Refer to the other two threads before this for reference:
Brainstorming New Areas For The Game
Quick Feedback Poll - New Zone Ideas
Pre-Thoughts
The Statue enemies I had mentioned needed their own idea to call home. Coupling them with the idea of Golem enemies to fight, something Alchemist themed seemed like a good avenue to explore.
On top of this I thought about how it might come into play in the game or what type of roll it would come to play. We already have the Tempest Peak and Shadow Crypt so some sort of mechanism would have to come into play to make this dungeon work – plus the statues being immobile would likely have to force some sort of situation on the player to really make them and the instance formidable.
As such, the drive here is to try to incorporate the sort of idea employed with the Charred Scar – this is gauntlet challenge type of dungeon. Players are going to have to employ more then the usual strategies to complete their objectives here.
The Area
My thoughts for the Alchemist Laboratory are for it to be another pop-up dungeon that could mirror the likes of the Lumberjack village. The players character could perhaps get randomly approached by a distraught Alchemist character seeking the players help. After a bit of dialogue, the player would have the location of the instance appear on the World Map or be accessible in a town. When the player entered, the instance would work much like the Dark Crypt or Unknown tunnels – the Alchemist would seal you in until you either completed your task or died.
Initially I figured that this could be another dungeon that could be located within the main continent of Maj’Eyal. However, after some thinking I’m wondering why it couldn’t perhaps be a pop-up quest in the Far East? That might make more sense too, as the idea could be that the Alchemist was attempting to create an army of Golems to fight back against the Orcish Prides with could be a fitting reason for the existence of the Alchemist Laboratory.
A key thing to note is that this probably shouldn’t be a randomly generated instance in terms of map design. Much like the Ruined Dungeon for example, the map would be the same regardless of playthrough – since this is meant to be a challenging map and in some context it may require the zone to be sealed within a vacuum for some aspects.
This also may go the same for enemy spawns as well. Much like Melinda from Dark Crypt, I assume the Boss of the instance would be in the same place every single time. Additionally, depending on how the Statues come to work, they may as well also have some fixed spawned locations – albeit with which Statue appearing being random; or perhaps just replaced by a regular old Statue.
However, a person who decides to develop this idea ‘could’ perhaps randomize everything if the enemies were made weak enough I suppose.
Zone Enemies
The Enemies of this instance entirely consist of one type – Constructs. Specifically, it is a combination of the Statue type idea enemies that caused me to think about this zone idea in the first place along with Golem type of enemies.
The individual Statues and Golems serve an important roll in the grand scheme of things for this dungeon, as they play into the challenge presented to the player.
Boss Fight
Before going into the specific enemies that the player encounters, one needs to understand that this instance is just one really long Boss Fight – it’s much like The Sanctum, you are literally entering a Boss Fight from the getgo.
The Golems get spawned continuation from the Boss, which I’ll dub the ‘Automated Assembler’. Like the Invocation Portals in the Final Fight, the Golems are meant to be a concern – but unlike with the Final Fight, it isn’t really a secondary concern, your purpose here is to defeat the Automated Assembler. You can’t turn it off by simply approaching it, you need to follow the shut down protocols for it.
The Statues, unlike the Golems, don’t respawn. They are however a grave threat since the player has to deal with them or pass them in order to complete the shut down protocols for the Automated Assembler. Their roll is to harry the players as they approach and attempt to pass them to – hindering the character or just trying to kill them.
The combination of everything forces the player to have to attempt to hurry as much as possible in the instance. They can’t really rest because the Automated Assembler will keep sending Golems towards them, and eventually they have to form some sort of strategy to get by the Statues.
As a side note, I figure the Automated Assembler could work like The Mouth – however, perhaps it could just be an enemy with LOTS AND LOTS of hit points and defense that the player could try to tear through if they wish; or perhaps have the ideal battleplan setup for doing so.
Golem Enemies
I figure the Golem enemies that appear in the Golem Graveyard could make another appearance here – perhaps bolstered by a few new Golem Enemies.
Maybe as a general idea, we could have a new Elite type ‘War Golem’ enemy, which is ultimately a sort of super golem enemy which unlike the other Golem types would serve as a bit more then ‘just a concern’.
The main purpose for the Golems is that they are ultimately just pursuing the player and acting as a general nuisance. Along with using Runes, their class talents are meant to throw the player around and frustrate the player.
Statue Enemies
The reason I initially thought of this instance was for the Statue Enemies. These enemies are meant to be immobile – but capable of moving through use of Talents and abilities. Much like the Golems, they are meant to harry the player’s character along when in range or attempting to pass by. The initial ideas were as follows:
One key thing to note about the Statue Enemies is that they are ‘Statues’ for a reason. They aren’t meant to be the normal type of enemy the player finds in any other instance, they are meant to be a sort of ‘guardian’ type of enemy. That isn’t to say that they will have randomly class talents like the guardians from the Ruined Dungeon, but that they are meant to hold an area.The Statues are also different from Golems in the aspect that Golems have moving parts, Statues don’t.Statue of Blades - Normal Enemies
Essentially slow acting enemies that have been enchanted with magic. They make use of the Beyond the Flesh/Telekinetic Grasp talents to flay the players character. They use Mindhook and Telekinetic Leap to get the player's character in range of their attacks. Statues are 'technically' immobile enemies that unlike Golems or other constructs lack any joints for movement. However, the Telekinetic forces these statues employ could grant them to the ability to move around.
Statue of Arcane - Normal Enemies
Statues of Blasting make use of Arcane spells against the player. They fire bolts of magical energy at the player. They make use of Phase Door, Shielding, and Aegis talents for defense while they harry the players character. This statue would be entirely immobile and could be subject to the same speed limitations of the Statues of Blades.
Statue of Stars - Normal Enemies
Statues of Stars make use of of a mix of Celestial talents to harry the player. Whether using Glyphs, Circles, or just blasting the player with the barrage of Light or Dark themed attacks, the Statues of Stars seek to decimate the player with its arsenal of abilities.
Statue of Time - Normal Enemies
Statues of Time are themed on the use of Paradox talents, manipulating time and space. They can move about with Dimensional Step and Swap places with the player while dumping an array of talents on the player.
As a sidenote, I imagine that they are probably also worth making very durable. Unless the player has acquired a certain means to make constructs ‘cake’, they should be able to absorb a good amount of punishment – as to potentially make the player perhaps attempt to just run by them instead of through them.
The Lore
In addition to the starting dialogue, there could also be some Lore left by the Alchemist as he went about his work. Maybe a sort of ‘Ruined Halfling Complex’ type of layout, or one that refers back to that of the old ‘Orc Breeding Pits’.You are approached by a rather sketchy looking man.
Sketchy Alchemist - "Your an adventurer correct, perhaps you can be of some... discreet help."
Player Character - "How so sir?/Sorry, Not Interested."
Sketchy Alchemist - "I own a laboratory - though not for potions. You see, I was planning on creating magical constructs that could be used as servants. Unfortunately however, while it is an easy enough task to control a few constructs, trying to control an array is a bit difficult..."
Player Character - "As in, they have gone Berserk?/I'd rather not enter a place as dangerous as an Alchemists Laboratory, goodbye."
Sketchy Alchemist - "Indeed they have. I need someone to go in and hit the control levers that power the Automated Assembler. You'd be free to collect whatever you wish from my laboratory as payment. Just note though that I've bolted my Laboratory shut to keep the constructs in, and I will lock it back up when you enter."
Player Character - "I'll see to it./So I'll be trapped? I'm sorry, but this sounds too dangerous."
Other Thoughts
I figure that for the Shut Down Protocols needed to defeat the boss, the player could have to hit a number of Levers. These levers could be positioned so that the player has to spend quite a few turns running around to hit all of them, or potentially have to solve some puzzles of a sort.
While fighting enemies in the instance, those created from the ‘Automated Assemble’ won’t give experience or items. After the player manages to ‘Shut Down’ the boss, everything in the dungeon just goes ‘Neutral’ and won’t react to the player regardless of what the player does, and won’t drop items or give experience.
Comments & Feedback
I'll note that while I'm still brainstorming quite a bit, I do invite input in making these zone ideas at this point. Maybe someone has some ideas for a sort of ‘gauntlet’ scenario they might throw in here for forming this overall idea, or perhaps they have some other concepts for Statue or Golem enemies to lay out.
