I think Subject Alpha needs some work

#1 - Feb. 24, 2013, 3:55 p.m.
Blizzard Post

So before the flamers start in about “zomg alpha is so easy l2p” at least hear me out. The inconsistencies between the paths with alpha not to mention the inability to get a teammate revive off on certain alpha fights is what makes it a broken fight. The inconsistencies I’m talking about are like path 1, his skills hurt yes but they’re easily avoidable except maybe the earth spike, but path 2 he not only spams the attacks instantly, stacks them on top of each other, but specifically targets people being revived and it’s impossible to revive people. While dodging the circles are all well and fine for classes with tons of vigor and endurance regen, it’s not ok for classes without access to that. So why the inconsistency between path 1 and 2? Why make it so much harder without any external mechanics to make up for it? Also, the “lowered alpha’s health to help balance the encounter” was not the answer to fix these fights. It did nothing to address the problem which is in the boss’s skills and mechanics, not his health pool and the length of the fight. Yse I agree with many people, alpha is fun, he’s not overly hard on some fights, but on others he’s not fun at all, nor is he viable for anyone but apparently you "leet"ers to do.

#56 - Feb. 26, 2013, 11:26 a.m.
Blizzard Post

That being said…

Subject Alpha is a tough cooky for sure. We have some cool plans for him in the future. When we are looking at bosses our intent is not to nerf them – but to make them a more enjoyable experience while keeping up with the challenge that we want our explorable dungeons to be.

One of the more interesting concepts I have for Subject Alpha is that every encounter with him is different, and that he has a wide array of abilities that he selects from before each fight randomly, resulting in a lot of dynamic play, and resulting in subject Alpha having tons of possible builds that he could randomly select from or morph into as the fight progresses.