NPCs & Enemies Idea for Progression Extension that keeps Moon Lord as the final boss

[Hello_I_Exist]

I remember hearing somewhere that the developers wanted to keep Moon Lord as the final boss of the game, and I agree- the Moon Lord and Lunar Events are too well-established at this point.

However, I know that people want more progression- that's why they ask for post-Moon Lord bosses.

Here's an idea that balances both of those: add progression after Golem but before the Cultist. (It always felt weird to me that the Cultists just sort of appear after beating Golem). What that would be, I'm not sure- But I think it could work with a bit of finagling!


Edit: Came up with some ideas... Currently, the boss themes in Hard Mode progression goes from Mechanical > Jungle > Cultists > Space, along with Hallowed and Ocean being optional extras. If a new progression phase is to be added, it should have a different theme from all of those. Some examples:

- Brain of Cthulhu Hard Mode version that comes from the Glowing Mushroom Biome and is a brain of some kind with parasitic mushrooms growing out of it?
- New Hell Boss, like Lucifer/Satan/Thanatos/Hades?
- Steampunk-Style Boss?
- There's plenty of potential for bosses based on mythologies outside of the Cthulhu mythos (like Grecian, Roman, Nordic, Biblical, etc.) that could fill some gaps. Zeus or Jupiter as a Sky Boss? Even if an original monster is made instead, it could turn out that the Sky Boss was somehow holding the Moon Lord back, but when the player kills it, the Cultists can do their thing.
- Do a collab with another game, similarly to the Old One's Army and Palworld, and bring some other bosses from other games? This is unlikely to happen, but imagine a Deltarune collab with a Roaring Knight Terraria boss fight. This is more wish-fulfillment for me but it'd still be cool.
- Another human boss, like how the Cultist is human-sized, has a lot of potential. Some kind of ancient hero giving the player a trial? Imagine: instead of the Broken Hero Sword dropping from Mothron, it drops from this boss.

 

[HotAirBalloon🐿️]

You didn't give any development on your plan, but the basic idea is great.

 

[Hello_I_Exist]

You didn't give any development on your plan, but the basic idea is great.

I mean, it's more of a concept than a plan, but I guess I can come up with some ideas.

Currently, the boss themes in Hard Mode progression goes from Mechanical > Jungle > Cultists > Space, along with Hallowed and Ocean being optional extras. If a new progression phase is to be added, it should have a different theme from all of those. Some ideas I had:

- Brain of Cthulhu Hard Mode version that comes from the Glowing Mushroom Biome and is a brain of some kind with parasitic mushrooms growing out of it?
- New Hell Boss, like Lucifer/Satan/Thanatos/Hades?
- Steampunk-Style Boss?
- There's plenty of potential for bosses based on mythologies outside of the Cthulhu mythos (like Grecian, Roman, Nordic, Biblical, etc.) that could fill some gaps. Zeus or Jupiter as a Sky Boss? Even if an original monster is made instead, it could turn out that the Sky Boss was somehow holding the Moon Lord back, but when the player kills it, the Cultists can do their thing.
- Do a collab with another game, similarly to the Old One's Army and Palworld, and bring some other bosses from other games? This is unlikely to happen, but imagine a Deltarune collab with a Roaring Knight Terraria boss fight. This is more wish-fulfillment for me but it'd still be cool.
- Another human boss, like how the Cultist is human-sized, has a lot of potential. Some kind of ancient hero giving the player a trial? Imagine: instead of the Broken Hero Sword dropping from Mothron, it drops from this boss.

That's all I have for now. But I'd love to hear other ideas everyone has! I might add all this to the original post, actually...