Be your own boss

[Thanoss]

I came up with the idea to post a topic like this the other day... Maybe I'll be the only one to post on it, but hey, it's worth a shot.nnImagine for a moment that a new PvE raid was being implemented, only instead of using characters from Warcraft lore or random plot-convenient NPCs, YOUR character would be one of the bosses in the raid. Assuming most of the members of Nyx have some sort of backstory and personality attributed to their characters, it's appropriate to also assume that, given the opportunity, every one of them would have a unique way to burn down 10 to 25 (or even 40) members of the opposition.nnUse your imagination a moment: You (as a different character) and 24 of your friends have just wiped the floor of the new instance with various trash mobs. Coming to the end of a hallway, you enter an open room, and standing in the middle of that room... is YOUR character... and it's hostile.nnWhat kind of attacks would your character use as a raid boss? What kind of tactics? Would there be phases? Would they team up with someone else? Is there an enemy of your character's that would help the opposition take them down?nnObviously there's got to be some rules for this... I'll list a few I think would be fair.n1. The boss must be defeatable. How this is accomplished is up to you.n2. The boss must do manageable damage by today's standards. It's no fun when they spam an attack that deals 75k damage to everyone (unless you have some fight-specific buff that makes it manageable).n3. Likewise, if the boss is going to heal itself, it needs to also be at a rate that is manageable.n4. The boss should use skills that are realistic to your character. However, these skills don't have to already exist in-game (this is most of the fun imo).n5. Powerful moves used by the boss should have a cast time and/or a cooldown. This allows the opposition to manage the move however appropriate.n6. The boss can't insta-kill people (attacks designed to deal damage equal to or greater than 100% of someone's max health). It can, however, place a timed debuff that is dispellable and that eventually kills someone.n7. The boss has to respect threat tables (i.e. it must attack whoever has the most threat). It can, however, reset or otherwise manipulate threat. Likewise if your boss has help (partner, pet, minion, etc.), they DO NOT have to respect threat tables.n8. As a rule of thumb, the more help the boss has, the weaker the help should be.n9. The boss must give acceptable opportunities to be attacked with melee, or allowed to be otherwise engaged by a tank (for example, the drakes in Oculus).nnRemember, it's meant to be a challenge, not impossible.nnI'll kick this off with myself on the next post, just to give an idea of what I mean. Go ahead and critique mine or others, and add your own boss battle if you'd like.

[Thanoss]

Setting: A large, dark, circular room, with design which resembles gothic architecture. Red painted-glass windows line the walls. Six pillars circle the center of the room, each pillar surrounded by 4 lit candles. There is a single round window on the ceiling, casting light down onto the center of the room between the pillars. This light, the rays of light coming from the windows, and the ambient light from the candles is the only light found in the room; the rest of the room is pitch black.nnBoss: Thanoss Quel'Furonn

Stats: High health, high mana, low str, low agi, high int, high spi.nPosition: Center of the room, facing room's entrance.nThreat management: Highest threat (default)nPhases: 3 (100%, 67%, 33% health)nSkillsn
Umbral Aura - Grants all allies within 100 yards Umbral Aura. When the user stands in darkness, their shadow-based damage is increased by 300% and their fire-based damage is decreased by 50%. When the user stands in light, their fire-based damage is increased by 300% and their shadow-based damage is decreased by 50%. Passive aura. Always in effect.nDevil Armor - Increases the user's intellect and spell power by 60%. Also, all shadow-based spells and attacks dealt to the user are reflected, redistributing the damage to all enemies within 40 yards of the user. Instant cast, lasts 30 minutes. Cast at beginning of battle.nSummon Khuumyn - Thanoss summons his felhunter Khuumyn to his aid. 3 second cast, 1 minute cooldown after Khuumyn's death. Thanoss will always opt to summon Khuumyn should he not be in play.nUnstable Epidemic - Afflicts all enemies within 20 yards with Unstable Affliction. 2 second cast, 30 second cooldown. Cast at random.nBarrage of Corruption - Afflicts five random enemies with Seed of Corruption. 2 second cast, 30 second cooldown. Usually cast directly after Unstable Epidemic.nSol Nova - The user radiates intense heat, dealing 2000 to 2500 fire damage per second to all enemies within 40 yards for 10 seconds. Damage is increased by 75% against targets wearing plate armor, and 40% against targets wearing mail armor. Attack is interrupted if high amounts of frost damage are incurred by the user. Fire damage incurred by the user while the spell is being channeled amplifies the effect by up to 200%. Instant cast, channeled 10 seconds, 1 minute cooldown. Used more often in lit areas. If no one is effected, the spell is cancelled. Can be avoided via line of sight (pillars, hint hint...).nIgnition Aura - User changes the air's composition, making it highly flammable. While in effect, all fire-based skills do immediate fire-based damage to the caster and to all of their allies within 5 yards equal to 25% of the spell's total effect. Also causes nearby candles to ignite, dealing 1000 to 1250 fire damage per second to all enemies within 5 yards of the candles so long as the effect lasts. Lasts 30 seconds. 3 second cast, 1 minute cooldown. Always cast immediately after Sol Nova.nSoulshatter - Lowers the threat values generated by all enemies within 10 yards by 80%. Furthermore, increases the threat generated from healing on those affected by Soulshatter for the next 10 seconds by 80%. Lasts 10 seconds. 2 second cast, 1 minute cooldown. Only used in Phase 2 and 3. Cast at random.nDrain Essence - Drains 10% maximum health and mana per second for 10 seconds from whoever is second on Thanoss' threat table. This effect forks from the target, jumping to their three closest allies with 75% effect. All health and mana drained is absorbed by Thanoss, healing him. Should any of the four afflicted by Drain Essence die with the spell in effect, Thanoss will gain a soul shard, eliminating the cooldown on Summon Khuumyn. Instant cast, channeled 10 seconds, 30 second cooldown. Only used in Phase 2 and 3. Used more often following Khuumyn's death or when Thanoss is at or below 25% health.nSoul Shock - Lowers the target's health by 99% of their current health. In addition, the target is made invulnerable and unable to move or act for five seconds. Soul Shock cannot kill the target. Instant cast, 3 minute cooldown. Only used in Phase 3.nShriek of Chaos - Causes all enemies within 100 yards to flee in terror for the duration of the effect. Each enemy's duration is directly affected by their previous threat value (the higher their threat, the longer the duration), from a minimum of 1 second to a maximum of 10 seconds. Instant cast, 3 minute cooldown. Only used in Phase 3. Usually cast while Soulshatter is in effect. Thanoss and Khuumyn will not attack anyone under the effects of Shriek of Chaos.

nnMinion: Khuumynn

Stats: Moderate health, high mana, moderate str, low agi, low int.nPosition: At Thanoss' position once summoned.nThreat management: Always targets the enemy raid's highest healer; unaffected by taunts.nPhases: 1nSkillsn
Umbral Intelligence - Increases the stamina, intellect, haste and spell power of the demon and its master by 40%. Also silences all enemies within 10 yards of the felhunter while in effect. Passive aura. Always in effect.nDevour Mana - Drains the target's mana, absorbing 50% of the effect to each the felhunter and its master. Instant cast, 8 second cooldown.nVengeful Possession - Possesses the target, taking control of them and using them to combat their allies. Lasts 10 seconds. Instant cast, no cooldown. Only used when Khuumyn is defeated, always targets whoever lands the killing blow.

[Asarelah]

*shivers at the thought of facing this Thanoss in fair combat, and looks for the nearest exit*nnMmmmm, something wicked this way comes !!

[Leothiel]

Archmage Leothiel FrosthawknnSeven Phase battle with addsnnLeothiel's abilities:nnDesperation: A passive ability that grants a bonus 1% damage for each 1% health removednnIce Block: Standard mage Ice Block at 75%, 50%, and 25% healthnnEvocation: Triggered only when mana runs out. Takes double physical damage but absorbs magic damage and converts it to spell power on the next magic barrier unless he casts Ice Block.nnRandom magic barriers: In phases 1, 3, and 5, barriers will shift every 15 seconds. Each barrier has an aura, a single-target spell, AoE spell, and an instant cast volley that ends each one. In phase 7, random barrier becomes random storm. The spells also have random effects based on their school.nnArcane Barrier: Can cast only the Arcane Spells listed below. Takes normal damage from all schools except for Nature and Arcane. Nature deals double damage while the barrier absorbs and converts arcane damage to spell power until the end of the barrier or when Ice Block is used.nArcane Aura: Deals arcane damage to everyone within melee range, slows them down, and has a chance of silencing castersnArcane Bolt: 1.5 second cast time. Deals Arcane damage to one target with a chance to Slow target for three seconds or silence target for the same amount of timenArcane Explosion: 1.5 sec cast time. All players within 30 yards will be hit with arcane damage with chance to slow or silence for three secondsnArcane Barrage Volley: Instant cast. Sends Arcane Barrage to every player in the raid and signals the end of the Arcane BarriernnFire Barrier: Barrier takes normal damage from all schools except for Fire and Frost. Frost damage is doubled while fire damage is absorbed and converted to spell power until the end of the barrier or when Ice Block is used.nFire Aura: Deals fire damage to everyone within melee range and adds a debuff that increases the effect of fire damage.nFireball: 1.5 second cast time. Deals fire damage to one target with a chance to either ignite or stun.nBlast Wave: 1.5 second cast time. All players within 30 yards will be hit with fire damage with chance to ignite or stun.nPyroblast Volley: Instant cast. Sends pyroblast to every player in the raid and ends Fire Barrier.nnFrost Barrier: Barrier takes normal damage from all schools except for Fire and Frost. Fire deals double damage, while frost attacks are absorbed and converted to spell power until the end of the barrier or when Ice Block is used.nFrost Aura: All players in melee range take frost damage and are slowed.nFrostbolt: 1.5 second cast time. Deals frost damage with a chance to freeze the target.nFrost Nova: 1.5 second vast time. Deals frost damage and roots everyone within 30 yards with a chance to deep freeze raid members.nIce Volley: Instant Cast. Deals frost damage to all raid members, damage is doubled on rooted raid members, tripled on deep frozen members. This ends the frost barrier.nnPhase 7: Storm phasenThese are 15-second channels that are added on top of the barrier auras. Only the end-barrier instant casts will be used when these are done.nnArcane Storm: Arcane damage affects all raid members with chance to silence or slow for three seconds every 1.5 seconds.nFire Storm: Fire damage affects all raid members with a chance to ignite or stun every 1.5 seconds.nFrost Storm: Frost damage affects all raid members with a chance to freeze every 1.5 seconds. The second stack of freeze leads to a deep freeze.nnThreat management: No threat table.nnAddsnnAzureusnLeothiel's faithful blue whelp has grown into a ridable drake. Azureus will be non-targetable only in phase 2. He will stay in the sky most of the battle until phase 7.nArcane Breath: Azureus' breath attacknWing Buffet: Tosses players to the sidenKick: Self-explanatorynnThreat mechanics: Melee threat generation is normal. Ranged abilities deal double threat while heals generate triple the amount of normal threat.nnElemental princesnThere will be arcane, fire, and frost elementals in this battle who will be summoned. They will have standard elemental abilities and will follow normal threat rules.nnHow the battle will go:nnPhase 1: 100% health to 75% healthnRandom barriers and evocation if mana runs low. At 75%, Leothiel will Ice Block, call Azureus and ride him.nnPhase 2: Random elemental princenAt this point Leothiel will tear a rift to summon an elemental prince who will have some adds. This will be either the arcane, fire, or frost prince. Azureus is not targetable at this point but is "breathing" from on high. Leothiel is casting random single-target spells at this point. Ends when the random elemental prince is down.nnPhase 3: 75%-50% healthnSame as phase 1 except Azureus is "breathing" on raid members. He is targetable but only ranged will be able to "hit" him. Ice Block and mounting will happen at 50% health.nnPhase 4: Random elemental princenThis will be a different prince but the battle is the same as in phase 2.nnPhase 5: 50%-25% healthnSame as phase 3 except Azureus will be on the ground putting his melee abilities to use. Ends with Leothiel Ice Blocking and mounting.nnPhase 6: Last elemental princenWhichever elemental prince was not summoned will be summoned. Same as phases 2 and 4.nnPhase 7: The endnAfter the last elemental prince is slain, Leothiel will dismount and head to the center of the room. Now Azureus can be engaged by the raid. Leothiel will use the last of his power to summon smaller elementals then use the random storm abilities.nnThe encounter only requires Leothiel's demise. If Azureus stays alive, one member of the raid will become his new master.

[Darkclouded]

Darkclouded Lynxen Ebonclawnnstats: High health, high agility, average strength, low spell powernnSetting: A large room with a flame in the center that somehow darkens the area near it.nnAbilities:nCat form (experienced): a larger version of cat form drawing a greater advantage from agility.nBear form(experienced): a larger version of bear form that gains a bonus from agility.nHurricane (a shiny boss version): randomly causes lightning to strike near Dark.ntactician: passive, causes forms to change on need (only in third phase)nStealth (because I've always wanted my character to do this): Spreads the shadow out from the fire temporarily becoming invisible (drops threat and randomly feral charges someone).nnPhases:3nnPhase 1: starts upon reaching the flame at the middle of the room. Dark attacks via cat form, uses stealth when at 75% health.nnPhase 2: Switches to bear form. similar to first phase.nnPhase 3: Will switch to caster form at first and use spells for a short time then use tactician skill to switch between whichever is the most effective form.nnLoot: strange note.