Snarbolax. Jelly. Twins. Vanaduke.
Spiral Knights' main quartet of boss monsters certainly isn't lacking. Every one of them presents a significant challenge along with its Shadowlair counterpart(s).
Seerus. Herex. Maulos. Iron. Margrel. Sentinel. Collector. Punkin.
This assortment of mini-bosses doesn't disappoint either. However, this scattering, while far wider, is much more rare and usually less rewarding to battle in terms of payout. As a result, there are only so many challenges available to us at once.
The solution? More rank-mission boss monsters! Mind you, they would need to actually make sense. It's not healthy to have hundreds of summoned minions onscreen at once, nor is is a good idea to make a boss that's simply a tanky "run at player then attack and repeat" enemy. What's needed is diversity, but in moderation.
All suggestions are open-ended. Feel free to build off of them if you wish.
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Crimson Order boss
This Gremlin pilots a modified Battlepod mech, sitting inside of it with its eye acting as a clear window instead of a screen. This mechanical monstrosity has eight Thwack Hammer-like appendages, one for every side of the Battlepod. It also has Wrench Wand crystals on its top side, and a method of transportation such as hovering, a railway, or spidery legs.
This battle is set in an arena roughly the size of the Twins'.
Attacks:
Slam (AOE): The mech slams its Hammer appendages on the floor of the arena, resulting in a shockwave. Hammer appendages break off during the fight, and as a result the Slam is less effective.
Spin: The mech twirls in a manner similar to the Royal Jelly, swinging its hammers around itself. Sometimes follows Slam similarly to Thwackers in T3.
Ruined Appendages: The mech itself does not deal contact damage. However, the sparking, severed Hammer appendages deal some damage upon contact along with a minor Shock possibility.
Laser: In addition, as the mech's severed appendages malfunction, beams of electricity shoot from them periodically, with two seconds' warning.
Laser Spin: As the mech's arms gradually vanish, this attack becomes harder to avoid. All severed appendages fire a continuous laser at once, and the mech spins at a steady rate, rotating the safe spots for Knights and as such encouraging constant movement. Could also fire a spread of bullets whilst rotating.
Rockets: Launches a spread of three to seven air-to-surface missiles.
Between Stages:
After three and then later six of its appendages are destroyed, the mech retreats to the arena's upper part akin to Vanaduke and activates its Wrench Wand crystals, creating a giant force field around itself and summoning a spread of Constructs. The mech heals itself at a rate of 5hp per second, but this incredibly slow healing is offset by the amount of time it takes to destroy the summoned monsters, which deactivates the field.
The mech's core HP bar is exposed when all eight of its appendages have been destroyed. Its attacks, however, become more frantic as its core is opened.
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Morgral'm, fiendish supervisor.
This battle is set in a wide arena, roughly 50 tiles long. In the center of it is a deactivated Tortomega, (yes, there's no model for it. Bear with me) and there are Shadow-dealing Misery blocks along the arena's edges.
Morgral'm is a Fiend that stands inside a chariot pulled by two invincible Trojans. Between stages, he will disappear and the Tortomega will activate.
The chariot is covered in spikes, and deals contact damage.
Attacks:
Dash: Morgral'm's Trojans give a half-second's warning before they charge straight at the player, twice the speed of a normal Trojan dash and continuing for the entirety of the arena. Morgral'm leaves behind a dense spread of bullets as he charges, which spreads out over a wide area before eventually dispersing. This attack can continue two or even three times in rapid succession, leading to a field of bullets the player must navigate through.
Lightning: Morgral'm calls down several flashes of violet lightning bolts. This attack is indicated by Morgral'm stopping the chariot and raising his arms (and a potential scepter-like weapon) toward the sky, obtaining an electrical effect on himself as he does so. Lightning bolts are indicated by violet patches on the ground a moment before the strike, similar to vanaduke's debris "attack".
Rune fire: Morgral'm casts a wave of violet flames towards the player whilst moving and/or dashing that branches off into fire streams akin to Red Rover flames. The fire's trails take the form of fast-fading Devilite sigils.
Throughout his active stages, Morgral'm will summon Greavers and Overtimers to chase the player.
Between Stages:
When Morgral'm is brought down to a third and then two-thirds of his health, he and his chariot will disappear, leaving behind the duo of Trojans, which still retain their dashing abilities but are now vulnerable, and the Tortomega, which activates shortly. The Tortomega acts similarly to a Tortodrone, but deals a bit more damage, dashes faster and farther, has a greater Slam range, launches rockets along with crystal shards, and utilizes eye lasers similar to a Retrode's, shooting two of them in 30-degree angles to the left and right of the direction it's facing. These lasers reach 2.5x the range of a normal Retrode beam and have a minor chance of dealing 15-second Curse upon contact with the beam and/or explosion.
As the Trojans and the Tortomega are defeated, they become invulnerable and walk toward a predetermined location before turning into stone that cannot be broken: Trojans at the top of the arena and the Tortomega at the center. After all are defeated in this manner, Morgral'm's chariot respawns right behind the Trojans, reactivating them, and the fight continues.
After the Tortomega is defeated for the second time, it shatters, dropping a moderate amount of treasure.
Similarly, after Morgral'm is defeated for the third time, he disappears, also leaving a moderate amount of loot alongside a possible boss token and two breakable Trojan statues.
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Thoughts?