(alternate title: Traikan thinks he is a game designer)
Spiral Knights has a staggering amount of potential. The engine is rock solid and, at a basic level, it's simply fun to play. However, I feel like much of this potential is simply sitting there like so much Crystal Energy – just waiting to be used. With that in mind I've done bit of brainstorming on how to get more of that potential out in the open.
Teamwork
I want more rewards for good teamwork.
It's easy to get carried away thinking up crazy systems, so I'll try to stick to three rules: quick to learn, easy to use, and simple to implement. In essence, they should be intuitive.
A few ideas:
Add an enemy type with tons of health that takes more damage if a second player (and so on with a third and fourth) attacks them shortly after one player hits them, encouraging the group to focus their fire.
Add an enemy type that takes less damage if a second player attacks them shortly after one player hits them, encouraging the group to spread out their damage. I'm not as fond of this idea because these enemies aren't any more dangerous to solo players.
Add enemy types that build up a resistance to damage the more they are hit in a short time, or enemies that lose their resistance to damage the more they are hit in a short time.
Add more enemies that are shielded from the front, because Trojans are cool and there should be more enemies like them.
Add heavy guns that have a setup and teardown time, deal quite a bit of damage, but don't have any knockback or inflict any status effects, making them impractical for a lone knight but great in groups. Like an Autogun, but more.
Magic
I want... wait, what?
Hear me out.
I often compare Spiral Knights to Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and I absolutely love the magic system in Crystal Chronicles. I'm not saying Spiral Knights needs magic, I'm saying Spiral Knights needs what that magic system brought to Crystal Chronicles. Active teamwork. In Crystal Chronicles, flying enemies were incredibly difficult to deal with unless you cast the spell Gravity on them, which could only be cast by having two players combine differing elements. In Spiral Knights, most of the time "teamwork" is code for "we are hitting the same stuff."
Implementing something similar in Spiral Knights is tricky though, because the game needs to accommodate all loadouts and player counts.
Certain enemies (Royal Jelly, for example) already heavily reward specific equipment choices. I'm not saying 'nerf Royal Jelly so anyone can kill him' but rather because you always know when you're going to fight the Royal Jelly (assuming you look at the gate map) you're expected to plan ahead. Why not make that a feature?
I (rather pompously) would call them Dire Vulnerabilities. Mainly because I really like the word dire.
Anyway, the Royal Jelly has a Dire Vulnerability to Poison because it nullifies his greatest strength, his self-heal. An enemy with an armored front and a fast turn speed would have a Dire Vulnerability to Freeze because it would be easy to flank. A rapidly teleporting enemy with low hitpoints would have a Dire Vulnerability to Fire because one hit would cause significant damage. I want enemies like this.
All that's needed is to give a separate visual cue when you hit an enemy in the weak spot (for massive damage). Something that jumps out above and beyond the simple "oh, they're weak to that" and says “What you did just there? You should do that again.” Well that, and some new enemies to hit.
New Levels
I want more gimmicks.
I like Deconstruction Zones, I like Totem Trouble, I like Graveyards, and I like Arenas. I want levels with mini-objectives. Generators to power up, bridges to defend against incoming waves, an opportunity to spring an ambush on a Gremlin patrol. In the spirit of replayability, I want more binary choices too. I want levels that make me pick A or B and make both equally tempting. I want levels that surprise me by shifting the paths around.
I understand that random levels can't require certain equipment to complete, which brings me to...
Quests
Regardless of the in-game justification, I want some quests.
There are train tracks in Moorcroft Manor, and so there must be a train. I want to rob it. Or protect it from robbers. Or both. These quests could be offered in Haven or, keeping with the game's love of rotation, be slotted into gates and possibly bypass one or more levels, spitting the group out at a lower depth upon completion.
I want optional challenges that need a gunner, or need a bomber, or need a bit of everything. I want to have to run with a shield up to block spears shooting from the walls so my buddy can charge a bomb and drop it on the bomb sensitive macguffin. I want my group to get split up when an elevator malfunctions and have to manipulate the environment by flipping switches to get everyone back together. I want high ground positions that let anyone with a ranged weapon pick off those frustrating Gun Puppies at the back, and if we all have swords, then I guess we just have to go through the front.
In short, I want more.
If I'm feeling particularly inspired I may draft up some enemy and level designs to make this less of a “gimme gimme” and more of an “I'm contributing!”
If you read all the way through this, I'm impressed.
This is a really good idea, I'm surprised it hasn't surfaced earlier