is the annoying part

[Blocki.4931]

That fight is an example for a poorly explained boss. However, the map and every single Bloodstone enemy in the game teach you the mechanics. The stuff on the ground? Pick one of the crystals up for a free and instant stun on him, then burst him down. Rinse repeat

[Kal Spiro.9745]

It sounds to me like you're misunderstanding some game mechanics. You shouldn't be teleporting inside his shield, you're supposed to use shards to break the shield so you can hurt him. It might also be worthwhile to look at your build. If you're glass cannon, you're probably going to have a hard time because there is too much going on in this fight to go pure damage with no defense. I will freely admit that Caudecus is probably one of the harder fights for a story end, but he's doable as long as you can keep running in circles and hit him while guarding yourself from floor attacks.

It's also possible I'm misunderstanding, since I never tried to come back into the fight after a loss.

[Rauderi.8706]

I'm dreading next Tuesday, to be honest. I'm almost certain the them will be, again, "so much hard CC that your Stability is worthless so don't even try". The encounter designers need better tricks and need to stop leaning on nuisance punishments.

[Ashen.2907]

Please keep in mind that adjusting your build to the encounter might be all but necessary in some cases. Not every build performs equally well in every situation.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

I found the story instances in the original Guild Wars game offered more challenge. They were also more fun. Ommv.

As far as the ones in GW2, I could do without the carpet bombing.

[Healix.5819]

The trick with Caudecus is that it's meant to distract you. Once you realize it, it's actually very simple. The little AoE circles all over are on a fixed pattern and can be entirely ignored simply by standing between them. When he re-shields, don't immediately break it, because the adds will always spawn shortly after when the walls stop spinning and a door opens. When his shield breaks, stay in the center and at his back while Canach plays the tank. When he teleports, counter it, and when he appears, dodge backwards just in case he immediately attacks. The only actual problem is the shard he randomly throws at someone, since it can nearly kill lower health builds, but chances are he'll target the NPCs. It also does a small AoE on impact, so stay out of melee range of the other NPCs. As for the jade armor, it's basically an enrage, so it'll only spawn if you're taking far too long (like more than double the time it should take).

[SDb.8072]

@Kal Spiro.9745 said:It sounds to me like you're misunderstanding some game mechanics. You shouldn't be teleporting inside his shield, you're supposed to use shards to break the shield so you can hurt him. It might also be worthwhile to look at your build. If you're glass cannon, you're probably going to have a hard time because there is too much going on in this fight to go pure damage with no defense. I will freely admit that Caudecus is probably one of the harder fights for a story end, but he's doable as long as you can keep running in circles and hit him while guarding yourself from floor attacks.

It's also possible I'm misunderstanding, since I never tried to come back into the fight after a loss.

No choice, it was the teleport left by Lady Valletta Wi to reenter the instance that was landing you in caudecus' shield

[KindredPhoenyx.8976]

Complaining bosses are hard.<Says the best boss fight is Mordremoth.<I feel like there's a problem here.Because Mordy is the buggiest af boss there is in the story atm.

[SDb.8072]

@Darkness.3942 said:Complaining bosses are hard.<Says the best boss fight is Mordremoth.<I feel like there's a problem here.Because Mordy is the buggiest af boss there is in the story atm.

Re read what I said, I am not complaining that they are hard, I don't mind hard bosses. It is the design of the fights - spending 40 min dieing because the port to reenter the fight puts you in a position where you are cc'ed before you can dodge, jumped on by a hard hitting armour and dead before you can get your bearings is not enjoyable.

Never had a problem with Mordy and I have done it 3 or 4 times.

[GreyWolf.8670]

The main problem I had with Caudecus was the room itself. It's so small that the camera is a larger adversary than he is. :(