Balancing Bosses

[Karzama]

Hi,

So in my Borderlands map I decided to create some Raid Bosses. The idea of a Raid boss is that you need multiple players to defeat it.

So the problem I have is that after testing one with my friend and there's a big problem. The bosses could not defeat me (the tank) but could easily defeat him (the agility based character).

I know I can just bump it's damage even higher but I don't really want it to get to the squisher targets and kill them in 1 hit, as that would be boring for them.

So basically what suggestions do you guys have when it comes to balancing a boss that has to fight multiple different types of hero?

 

[HaaG]

Maybe your so called tank is not balanced, maybe lower his power. If you dont want agility heroes to die too easy you can add a protection spell, for example, 100% evasion for 3 seconds or invulnerability etc.

 

[RobertMKD]

Increase his armor, hp regeneration?

 

[Nordmar]

im pretty sure the tank is not balanced then ^^

 

[Karzama]

OK to clarify... the aim of the map is that you're defending a structure from rounds of enemies. These raid bosses are just bonuses you can fight if you choose too.

So in normal rounds you can be fighting up to 100 enemies at once and both the Tank and Agility heroes can manage that and fit in well. Obviously the tank on normal rounds is a case of it being overwelmed whereas the Agility shoots from a distance and in this case had multishot to help out.

So what I'm asking is what kind of abilities can I create as "tank busters" for a raid boss?

 

[Nordmar]

well, the raid boss could deal additional damage equal to x% of the heroes halth. or..the closer the hero stands, the more dmg the raid boss deals. But i still think the tank is not well balanced if he is able to take out 1 boss on his own ^^

 

[The_Silent]

A tank character should not be able to deal enough damage to take a boss down on it's own if it is supposed to be a multiplayer boss. Give the boss life regeneration, more armor, spell resistance, flat damage reduction, so it is harder to kill.

 

[Nordmar]

do you know if its possible to make a boss immun against stuns but not immun against any other kind of spell?

 

[kingkwong]

So basically the tank and DPS is fine against creeps.
However the tank doesn't take enough damage from the boss that it can die and will slowly kill the boss overtime
The DPS cannot tank the boss nor can it deal enough damage to kill the boss quickly before taking damage

There are multiple methods you can try.
1. Increase Boss HP regen so the tank cannot kill the boss without a DPS. Make the boss change aggro to force the tank to protect the DPS
2. Have the boss have abilities or damage type that is super effective against the tank or less damage to the DPS
3. Have the boss have slow delay AOE attacks. DPS has greater mobility so can dodge however tanks have enough HP that they can survive multiple hits
4. Boss gains bonus for each type of hero. Every tank nearby gives the boss bonus damage. Every DPS near the boss gives him more Armour/HP

The main point is that the heros are balanced and do not need to be changed. It is the boss that needs to be balance. Usually developers try to aim for diversity in a team. The purpose of a tank is to soak the damage, the purpose of the DPS is to deal damage. Balance the boss so that it cannot be defeated without a balance between tanking and DPS.

 

[Karzama]

Yeah some of those points help. The damage dealt to the DPS is fine as the boss spawns tentacles around enemies so it can spawn melee ones next to the DPS.

I was thinking of having an aura that lowers armor of nearby enemies and deals ether max hp damage or current hp damage over time.

Thanks for those tips, will be a case of trial and error I think though.

 

[Acutesharpness]

play through it once, notice the difficulty, then alter the stats, that's how balance works ;p

 

[Karzama]

Yeah I know but it's awkward as it's a few hours into the game and it requires multiple players... Will try some of those things though!

 

[Acutesharpness]

You can always add the hero that is "ideally" end game hero with "ideally" items and fight it since your the creator ;p