Following from last week. The set piece Chapter 2 Bosses are designed as enemies powerful enough that no play could possibly defeat them alone – balanced carefully so that each player feels that their contribution to the fight was necessary.
This week we’ll discuss the care that was put into finding that balance. We’ll use the second boss as an example, from which the final boss can be extrapolated.
The playable Aethermon have been balanced so that at level 12 (the approximate level players will encounter the 2nd boss) each Aethermon can deal approximately 11 damage per turn on average over 5 turns. They also have the HP and defensive abilities to allow them to survive turns against an enemy dealing an average of 11 damage per turn.
(Note this offense to defence ratio is an average, Velvenny and Batuursa skew much more heavily defensive.)
By simply multiplying the bosses health by the number of players in the game it is easy to create an enemy which is a challenge to players, but the players have a slight edge.
This however would not create the epic memorable showdowns we are striving to create.
Instead we balance these bosses so that players are receiving on average 14 damage per turn – meaning an average player can only survive 4 turns, against an enemy capable of surviving 6 turns against a regular offense.
This leaves players at a 2 turn disadvantage. We do however give the players powerful tools to close this gap. Tune in next week to discover what goodies players get when cooperating.
Stay tuned and stay together AetherRen