Hello all, and thanks for reading. In this post, I would like to present an endgame system I’ve been thinking about the last few days, which I’ve called Orb of Nightmares. English isn’t my mother language, so sorry for my typo. Every comment is wellcome, it would be great knowing your opinion about.
Let's go with it:
What’s the system about?
The Orb of Nightmares is based on combats with uber monsters. Those monsters have a real identity like Leoric, Nihlathak or Diablo, presented as shadow memories from the past you can face and defeat. Once you defeat one of those characters, you get a temporal buff.
Let’s divide the system in 3 parts: Before the Orb to talk about how to access one of those encounters, During the Orb to talk about the encounter themselves, and After the Orb to talk about the rewards.
Before the Orb
There are some considerations about how to enter one of these fights:
Avoiding a must-do system. Same as Nephalem Valor and the reason why it will be removed: we don’t want a task you have to accomplish every run to feel you’re not wasting your time.
Making it flat: it becomes boring when there’s only one encounter that’s worth to fight.
So, my proposal consist in a new item and a new NPC in town:
The Archivist, new (and known) character. He travels through Sanctuary looking for lost pieces of information, and now he have listened about your great feats. That’s why he needs you to help him in a task: he have an artifact called the Orb of Nightmares. This legendary object lets revive ancient nightmares from the past and face them. For the Archivist, this means a great source of information given he could explore other’s nightmares to discover forgotten facts from the past, but he’s not in good shape to face such strong things. But with the help of a hero, he could get into even the worst nightmares (such those about The Butcher or even Diablo) to gather some information.
Tokens would be the new kind of item you can find. They could be anything personal (a journal, a doll, a small charm), an object loaded with the nightmares of someone who felt true fear about something. You can find those objects anywhere, but if you do, hurry up! Once in your hands, their charge will run out slowly (let’s say, 5 minutes). You have to take them to the archivist; he’s the one who can focus the token power into the orb. Once done, the token is destroyed and the orb is ready to take the archivist and you to a shadow world. Talk with him when you are prepared (there’s no countdown now).
During the Orb
The combat can be very different from one to another enemy, but in all cases, the scenario and the boss should look as something made from shadows and memories. The infernal machine’s ubers actually looks a bit this way with that smoky and dark appearance, so the thing would be taking them as a model and making them a bit less collourful.
We know that enemies should be recycled (models, textures, animations) so this system can be viable as a minor system, and same with scenarios. This is a limitation, of course, but we’ve seen how some effects can totally change a place as it happens in the Nephalem Rifts. As well, these combats refer to someone’s nightmares, so the idea is making everything dark, big and scary (not realistic).
Some examples I think that could be done with few effort:
The Dark Wanderer
Boss: Diablo
Senario: Old Tristam
Diablo himself walked through the roads of Tristam by his own feet. Despite of he was in a human form, the demonic chaos he unleashed fed the nightmares of both children and old men. It would be awesome fighting Diablo in this scenario (and even better if adding some fire to the town).
The Mad King
Boss: Leoric
Scenario: Leoric Countryard could look really awesome with a dark filter, as well as Leoric Manor.
Yes, Leoric as Skeleton appeared at Tristam Cathedral. But having his manor as an abandoned and enchanted place, local folks would probably feel fear about what lie into it. So, great reason to create an epic combat here.
The Flesh Ripper
Boss: The Butcher
Scenario: Tristam Cathedral with a dark filter looks really nice, and creating a closed arena with this appearance would be perfect. As well, adding some crippled corpses and blood would create a better feel of what the Butcher was.
The Betrayer
Boss: Necromancer (as Nihlathak)
Scenario: One of the caves of Act 1 would be ok, but creating a hall big enough for this combat. Some skeletons would also fit really well, even creating a short dungeon before reaching the big hall where Nihlathak would be waiting.
The Infernal Commander
Boss: Azmodan
Scenario: Diamond Gates (outer).
We know that Azmodan commanded some attacks against the High Heavens. He is supposed to be a great commander, meaning that even Angels may fear him. Of course, many demon militia would be needed.
The Summoner
Boss: Zoltun Kulle (as Horazon, a hat would fit well)
Scenario: Pandemonium Fortress with a cool filter could fit as the Arcane Sanctuary. Add Zoltun (Horazon) using many different elemental spells and some ghosts and you got it!
There are many possible combats to re-create by using D3 elements, so those are only a few of the many ideas I’ve been thinking (I’m still looking for an excuse to fight against the Ancients again, the most epic battle in D2 in my opinion). I want to hear your suggestions!
After the Orb
You fight the Boss, you defeat him and it’s corpse fades away in shadows. What now?
The reward is a really important part of the system. Not having rewards, or having a reward that doesn’t worth your time means that the system will be obsolete (see actual uber fights, wich you don’t really have to do if you are leveling in MP10).
In the adventure system we have the XP/Gold/Legendaries rewards almost covered with bounties, rifts and classical farming. Giving an extra way of getting these rewards is, at the end, making the equation more complicated and therefore is more possible for one of the systems to get obsolete.
That’s why I think that the best reward for these events is a temporal buff. You always say yes to improve even a little bit, and this will help you to get into the rest of the systems. Doing bounties is cool, but doing bounties with an extra 20% to all resistances for a while sounds better. As well, sounds cool watching all the shadows from the boss corpse converging around you and some letters saying “You have defeated this Nightmare! It power surrounds you, granting an extra 20% to all your resistances”.
The discussion here would come from:
How long would the buff last?
How powerful would it be?
I think we all agree that the more powerful the buff is, the shorter it should be and vice versa. So here I will propose some options I think are viable, and I suggest you to tell me your opinion about what the best option is.
7 Minutes buffs (one per combat): +15% movement speed, +30% to all resistances, +15 to pick-up radius, +50% maximum resource, etc.
1 Hour buffs: +9% movement speed, +15% to all resistances, +9 to pick-up radius, +25% maximum resource, etc.
Permanent buffs (for the rest of the actual game): +6% movement speed, +10% to all resistances, +6 to pick-up radius, +10% maximum resource, etc.
(Note that those numbers should be tested in detail and balanced).
On the one hand, 7 minutes buffs would give you the same sense of a shrine: you have to run to take advantage of it. The way you play could change a lot, so a special care should be given to them.
On the other hand, permanent buffs doesn’t change so much the game, but can be accumulated, so the more you play, the more you get (long runs get better that short runs, as long as you are strong enough to defeat the bosses).
To sum up
Orb of Nightmares is a system based on uber bosses and exclusive for the adventure mode.
You can only fight them when certain item drops, so there is no “must-do” system as Nephalem Valor was.
The encounter is random, so you will fight every boss during the endgame.
The reward is a buff, and this is welcome at Normal mode as well as at Torment VI mode.
The Archivist is back!
Possibility of bringing back lots of epic fights from the Sanctuary History.
I hope you enjoyed reading. I think this system would be really cool, but maybe you don’t! That’s why I would really appreciate a comment telling what you think about this, how would you improve it or what would you change.
Nice idea :D, I think they really need to add something like this at end game, that's fun to do and gives you SOME kind of edge, but isn't strong enough that you feel it's a total must have.
This is also good because it's easy to expand on, they could add a few new "nightmares" with every patch.
I like the idea! Imaging farming for loot and exp, then suddenly one of these orbs drop, pitching you into an uber battle! It's a nice change of pace and certainly breaks the monotony and grindy feel of farming for hours on end. Frequent change of pace while farming would definitely make the end game more interesting. Long hours of doing the same thing is what makes it boring.
Anyway, why the timer? It would suck if I got an orb right before I had to log off. I wouldn't want to be late for work just because I got an orb and didn't want it to go to waste!
Anyway, why the timer? It would suck if I got an orb right before I had to log off. I wouldn't want to be late for work just because I got an orb and didn't want it to go to waste!
I'm glad you liked it
Without a timer, you would have the chance of saving tokens, so you could start a game with some of them (and multiply this by 4 players). This would mean that this system could be transformed into a must-do system where first thing you do when starting a game is defeating some ubers. If you have a limited time to spend them, yo will play them in the same game.
Anyway is a proposal, probably there are much more ways of doing the same thing: avoiding mustd-do routines.
Love the idea.
And Blizzard won't do anything with it , damn it I am angry at Blizzard right now , so many good ideas go to waste from a passionate community.
I think this idea is stunning - something that I hope doesn't go unnoticed by the dev team.
Minor suggestion - the drop item that you take to the Archivist to get the Orb made, shouldn't be able to drop for you while you are under the benefit of a buff. Otherwise (if I fully understand your idea) the Orbs will get stock piled and the moment the buff runs out, most players will stop what they are doing to go "do an Orb" and get a buff back. Which is just like Nephalem Valor.
Is great having so many people giving feedback about this idea. Right now I keep thinkig about the system given that it could be really better with some iterations, by now I'll take some time to think better about rewards: looks like people want something a bit more consistent, and I'm sure there are ways to give people what they deserve after defeating a great uber without overlaping with other systems.
Thank you all for reading and posting, as well as the site for making this thread more visible. Hopefully, I'll write some patch notes soon™!
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Let's go with it:
What’s the system about?
The Orb of Nightmares is based on combats with uber monsters. Those monsters have a real identity like Leoric, Nihlathak or Diablo, presented as shadow memories from the past you can face and defeat. Once you defeat one of those characters, you get a temporal buff.
Let’s divide the system in 3 parts: Before the Orb to talk about how to access one of those encounters, During the Orb to talk about the encounter themselves, and After the Orb to talk about the rewards.
Before the Orb
There are some considerations about how to enter one of these fights:
The Archivist, new (and known) character. He travels through Sanctuary looking for lost pieces of information, and now he have listened about your great feats. That’s why he needs you to help him in a task: he have an artifact called the Orb of Nightmares. This legendary object lets revive ancient nightmares from the past and face them. For the Archivist, this means a great source of information given he could explore other’s nightmares to discover forgotten facts from the past, but he’s not in good shape to face such strong things. But with the help of a hero, he could get into even the worst nightmares (such those about The Butcher or even Diablo) to gather some information.
Tokens would be the new kind of item you can find. They could be anything personal (a journal, a doll, a small charm), an object loaded with the nightmares of someone who felt true fear about something. You can find those objects anywhere, but if you do, hurry up! Once in your hands, their charge will run out slowly (let’s say, 5 minutes). You have to take them to the archivist; he’s the one who can focus the token power into the orb. Once done, the token is destroyed and the orb is ready to take the archivist and you to a shadow world. Talk with him when you are prepared (there’s no countdown now).
During the Orb
The combat can be very different from one to another enemy, but in all cases, the scenario and the boss should look as something made from shadows and memories. The infernal machine’s ubers actually looks a bit this way with that smoky and dark appearance, so the thing would be taking them as a model and making them a bit less collourful.
We know that enemies should be recycled (models, textures, animations) so this system can be viable as a minor system, and same with scenarios. This is a limitation, of course, but we’ve seen how some effects can totally change a place as it happens in the Nephalem Rifts. As well, these combats refer to someone’s nightmares, so the idea is making everything dark, big and scary (not realistic).
Some examples I think that could be done with few effort:
The Dark Wanderer
Boss: Diablo
Senario: Old Tristam
Diablo himself walked through the roads of Tristam by his own feet. Despite of he was in a human form, the demonic chaos he unleashed fed the nightmares of both children and old men. It would be awesome fighting Diablo in this scenario (and even better if adding some fire to the town).
The Mad King
Boss: Leoric
Scenario: Leoric Countryard could look really awesome with a dark filter, as well as Leoric Manor.
Yes, Leoric as Skeleton appeared at Tristam Cathedral. But having his manor as an abandoned and enchanted place, local folks would probably feel fear about what lie into it. So, great reason to create an epic combat here.
The Flesh Ripper
Boss: The Butcher
Scenario: Tristam Cathedral with a dark filter looks really nice, and creating a closed arena with this appearance would be perfect. As well, adding some crippled corpses and blood would create a better feel of what the Butcher was.
The Betrayer
Boss: Necromancer (as Nihlathak)
Scenario: One of the caves of Act 1 would be ok, but creating a hall big enough for this combat. Some skeletons would also fit really well, even creating a short dungeon before reaching the big hall where Nihlathak would be waiting.
The Infernal Commander
Boss: Azmodan
Scenario: Diamond Gates (outer).
We know that Azmodan commanded some attacks against the High Heavens. He is supposed to be a great commander, meaning that even Angels may fear him. Of course, many demon militia would be needed.
The Summoner
Boss: Zoltun Kulle (as Horazon, a hat would fit well)
Scenario: Pandemonium Fortress with a cool filter could fit as the Arcane Sanctuary. Add Zoltun (Horazon) using many different elemental spells and some ghosts and you got it!
There are many possible combats to re-create by using D3 elements, so those are only a few of the many ideas I’ve been thinking (I’m still looking for an excuse to fight against the Ancients again, the most epic battle in D2 in my opinion). I want to hear your suggestions!
After the Orb
You fight the Boss, you defeat him and it’s corpse fades away in shadows. What now?
The reward is a really important part of the system. Not having rewards, or having a reward that doesn’t worth your time means that the system will be obsolete (see actual uber fights, wich you don’t really have to do if you are leveling in MP10).
In the adventure system we have the XP/Gold/Legendaries rewards almost covered with bounties, rifts and classical farming. Giving an extra way of getting these rewards is, at the end, making the equation more complicated and therefore is more possible for one of the systems to get obsolete.
That’s why I think that the best reward for these events is a temporal buff. You always say yes to improve even a little bit, and this will help you to get into the rest of the systems. Doing bounties is cool, but doing bounties with an extra 20% to all resistances for a while sounds better. As well, sounds cool watching all the shadows from the boss corpse converging around you and some letters saying “You have defeated this Nightmare! It power surrounds you, granting an extra 20% to all your resistances”.
The discussion here would come from:
On the one hand, 7 minutes buffs would give you the same sense of a shrine: you have to run to take advantage of it. The way you play could change a lot, so a special care should be given to them.
On the other hand, permanent buffs doesn’t change so much the game, but can be accumulated, so the more you play, the more you get (long runs get better that short runs, as long as you are strong enough to defeat the bosses).
To sum up
Thanks for reading!
This is also good because it's easy to expand on, they could add a few new "nightmares" with every patch.
Anyway, why the timer? It would suck if I got an orb right before I had to log off. I wouldn't want to be late for work just because I got an orb and didn't want it to go to waste!
Without a timer, you would have the chance of saving tokens, so you could start a game with some of them (and multiply this by 4 players). This would mean that this system could be transformed into a must-do system where first thing you do when starting a game is defeating some ubers. If you have a limited time to spend them, yo will play them in the same game.
Anyway is a proposal, probably there are much more ways of doing the same thing: avoiding mustd-do routines.
Thanks!
And Blizzard won't do anything with it , damn it I am angry at Blizzard right now , so many good ideas go to waste from a passionate community.
+1... but where can I put +1 now?
Minor suggestion - the drop item that you take to the Archivist to get the Orb made, shouldn't be able to drop for you while you are under the benefit of a buff. Otherwise (if I fully understand your idea) the Orbs will get stock piled and the moment the buff runs out, most players will stop what they are doing to go "do an Orb" and get a buff back. Which is just like Nephalem Valor.
Thoughts?
Monkalicious: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/OptimusPrime-12194/hero/79139477
Thank you all for reading and posting, as well as the site for making this thread more visible. Hopefully, I'll write some patch notes soon™!