Prison of Elders 2.0 (Destiny)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Monday, July 20, 2015, 15:07 (3494 days ago)
edited by CruelLEGACEY, Monday, July 20, 2015, 15:17

I've been thinking a lot about Prison of Elders lately, and what could be done to improve it as part of a future expansion or sequel. I've come up with something that I think would be interesting, and hopefully a lot of fun. I'd love to hear what you all think.

First, some of the high-level changes:

* Take a journey: In place of the current layout, my idea for PoE 2.0 would involve a (semi) linear progression through a series of combat spaces. No more "4 arenas connected by a central hub".

* Boss rebalancing: I believe the PoE bosses are by far the most interesting part of the current game mode. My idea for PoE 2.0 removes the repetitive rounds of mob enemies and places a boss battle at stages 2-5. As such, some of the bosses would need to be tweaked a little to prevent the whole challenge from becoming too long.

* Skolas for everyone Skolas, as the end boss of the game mode, is available to fight at any difficulty. But there's a wrinkle I will get to later.

* Difficulty: PoE 2.0 will feature 2 difficulty levels; Hard and Normal. Hard mode would be on par with the current maximum light level (so if this came out right now, it would be 34). Normal would be 4 levels below. I'm getting rid of over-leveled enemies because I'm adding greater and more complex challenge in other ways.

* Checkpoints! Your progress will be saved upon completion of each stage in the challenge. Your saves reset weekly, just like the raids.

* Loot! You will be rewarded a loot drop at the end of each stage. A loot pool will be designed for each stage, with the better drops available on the later stages (also like the raids).

* Choose your own adventure: Your actions determine who you fight next. I'll explain below, but anyone who has played Star Fox 64 will know exactly where I'm going with this.

Here's the full breakdown:

One of my problems with PoE as it works now is that it doesn't make any sense thematically or within the fiction. It doesn't look or function like a Prison in any way, and our movement back and forth through the arenas doesn't create any sense of progression. One of my favorite things about the Raids (especially VoG) is the feeling that your team is going on a journey. I want to bring that into Prison of Elders. In PoE 2.0, your fireteam must break in to the Prison and track Skolas down, fighting through several stages of enemy resistance along the way. The prison itself will contain 11 unique combat arenas, all connected by paths, hallways and tunnels.
I realize 11 sounds like a high number but keep in mind: you will only fight through 5 arenas per playthrough, and all of the arenas would be relatively small when compared to any of the spaces found in either raid. These arenas should not feel like random playspaces. Each unique arena should be modeled after a a believable location within the Prison. I want the prison to feel like a real place, with an understandable layout.

Prison of Elders 2.0 would take you through 5 stages:

Stage 1: Break in and enter the Prison (face standard waves of enemies, similar to current PoE waves).
Stage 2: Confront 1 of several deadly prisoners (Boss fight)
Stage 3: Concerned by your progress, the enemy sends 1 of several elite agents to stop you. Kill them dead, Guardians. (Boss fight)
Stage 4: Face off against one of the oldest and most dangerous prisoners. (Boss Fight)
Stage 5 (optional): You've founds Skolas. Now end him. (Final boss)

For the more visual types reading this, here's a little "map" I threw together:

The Star Fox 64 similarities should now be a little more clear ;)

Progressing through the Prison:

You will progress through the Prison, making your way through the various stages. But your precise path through the prison will be determined by your actions during each stage. You can see from the map that each stage has multiple paths forward. You can alter your path by completing special bonus objectives while in combat. These bonus objectives are 100% optional. You can ignore them and proceed along the default "path". But choosing to complete these objectives will allow you to progress through a different part of the prison, and face different bosses along the way. For example, you can play through stage one and proceed directly to the Overmind Minotaur for stage 2. Or, if you kill the Fallen Scout (bonus objective) before he is able to escape, you will proceed to the Pilot Servitor for stage 2.

Bonus Objectives:

I have plenty of ideas for bonus objectives. One arena might contain a terminal that can be hacked by your ghost, which will open a hidden door once you complete the current battle. You could have a special VIP target that appears during battle... killing the target would open an alternate route. You could even have hidden paths that don't require completion of any specific objective... you would just need to find and reach them. The specific nature of each bonus objective doesn't really matter. What is important is that they are

a) consistent: each specific objective opens a specific path forward. You must be able to reach the various bosses intentionally, so these objectives and their results cannot be random.

and

b) these objective are not pointed out. They must be "hidden" and "found". VIP targets could be identified by a special unique name over their heads, for example. Finding these objectives should be part of the fun, and we don't want them to get confused with the mandatory special objectives that may occur (dismantle mines, destroy target, etc).

The paths between stages.

Connecting each of the boss arenas will be a series of paths and hallways. Instead of just running in a straight line between arenas, I imagine some more intricately designed pathways with light skirmishes along the way. These pathways would provide some nice downtime between major battles, and who knows... maybe even a couple hidden loot chests?

The search for Skolas

The entire point of your mission is to track Skolas down and put an end to his madness. But success is not guaranteed. If you want to defeat Skolas, you will need to find him first. To do this, you must hunt for clues.

In addition to the bonus objectives that let you choose your path through the prison, there will also be a special set of objectives directly related to finding Skolas (remember when I said I would be adding greater challenge and complexity?).
Once again, these "Find Skolas" objectives would be completely optional. If you don't complete them, stage 4 is the final stage. But if you want to face Skolas, you'd better complete them all.

The "Find Skolas" objectives can be found in stage 2, 3, and 4. The objective is the same each time. Escort Ghost through the arena while he scans for clues to Skolas' location. It works like this: You must find the specific spot in each arena that lets you begin your scan. Ghost will start searching, slowly moving through the arena. But he needs to draw extra power from your light in order to generate a protective shield, so you need to stay close to him. The more guardians that are standing in close proximity to Ghost, the faster he can move. If nobody is standing close to him, Ghost will teleport to safety until you return to his last location and resume the scan.

Yes, I lifted this straight out of Mass Effect 3:

*Do yourself a favor and mute the audio. The commentator is beyond annoying :(*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkElEJHvCMs&t=480

If you complete this special objective in stages 2, 3, and 4, then the path to Skolas will be unlocked and you can face him.

So, that's about it. What does everyone think?