TL;DR: Mortafire with a tank, who spams bombs with random statuses and has destructible artillery.

Umbra-Lunatis and I were coining random boss ideas (and discussing existing ones like Seerus/Herex) in the Spiral Knights discord, which eventually evolved into this. (Which then was heavily tweaked by me, since I'm the one making the forum post, so... Obviously, they can comment any of their own ideas below too.)

Not sure where it'd fit into the game, though. I was thinking another expansion mission, while Umbra said it'd be better as a rank mission. That, or it could go halfway and be a new danger mission? (Though admittedly it doesn't quite feel like it fits the bill for a danger mission boss.)

I don't really have an idea for the levels leading up to it either, or any potential rewards (if it were an expansion mission). This is just the boss.

(Note: This may or may not be heavily inspired by Operation Crimson Hammer.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Following existing Gremlin boss themes of being essentially elite versions of existing enemies - Razwog is a Scorcher, Herex is a Stalker, Seerus is... sort of a thwacker, sort of a demo? - Architect Militarx is essentially a stronger version of a Gremlin Mortafire, of course with flashy Crimson Order symbols and coloration. Additionally, he is visibly bulkier and has an ammunition strap draped over him, displaying multiple differently-colored missiles. However, he lacks the shield that they normally have, in favor of a second cannon; this means he has no damage immunity from the front.

Lore-wise, Architect Militarx is, well, an architect - he helped design some rooms of the Clockworks, including important factories and other facilities. The war machines he uses in the fight were supplied by Warmaster Seerus; he doesn't deal in that.

The boss fight takes place in an extremely large, square room, with nothing on the ground in the way; it has spike traps laid out in a pattern corresponding with the intersections of a large grid, but these are inactive until later in the fight. The camera in the arena is significantly zoomed out and moved more above the player (similarly to how it is during Lord Vanaduke's mask phase). On the northern end of the arena is what appears to be a large "garage" of sorts, with a platform on top where various Gremlins work, much like in the first level of Operation Crimson Hammer. In the background, many levels of bombs like in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory can be seen. The sides of the level have 6 massive, long dull yellow artillery cannons, which of course have even more bombs (the red, explosive kind) near them, as though they're using them for ammunition - though they cannot be hit. Each would have different-colored lighting on them - yellow, red, white, green, blue, and pink, ordered counterclockwise. The cannons are each on a large circular mount, allowing them to turn freely. Several more Gremlins can be seen operating each of them.

The boss fight has 4 phases:

Phase 1:

Militarx stands on the wall in the northern end of the arena when the fight begins (the party button would be placed so that the players can see him), taunting the player initially. When his dialogue finishes, he descends on what appears to be a miniature elevator. A few seconds after, the garage gate folds open, allowing Militarx to exit - riding a massive Battlepod-esque tank. The tank is essentially a black and red Battlepod on tracks, with its (unblinking, unlike standard battlepods') eye in the center of a Crimson Order sigil. The Battlepod is always open so that its layer of guns is visible, except that the top end is capable of moving independently from the lower chassis, and the guns on the bottom have a more compact setup comparing to regular Battlepods. In addition to all that, it has two more massive cannons on the side of its "turret", with rectangular bases and long barrels. These also have Crimson Order sigils on the sides. The back has multiple layered plates of armor clearly standing out. On the top of it all is a hatch, where Militarx himself can be seen standing, with the cannons on his person pointed skywards.

The tank follows the player and causes damage on contact, but moves and turns very slowly (and can be circlestrafed easily). Its cannon on top would turn at about twice the rate as the chassis. It is completely invulnerable to player attacks from all ends, although it has no energy shield or barriers (except a pink circle on the ground denoting invulnerability); this also means Militarx himself is invulnerable so long as he remains in the tank.

The tank has a few attacks:

• The guns on the side begin circling slowly, independently from the main body, shooting a circle of 12 Gun Puppy-style bullets around it; this repeats 5 times, each time turning enough that each bullet of the next circle fires in the middle of the gap between the surrounding bullets of the previous circle. The tank's orientation is irrelevant to the direction the bullets are fired in.
• The tank fires two tier 3 Rocket Puppy-style homing missiles from the sides of its chassis. These inflict no status.
• The two guns on the side of the turret light up briefly, then fire a pair of continuous Roarmulus Twins-style lasers for several seconds (which also inflict no status), tracking the player. It is possible to remain safe simply by standing in place, as the two beams would then fire to the sides of the player; however, this would prevent the player from moving around very much and leave them vulnerable to other attacks until the beams stop.

They would have a brief delay before a new attack initiates, and only one can be used at a time.

Architect Militarx himself would have a separate moveset from the tank, and can attack at the same time as the tank does.

• Militarx shoots an inaccurate volley of 5 Mortafire missiles towards the player; each inflicts a random status when they hit (any status, including Curse or Sleep) and leave a status mist where they land matching their set status, equivalent to a 2-star haze bomb. The initial explosions and hit warnings also have radii equivalent to the hazes.
• Militarx flings many Darkfang Demo bombs randomly around the tank, which function exactly as Darkfang Demo bombs do and inflict no status.

In addition to all that, the 6 artillery cannons continuously track the player and fire massive missiles on their location, which deal damage and a single status (Stun, Fire, Freeze, Poison, Shock or Curse, corresponding with their coloration) over a wide radius when they hit. The cannons are invulnerable. If the player is in a party, then the cannons will fire significantly faster (depending on the number of players) and alternate between firing on each.

To defeat Architect Militarx, the players have to stand near his tank, and bait the cannons into firing; after that, they have to lead Militarx's tank into the line of fire so that the artillery hits him directly. (Just being in radius doesn't count.) Each direct hit will damage the tank (but not inflict status; the status of the bomb is irrelevant), and slightly change its model to look worse for wear. They have to repeat this 5 times to continue to the next phase.

Phase 2:

Once the tank has been struck by 5 bombs, its tracks will detonate, immobilizing it and forcing Militarx to exit and repair the tank. It will remain in the location it was in when the final shot landed.

This time, the goal is to destroy the artillery, each of which essentially serves as a minor miniboss. When off-screen, they continue firing at the players as normal; when on-screen, they change to "miniboss mode".

• The stun artillery is now guarded by two Gun Puppies, with significantly increased health. Additionally, the cannon itself may slam its barrel into the ground, damaging, stunning and knocking back the player. Destroying the puppies allows the cannon to be damaged, after which it starts shooting puppy-style bullets itself.
• The fire artillery is now guarded by two buffed Red Rovers. The cannon may spray globs of oil. Destroying the rovers allows the cannon to be damaged, after which it starts shooting Scorcher-style waves of fire.
• The freeze artillery is now guarded by two buffed Slush Puppies. The cannon may flash-freeze anything nearby at predictable intervals. Destroying the puppies allows the cannon to be damaged, after which it starts rapidly shooting single projectiles directly towards the player.
• The poison artillery is now guarded by two buffed Sick Puppies. The cannon continuously emanates a toxic mist over a very wide radius much like a Toxilargo. Destroying the puppies allows the cannon to be damaged, after which it starts slamming the ground like the Stun one.
• The shock artillery is now guarded by two buffed Sparkies. The cannon may shoot down Sparkcaster-style bolts onto the player. Destroying the sparkies allows the cannon to be damaged, after which it starts sweeping Roarmulus Twin-style lasers across the battlefield in various patterns. (These are fairly short-ranged and will not hit anyone not also targeting it.)
• The curse artillery is now guarded by two buffed Rocket Puppies. The cannon may spawn AoE hazes on the ground, cursing anyone who walks into them. Destroying the puppies allows the cannon to be damaged, after which it spawns a Phantom (with a very short "respawn" time) that persists until the cannon is destroyed (it will not target anyone that is not a threat to the cannon, however).

Each time a cannon is destroyed, two Mortafires with corresponding statuses (representing the gremlins previously seen operating it; yes, curse mortafires included) will come out of the wreckage, and Militarx will leave his tank to track and assault the player that landed the killing blow. If multiple cannons are destroyed consecutively, his order of priority will be in counterclockwise order. He cannot be harmed when still at his tank, and continues harassing the killer for about 15 seconds before returning to repair the tank (or heading to the next cannon).

Militarx has the following attacks:

• Militarx shoots a spread of 3 stunning (non-homing) missiles forwards.
• Militarx shoots a volley of inaccurate random-status Mortafire missiles, like in Phase 1.
• Militarx unavoidably, instantly dashes at the player, stunning them and debuffing their attack and defense for several seconds; this goes through shields, but does not directly inflict damage.
• Militarx unavoidably shoots a grapple at the player and pulls them into melee regardless of range, forcing them to return to the site the artillery they destroyed was at; this also goes through shields and deals no damage.

While in this state, he can be harmed.

Once all 6 cannons have been destroyed and their Mortafire operators have been killed, Militarx will once again leave his tank and continue fighting in the same manner he was above until enough damage has been dealt to his health, after which phase 3 will begin. He has a very large health pool, but the damage dealt to him while near the cannons will be retained and contribute towards his final health bar. If the players manage to deal enough damage to deplete all of his health added together when he's still targeting the artillery, this final segment will be skipped and the fight will jump straight to phase 3. (However, he will still wait out the full artillery patrol time even if his health is depleted to 0 early; he'll still be "damageable" but continuing to attack will do nothing.)

Once he is "killed" along with all the artillery, he'll return to his tank - by which point he'll have completed the repairs - and start phase 3.

Phase 3:

Phase 3 is much like Phase 1, but since it now lacks the artillery, he obviously has to make up for it in other ways.

Militarx's armor and cannons are now visibly dented. The tank retains its damaged model caused by the end of Phase 1 (though with its tracks operable again, of course); most notably, the armor plates on its back have been completely blown off, revealing a massive hole in the tank's chassis. The player still cannot directly harm Militarx.

His tank now uses the following abilities, modified from and adding onto their Phase 1 attacks:

• The guns on the side begin circling slowly, independently from the main body, shooting a circle of 12 Gun Puppy-style bullets around it; this repeats 9 times (firing at a faster rate so that all shots are performed within the same time as the 5 from Phase 1), each time turning enough that each bullet of the next circle fires one third of the distance across the gap between the surrounding bullets of the previous circle. The tank's orientation is irrelevant to the direction the bullets are fired in.
• The tank fires two tier 3 Rocket Puppy-style homing missiles from the sides of its chassis. These inflict fire.
• The two guns on the side of the turret light up briefly, then fire a pair of continuous Roarmulus Twins-style lasers for several seconds (which also inflict fire), tracking the player.
• The tank's eye lights up and flashes briefly, before giving off a pulse around the tank that gives it (and Militarx) an attack, speed and turn rate buff.
• The entire tank flashes for a few seconds as a warning, then charges at the targeted player at a rapidly increased pace; its turn rate increases while the warning is active, allowing it to track the player much more effectively. It can still turn at the normal rate while charging. (This is generally unavoidable up close; the warning gives the player a chance to outrun it and get a lead. Dashing to the side will help avoid getting hit.)

Militarx himself has the following attacks, modified from the previous phase:

• Militarx shoots an inaccurate volley of 7 Mortafire missiles towards the player; each inflicts a random status when they hit (any status, including Curse or Sleep) and leave a status mist where they land matching their set status, equivalent to a 3-star haze bomb. The initial explosions and hit warnings also have radii equivalent to the hazes.
• Militarx flings many Darkfang Demo bombs randomly around the tank, which function as Darkfang Demo bombs do but inflict a random status.

Additionally, 5 respawning Gremlin Knockers - one of each variant - exit the garage that Militarx rode out of. Each of these will drop a Knocker wand on death, which the player can pick up and throw at either other Knockers (in which case the Knockers will receive damage and status corresponding with the wand; the statusless wand will inflict Stun) or Militarx himself.

To progress, the player now has to throw dropped Knocker wands into the hole in the back of Militarx's tank; as more are thrown in, sparks, fire, and just before the last wand, explosions will start being visible within the back end of the tank. 5 total wands have to be thrown in to disable it (the status is irrelevant, like with the artillery in Phase 1).

Once all 5 wands have been thrown in, the tank will stop moving again, the damage clearly showing across all sides, and then start pulsing as a warning. Several seconds later, it will explode, dealing massive damage to anyone over a wide radius, as well as spraying bombs and grenades (reskinned Blast Cube gel) across the battlefield, starting Phase 4.

Phase 4:

Phase 4 is the Architect's final battle phase, and is the only one where he truly fights you directly; his machines were the main opponents in the previous phase (and even in phase 2, he was more "fighting" to restrain and debilitate you rather than kill you).

He appears at the site that the tank was in upon its destruction, with his health restored to full (with about 1.5x the total health he had in Phase 2).

The Knockers will stop spawning, instead replaced by two Darkfang Thwackers.

He now has the following abilities:

• Architect Militarx leaps quickly in a semi-random direction, avoiding the players but remaining in range for him to shoot, inaccurately spraying Darkfang Demo bombs beneath him as he does so. He does this regularly throughout the fight, much more often than his other abilities.
• Militarx shoots a spread of 3 missiles with random statuses forwards, which have tier 2 Rocket Puppy homing capabilities.
• Militarx shoots a volley of inaccurate random-status Mortafire missiles, like in previous phases.
• Militarx points both of his guns towards the player, level with the ground, then shoots 3 pairs of bullets (like a Gun Puppy's, but larger) in a row, which move at a rapid pace; they have unlimited range, and when they hit a wall they each detonate into a spread of 7 Puppy projectiles rebounding in the opposite direction (moving at the same speed).
• Militarx dismounts one of his guns, then dashes directly at the player (if necessary) and smashes it into the ground at melee range, damaging and stunning anyone hit. If he fails to connect with a player, he'll instead cause a Brandish-style chain of explosions in front of him that cause curse as well as stun.
• Militarx flings a grenade inaccurately towards the player, which gives a warning before detonating; it deals no damage directly, but sprays a random status mist over an area slightly larger than a 5-star haze bomb.
• Militarx gives a warning, then flings a bomb at his feet, forcefully pushing players away from him and dealing damage to everyone, regardless of their position on the battlefield; this is completely unavoidable, but just about any shield can fully absorb the hit unless it was destroyed previously. This deals normal damage, not elemental.

Additionally, he now showcases the "Architect" part of his name - as his tank is destroyed, he determines you to be a serious threat and activates traps laid out throughout the arena. These include:

• Occasional spike traps laid out on the intersections of a grid pattern (mentioned at the start of the post).
• Hidden mines like Darkfang Demo bombs, much like in Operation Crimson Hammer; however, these mines respawn after some time. Like in OCH, these are marked with the tiles they're in being darker.
• Vertical lasers alternating on/off like the ones shot by the Battlepods in Warmaster Seerus's final phase. These inflict no status.

Upon his "death", he'll pull something somewhat similar to Warmaster Seerus's exit - though actually harmful to you.

He drops a smoke bomb at his feet, vanishing and re-appearing at his original position - now even more clearly injured - to make a few more lines of dialogue, then runs away as the entire building turns against you. (The camera will return to normal once he leaves.)

The gateway to the elevator opens, but the room and hallway fill with random blocks - regular, explosive, timed explosive, stone, crystal, and the two types of bomb "blocks" - that impede your progress, many instant respawn pads appear for Scuttlebots to start harassing you, rocket launchers like in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory activate, conveniently inconveniently small spike/status traps are hidden underneath the blocks, and a few camouflaged slimes (that don't drop loot) may try to disguise themselves as explosive or stone blocks as well. The player basically has to survive in a race to the elevator. (Much of this can be spawned when the level is originally loaded, to avoid lag from spawning it all; just put it all in the hallway to the elevator. The room with the elevator will be guarded by a forcefield - the kind that blocks monsters and attacks from going through, but lets players in safely, making it a place where you're safe from the chaos set up by Militarx.)

Unlike Seerus, Militarx is unambiguously still alive after the fight. While he rigged a ton of traps to activate at his defeat, he did not blow the place down, and disappeared safely (although injured).