SzGamer227
Spazmatism
This suggestions has been a long, long, long time in coming, and was honestly supposed to be completed and published several months ago. Among other reasons, I've finally cut procrastination out of the equation and decided to push this out at long last. This has been gathering dust for way too long, but it's here now! ^u^
As expressed by that one comic I posted on my profile page all those months ago, I have been...well, discontent... with the Flying Dutchman's sub-par boss behavior; its simple attack patterns and inability to travel or attack through walls like most other bosses are among the problems I have with this over-sized nuisance. Instead of just letting it pass through walls normally though (as a proper GHOST SHIP should), I got to thinking: The Goblin Army has a new sort of boss-like enemy in Hardmode, with unique loot and everything. Why not do the same for the Pirates?
!!!READ ME!!!
This suggestion focuses not only on making the Flying Dutchman only a more formidable boss, but also making it a post-Plantera addition to the Pirate Invasion that offers new, unique loot and a reason to return to the invasion later in the game.
New Behavior and Other Bossly Changes
Currently, the Flying Dutchman has one attack and 8000 health split between four cannons.
What I propose is that the Flying Dutchman instead be split into a 2-stage boss, allowing for a variety of different additions to its mechanics and behavior.
During stage one, the Flying Dutchman will behave much like it does now, with a few key differences: It would have the ability to pass through walls and stat increases to meet the standards of a post-Plantera miniboss, and switch to fire ghostly wall-penetrating cannonballs if its intended target is hiding from their grisly demise. During this stage, the Flying Dutchman can take damage from any parts of its body.
Flying Dutchman Stage I
Health: 6000
Defense: 32
Damage:
Now then... this is where it gets interesting.
When the Dutchman sustains enough hull damage to advance to stage two, it completely changes its appearance, assuming a much more intimidating and definitely more dangerous form. It's attacks are redoubled, and it also plights the player with a new ghostly invasion force instead of the standard motley pirate lackeys (more on them later).
Along with boosted contact damage and a slight increase in movement speed, the Dutchman now starts firing volleys of ghostly grapeshot in addition to more damaging cannonballs. A spread of additional projectiles are fired alongside the usual cannonballs, amount varying on how many cannons remain. Additionally, rather than always firing all four cannons in unison, it will start firing one at a time at regular intervals, and only occasionally pause to unleash a full blast of all at once.
In this stage, the Dutchman's hit boxes are confined to its individual cannons, as they are currently. When a cannon has been destroyed, that doesn't entirely stop it from attacking. Each empty slot will instead begin dropping bouncing mines that explode and deal heavy damage to unwary players that touch them.
Flying Dutchman Stage II
Health: 1500 (per Cannon)
Defense: 28
Damage:
And now for those new lackeys you've been wondering about...
Ghost Pirate Crew
Dutchman's Deckhand
* Most common summoned ghost crew.
* Hovers towards the player's location without restriction. Largely immune to knockback.
Health: 800
Defense: 30
Damage: 85
Cursed Pirate Caster
* A ghostly floating pirate with a ranged spell-bolt attack that homes slowly.
* Moves similarly to Nebula Floaters. Immune to knockback.
Health: 700
Defense: 24
Damage:
Pirate Soulsnatcher
* A ghostly floating pirate which attacks players with close-ranged tendrils of magic (like the Shadowflame Hex Doll).
* Closes distance somewhat faster than Deckhands, but suceptible to knockback when casting.
Health: 1100
Defense: 34
Damage:
Proper Bossly Rewards and Loot
Possible Flying Dutchman drops, including at least one Melee, Ranged, and Magic cracker to see if you're reading the entire thread word for word. You get a cookie if you are!
Dreadwood
'Almost guaranteed Curse-Free!'
* An item created and sprited by @StargazerSammie in a separate suggestion. (Click here and support her thread!)
* Used to craft Pirate-ship-themed furniture and vanity items. Check out the original thread to see the cool stuff you can make with it!
Drop quantity:
30-50 (Upon transition from 1st to 2nd form)
60-100 (Upon being defeated)
One of the following weapons is guaranteed to drop:
Minesweeper
* True-Flail-type Melee weapon.
* Upon releasing, the head will detach and roll off, damaging enemies and exploding after 1.5 seconds.
Damage: 70
- When detached, damage is gradually reduced down to 50% until detonation.
- Explosion deals 70% of original damage over a Bomb-sized area.
Use Time: 44 (1.36 uses/second)
Knockback: 7.5
The Loose Cannon
* Ranged special launcher weapon.
* Shoots Cannonballs. (Short ranged; explode on impact)
* Drops along with 10-25 Cannonballs to use as ammo. (Cannonballs are purchased from the Pirate NPC, as they currently are.)
Damage: 15 (+300 from Cannonballs)
Use Time: 57 (1.05 uses/second)
The Captain's Regards
'Pirate diplomacy at its finest.'
* Ranged bullet-firing weapon.
* Fires cannon blasts at 1.5 second intervals that deal greatly increased area damage on impact.
Damage: 35
Use Time: 7 (8.5 uses/second)
50% chance to not consume ammo
Davy Jones' Curse
'Vile tentacles strike and afflict enemies with a terrible curse.'
* Direct upgrade to the Shadowflame Hex Doll.
* Fires green tendrils of damaging magic in the general direction of casting.
* Additional tendrils will reach out in all directions, sometimes homing directly towards enemies, dealing 20% reduced damage.
Damage: 60
Use Time: 20
Mana Cost: 10
* Inflicts enemies with Hurt Locker, which causes 6 damage/sec and reduces the movement speed of Fighter enemies by 30%.
Soul Siphon
'Steals enemy life force while buffing the caster.'
* Direct upgrade to the Life Drain spell, and deals damage in the same way.
Damage: 45
Use Time: 11
Mana Cost: 9
* Soul Siphon buff increases player health regeneration and provides 5% damage resistance.
These items sometimes drop in addition to the above loot:
Cursed Ship's Wheel
* Summons a Ghost Ship Mount, as pictured above.
* Credit for the sprite and the original idea goes to Baconfry.
* Relatively slow-traveling flying mount that can pass through blocks as though they were water.
* Breath will rapidly deplete while traveling through walls, and "drowning" results in the Suffocation debuff.
Drop rate: 1/10 (10%)
Pirate Loot Crate
'Contains rare pirate booty and other precious items.'
* Right-click to open.
Drop rate: 1/3 (33%)
Contents:
One rare Pirate Invasion item
Gold Ring - 6/16 (37.5%)
Discount Card - 6/16 (37.5%)
Lucky Coin - 3/16 (18.8%)
Coin Gun - 1/16 (6.2%)
One of two rarities of crafting material
15-30 precious metal bars - 50%
(The same bars that are obtained from Golden Crates)
5-13 Plantera-level bars - 50%
(Chlorophyte, Spectre, or Shroomite Bars)
Miscellaneous drops
Various gems - 50%
10-25 Gold Coins - 100%
Conclusion
Well that's it for now, guys. Thanks for reading this suggestion, and I hope you've enjoyed it! I may add more possible drops in the future, but this is enough for now. If you want to see these changes made to the Flying Dutchman, let me know! If you have other comments or concerns, fire away! Feedback is always appreciated!
As expressed by that one comic I posted on my profile page all those months ago, I have been...well, discontent... with the Flying Dutchman's sub-par boss behavior; its simple attack patterns and inability to travel or attack through walls like most other bosses are among the problems I have with this over-sized nuisance. Instead of just letting it pass through walls normally though (as a proper GHOST SHIP should), I got to thinking: The Goblin Army has a new sort of boss-like enemy in Hardmode, with unique loot and everything. Why not do the same for the Pirates?
!!!READ ME!!!
This suggestion focuses not only on making the Flying Dutchman only a more formidable boss, but also making it a post-Plantera addition to the Pirate Invasion that offers new, unique loot and a reason to return to the invasion later in the game.
New Behavior and Other Bossly Changes
Currently, the Flying Dutchman has one attack and 8000 health split between four cannons.
What I propose is that the Flying Dutchman instead be split into a 2-stage boss, allowing for a variety of different additions to its mechanics and behavior.
During stage one, the Flying Dutchman will behave much like it does now, with a few key differences: It would have the ability to pass through walls and stat increases to meet the standards of a post-Plantera miniboss, and switch to fire ghostly wall-penetrating cannonballs if its intended target is hiding from their grisly demise. During this stage, the Flying Dutchman can take damage from any parts of its body.
Flying Dutchman Stage I
Health: 6000
Defense: 32
Damage:
80 (Hull/Contact)
130 (Cannonball)
110 (Ghostly Cannonball)
* Summons Pirates that drop down and engage the player.130 (Cannonball)
110 (Ghostly Cannonball)
Now then... this is where it gets interesting.
When the Dutchman sustains enough hull damage to advance to stage two, it completely changes its appearance, assuming a much more intimidating and definitely more dangerous form. It's attacks are redoubled, and it also plights the player with a new ghostly invasion force instead of the standard motley pirate lackeys (more on them later).
Along with boosted contact damage and a slight increase in movement speed, the Dutchman now starts firing volleys of ghostly grapeshot in addition to more damaging cannonballs. A spread of additional projectiles are fired alongside the usual cannonballs, amount varying on how many cannons remain. Additionally, rather than always firing all four cannons in unison, it will start firing one at a time at regular intervals, and only occasionally pause to unleash a full blast of all at once.
In this stage, the Dutchman's hit boxes are confined to its individual cannons, as they are currently. When a cannon has been destroyed, that doesn't entirely stop it from attacking. Each empty slot will instead begin dropping bouncing mines that explode and deal heavy damage to unwary players that touch them.
Flying Dutchman Stage II
Health: 1500 (per Cannon)
Defense: 28
Damage:
120 (Hull/Contact)
150 (Spectre Cannonball)
75 (Spectre Grapeshot)
Grapeshot Amount:150 (Spectre Cannonball)
75 (Spectre Grapeshot)
2 (4 Cannons)
4 (3 Cannons)
6 (2 Cannons)
12 (1 Cannon)
* Summons Ghost Pirates that pursue and attack the player.4 (3 Cannons)
6 (2 Cannons)
12 (1 Cannon)
And now for those new lackeys you've been wondering about...
Ghost Pirate Crew
Dutchman's Deckhand
* Most common summoned ghost crew.
* Hovers towards the player's location without restriction. Largely immune to knockback.
Health: 800
Defense: 30
Damage: 85
Cursed Pirate Caster
* A ghostly floating pirate with a ranged spell-bolt attack that homes slowly.
* Moves similarly to Nebula Floaters. Immune to knockback.
Health: 700
Defense: 24
Damage:
65 (Contact)
80 (Magic Attack)
80 (Magic Attack)
Pirate Soulsnatcher
* A ghostly floating pirate which attacks players with close-ranged tendrils of magic (like the Shadowflame Hex Doll).
* Closes distance somewhat faster than Deckhands, but suceptible to knockback when casting.
Health: 1100
Defense: 34
Damage:
100 (Contact)
90 (Magic Attack)
90 (Magic Attack)
Proper Bossly Rewards and Loot
Possible Flying Dutchman drops, including at least one Melee, Ranged, and Magic cracker to see if you're reading the entire thread word for word. You get a cookie if you are!
Dreadwood
'Almost guaranteed Curse-Free!'
* An item created and sprited by @StargazerSammie in a separate suggestion. (Click here and support her thread!)
* Used to craft Pirate-ship-themed furniture and vanity items. Check out the original thread to see the cool stuff you can make with it!
Drop quantity:
One of the following weapons is guaranteed to drop:
Minesweeper
* True-Flail-type Melee weapon.
* Upon releasing, the head will detach and roll off, damaging enemies and exploding after 1.5 seconds.
Damage: 70
- When detached, damage is gradually reduced down to 50% until detonation.
- Explosion deals 70% of original damage over a Bomb-sized area.
Use Time: 44 (1.36 uses/second)
Knockback: 7.5
The Loose Cannon
* Ranged special launcher weapon.
* Shoots Cannonballs. (Short ranged; explode on impact)
* Drops along with 10-25 Cannonballs to use as ammo. (Cannonballs are purchased from the Pirate NPC, as they currently are.)
Damage: 15 (+300 from Cannonballs)
Use Time: 57 (1.05 uses/second)
The Captain's Regards
'Pirate diplomacy at its finest.'
* Ranged bullet-firing weapon.
* Fires cannon blasts at 1.5 second intervals that deal greatly increased area damage on impact.
Damage: 35
Use Time: 7 (8.5 uses/second)
50% chance to not consume ammo
Davy Jones' Curse
'Vile tentacles strike and afflict enemies with a terrible curse.'
* Direct upgrade to the Shadowflame Hex Doll.
* Fires green tendrils of damaging magic in the general direction of casting.
* Additional tendrils will reach out in all directions, sometimes homing directly towards enemies, dealing 20% reduced damage.
Damage: 60
Use Time: 20
Mana Cost: 10
* Inflicts enemies with Hurt Locker, which causes 6 damage/sec and reduces the movement speed of Fighter enemies by 30%.
Soul Siphon
'Steals enemy life force while buffing the caster.'
* Direct upgrade to the Life Drain spell, and deals damage in the same way.
Damage: 45
Use Time: 11
Mana Cost: 9
* Soul Siphon buff increases player health regeneration and provides 5% damage resistance.
These items sometimes drop in addition to the above loot:
Cursed Ship's Wheel
* Summons a Ghost Ship Mount, as pictured above.
* Credit for the sprite and the original idea goes to Baconfry.
* Relatively slow-traveling flying mount that can pass through blocks as though they were water.
* Breath will rapidly deplete while traveling through walls, and "drowning" results in the Suffocation debuff.
Drop rate: 1/10 (10%)
Pirate Loot Crate
'Contains rare pirate booty and other precious items.'
* Right-click to open.
Drop rate: 1/3 (33%)
Contents:
One rare Pirate Invasion item
Gold Ring - 6/16 (37.5%)
Discount Card - 6/16 (37.5%)
Lucky Coin - 3/16 (18.8%)
Coin Gun - 1/16 (6.2%)
One of two rarities of crafting material
(The same bars that are obtained from Golden Crates)
(Chlorophyte, Spectre, or Shroomite Bars)
Miscellaneous drops
Conclusion
Well that's it for now, guys. Thanks for reading this suggestion, and I hope you've enjoyed it! I may add more possible drops in the future, but this is enough for now. If you want to see these changes made to the Flying Dutchman, let me know! If you have other comments or concerns, fire away! Feedback is always appreciated!
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