Corazon
2011-01-11, 04:47 PM
After fighting Astaroth on numerous occasions, I suddenly realize he COULD be equivalent to Zakum or Papulatus at that level, given how tough and resilient he is, not to mention the fact he drops AWESOME weapons for almost every class (Save Dual Blades).
But there's one flaw that prevents him from being bossed as much as one could like: his annoying cap of 40. I understand that at that level, he shouldn't really pose a problem, and after 40 would be total overkill, but the guy has so much darn potential! Not to mention his minions from Goetia (Andras, Marbas, Valefor, Crocell, and Amdusias) both have awesome item sets, but they're so hard to obtain that nobody really camps those specific mini-bosses.
So, here's my suggestion for improving these guys:
1)Buff the Goetia minions. Put them at about Level 30 or so, to make it a little harder, and have the kill quest reward the gloves, shoes, and hat in one go. To compensate for this, make the solo version (the one not included on the path to Asta) a summoned mob, instead of a recurring spawn field boss type. This prevents Kill Stealing. To make this have an extra flair, make the room in a PQ format.
2)Buff Astaroth. The way he is now, he has the potential to be a low-level's Pap or Zak (in other words, a low level big boss). Here are a few changes I could see with him:
-Make him summon non-stunning versions of the Goetia minions. This is to prevent Asta from stunlocking you. These minions would also be significantly weaker than the boss-type counterparts, but he would summon them somewhat frequently.
-Buff the drop rate on Asta's weapons. I know that with his 10 slot weapons, his weapons could be very powerful, but if you Dark Scroll, you risk losing your weapon - meaning all the work you just spent on getting Astaroth to drop his Claw or whatever is now wasted. Meaning you'll have to pray you get another one - or buy a Karma'd weapon; something no newbie can afford.
-Make the weapons non-Karma. This would control the market, and given how the second option would make him drop weapons at the rate that ZHelms seem to drop (3 per run), it'd make everyone who fights him win.
-Increase Astaroth's power to make him a challenge for Level 40, and get easier until about Level 70 (the new level cap under this current system would be 30~70, and could compete with CPQ as a viable PQ source). This would not only give newbies boss hunting experience, but it preps them for the loot systems that Zakum/HT/PB hunters would have to deal with.
3)Give both versions a skill rework. The way I see it, Asta has so much challenge potential, but his Goetia demons are so underwhelming. All the Goetia demons do now is spam a stun attack. They could have so much more - an AoE based on their element, a status attack (other than stun), a REAL KB move - the list is bigger than I have room for.
4)Give them both a Battle BGM. Using field music for those fights is not only a low-blow, it underwhelms those fights. Specifically Astaroth, whose fight seems epic enough. For the Goetia, you could substitute something like Zakum's theme or similar, and for Asta, either an original theme or give him HT's theme.
5)Medium difficulty entry requirements for Astaroth. This is to show you can hold your own, and it acts as a measure of skill. Plus, all the high-level big bosses have an entry requirement. I'm open to ideas about what would qualify as a test of skill to handle Asta in his buffed state.
Anyways, this is my two cents on these bad boys. If anyone has any criticism or additions, please let me know, and I'll add it to this list!
But there's one flaw that prevents him from being bossed as much as one could like: his annoying cap of 40. I understand that at that level, he shouldn't really pose a problem, and after 40 would be total overkill, but the guy has so much darn potential! Not to mention his minions from Goetia (Andras, Marbas, Valefor, Crocell, and Amdusias) both have awesome item sets, but they're so hard to obtain that nobody really camps those specific mini-bosses.
So, here's my suggestion for improving these guys:
1)Buff the Goetia minions. Put them at about Level 30 or so, to make it a little harder, and have the kill quest reward the gloves, shoes, and hat in one go. To compensate for this, make the solo version (the one not included on the path to Asta) a summoned mob, instead of a recurring spawn field boss type. This prevents Kill Stealing. To make this have an extra flair, make the room in a PQ format.
2)Buff Astaroth. The way he is now, he has the potential to be a low-level's Pap or Zak (in other words, a low level big boss). Here are a few changes I could see with him:
-Make him summon non-stunning versions of the Goetia minions. This is to prevent Asta from stunlocking you. These minions would also be significantly weaker than the boss-type counterparts, but he would summon them somewhat frequently.
-Buff the drop rate on Asta's weapons. I know that with his 10 slot weapons, his weapons could be very powerful, but if you Dark Scroll, you risk losing your weapon - meaning all the work you just spent on getting Astaroth to drop his Claw or whatever is now wasted. Meaning you'll have to pray you get another one - or buy a Karma'd weapon; something no newbie can afford.
-Make the weapons non-Karma. This would control the market, and given how the second option would make him drop weapons at the rate that ZHelms seem to drop (3 per run), it'd make everyone who fights him win.
-Increase Astaroth's power to make him a challenge for Level 40, and get easier until about Level 70 (the new level cap under this current system would be 30~70, and could compete with CPQ as a viable PQ source). This would not only give newbies boss hunting experience, but it preps them for the loot systems that Zakum/HT/PB hunters would have to deal with.
3)Give both versions a skill rework. The way I see it, Asta has so much challenge potential, but his Goetia demons are so underwhelming. All the Goetia demons do now is spam a stun attack. They could have so much more - an AoE based on their element, a status attack (other than stun), a REAL KB move - the list is bigger than I have room for.
4)Give them both a Battle BGM. Using field music for those fights is not only a low-blow, it underwhelms those fights. Specifically Astaroth, whose fight seems epic enough. For the Goetia, you could substitute something like Zakum's theme or similar, and for Asta, either an original theme or give him HT's theme.
5)Medium difficulty entry requirements for Astaroth. This is to show you can hold your own, and it acts as a measure of skill. Plus, all the high-level big bosses have an entry requirement. I'm open to ideas about what would qualify as a test of skill to handle Asta in his buffed state.
Anyways, this is my two cents on these bad boys. If anyone has any criticism or additions, please let me know, and I'll add it to this list!