Speculation of an Elder Dragon Event

[Merendel]

I couldn't imagine us actually doing anything directly AT them, since keeping on damaging them and making them flee at 0.5% health would be lame in the long run.

I could see us giveing them a case of indigestion if they got hungry and swallowed us whole. Aside from that your stuck with the question of how the heck do you hurt something that big.[COLOR="red"]

---------- Post added 2012-02-03 at 12:27 PM ----------


edit. and I hope they don't go with the cop out medallion of the Kamehameha like some other giant dragon in another world.

[Malthurius]

I don't see us providing a death blow to an elder dragon, especially if it is in the form of a public event. I'd imagine we just seal them away or imprison them. That way they can be replayed with it making sense; they broke free eventually.

[Durzlla]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if we actually KiLL an elder dragon I'll be extremely disappointed.... That being said I want to see fighting them as a mass of evebts going on like 5-10 events that have to be conpleted within X amount of time or the dragon goes "Oh I see wut u r doin!! Fuck this!!" and flys off.

[Fencers]

They could go the route of The Sleeper from EQ1 or Pandemonium Warden from FF11. Massive boss that took real world hours to defeat in huge multi stage steps. Some of those bosses in FF11/EQ had "steps" to awaken them as well.

In FF11 you have multi guild alliances like GW to take on the tough world bosses. I could see an elite DE Elder Dragon that requires massive server coordination or at the least multi guild effort/communication to even unlock yet alone take down.

A lot of GW2 world design is old school. So it's not too far a stretch I suppose.

[Deleted]

Fighting an Elder Dragon battle would be a great server-stress event in beta prior to launching the game O_O!

[Malthurius]

Fighting an Elder Dragon battle would be a great server-stress event in beta prior to launching the game O_O!

It would, but WvWvW would serve the same purpose (probably better) without spoiling a major PvE fight.

[MissCleo]

They could go the route of The Sleeper from EQ1 or Pandemonium Warden from FF11. Massive boss that took real world hours to defeat in huge multi stage steps. Some of those bosses in FF11/EQ had "steps" to awaken them as well.

In FF11 you have multi guild alliances like GW to take on the tough world bosses. I could see an elite DE Elder Dragon that requires massive server coordination or at the least multi guild effort/communication to even unlock yet alone take down.

A lot of GW2 world design is old school. So it's not too far a stretch I suppose.

I never played EQ or FF11, but this aspect of those games was always very appealing to me. I think that given the Elite Dynamic Event system already in place in GW2 it wouldn't be much of a stretch to make an Elder Dragon a huge, multi-stage event requiring several steps and massive time/effort on the part of a united server. Maybe make it the lead-in to the first expansion. It's got to have some sort of server-wide impact and large scale significance.

[Fencers]

Well, FF11 and EQ had world bosses so tough they were rarely beaten or seen. Some would stay dead for that server/realm permanently. Esp. during a server event.

I liked that a great deal as it would lend prestige to the guilds & servers to down the bosses. It also made it feel like *you* did something, and it mattered in the game. That seems like a great fit for GW2's Elder Dragons.

[Kouki]

Uhm no, none of it is instanced or seperate its part of the world, the dragon will appear in the open world of the zone its in the zones are not separate and your group will not be seperate from any other its a team kill where the team is everyone on your server.

The event will be as hard as a raid in the same level would be, and it would scale to the number of players.
it will not be instanced in any shape or form,

And does not need to be since there is no way to grief the fight.

[Malthurius]

Uhm no, none of it is instanced or seperate its part of the world, the dragon will appear in the open world of the zone its in the zones are not separate and your group will not be seperate from any other its a team kill where the team is everyone on your server.

The event will be as hard as a raid in the same level would be, and it would scale to the number of players.
it will not be instanced in any shape or form,

And does not need to be since there is no way to grief the fight.

When I said region, or zone, I meant in the world. The world in Guild Wars 2 is separated into regions by portals, that's the way the game is designed. When I say "It will take place in it's own region" that's like saying "It will take place on it's own land mass". It's not instanced, and anyone can enter the fight at any time, the fight uses the event system, the same used for the majority of the PvE content, it scales.

Of course, some have said that the elder dragon fights will be part of the personal story, and in that case it could very well be a instanced, solo experience. It's all speculation, I don't think any of us have a definite answer on how these fights are going to work.

The main reason I assume the fight will take place in a unique region is because of their size. I mainly think of that picture of an Elder Dragon's spine in the mountain. They'd have a hard time technically putting an enemy of that size into any per-existing zone.

[Fencers]

Could be that the end point after you get Destiny's Edge back together is to take out an Elder Dragon [prob. Zhitan].

Don't want to spoil Edge of Destiny, but they are kinda capable of killing the Elder Dragons. Well, before you-know-who, did you-know-what that resulted in "that thing".

[Khelendros]

I couldn't stop myself from reading this thread. And so of course I had to write an encounter :/ Since it seems that Zhaitan is not fought in the open world (well at least not initially). So from interviews it sounds like the first expansion would deal with a second elder dragon that is a water based guy, Name unkown? How would such an encounter work? Well designing a successful encounter is about more than just one fight.

Deep in a ocean off the coast (I don't know lore so bear with me here) The Elder Water Dragon sleeps beneath a vast trench. He has begun to awaken. His cult has rallied around him, preparing the world for his return.

The Journey to the Trench:
Getting there is quite difficult. Waves of followers are bent on stopping you. Before you can get to the massive underwater chamber where the elder dragon resides, you have to fight off hundreds of his elder cultists and 4 of his mightiest generals. Sensing their defeat they retreat to protect their dragon god.

The Encounter:

Enemies:
The Elder Dragon (1)
THe Elder Dragon Cultist Generals (4)
The Elder Dragon Cultist Enchanters (8)
The Elder Dragon Cultist Spellswords (8)
The Elder Dragon Cultist Deepshadows (8)
The Elder Dragon Cultist Mistcallers (8)
The Elder Dragon Cultists (72)

Phase 1: Raising the Barrier

On entering the chamber the 4 generals order an army of cultists forward to delay the assault while they form a protective bubble around the Elder Dragon.

24 guards will attack. When 12 guards are slain the protective barrier spell will be complete and the dragon will be protected. At this point the bubble will be attackable, but it takes almost no damage from normal attacks. At this The other 12 cultists have split up into 4 sections of the room and are manning massive underwater cannons that shoot out compressed steam. These cannons are powered by deposits of ore found inside and around the cavern area. Players should be sent to begin mining these to power the cannons while the remaining force takes of the cannons. Each cannon is manned by a force of cultists and when defeated Phase 2 will activate.

Phase 2: Taking the Cannons

As the initial force of cultists falls the barrier opens long enough to produce 4 armies to defend the cannons that are now trying to destroy the entrance to cavern and allow time for the elder dragon to fully awaken.

Cannon 1: General + Mistcallers
Cannon 2: General + Spellswords
Cannon 3: General + Deepshadows
Cannon 4: General + Enchanters

Mistcallers are healers but can be interrupted. General for them casts a pbaoe stun that if not dodged will root you in place and do a powerful dot that increases every second for 6 seconds. The root lasts for the duration of the dot and cannot be cleansed or purged. Everyone within PBAOE range needs to dodge this attack. Beyond that he has a channeled heal that is interruptable. Its imperative that people have a weapon that allows them to interrupt as all 9 mobs must have someone on them to interrupt. Alternatively they can be grouped up and hit with an AOE interrupt. The general will also mind control someone every 2 minutes as long as they are within 30m range.

Phase 3: Destroying the Barrier

Once he dies the dragon will awaken, and begin to cast massive aoe spells from within his bubble.

AOE 1: pure damage, silence, armor debuff
AOE 2: DOT, 3 sec stun, heal debuff
AOE 3: Targetted water bomb that is instant death to anyone within its radius. For every player it kills it heals the barrier 10%.

Meanwhile players should be manning the cannon and firing at the barrier. During this defensive phase 12 Cultists will be sent after the cannon to recapture it.

Simulataneously a large portion of the raid must move on to the second general. I'll mention the others now

General + Spellswords:
The spellswsords have high armor and damage and bear swords that project a cone of scalding steam. In addition each time one dies it sends the remaining ones into a frenzy where their damage and defense is increased 10x. The best way to kill them is to do it as close to simultaneously as possible. The general like his fellow spellswords does huge damage and has high armor. He casts a massive steam explosion that does AOE damage and chains. The raid needs to spread out so the bubble he launches doesn't overlap with another player's bubble, as it will set off a chain reaction. Placement is key in this fight. He will also attack with a series of powerful attacks strikes to his melee target so they should be ready to dodge, as the flurry is "channeled".

General + Deepshadows

The Deepshadows are stealthy creatures and will turn invisible periodically, attacking from the shadows. Group together and use AOE to keep them from sneaking up on you. A successful sneak attack will mean instant death. In addition they have a shadowbolt manuever that hits for massive damage and stuns for 30 seconds. Players hit by it take 25% more damage in those 30 seconds. Lastly the General will place a constricting bubble around one player that if not killed in 1 minute will kill the player instantly.

General + Enchanters
The Enchanters summon a massive wall of water to attack the players. It starts at the entrance of the cavern and slowly advances. The wall of water is attackable and does damage to the area based on its current hit points at the time of impact x10 divided by the number of players. In addition they have a reflective barrier that reflects spell damage back to the players. They also have a aoe snare and pulsing GTAOE that causes steam bubbles to decimate the players for 15 seconds. The general casts a wave from either end of the room and so should be tanked dead center of the room. He also has a exploding water attack that causes the water in your body to explode doing equal to your HP in damage. You have 3 seconds to move away from any friendly players before it detonates.

At this point all cannons should be manned, and the barrier almost down. Should the players succeed in bringing the barrier down the elder dragon will awaken.

Phase 4: The Awakening

This phase lasts until the dragon reaches 50% health.

Attacks:
From the Depths- The dragon summons massive bubbles all around the room. These are landmines and do AOE damage equal to the HP of the person that broke them open. They also can cause another bubble to open if its in their AOE range. The bubbles can be DPS'd and destroyed.

Mind Over Cannon- The dragon uses his mind to take control over a cannon and fire a AOE damage shell at the party. Any player on a cannon will have 5 seconds to get out of range or they will be subjugated and mind controlled by the dragon.

Steam Breath- The dragon inhales, preparing to release a instant killing breath of steam. Firing a cannon shell at him will cause him to turn in the direction of the cannon. The breath is a frontal cone AOE, so using the cannons can help control which direction he is facing.

At 50% the great heroes of the racial cities arrive, bearing an army and the dragon now fully aware takes off, sensing possible defeat.

Phase 5: The Final Pursuit (Seek and Destroy)

The Elder dragon takes off, heading towards the surface. In order to stop him the faction leaders are giving you a buff that will enable you to catch up with the dragon.

The dragon never stops moving you must kill him before he reaches the surface or he will rise up out of the water and boil the oceans, with you in it.

Abilities:

Tail lash. Short range PBAOE physical strike that snares the target and does damage. Can be dodged.

Drops exploding water bubbles in his wake, these stun in an AOE and do damage.

Claw swipe. Does damage in a cone behind the dragon. Causes a bleed and every time it ticks it does aoe damage to those around it.

Eventually the dragon will either make it to the surface and wipe you, or you will prevail.

I came up with this encounter on the fly, and am half falling asleep but you get the idea.