Iād like to see some variety in boss fights. As it is theyāre all pretty much the same: Hit the big thing until the red bar is empty.
Side note: This causes all of the bosses (scripted, AI-Directed and lords) to be vulnerable to the tactical-nuke classes (shades, hunters, etc).
I donāt particularly see an issue with being able to kill bosses solo. Itās some of the most intense gameplay V2 has, and pulling it off is rewarding as hell.
A couple of thoughts on each boss:
Roger
This one needs a little something extra I think. Itās clearly supposed to be the ābasicā boss, but having a ābasicā boss feels odd when thereās no order to when different kinds of bosses will drop. Itās not like you only face rogers early on in your game career, you know? It just feels like easy mode when a roger drops after you get used to fighting the other bosses. Maybe give it an āenrageā when it gets to low health or something.
Flammenwerfer
I think this one is mostly OK after the recent changes. I would like to see it be a bit more mobile though. So many fights with them just go to stalemate because it plants itself in a place where nobody can get behind it, refuses to move, then lights the entire field in front of it on fire so nobody can try to get close. Itās not especially difficult, just annoying.
Iād give him a new ability in addition to the flamethrower that lets him bombard an area with fireballs. The fire stream covers a huge distance and lasts a long time on the ground, so it can quickly get to the point where you have the choice between eating a flame stream to the face or getting damaged by running through the fire. I donāt dislike this specifically because it encourages you to stay mobile, itās just that it happens an awful lot and it doesnāt feel particularly fair. Giving him a second ranged ability would add variety and prevent the fight from becoming static.
Chaos cutie
More chaos needed. Like you said, this one is just a rogre that can eat you. This seems like a boss thatās screaming āThis isnāt even my final form!ā. It would be cool if it mutated and gained different sets of abilities as the fight as it progresses (or if it eats someone).
Giant with a hangover:
Easy mode. Dodge left and hit him in his big fat head. I think the general idea behind this fight is good, but Iād make some minor changes to his existing attacks that force more variety in how players need to react. Iād also make the vomit more visible on the ground.
SLAY-FLAY
This fight actually isnāt too bad, itās just a bit plain. TBH Iād get rid of the pillar in the arena before I changed anything else. The phases of the fight arenāt very well defined, which often means you get surprised by an add poking you in the butt when you think you should be clear. I find that I spend a LOT of this fight just looking around to make sure thereās no adds that everyone has missed.
MUCULENT BROTH
Pure tedium. If I spend more time chasing a boss around than I do actually fighting them, something is very wrong. Literally every single one of this bossās abilities either increases the distance between him and the players or takes control away from the players. Both of these are more frustrating than challenging (especially when he teleports on top of you and throws unavoidable slimers in your face), considering the fight is still primarily about emptying the red bar using normal methods. Having a boss thatās mostly dealt with using ranged skills/weapons is an especially odd fit now that the balance has changed and put ranged play in the back seat.
Just spitballing here, but the fight might cycle between 2 phases. First, heās protected and out of the way, similar to Rasknittās magic bubble, while he sends spells out into the arena. This phase is entirely about avoiding the spells, not about trying to hurt him. After a wave of spells, he needs to ārestā. This is when he becomes vulnerable and the second phase begins. When he rests, some mechanic in the arena that can āhurtā him becomes available, which someone needs to operate while the other players fight off the adds, similar to the Fort B ending event. Repeat this X times to win the fight.
Bodvarr
This is a pure melee fight in an actual arena against one of the strongest melee fighters around. Iād base the whole fight around rewarding skillful melee play. Say, if you dodge his overhead swing, he gets the axe stuck in the ground and takes a moment to pull it out, during which time the team can wail on him, or if you continually dodge his charges, he eventually enrages and charges straight into a wall and knocks himself over. Iād make it so that he can only be damaged by headshots, but players have the power to to make his head an easy target by using these sorts of skill plays.
Keeper of the keystaff
Too easy. Transforms way too fast and then just turns into a spawn, which Iāve already covered. I think he should at least take longer to transform and regen all of his health when he does. Also, is it just me, or does the fact that this is the only arena fight without adds make the whole fight feel kind of empty?
Rasknitt/Gunrat
Both bosses here are loaded with abilities that either move players away from them or allow them to put (lots of) distance between themselves and players (see: MUCULENT BROTH). Once the gunrat goes down, this fight just becomes frustrating while you run from corner to corner across this MASSIVE arena to slowly chip down the health of an enemy that is realistically no longer a threat, and it feels so very drawn out because youāre also constantly watching out for that one slave rat that bravely ran a thousand miles to stab you in the butt.
The arena itself is the single biggest problem with this fight as it exists today. Itās massive, and most of it canāt be used for fighting because either boss might just randomly decide to drop their current aggro target and go after you with their ranged abilities while youāre busy paying attention to adds. That doesnāt feel terribly fair, considering none of the actual dangers in this fight are announced. The risk involved with fighting away from the pillars is so big that most people just donāt do it, which makes the whole fight feel artificially drawn out.
Neither boss really feels like an actual threat, itās more the arena and the adds that make them dangerous (though I suppose this is true for all lords right nowā¦).
Given the size of the arena, Iād give Rasknitt more wide AOE spells to force players to move around, and offset this by adding traversible structures (not just pillars) in the arena so that players have more options on how to fight/control adds and approach the bosses and/or avoid their ranged abilities.