Why? Why not.
You're insane. That's not a question.
How does this even work? Keep reading, I'm getting to that.
A silly thought exercise that's been percolating a while before materializing, this is an attempt to convert the various bosses of Crystalis into a DL compatible format. Due to having an action-oriented combat system, it's somewhat of an uncharted frontier in how to handle it. What I went with follows in the preliminary comments.
Timing: Bosses generally follow a pattern of move for a bit, stop to launch an attack, repeat. This takes around 3 seconds which is what I'm going with for one turn cycle and will consider average speed. I choose to consider Crystalis bosses as dead average speed wise unless indicated differently. I treat the player character as being able to charge to sword lv 2 in a single round; it's faster in-game but requires standing still to charge and some movement per round to dodge stuff is expected.
Initiative: Or rather, anti-initiative. To simulate being able to start fights with a charged sword attack in-game, I've ruled that Crystalis bosses will always go last on the first round. Exceptions will be noted but this is the default.
Contact damage: This was a riddle to translate but what I'm going with is treating in-game contact damage as a counter to melee damage to simulate how trying to stab them generally results in taking hits. Counter rate is different for each boss and approximated based on their in-game movement patern and the difficulty in stabbing them without taking damage in return. What constitutes a melee ranged attack is open to interpretation though I choose to go with any attack that would logically entail being right next to the target to connect it.
Accuracy: Decided to go with how likely an attack is to connect on a player who makes no attempt to dodge. Some ranged attacks have two numbers: the higher value being close range and the lower one being at far range. The few attacks that only fire straight down have the 10% accuracy of shame.
Ignore evade: Used for any attack I feel is too fast to dodge on reaction. Some also come with the static range signifier, for those that strike the moment they appear but have a fixed attack arc and are guaranteed to whiff on anyone outside it.
Very fast: Differs from evade ignoring is that they move very fast and will connect if the player isn't already moving when they're used but they will have predictable attack arcs can be avoided by dodging in advance. I'd consider that partial evade piercing; use your discretion if it comes up in a vote. Mado 2 has the only move that is both Very Fast and Ignore Evade as the mad bouncing is just so hard to read.
Out of Reach: Immunity to melee basically. Think Bottomswell in FF7 as one example for how this functions. Short ranged attacks and special moves that would logically require being next to the target will whiff on a boss with this property.
Mutated: The sole status effect relevant to the bosses' movesets. Mutated turns the victim into a blob who cannot act in any way (beside using items) and can only move. Infinite duration unless cured or killed. Nasty status.
Hero level: Stats of the hero character at the minimum level required to be able to damage the boss and which boss damage output will be scaled against. I've also added the exact armor and shield I had at the point during a playthrough which isn't always the strongest available.
Player attack speeds - All values are approximate.
Lv 1: 2 per round
Lv 2: 1 per round
Lv 3: 1 1/2 round charge time. All except wind have lengthy animations before they finish dealing their full damage though the player can charge their sword while one is going off so they don't slow down how fast the player can attack.
Stab: Very fast. For this topic, going to go with 6 stabs per round. It can be mashed faster but bosses are generally good at preventing rapid stabbing either by mobility, being out of reach, or the rare invincibility gimmick.
I don't have exact boss HP and player damage data available to me so all durability estimates are from a live playthrough.
And now the list. I'll update with more detailed comments later, wanted to get this post out to start.
Vampire 1
Doesn't have anti-initiative
Below average speed (about 75%) until it falls below 30% HP where it speeds up (about 150%)
Hero Lv 3 no armor 03-03 def 80 HP
Bat summon: Summons 2 bats. Bats do 12 a hit and flit around, moving about twice a round. 30% accuracy. About 20% chance of flying off and despawning per move. Max of 3 allowed out at a time. Only one bat can inflict damage per attack, to simulate mercy invincibility. Randomly used after any teleport, guessing 25% chance.
Teleport: Moves to another location. Very unlikely to materialize on top of hero, generally only hitting if he moves into it. 2% accuracy roughly.
Contact damage: 13
Counter teleport: If attacker is within melee range, will soon get an immediate turn to teleport away. Generally only able to get two stabs in before this triggers.
About 10 sword hits to kill.
Notes: Completely helpless on it's own, the Vampire depends on the bat summons to do all the lifting. Fast ranged multitarget (which it's not facing in game) pretty much neutralizes any offense it tries to put up. A-rpg fighters will end up hating this thing as it will constantly teleport away from their attack strings and evade most of the damage while giving it more chances to summon bats.
Giant insect
Doesn't have anti-initiative
Very slow, about 60% average speed.
Hero Lv 4 Leather Armor, Carapace shield 10-06 defense 96 HP
Out of Reach
Immune to wind
Venom spit: 36 10% accuracy
Summon insect - Summons an insect monster that swoops roughly in the hero's direction sometimes firing a shot, and leaves. Very slow move as only one insect can be present at a time and they take around 5 seconds or so to complete their attack run so about one summon every 2 turns at best.
Contact damage: 46 50%-ish accuracy
Spark: 38 ranged 60% accuracy
9 hits with fire sword projectile to kill
Notes; Kills in the fewest hits but struggles to land those hits. It's sluggish too so takes longer to attempt those hits. Has all day though against opposition without any ranged options. It's also one of the most fragile bosses so those with ranged options can win pretty fast. If it's fortunate to have a teammate who can inflict stop, paralyze, or some other status which locks the target in place though, venom spit becomes devastating hitting around 4-5 times. A very weird dueller with extreme strengths and weaknesses.
Kelbesque 1
Hero Lv 7 144 HP Leather Armor, Bronze Shield 13-13 defense
Immune to fire
Contact damage: 33 75% counter to melee
Summon rocks: 25 90-60% accuracy About 10% chance of second hit
15 hits with wind sword Lv 1 and 2 8 hits with lv 3
Notes: Standard Crystalis boss with high durability and low (in a DL context) damage. He does come at the end of a dungeon trek but it's not that difficult to reach without taking hits.
Vampire 2
Doesn't have anti-initiative
Hero Lv 10 192 HP Platinum Armor, Platinum Shield 24-18 defense
Immune to fire
Contact damage: 40
Teleport: Same general properties of first Vampire, including the counter teleport
Summon bats: Summons 2 bats that deal 24 contact damage Seem to be more aggressive than the previous battle, still attacking twice per round (roughly) but more accurate about 40% or so. Still allowing only one bat to hit per attack to simulate mercy invincibility even if more than once succeed in their attack chance. As they're more inclined to stick to the hero's personal space, despawn chance is lower, roughly 15% per move. Immune to fire and water As before, can be used after any teleport. Seems more likely than previous fight to be used after any teleport, guessing 30% chance.
Notes: Needs to connect more hits than the first form. The Iron Necklace (reduces contact damage by player's current Level) is also available now and there's no reason not to equip it since all damage is contact so if you choose to scale to that, it's far weaker.
8 hits with water sword stabs
Sabera 1
Doesn't have anti-initiative
Hero Lv 11 208 HP Platinum Armor, Platinum Shield 25-19 defense
Immune to wind and water
Contact damage: 39 80% counter to melee
Scatter shot: 35 ranged 100-90% accuracy
10-12 hits with fire sword lv 1 and 2
Notes: It's possible to have the Mirror shield at this point, which offers 4 more defense than Platinum. Scatter shot does 4 less damage with Mirror shield. Does require a side trip to Amazoness though, which a player may not be aware of at this point. Sacred shield is also available offering even better protection but at $9000, probably not affording that without excessive grinding. Not a very impressive dueler on paper though she does come after two dungeons and another boss. If scaled against a player with somewhat depleted resources, say about 70% HP and MP, looks a little better.
Mado 1
Hero Lv 11 208 HP Platinum Armor, Battle Shield 25-35 defense
Immune to wind, fire, and thunder
Contact damage: 53 100% counter to melee
Bowling ball: Deals contact damage. 40% accuracy
Shuriken Scatter: 53 ranged 95-60% accuracy
18 hits with water sword Lv 2
Notes: Better at slugging than Kelbesque 1 and otherwise a bog standard Crystalis boss. Blizzard bracelet is available and kills in about half the time if you want to factor that in.
Next up are the Goa fortress boss quartet. Durability figures are without the Power Ring, which is available but probably not gonna find it on a blind playthrough at this point.
Kelbesque 2
Hero Lv 13 240 HP Ceramic Suit, Battle Shield 37-37 defense
Immune to fire, water, and thunder
Contact damage: 51 95% counter to melee
Sword beam: 21 ranged 100-90% accuracy Very fast Capable of 3 hits or so but probably won't unless pinned.
Notes: Really sad damage if a dueler can avoid the counter. Even lower if factoring in the Shield Ring, which reduces it to 8. Better at dealing with evasion than the first form but otherwise prefers that one.
14-15 hits with wind sword Lv 1-2
Sabera 2
Immune to wind, water, and thunder
Contact damage: 11 80% counter to melee
Scatter shot: 31 ranged 100-90% accuracy
Tornados: 15 MP damage 100-80% accuracy Frequently used after scattershot as a
combo.
Notes: Iron Necklace reduces that contact damage to zero. Has MP damage but I don't see that making up for lower raw damage than the first form. Better raw durability but the opponent getting a first attack makes it less meaningful.
23-25 hits with fire sword Lv 1-2
Mado 2
Hero Lv 14 255 HP same armor setup 38-38 defense
Immune to wind, fire, and thunder
Contact damage: 50 100% counter to melee
Bowling ball: Deals contact damage Very fast, about 4 attempts a round 40% accuracy
Ignores evade
Shuriken scatter: 50 100-70% accuracy
13 hits with water sword Lv 3
Notes: Water sword Lv 3 hits around 3-5 times per cast depending on positioning and luck so doesn't take that many casts to land those 13 hits. Vicious in a duel because of the speed of the bowling ball bouncing which can pile up damage frightfully fast and is too speedy to dodge on reaction.
Karmine
Immune to wind, fire, and water
Contact damage: 52 85% counter to melee
Reflect shots: 50 4-6 shots, about 50% accuracy each They do bounce around 3 times before disappearing so they get more than one shot at hurting.
Magic circle: Inflict Mutated status 100-80% accuracy
13-15 hits with thunder sword Lv 1-2
Notes; In-game, easy to clown on by throwing up a Barrier when he stops moving to launch an attack and stabbing him to death in seconds, especially with the Power Ring. Against an opponent who isn't nullifying all his projectiles, he looks scarily competent. Magic Circle cripples anyone when it lands and he has enough durability to get a few chances which spells defeat for anyone without immunity or good evasion.
Draygon 1
Hero Lv 15 255 HP Ceramic Suit, Psycho Shield 39-47 defense
Immune to wind, fire, and water
Contact damage: 81 0% melee counter due to predictable movement pattern making it
simple to stab without risking contact damage.
Bodyslam: Deals contact damage
Lightning bolts: 73 Ignore evade Static range
85?! hits with thunder sword stab/Lv 2
Notes: Very high offense compared to the rest of the boss cast, not just raw numbers. Freakishly durable without the Power Ring, practically made of paper with it. So his durability is highly dependent on whether one chooses to take the Power Ring as standard or not.
Draygon 2
Doesn't have anti-initiative
Hero Lv 16 255 HP Psycho Armor, Psycho Shield 48-48 defense
Immune to wind, fire, and water
Bodyslam: 80 contact
Wings: 0 contact
Acid spit: 72 10% accuracy
Reflect shots: 52 4 shots, 40% accuracy each Reflect off walls about 2 times before disappearing so they will get another pass if they miss the first time.
Magic circle: Inflicts Mutated status 100-80% accuracy Always followed by Laser Beams
Laser beams: 72, can only be hurt during this attack Ignores evade, static range Very long duration, about 3 rounds worth.
27-28 hits with thunder sword Lv 2 Power Ring required
Note: Do not rank. The invulnerability gimmick is dumb and lets him stay invulnerable forever if he wants.
DYNA
Doesn't have anti-initiative
Out of Reach
Only takes damage when eye is open, which is random as far as I can tell.
Spread shot: 72 90-75% accuracy About 10% chance of second hit
Lasers: 52 20% accuracy Can be used at the same time as Spread Shot though. Fires straight down like all the other 10% accuracy attacks but the room is more compact, hence the increase in hit rate.
Crescent waves: 52 counter to being damaged, about 80% Very fast
8 hits with Crystalis Power Ring makes no difference.
Notes: Crystalis gets two shots a round so this is a frail boss. Another Do Not Rank, though only a strong suggestion. It's less capable about being stubborn about revealing its weak spot. Vulnerable about 50% of the time it seems. Can be safespotted in-game but I'd throw that out in a DL context.
