Zelda bosses.

**satheron** · 27-10-2010, 03:37

Everytime Jay mentions a Boss encounter he brings up zelda.

WWEELLL. Confession time.

I've never played zelda.

Can a zelda veteran describe what these boss fights were like?

thanks.

**konfeta** · 27-10-2010, 03:49

Short version - a Zelda styled boss demands a gimmicky strategy to beat him that is likely not applicable anywhere else. It's not enough just to have different attacks from monsters - it needs to have different types of defenses. Environmental effects can also be a significant factor - for example, imagine fighting a demon in an ornate hall that gets trashed as the fight goes on, with environmental hazards that can hurt you or the boss, and physical space you can access changing as well. Different kind of monsters can jump in to help, or even serve as a source of heal for the boss so you need to kill them before he eats them or something.

Basically, think mix of a puzzle boss and a standard boss. Designed so you cannot just overcome it with brute force. Such bosses will very likely have stuff like becoming immune to damage for a while, create illusions, have insta-kill attacks, place some debuff on you, have battlefield objects empower them, etc.

It's a very good idea if implemented well. I would recommend trying out a game like Darksiders (recently came out on PC) to see what such bosses are like - it's a well made blend of hack'n'slash ala God of War and Zelda.

**satheron** · 27-10-2010, 04:02

Thanks for the response!

That does sound really cool actually. My favorite boss in d2 was Diablo, just for the fact that as you play you have to dodge that red lightning, and fire storm. Otherwise you would most likely die.

It gave Diablo a dimension the other bosses didn't really have.

Cool to know.

**ShadoutMapes** · 27-10-2010, 04:13

They probaly arent aiming for the same extremes as Zelda bosses (from what I know of Zelda, you have bosses who can only be killed with specific items etc. which I doubt they would do in Diablo 3).
I am kinda imagining something closer to God of War. You mostly use the same mechanisms to beat all bosses (your various attacks = skills) but each boss requires you to use your abilities in different ways, have multiple scripted phases and boss/environment mechanics thrown in to force you to play differently from boss to boss.

I know its a dangerous thing to mention... but WoW have had this type of bosses for 6 years (and no that doesn't mean they are taking it from WoW), and it seems reasonable to expect that is the same type they are going for in Diablo (except needing 10-40 people with you obviously

), just with slightly simpler mechanics, to accommodate the faster play style of Diablo.

Sounds great if they manage to do this, no matter what exactly it ends up like.

**fromtheshadow** · 27-10-2010, 04:48

i think they just mean multi staged bosses. this is probably going to be reserved for act bosses.

**exorte** · 27-10-2010, 05:06

Originally Posted by ShadoutMapes

They probaly arent aiming for the same extremes as Zelda bosses (from what I know of Zelda, you have bosses who can only be killed with specific items etc. which I doubt they would do in Diablo 3).
I am kinda imagining something closer to God of War. You mostly use the same mechanisms to beat all bosses (your various attacks = skills) but each boss requires you to use your abilities in different ways, have multiple scripted phases and boss/environment mechanics thrown in to force you to play differently from boss to boss.

I know its a dangerous thing to mention... but WoW have had this type of bosses for 6 years (and no that doesn't mean they are taking it from WoW), and it seems reasonable to expect that is the same type they are going for in Diablo (except needing 10-40 people with you obviously

), just with slightly simpler mechanics, to accommodate the faster play style of Diablo.

Sounds great if they manage to do this, no matter what exactly it ends up like.

I know it is very dangerous to bought up but Rob Pardo siad Diablo 3 boss design team talk with WoW raid team about some tips on boss designing.

**Gorny** · 27-10-2010, 05:30

Anyone remember fighting Ganon at the end the n64 Zelda?

The floor fell out from underneath you and he was on a platform in the middle...you had to shoot him with a silver arrow from one of the sides then jump over and hit him and jump away again before the arrow's effect wore off.

I remember gettign knocked off the top several times...

**Technomancer** · 27-10-2010, 05:34

I think it would be really cool if they make boss fights more strategy than just brute force (well, and PLUS brute force), I just hope they don't mess up and make it to where if you know the trick for a boss, it's easy.

Adding Link as a class in an expansion would be pretty awesome too...

@ Ninja Gorn (

): The Ganon fight from A Link to the Past was like that too!

**Gorny** · 27-10-2010, 05:41

thats the one I was talking about...couldn't remember the name it was so long ago...

**Your Average WoW Player** · 27-10-2010, 05:54

I definitely think the one-on-one, mano-a-mano sword fight between Link and Gannondorf at the end of Twilight Princess was one of the best fights. I mean, all of these convoluted, crazy fights, and it comes down to who has the better swordplay. Awesome.

I wish they stayed with the Twilight Princess art for the new one... They've pushed it closer to the Wind Waker (fortunately they didn't go all the way) than Twilight Princess in the most recent one... I guess they didn't like the "T" rating Twilight Princess got.