Bosses - general observations and strategies (SP?) (Destiny)

by scarab , Thursday, September 11, 2014, 02:29 (3523 days ago) @ Cody Miller

This is more of a critique of the boss fights that we have seen so far. I think I've played all the strikes now.

In general all the boss fights are the same. What I mean is: there is a small set of boss behaviours and attacks. Once you know them then you can generalize about them. Of course there are differences but the differences seem to be quantitative (they differ in the amounts that a boss does X as opposed to: some bosses do X, some do Q, and some to W and M).

Because there is a small set of Boss behaviours there is a small set of strats to deal with them.

I don't want to give spoilers so I wont mention individual bosses except for the bosses in the (Sepkis?) Prime strike.

If you are uncomfortable with even that amount of detail then bail out now!

If you have never played that strike and have never watched it on twitch or youtube and you want to remain unspoiled then stop reading.

OK, I will list some observations and then I will list some strats that are based on those observations. I will number each observation and may refer to them by number when I mention a strat that is based on those observations.

Observations:

(1) Bosses don't move much - some move more than others but they stick to a limited area

(2) Some bosses teleport but...

(3) Bosses telegraph their moves (good game design)

(4) If you get too close to a boss then they will deal massive area of effect damage

(5) Bosses concentrate on one player at a time and take time to retarget

(6) You attract a boss' attention by dealing damage to the boss

(7) Bosses can be slow to turn

(8) There are waves of boss support NPCs and the waves ramp up over time

(9) Support NPCs often drop ammo

(10) Bosses have highly lethal attacks - some are one hit kills

(11) Bosses often have weak spots

Strategies:

Make use of cover. see: (10)

Try to spread out to take advantage of: (5) (7) When the boss is targeting player 1 then players 2 and 3 generally have free hits. You may also be able to lay down damage on a boss even when you know it is turning to attack you if the boss turns slowly enough. So observe the boss to see how fast it turns.

When a boss targets you: take cover or MOVE. see (10) What you have to assess is how much spread and damage a boss' attack has. Cover doesn't always save you from a spider tank shell. It has massive splash damage!

Note: spider tanks are committed to a shell launch. It never changes its mind once that laser shines and it doesn't move the laser to track targets. So MOVE when you see it target you.

Lay down heavy damage at all times. Aim to kill the boss fast. (8) (11) This one is obvious but supporting NPC attacks can distract you from this and, as the waves will ramp up... you can get into a spiral of doom where you are spending most of your time trying to survive increasingly deadly waves and you forget about the boss.

There are two strats:

1) find a place where NPCs can't reach you and pour damage into the boss to kill it quick.
2) have two players defend a Damage Dealer. The DD keeps on damaging the boss. The other two mop up the NPCs then return to boss damaging. Note (9) supporting NPCs drop ammo so farm them.

Keep your guys alive. You need guns putting damage into the boss. A dead player can't do that. I know it takes time to revive a player but it is generally worth it.

There are two parts to keeping your guys alive: 1) don't do stupid things that get you killed. 2) revive your guys as fast as possible. Keep an eye out for dead guardian markers on your HUD.

If you die too close to a boss then I may decide not to try to revive you.

If there are two guardians down then it depends on my mood. The sensible thing to do is to make sure the last guardian survives. But, sometimes, I like the challenge and will try to rescue one.

When reviving a colleague remember (5) (6) (7). The player furthest from the fallen guardian should attract the boss' attention whilst the other survivor resurrects the fallen.

Don't forget your grenades damage bosses. Most people don't even seem to consider this. You want to kill that boss fast so you want to pour on damage. Use grenades! The biggest thing here is to remember to use them.

If you don't need them to tackle the supporting NPCs or if you know you have enough time before the next wave then: watch your grenade meter and estimate if the boss is about to move soon. If the boss is about to move then let him. If you know he will be stationary then throw the grenade.

Note: if you hit a boss then the grenade will stick to 'the air' not the boss. The boss can move away from the grenade after the boss has been 'hit' by it but if you have an area of effect grenade then it can still do damage. Assess how far and how fast a particular boss moves.

As a final comment about grenades. Don't forget about them! :-)

Learn your boss. This is observation and reflection.

Things to look out for...

How often does it move? How far? Can you tell when a boss it about to move? To stop?

Look out for the things that telegraph it's intentions. Bungie has done a good job of telegraphing their bosses' moves. An evil laugh generally preceeds a teleport attack. If you think you will be the target: MOVE!

All these fights have a tempo to them: time between NPC waves, how long it takes for boss to turn, how long you hold its attention. Learn the tempo.

There are other quirks a boss may have. For example: the spider tank is committed to it's shell launch but will cancel a blue guided 'plasma thingy' attack if you simply stop shooting. You can stand in plain sight and it will loose interest and concentrate on someone else. It may be faster to stop shooting, reload whilst waiting until it starts turning on someone else, then start shooting again. That may be faster than running for cover.

Other comments:

I didn't mention, "keep your distance" as a strat because maybe your mileage may vary. I don't think it's worth it because of (4). I also tend to avoid trying to resurrect a guardian who died right next to a boss (for the same reason). But I didn't make it a strat as other people may enjoy the danger of living on the edge and pushing the limits. I am more cautious but that's me. Just remember that not only are your courting death; you may also be facing a long wait until you can re-spawn yourself.

The danger is fun: the wait is not.

My biggest learning difficulty when starting a brand new raid is: finding the way to the boss. Experienced players race ahead and if you loose them then it can be hard to catch up. You may arrive a minute late for the action.

Anyway, i hope this helps or acts a a seed for comments. You can add your own observations or strats in your replies. (If there are any :-) )