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Encounter pass
Side Quest in the Shatterscarp Region
The Context
After certain regions were essentially complete, we started getting playtest feedback that the encounters were neither balanced nor engaging. Up to this point, we had placed enemies and encounters haphazardly just to get a feel for combat density. But the regions were complete enough now to start updating encounters. I was tasked with updating just three encounters in the Emerald Stair region.
So I asked one of my mentors, Mike Means, to teach me more about encounter design. Mike Means had worked at Bungie on Halo, and he was an absolute goldmine of knowledge. Through a handful of calls, I crafted an extensive encounter document, knowing that this information should be shared with the rest of the team. This doc included preferred enemy levels, composition ideas, basics about cover, how to craft unique setups, and a ton of other information.
What I didn't know was that writing this documentation would become the main reference point for a brand new encounter team that was being organized.
Our encounter team swept through the whole game, updating virtually every single encounter, from quests to boss fights to popcorn encounters in the overlands. I won't include all of them here, but I'll include a few that I particularly liked.
Xaurip Camp
This encounter is another one that had a really cool space to work with, but needed some massaging and complexity, so I added a lot of cover grass and adjusted the terrain. There were these really neat ledges, so I added ranged xaurips and scripted them to stay put if possible so that the player would constantly be dodging javelins.
I then added a large bulk of enemies in this space, including lots of tanky and melee characters, as well as these small barricades so the player could get a little space if they needed it. I also improved the paths throughout this entire area.
I also added a lot of these fire grenades, and sneaky back paths (like the one here on the left) so the player was constantly having new opportunities.
One of my favorite little secrets is this poor sleeping xaurip next to an explosive barrel which also blows open this wall for a completely different approach to the encounter
At the top of the camp, I also scripted a set of xaurips who were all standing around this healer. I made a few setups like this, with the healer elevated because the healer was new to this region and we wanted the player to intuit how they worked rather than adding a tutorial or text pop up.
Cemetery
This cemetery already had a lot of geometry that I liked. Here's what I ended up doing:
- Set the high-value target (healer) in the middle by the statue, so the player could sneak up on it and get a good hit in
- Adding xaurips (lizard people) sleeping into the stealth grass as a fun surprise
- When the main group is cleared, a pair of powerful xaurips is spawned inside the hole in the wall
- Ranged enemies on this ledge to the left, keep the player on their toes
Bear Lair
- This spot was previously just a big open space, so I added rocks on this side, with a log bridging the gap for ranged player to kite the bears (since the bears are too big to walk across the log)
- Added stealth grass in strategic locations
- Added animations and patrols for the bears
- Added a large rock and tree cluster in the middle of the arena for better pathing
- Added water on the other side of the encounter. If the player approaches from this angle, they get a more stealthy approach and shots at the big bear in the cave
- Also added electric lily seeds, which interact with the water for extra damage
Xaurip Camp
This was another big empty space when I arrived, so I added this fortified xaurip camp.
- Added rock ridges on the left and right for a figure 8 flow
- Added stealth grass, xaurip walls, and huts
- Added a healer on the left path here that the player would need to deal with quickly
- Added ranged xaurips on the upper rock ridge (view from that spot below)
Spider Lair
- Added this cave where the spider lives and more rocks around the edges of the arena
The little homestead here existed, but we added a breakable floor and a hidden basement to it
- Added a path that leads up to the secret basement from the spider lair.
Sporeling Lair
This spot also existed, but it was seriously lacking in anything interesting.
- I added a bear. Since it's melee, it will help draw the player in, but I also added some treasure on the ground.
- Once the player starts the fight, tons of exploding sporelings (mushroom enemies) pop out of the ground and rush toward the player. This should give the player an "oh crap" moment, because they only have a few seconds before the sporelings explode on them.
- A larger sporeline that does ranged attacks also pops out of the ground (cleverly disguised as that big blue mushroom in the middle of the arena)
Yellow Band Bounty
- I also created a handful of bounty combat encounters, which mostly left the terrain alone, but I iterated on the encounter compositions a lot, and included things like bespoke scripting. We also created guidelines for what types of enemies made sense to be together so we could diversify encounters.
Each of our enemies had an archetype, so a lot of this composition work was adjusting encounters to make sure they had a good mix of healers, summoners, ranged, and melee enemies.
This bounty encounter was already built on this tiered setup, so I leaned into it. I wanted the player to always feel at a slight disadvantage, and almost like they were storming a castle or something.
So I added a lot of cover grass on the approaching side so the player could assess the situation, a lot of ranged enemies on the far side, tanky bears that would get in the player's face, and more enemies as the player moves up the tiered levels.