Spiral Knights - Shadow Distortions

Shadow Distortions

13 replies [Last post]

Sun, 10/23/2011 - 16:07

Aumir

After these days and having seen all the hatred/rambling/trolling about Shadow Keys, and quietly enjoying the Halloween update, I asked myself "hey, why couldn't I fight all these new mobs from those dark zones in the Unknown Passage?". I am not talking about getting mats and new 5* armors, but to get to know those crazy new fellows that are inside the Shadow Lairs. Also, the talk about "new dangers" make me think that we could see some special boss (maybe in the Core?) who caused these things. So, at maybe this may not be out of place, I suggest this new zone:

The Shadow Distortion - Basic Concept:
Shadow Distortions would be new levels that are in the same line as race specific levels such as Wolver Den and Dark City, but these could be marked with the "Eye" symbol. They would have the same looks as, of course, Unknown Passage, and feature the mobs there. So, basically, it would be a "harder normal level". Also, because of who the mobs are, these levels would only appear in Tier 3 in place of a Normal Level at random, and these levels can't exist in a "elemental themed" gate, only "race themed" gates. Varieties of these levels and names could be...

- Shadow Distortion - Gears of Dark (Construct level)
- Shadow Distortion - Dark Fouls (Fiend level)
- Shadow Distortion - Legion of Darkness (Gremlin level)

...for example. These levels would give a HIGHER crown payout as the level depth they are, and in last depths they could maybe give more golden coins as last levels do. This would conclude my idea about this, but I can perhaps do a final stretch to this idea and create a way that could give you a Shadow Key. Interested? What would that be?

The Shadow Danger Room. Yeah, it is what it sounds like. A room devised as the old danger rooms actually, or if OOO would like to work on specific New Danger Rooms, may they feel free to do so. I would actually prefer the old type of danger rooms for these ones as these new mobs have been refered to as "Swarm". They could also be longer to make they even harder, and after clearing them you could find some chests that MAYBE could give you a Shadow Key, or a Silver Key, or an Iron Lockbox (from rarest to less rare) or well, just some crowns if you weren't lucky. After all, you would have come here for a greater challenge and a higher payout in crowns, eh?

And that would be my idea to make players a bit happier and give people an extra "free" challenge. "Free" 'Cause, you know, there would be chances that you would die and have to revive anyways with CE... the question is "are you up to do it?". You would be able to always wait out the next option in the gate...

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 10:48

Softhead

I LIKE IT!!

For other race types

Shadow Distortion- Blackest Souls(Undead)
Shadow Distortion- Adhesive Shadow Spires(Slime)
Shadow Distortion- Shadowy Fangs(Beast)

Lockdown Map-Distortion

Lv branching
Shadow Distortion+ Race
Shadow distortion (all races are here of these other lv)+ Lost Haven( Haven with enermies and you are in the arcade defating enermies until a gate allowes you to go to bazzar and same thing until town square where you have to get keyes scattered to get to the elevator at the entrance)
Shadow Distortion-Race+shadow Chasim (based on a harder and longer version of Crossing the chasim)
Shadow Distortion- Deperate Struggle(final lv like Stygian Steeds and Birar Bone Barrage. Based on unkown passage but easier.

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 12:11

Aumir

Cool

Cool ideas o.o

Though my idea was to have only one "hard level" so it was a "rare level encounter". Though, if it were to become an actual series like all other race specific levels do, your ideas of a "Dark Haven" and an actual "mini Unknown Passage" (with actual respawning enemies) as last level fit quite well, hm... So, I like your ideas too! ^^

(If OOO were to put these things, of course they are free to put what they think is worth, if they don't like Shadow Danger Rooms for example, well, no problem. In fact, a "Shadow Danger Room" could very well also take place in a Normal Level in Tier 3 without having a level for themselves if they wanted, as a "dark infection" of sorts.)

Mon, 10/24/2011 - 16:17

Softhead

Thanks

I thought of them on the spot. If I want to expirence an Unknown Passage, I would put Whitespace Action. I would like to revisit the chasim and have a Dark Haven as well, and the core lvs would have these enermies. But Fiends don't have swarm based enitys, It would be nice to have a Greaver as a swarm enermy(much more harder for players with shadow keys, Hmm)

Sun, 10/30/2011 - 17:29

Xylka-Mkii

Like the idea, but.... Well,

Like the idea, but....

Well, after **SPOILER** defeating The Rabid Sarrrrbolaxes (Snarbolax? Snarboli?) and getting past the Unknown Passage, and to the Sanctuary, the light that gives a backstory says "it knows of you now, and it will find a way to escape" (or something along those lines)

That means the swarm eventually will spread meaning a lot of players going... (oh boy):

Unknown Passage appears
Noob/non-Shadow Lair player/ not in the know : "Hm whats this? new level? COOL"
they go down...
Same guy: ZOMG SO EPIC AND CREEPY WOOT!!!"
5 seconds later
Same guy: "@_@ too hard omg they are OP"
they waste 140 CE on revives, then get to basil
Same guy: "WTF not fair wasted my CE and Basil doesnt even havegood recipes"
Ragequits the run."

As long as its not as hard as the Shadow Lairs and adapts to the Level difficulty, im all for it

Fri, 11/04/2011 - 15:42

Aumir

Noob protection acquired!

I think I already said that these levels would only be found in Tier 3, but if not I will say it now. XD

Also, I have looked more info about Swarm and their mechanics and will explain two more things:

1. I know of the "eternal spawn" mechanic of the Swarm and that they don't give Crowns or heat, but these levels would have non-respawnable, normal enemy styled Spawns, for the sake of being just a "harder level" type thing. Though, if Aturmvindex idea of making it a scalated level sort of "2 levels + 1 with special challenge" that one last challenge level could have actual Shadow Lair mechanics (which actually would give players a real test of a Unknown Passage). Shadow Danger Rooms could also use the normal Shadow Lair mechanics and being a timed survival.

2. About enemies:
- Swarm Turrets could be both respawnable or not, depending of the challenge of the place you would be at the moment. For example, a normal battle in a closed room with waves could have one central Void Turret that could regenerate; but in a long corridor like those spiral shaped ones in the normal Clockworks they could be destroyed "definitely".
- Swarm Seeds could still work with those "mist barriers" that we have, so they wouldn't chase us forever.
- New enemies could get done, specially now that this idea is even more viable due to the "storyline" reason of the Swarm possibly being expanding "its"? territory. This way we could get other types than Gel, Zombie, Wolver, Lumber and Thwacker. Possible quick ideas...:
a) Void menders: They get back their old Ember Bolt and whackings as they don't have that "promise of not hurting anyone" anymore. Area heal could have a slow effect for players who would step on it.
b) Void demos: Their bombs have also shards on them, so they would explode both as a Blast Bomb and as a Crystal Bomb.
c) Void scorchers: They would fire two waves of fire without having to pause. Oil spill area would be larger.
d) Void retrodes: Their laser would be like a new Divine Avenger charge, 3-way style. Lasers would inflict Curse.
e) Void scuttlebots: Their usually pitiful attacks now instead fire a burst like the Shockburst Brandish (1 max). Would inflict Shock.
f) Void chromalisks: Their spit would be a dark pool which would inflict Curse, and their tongue attack would make them attach themselves to you. You would be then not able to move for 5 seconds max unless you attacked, sort of like the jump attack from the Zombies, though they latching to you don't let them do anything else.
g) Void kats: Their short ranged attack would consist on them "teleporting" behind you and then biting. It wouldn't be actual teleport, they would make themselves invisible before charging to you. Long range attack would be 3 big bullets, which would be able inflict Stun.
h) Void blast cubes: Black colored, with a burst range of a Master Blast Bomb. Counter of 5 seconds.
i) Void jellies: Their charge attack would repeat itself once, as a "one-two" punch. Spike attack would begin from the jelly itself to the area where it would target and "burst" their spikes their while leaving a trail, sort of like Snarbolax charges underground.
j) Void devilites: Same as tier 3 Overtimers, thrown things inflict Stun.
k) Void greavers: Each attack leaves 8 bullets behind now, spreading from all directions from the greaver.

Another small change that could be done if a "possible 2 level + special challenge" would enter, as the idea is for them to be optional harder levels, you may be able to return to a normal level styled Clockworks before the next level if you think it would be too hard for you... BUT you wouldn't be able to enter the "third level special challenge". Meaning that a Gate structured like this in a Tier 3 Gremlin strata:

[Emberlight]
[Shadow Distortion: Legion of Darkness] - [Clockwork Tunnels: Mechanized Mile] - etc...
[Shadow Distortion: Gears of Dark] - [Iron Edge Arena: Wrench Warfare] - etc...
[Special Challenge (No name yet) ] - [Deconstruction Zone: Circuit Breakers] - etc...
[Wasteworks: Mechanized Mile] -etc...
[Clockwork Terminal]

...You may be able to enter it from the [Shadow Distortion: Legion of Darkness], but if you left for [Iron Edge Arena: Wrench Warfare] you would not be able to reach the [Special Challenge (No name yet) ] level even if you waited for the Gate to rotate, it wouldn't be selectable. This could also give a reason to give desirable prices at the end of that special challenge too.

And... I think that is all, for now. I will keep checking the posts, thanks for your post, Xylka-Mkii : )

Fri, 11/04/2011 - 21:18

Nekroskoma

it would be interesting, from

it would be interesting, from what i have gleaned The Swarm seems like some kind of Eldritch Corruption, the swarm itself is pretty much invincible but it has limited interaction instead choosing to corrupt other to do its work

personally i think they could be very challenging but considering what your going up against im not sure if they should be unleashed in common rotation for someone unprepared to stumble into

Sat, 11/05/2011 - 17:45

Aumir

Thank ya! And...

Yep, I would also like to be able to fight these things and be prepared for them if ever do the real CE challenge (Shadow Lairs), that is why I think this could work, it would be also an effective "tease" for people to go there too.

Also, if these levels are in rotation.... yup, you could always skip them, gate construction could have an exception so these levels wouldn't be alone so people didn't have to enter them. Maybe a "lamp message" could be added next to the elevator before a Shadow Distortion that would warn Knights that next level has one, so people can "rush" the elevator or wait for it without having to check the Gate Map continuosly.

Sun, 11/06/2011 - 17:28

Fehzor

Yea

I like this... though I'd like to say that it needs to be more limited to the lower levels of the clockworks, and that it needs to be kind of "special", as in, you might only see these levels once every few runs... you go down, and then rather than ending up at a clockwork tunnels or decon level, get an unknown passage with a payout of gold coins (must be at least 2K Cr).

Mon, 11/07/2011 - 01:11

Spyash

good

Mon, 11/07/2011 - 15:14

#10

Coneykrab

A pretty nice concept

My only problem is that this leaves a lot of special things relating to shadow. Piercing and Elemental deserve some more love, but some more shadow armor/weapons would be a nice reward (and what I had expected from the Shadow Lairs).

Sat, 11/19/2011 - 13:38

#11

Softhead

@Coneykrab

Aumir means like the Unknown Passage kind of lvs with swarm enermies.

Wed, 12/28/2011 - 15:11

#12

Aumir

Thanks! And to make it short...

Exactly, Tl;dr version of the topic is that: it would be implementing Unknown Passage kind of levels with maybe some changes, challenges and similar things. These days I saw some people expose that we need more tier 3 content, so these optional levels in normal Clockwork route which could possibly give more profit due to its higher difficulty could help make the game more varied, and maybe even profitable, than the typical dungeon run. And if Shadow Keys were to be able to get from Shadow Danger Rooms or rare drops, it could help make Shadow Lairs more attractive...

Feel free to post more ideas if you want, things you like or don't like and your own ideas on it/them, enemy concepts, etc! Maybe a special Swarm Drone now that they are out? They could change their movement pattern from time to time, for example.

Wed, 12/28/2011 - 15:42

#13

Psychodestroyer

Just thought of something.

You want to get around the 'Void' thing swarm infested monsters have, right?

I just thought of something for that. CHECKPOINTS.

You know how there's a Party button halfway through the stage, right? Because the monsters themselves aren't supposed to drop anything, why not drop a ton of prizeboxes at the party button, then another set at the lift? That way the monsters can stay almost as they are, and the cr at the checkpoints covers for it.

So it's like an extended danger room. Or a modified Arena, whichever.

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Shadow Distortions