Reaper doesnt feel like a boss

Feedback/Feature Requests
1

for some reason the reaper has 2 guns and 2 utility items that it doesnt feel threating.
firebird feels threating because it has land mines and constantly shooting. wolf is more threating because of more powerful minions and instrestingly powerful weapons.
the reaper should constantly attack no matter what.

examples why reaper is not hard: you can spot when he starts shooting. wolf the missles you cant see when he starts shooting. firebird the autocannon you just cant see when he starts shooting. and so the reaper is the easiest one is to notice when hes attcking.

when theres a boss, the boss has to be powerfull too look threatening. but when i fight 1 tank, 1 harvester with hunters and others. that already feels scary and threatening. and then a reaper shots one by one it doesnt shot missles and bullets at the same time. bosses normally attack multiple targets or multiple weapons against one target.

the reaper currently has 4 weapons. gas close combat, auto cannon long range, nuke attack any range and missle barrage short and medium range.

fnix runners spawn doesnt count because its more like a minion spawner. ( not really a weapon because it comes from above not from the reaper. )

the request i would like:

  1. reaper should attack more often.
  2. reaper should have more weapons for reason of being a boss blueprint.

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3) the reaper can have an automatic turret atop of the reaper, it would be very cool when an reaper auto turret will target different targets instead the one is targeting currently from its main weapons.

i just hope that bosses can actually play aggresive. right now players can easily destroy reapers because you shoot and then take cover or dodge. like bosses are sopposed to not allow you to simply take cover or dodge.

2 Likes
2

Well, that’s one opinion. I think the reaper feels like a boss. So 1-1. :sunglasses:

4 Likes
3

I partially agree.
The problem is, that the game evolves.

Once the reaper was the most dangerous machine. An improved tank.

First, you cannot compare the reaper with soviet machines. They came much later into the game. It’s a characteristic of FNIX-machines that you can see or hear what they do next in most cases. It’s a good design of enemies. For soviet machines who don’t have this “feature” it could be intended, or the devs forgot about some design descitions they made in the past.

Soviets are in my eyes just more unpredictable. Not totally (you see a wolf standing up before it uses its gattling and firebirds in general do their actions in the same order…), but more than FNIX. And it’s ok to have these differences between the factions.

Second part of the problem:
We are more used to fight tanks. Tanks (but not just their) behaviour was improved since the introduction of the reaper.
They now are more unpredictable, too. They can combine running and shooting, either with rockets, mortar shells, machinegun or railgun.

I’m not 100% sure, but I can’t remember a reaper doing the same.

On the other hand… Why should he? He has shields, he has superior weapons and armor. He can get away with that.

Nevertheless, the reaper is way more agile or restless than a tank. It’s hard to hit the shield generators, at least on console in general.

At this stage of fighting the reaper another independent weapon would be too much. You need some time, the gaps between attacks, to aim and hit.

After that it’s discussable. In most cases when I fight a reaper, I don’t have many chances to shoot at him because he often does multiple firestorm attacks in a row. So I shoot as long as possible and take cover. That’s sometimes not as easy. If I were under fire by an additional gun, it would be too hard.

But during its regular attacks, during running and shooting rockets, why not? It could focus with its primary weapons on one player and with another turret, like you described, on another player.

1 Like
4

That being said, it would actually be fun if the Reaper had an additional railgun, that would kill most players in one-shot, and had a very short charge-up time. This would be one extra thing to look out for, and wouldn’t detract too much from the overall fight. Just make sure to bring a pile of adrenaline.

5

Or make the Reaper destroy all the content in your backpack in one shot, to show you who is boss. :crazy_face:

6

I’d highly recommend playing solo on guerilla difficulty for a challenging fight against the reaper, but perhaps you’ve already done that and still feel it’s too easy. In which case, all the power to you.

1 Like
7

Something that could make it more exciting would be all the machines want to destroy a human and not Sweden against Soviet when a player is close to a battlefield. One of the big problems I see when fighting a reaper is the Soviet distracting the reaper. The reaper goes into a stare without moving or doing anything at times with any Soviet machines around. Then you can just pick off weak points at will. Makes for a very boring fight.

If the reaper was the boss of bosses, then it should command all machines, Soviets included. If the reaper could call in a firebird airstrike, Wolf rockets or mines and all the other machines in the area…it could turn into a crazy battle.

That could be a DLC where the host could turn it on or off.

8

Reaper Weapons packages:

Fiery Gatling (sets you on fire)
Radioactive Missile Volley (leaves fallout where it hits, more in one spot = longer until it dissipates)
Anti-stamina Red Cloud (makes it harder to run away from the attack or the follow-up)
Fire Fart (two-stage insta-kill, preceded by two warning horns normally)
Summons (FNIX Runners, mostly Rocket Runners)
Getback Shove (common to most tanks, but mostly an insta-kill)
Stompy Run (also common to tanks)

That’s a lot of options for attack. The problem isn’t the Reaper doesn’t have enough weapons, it’s that it never spawns in places that take advantage of those weapons and it isn’t programmed with tactics that maximize it’s advantages. It uses base Tank AI, and tanks are STUPID. If I die to a tank, it’s my fault. At least with the Reaper, there are a few insta-kills that I might be just a little inside because I didn’t crouch behind the right thing or got too close before jumping back.

The point is that Reapers are fine, but their deployment sucks. And FNIX hasn’t built installations that help it take advantage of its abilities. They need to overhaul the entire map and consider what an INTELLIGENT AI would do if it didn’t want to get wiped out. Even in my Treat 25 zones, I can walk around with impunity because nothing spawns more than once a day. Seriously, rebuilding FNIX outposts is so damn slow. And building threat to summon Reapers is slow.

I agree that an overhaul of the Reaper needs to be part of a new Community Input pin by the devs. We can certainly workshop some ideas about how to improve the encounters and make them more engaging. I don’t think more weapons is the answer when the ones we have aren’t being used effectively. There’s room for a discussion.

1 Like
9

Re-using an existing archetype was the most logical thing as some players won’t even see the reaper. Its biggest handicap is that it cannot handle attacks from multiple sides, but that also rewards team play and positioning. With the mechanics that GenZ has it’s a pretty good package in my opinion. It also regularily spams runner reinforcements that harass players.

I agree about the aggression, but that is an AI problem and it could quickly make the fight frustrating, as most weapons in the game rely on pumping bullets into an enemy over a long period of time, and it would even make the PvG meta stand out even more. But currently the pathing is more of a handicap for most machines than the actual equipment. Just camping behind two stones that cover the weapon range and shooting over them and changing positions when the rockets fly is too easy of a tactic.

Finally, difficulty you play on also highly changes the fight rhythm. And please don’t say “but with experimental PvG” because with that gun everything is a cakewalk.

Having a different boss machine eventually that is more geared towards attacking multiple targets would not hurt.

1 Like
10

Agreed.

I think we need a soviet boss machine, but part of an introduction of one would also be a change in many other aspects.
Currently the region score and level of the region plays a role for getting a reaper spawned. But you can change this just by destroying soviet machines, too. Why does a reaper spawn, if we just destroyed soviets?

So we need seperate region scores for both enemy factions that maybe have influence on each other to prevent getting two bosses simultaneausly. “Maybe” because on the other hand it could of course be exciting to get in a boss fight between a reaper and a soviet boss machine. Like standing between godzilla and king kong.

With seperated region scores there would also come other rules for spawning rivals, maybe a new total number of rivals.

And what also should be introduced are soviet bases and base defenses against soviets to have equal chances to rise or lower each region score.

The chance if a soviet or fnix base spawns next could be higher if the factions region score is higher than the other factions one. For base defenses the same. Start a base defense mission and it would be random if soviets or fnix starts to attack your base, with higher chances for the faction with the higher score.

By this you still have an influence on your prefered enemy. Kill fnix machines and ignore soviets, so the score for fnix rises and the chance for fnix bases and fnix waves against your bases gets higher. Love to fight soviets? Turn the tables.

For reaching a specific goal often not just one change is needed.

1 Like
11

I WOULD LOVE A SOVIET BOSS MACHINE!

[spoiler]
To spawn a Reaper, you need to:

  1. Have completed the Himfjäll campaign up through and including raiding the production facility and underground base. You will encounter an inactive Reaper there. Hijinks will ensue.
  2. You need a Threat Rating of 21 to 25 (25 is max rating) in any region other than Archipelago. You cannot spawn a Reaper in the Archipelago.
  3. You need to have an open Rival slot, meaning 7 Rivals in the Region. You are unlikely to spawn a Reaper if you have less than 7 Active Rivals.
  4. If you have 8 Rivals, make sure that destroying one will not drop your Threat below Rank 21. Usually you need to be Rank 23 for this. Destroying Rivals is a fast way to reduce your Threat rating in a region back down to 1.
    [/spoiler]

Hunting Rivals for Schematic points and trying to spawn a Reaper are Mutually Exclusive in the same region. Only hunt rivals in a region you’re not trying to spawn a Reaper in.

12

The problem is Guerilla doesn’t really make the fights much more difficult - you just have to set aside (much) more time, and bring more ammo, medkits and adrenaline. I have everything, except the real-life time to complete fights on Guerilla.

13

No.
That’s no prerequisite.
Himfjäll is just available in alpine unrest dlc, the reaper is always available, if the other prerequisites are fulfilled.

That’s wrong, too. Not long ago someone posted a screenshot of an archipelago reaper.
It’s just more difficult to reach the needed region level there, because of less machines and lower classes of machines.

14

I was not aware of either of those circumstances. I have not tried to spawn a Reaper in the Archipelago region, personally, so I wouldn’t know anything other than the wiki says you can’t. I’ve never heard of one being spawned without being to Himfjäll, as the Reaper is first encountered in the underground base and manufacturing facility. It’s very creepy how it happens, too.

15

You also don’t need rivals to get your threat level above 21. I have my threat level at 24 in my farmland and I spawn the reaper all the time.

16

Yes, but just by chance or luck.
And you mustn’t have 8 rivals in a region to be able to get a reaper.

If your region score rises or you get killed by a machine, a machine may become a rival.
If your region level is above lvl 21, this may be a reaper. But it don’t have to be a reaper.

And if you kill a rival or reaper, the region score and its level get lowered.

17

We all have our methods of hunting and destroying the reaper. One thing I agree on in this thread is the reaper or any of the machines should be able to focus on more than one target. A good squad can position 90 degrees of each other around a reaper and the one the reaper is targeting just has to hide and duck as the other 3 players pour ammo into all the weak points. The reaper drops in no time.

The only time a reaper moves to another target is when the targeted player’s health drops to zero, then it may switch targets. A few times it may randomly change targets, but it is exceedingly rare.

It also needs to fire more often and use all it’s weapons and defenses a whole lot more and at the right times. 3 players at it’s flanks and rear, pounding away at the reaper a few meters away while the reaper is focused on a target hundred meters away and hiding. Quick squirt of violet gas or the green gas of death would quickly damage 3 players and keep them at a distance.

Even a stomp blast at times would make it feel more like it is defending itself and not just standing there waiting to be destroyed while take on a single target. This is very annoying when the single target is a Soviet machine.

BTW: I agree the rivals spawn from a machine that is already in the game but the reaper spawns out of thin air, I think most end game players have seen this happen.

1 Like
18

Personally, I am not satisfied with the mobility of crooked hostile npc, they should approach the player forcing him to leave cover, the principle of firefight manifests itself in a standard way, the player takes positions and fires at bosses from cover, the gameplay becomes not dynamic, I understand not all types of hostile units should have ability, for example, a bull robot, it will shoot for cover without moving, it is better to make algorithms for it, for example, after several futile attacks, the robot approaches the player’s location and uses passive damage more actively, is it gas, or a chemical attack