Anybody familiar with the Final Fantasy franchise will likely remember their "Bombs." They were just like any other NPC ... they would go about their business, roaming around the world until an unwary adventurer stumbled upon them. Once engaged, they responded with some pretty decent DPS, usually landing a couple nukes on the tank or whoever was close. Once their HP got to a certain threshold, however, they knew their demise wasn't a matter of if, but when. When that realization settled in, the bombs would initiate a countdown, preparing themselves for self-destruction and to try and take out as many foes with them as possible. Their explode attack would generally do a ton of damage; it would be a huge chunk on any tank and could potentially be lethal for an ill-positioned squishy.
I always enjoyed fighting these because of their burst potential. You had to respect them. The best way to deal with a bomb would be to save your own burst attacks until they initiate their self-destruct countdown. Once that triggers, it's time to take these bad boys out as soon as possible to prevent their explosive attack. I enjoyed farming these for XP for many reasons. For one, they were challenging. They could wipe the floor with your group if you weren't on your game. For two, they always created a sense of urgency in killing them. People were afraid of these guys and whenever you saw one, you knew they would require some extra coordination. Finally, even if you weren't able to kill them prior to their self-destruct mechanic, they would do a little bit of work for you and finish themself off.
It was a nice risk vs reward sensation -- you generally wanted to kill them to prevent spike damage, but even if you weren't able to, they essentially did some free damage to themself and you got full credit for the kill. You would never want multiple bombs going off in close proximity to each other but an occassional blast was something a solid group could usually handle and recover from. In some cases though, a group could strategize and purposely stop damaging the bomb as soon as their countdown triggered. They would then focus their damage elsewhere, opting for the trade-off on the bomb. They were willing to accept a chunk of incoming damage and let the bomb finish itself off. It took practice getting used to pulling that off and it could be a fatal mistake if the group wasn't topped off, but nonetheless, it was a window of opportunity where player choice was "extra" meaningful.
So, what are your thoughts on mobs having this kind of behavior? Bombs had a notorious reputation throughout the FF franchise. They were generally not something you would trifle with. They had advanced detection methods and insane speed. In other words, they could sense you from far away and as soon as they caught wind of you, they were zipping through the terrain to pounce on their prey. They were the kind of mob that you really had to pay attention to. You would want to use your longer cooldown abilities, clickies, or other burst mechanics to ensure these guys didn't explode, especially if there were other mobs attacking you. They were a mob that had an extra layer of built-in risk vs reward that required precision and situational awareness to safely dispose of them.
I have seen this same mechanic used in other games and I always enjoyed it. The key difference, in my opinion, was just how dangerous they were. I remember similar mobs in EQ2 and other games that would essentially do the same thing, but they never instilled the same level of intensity ... the sense of urgency just wasn't up to par, mostly because the explosion damage wasn't quite terrifying enough. This is the kind of encounter where you would definitely want to have some on-demand burst potential in your group make-up. This would make some classes more ideal than others, and I can see how some players might not be a big fan of that.
When it comes to NPC Dispositions though, I think that's kind of the intention behind them. Some classes will situationally excel in one environment compared to the next, and the more NPC Dispositions there are in the game, the more difficult it will be to make "the perfect set-up." Rather than seeing a zone full of bomb-type mobs where you preevemptively load up on burst DPS, I would like to see this intelligent behavior be something that is a bit more sporadic. I like the element of surprise. I like to think that while preparing my group, I have to account for as many potential scenarios as possible. It makes group composition really important because you'll almost always want to achieve a good balance. All classes would be equally desirable because they each have their own situational strengths and weaknesses. This is but one example of many that I think we will be able to look forward to in Pantheon. In this case, burst DPS have the edge. In the next one, maybe it will be sustained DPS. The possibilities are endless, and I for one am pretty damn excited about all of the pancakes Zippyzee is cooking up for us in the background.
I think suicidal/self-destructing bomb type mobs would fit in rather nicely, even if it only fits in for a couple species. Just adds some variety: some mobs start to run away at low hp, some mobs accept the inevitable and try to take down as many as possible by blowing themselves up.
As long as it's clear when it's happening and how much time you have to burst or run.
That seems to me to be appropriate for evil/enemy gnomes with maybe a similar aspect for Skar
- except for skar it would be a series of choreographed hits (maybe take a sample from classic Asian martial arts movies), possibly even like a cut-scene- where the skar does a whirlwind attack.
I really like the idea, do not get me wrong when I say this.
I think this would be put in better as an actual type of npc than as a disposition. This is because many npcs cannot explode or cast necromantic health into damage/resource spells. Finally, cornered rabbit attacks can probably be represented with abilities.
I think it would be pretty cool if certain dispositions were semi-exclusive depending on race or species. I would imagine goblins, orcs and elementals as good candidates for kamikaze. I'm sure there are plenty more but those all seemed to make sense pretty quickly. Great idea, Iksar & BeaverBiscuit!
Magic composed creatures are a good candidate for it, elementals/wisps/golems and things similar that can "detonate" their magical essence in a final middle finger to groups.
You could have the enraging mobs that just get more upset and hit harder/faster the lower their HP gets which would be good for things like orcs, hobgoblins, sahuagin, were-creatures.
Add a similar thing to the magical kamikaze and have something for creatures like minotaur, boar, elephant, rhino, centaur etc. where they try to do a final charge/trample to one shot a member of the group/anyone in the path. Or a gelatinous cube that sucks up a member of the party and rapidly begins digesting him unless defeated in short order.
For things like shroom/spore creatures and troglodytes they could secrete poisons when threatened and release a persistant poison cloud AoE at a mid-low HP.
And of course the runners who flee to get help or things like wolves, hyena, gnolls, kobolds who might howl loudly when low to call for help in a large radius unless silenced.
Even if the mob doesn't blow up, I think it would be cool if certain mobs are more resistant to taunts and have an affinity for a particular member of your group. They would try ceaselessly to kill that one target, even if it meant being somewhat ineffective and dying in the process. It would be up to the group to protect that character utilizing stuns, cc or collision to keep the target of their aggression safe.
Not something you would want to be a common disposition, but every so often something that doesn't adhere to normal logic would keep things interesting.
Dullahan said:Even if the mob doesn't blow up, I think it would be cool if certain mobs are more resistant to taunts and have an affinity for a particular member of your group.
I'd agree and when reading this thread I had thought about a similar spell line. Basically a form of /berserk, where the mob would be raged filled and no form of taunts could work. It would require a different strategy if you were trying to taunt, such as root parking, etc.
Anything that could add layers of depth to combat I'd be all for.