I’ve been eagerly reading up on the ways that other MMOs are handling missions, mini-bosses and other instanced in-game events, and that led me to the idea of a random, instanced mini-boss fight based in Emberlight--similar to unlocking the fight with Margel in Moorcroft.
Unlike Margel, however, this event wouldn’t need an item to unlock: it would have a low, random chance of occurring each time a party reaches Emberlight from the depth 13 CW terminal (though I can also foresee a new rare drop that would guarantee a party would unlock the event, similar to the Book of Dark Rituals--and which would also give players another marketable item if they didn’t want to use it themselves).
The players would have to remain together from depth 13 to Emberlight in order to activate the random event: preventing farming, and encouraging parties to stick together. The event would consist of the party having to save the residents of Emberlight from the forces of a new member of the Crimson Order: Kranak the Taskmaster. Kranak would be the fearsome, oversized gremlin charged with enforcing King Tinkinzar’s justice (meaning rounding up any and all of King Tink’s political enemies for use as slave labor in the King’s massive prison complex--and naturally, the residents of Emberlight would be a real sore spot with Kranak; a blemish on his otherwise spotless service record).
Upon the party crossing into Emberlight, players would activate a party button, triggering a short cutscene, and after which the party would defend a number of gremlin NPCs from being snatched/killed by wave after wave of Kranak’s forces. In terms of game mechanics I have had two differing ideas as to how the event would actually play out (and would therefore appreciate some thoughts as to how others see the event working): 1.) the players would try to keep the NPCs from being carried off--sort of an opposite to the Save Winterfest mission--or 2.) like the knight NPCs that sometimes join you in missions, your goal would be to keep as many gremlin NPCs alive for as long as possible. In either scenario, however, a countdown would begin with the opening cut scene: if most of the gremlins are still alive/haven’t been carried off by the end of the timer, the players will have won. If ALL of the NPCs are still alive/haven’t been carried off at the end of the time limit, however, a second cutscene would be triggered heralding the arrival of Kranak himself.
I see Kranak as a huge thwacker, bearing a whip in one hand and a massive wrench in the other. Like regular t3 thwackers, Kranak would have a shield on his back that would prevent hits from behind. His general attack pattern would consist of trying to snare knights with his whip before smashing them with the wrench, though there would also be the chance of a spin attack if players got too close, dealing damage and knockback. The thought here in part is to make dashing and bashing more immediately useful as mechanics in a boss fight: a teammate drawing Kranak’s attention before dashing away from his whip, for example, so that the rest of the party can get hits in. In the last phase, Kranak’s attacks would become electrified, making it significantly more difficult for knights who are struck to escape without getting a face full of wrench. After beating Kranak, the Taskmaster would run off, setting up his possible appearance later on in a new expansion, other missions, etc.
Regardless of whether or not the party triggers Kranak’s appearance, succeeding in keeping at least one NPC by the end of the time limit would reward players with the new ‘Savior of Emberlight’ achievement. Beating Kranak, however, would also reward players with a random amount of tokens that could be exchanged for gear at a new Emberlight alchemy station (again, like the dedicated alchemy station for kat gear in Moorcroft).
Anyway, that is the basic idea. Please let me know thoughts/suggestions, and specifically what do you think about the mechanics for triggering the event, preferences on the mechanics of the event, and the notion of a t3 mini-boss in Emberlight. I have not given any consideration as to the gear that might be crafted from the Kranak tokens, and would be interested in thoughts there as well--though I am personally more focused on the notion of this as a way of approaching new arcade-specific content.