Quick post about quest bosses. 

Arenthyor is a quest-based server.  By that, it is meant that quests are provided similar to modules in Dungeons and Dragons.  There is a world that your character can explore and engage in.  There are beasts to conquer and kill for accolades.  There are small quests that your character can engage in that are not part of the larger quest system.  But, the Quests are a primary feature of Arenthyor and are progressive adventures designed to challenge a party of four adventurers.  Completion of one quest leads to another.  At the end of each quest, your party will face the Boss.  As explained in earlier posts, the boss system is dynamic and is built to ensure maximum replayability.

I'm exited to announce one of the newest enhancements to the bosses.  This enhancement expands the intelligence around the weapons and armor bosses choose.  I've added a significant upgrade to the selection of weapons that expands the already robust variablility built into the boss system.  Now, boss will weild a number of different weapons and weapon combinations.  One-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, one-handed with a shield, one-handed without a shield, no weapon at all (choosing to bite, claw, gore, or slam you).  This is in addition to the special surprise ability that each boss has to unleash upon you.

The boss already has a high level of variability built-in (the type of boss you fight depends on what alignment last won the boss fight last, the bosses are given random special abilities every time, the difficulty of the boss changes (it will always be a difficult fight, but sometimes it may be a little more or less difficult).  These new enhancements build on that platform.

The sum total of these systems hopefully reinforces the feeling that you're experiencing a new dungeon each and every time you play it (that 'I don't know which way to go and I'm alone in the dark' kind of feeling).  In addition, it supports your roleplay such that your character has a new story to tell about "When I entered the crypt this time, I faced the beast... while last time I went into a crypt, I faced a fearsome..." rather than having to explain why your character faced the exact same creature in the exact same dungeon for the third time in a row.

Now, take a good look at the next boss you face.  He looks angry and that's a wicked weapon he's holding.  .So, better buff up, friend, and pray to your gods, for he's coming your way.

See you in-game!

Hadn't updated the community on the latest updates in a while, so I thought I'd do that here.  Module development continues at a strong pace, especially over the holiday season.  The random dungeon quest system has become more dynamic and is probably something you won't notice, which is a good thing.  You may notice "debug" information in some of the quests that are still in test.  Disregard those, as they are to validate coding.  The newest quest "Bastion's Wall" has been added and is, in my mind, one of the most fun quests yet developed.  It is made even moreso by the fact that it was added after a discussion with a player AND it integrates the story of Bastion into its reason-for-being.  It is intended to be a solo quest, but you are allowed to take 2 players through it, if needed (some characters may find the difficulty quite high...yes, I'm looking at the mages). 

The journals and quest development systems have also undergone significant updates.  These systems, along with the random dungeon system, were some of the first code I ever wrote, so as I went back through to add new functionality, there were many opportunities to streamline the code and make it work more closely with the latest direction of the server.

Other changes include edits to spawn lists, area design, individual quests, deity system updates, quality control checks, etc...  Although you may not notice many of the changes, I can assure you that the quality of the underlying systems is more comprehensive and stronger to bring about a higher quality of play and support your roleplaying.

See you in-game!