N-n-n-norgos

[blacksmithy]

So, this might just be me, but i always take Norgos first because he is quite simply the easiest possible boss. Poor guy has NOTHING! And this makes me feel bad for him.

So, what if he got a little buff?

I propose making Norgos a Sun Paladin (he IS the guardian of those woods after all), and giving him his own unique artifact drop to compensate. Maybe a shield or a mace—a mace someone would actually consider using over any other artifact one-hander, that is. Or perhaps... "Paws of the Guardian," a pair of artifact gloves that would serve a defensively-oriented Brawler (or other light armor classes) well until they find Harkor'Zun's gloves.
(I will suggest specific talents for Norgos and stats for the gloves soon, if this thread gets enough attention to warrant the effort.)

Of course, if he's getting beefier, why can't his backstory get beefier too? Throw the guy a (lore) bone! Maybe a signpost in Norgos Lair 1 that warns passers-by, "do not feed the crazy paladin bear." Or something a little more elaborate. I mean, all Prox can do is stun and knockback, and he gets 5 notes and a stewpot.

These are all sweeping generalities, but I think I've made my point. What are your feelings on Norgos, the Goomba Boss? Discuss please!

[Grey]

I've tried to think up lore for Norgos before, but he's such an uninspiring boss :( Bearscape is the only suggestion that will improve things!

[Burb Lulls]

1) Give him a grappling ability? Bears are all about the mauling, aren't they? Or even just constriction - it would give new players a lesson about air and asphyxiation.
2) Give him a sizeable escort of regular bears?
3) Give players a reason to not beat him first, for extra challenge/reward? Say, if you clear out all the other starter dungeons first, he gets replaced by a more powerful boss with a good artifact drop? Thematically, the corruption from the Heart of the Gloom could finally get to him:

"Hm, this looks like Norgos, the guardian bear of the woods... all except for the fact his skull has burst open, and an acid-dripping tentacle emanating from his neck is reaching to strangle the life out of you."




4) BEARSCAPE.

[Elkan]

Can we have a chronomancer quest to go back in time, via the future and use a diamond to prevent the corruption from affecting norgos? (if the tentacle dosn't get past you by getting to the past ahead of you and prevent you form preventing it corrupting ... uh... wait.. what?)

[bricks]

Backup guardian idea: Bearthrall Norgos, Guardian of Undeath

"You'd think even a necromancer would have better sense than to bring a crazed bear back to life!"

[eronarn]

Keep Norgos the way he is. When you kill him, the thing that has corrupted him - classed as a Reaver - bursts out of his body in a messy spray of gore. Should have a signature artifact that's suitably disgusting, like a 'bioluminescent organ' light source.

[blacksmithy]

I was lucky enough to be talking with bricks about bearscape before he put it up (he got me into tome), but not lucky enough to get my topic up first so they could merge (darned approval period for new forum users!). Anyways...

he's such an uninspiring boss

1) Give him a grappling ability?

After saying he should be a Sun Paladin, i immediately realized he should be a brawler who focuses on grappling. Bear Hugs for everyone!

3) Give players a reason to not beat him first, for extra challenge/reward? Say, if you clear out all the other starter dungeons first, he gets replaced by a more powerful boss with a good artifact drop? Thematically, the corruption from the Heart of the Gloom could finally get to him:

I also enjoy this idea, but i don't want another stinking artifact light. Maybe an artifact belt, fashioned from tentacles? Belts are cool and fashionable.

Also, here's a few general stat thingys for Paws of the Guardian, since everyone should have the Right to Bear Arms.
+ Defense
+ Cold Resist
Causes Bleeding damage on hit/when hit (bearclaw!)
Reduces Maim cooldown (Yay Brawlers!)
Adds race category: Bear
Grants telepathy: Bears, Honey Trees
Small % chance (or long cooldown activation) to send target to Bearscape

[Aquillion]

3) Give players a reason to not beat him first, for extra challenge/reward? Say, if you clear out all the other starter dungeons first, he gets replaced by a more powerful boss with a good artifact drop? Thematically, the corruption from the Heart of the Gloom could finally get to him:

"Hm, this looks like Norgos, the guardian bear of the woods... all except for the fact his skull has burst open, and an acid-dripping tentacle emanating from his neck is reaching to strangle the life out of you."

No, don't do this. The problem with this is that it's a "guide dang it" reward -- something that players are only likely to get if they already know about it. That's bad.

ToME shouldn't require reading spoilers to play well. Rewards should be logical from the perspective of a new player -- giving you a better reward if you beat bosses in a special secret order that only we on the forums know about is not logical.

[Elkan]

Its not logical, but can be cool, wierd out of sequence secrets is part of the whole #band heritage.

[String]

What if he was made into a wilder?

[Aquillion]

My understanding is that it's generally agreed to be a bad part of the heritage, which ToME 4 excised along with consumables and the like.