Skip to content

WoW Boss Mechanics explained

Jump to bottom
aka LYQ / Virose edited this page Feb 5, 2016 · 5 revisions

Different types of Boss Mechanic Scripts

and why Bossmods can't predict everything perfectly.

There are two major types of how the Boss Mechanics were implemented but in addition to that there are also a few exceptions which makes our work to predict the AI behaviour more difficult.
I therefore try to sum up my thoughts and experiences on those types in the following section:

  1. Timed Mechanic
    That's basically what everyone think of all the mechanics - which is just wrong.
    Timed Mechanics do come regularly, after time x. That means such mechanics can be predicted 100% precisely all the time. Sadly most Mechanics do not work like that.
    An example for bosses using plain Timed Mechanics : Firemaw / Ebonroc / Flamegor

  2. Spell Cooldowns
    This one is more commonly used, it is also as simple as I named it - Cooldowns.
    Such Mechanics will not always come at the same time and therefore you can't predict them precisely.
    While Timed Mechanics come after time x, those can come after time x but can also come after time x+15 or x+20 and so on.
    The only way a Developer could create a Bossmod timer for that would be a 'Cooldown' timer with a value gathered on video footage which must not necessarily be perfect (you simply can't tell exactly what x is, you can only take a guess judging by the video footage you have access to and take eg. the lowest value)
    An example for bosses using Spell Cooldowns: Razorgore / Bloodlord Lashlayer

  3. Overlapping, timed Mechanics
    Now it gets more complex, the third option I present to you looks to most people of a combination of the two previously explained types.
    Like the name I chose, you can definitively say they are Timed Mechanics but with the addition that there are multiple of those at the same encounter and they tend to overlap each other from time to time.
    Because Bosses can usually not cast multiple Spells at the same time (just like players) they queue up and fire instantly after each other - this is why I said it looks like a combination of Timed Mechanics and Cooldowns.
    Therefore I sometimes also refer to such as Patterns, because in a sense you could think of the Boss Mechanics to follow a certain Pattern - like the first 1-3 Spells are on time x, but at the fourth cast Spells are overlapping and therefore delaying itself.
    An example for bosses using Patterns: Nefarian / Kazrogal

Clone this wiki locally