Just my suggestions for making Skeletron Prime a better, less clumsy, and more intimidating boss.
First of all, his headspin charge attack during Rage Mode is extremely pathetic. He moves so slow that instead of being an actual threat, it just opens him up to attack and disables his ability to dodge, which I find to be a pretty lousy boss behavior. What I propose is that the movement speed during this attack to be doubled. It would still be easy to dodge, but at least he wouldn't look as worthless when he's charging at you.
Next up is a complete makeover of the Prime Cannon. This poor guy has
severe effectiveness issues. Its bombs can only deal damage if the player happens to be standing on solid ground, because it's grenades don't even deal contact damage. Nope, the only way this is of any threat is if you happen to be on the ground when one happens to land on your exact location. It doesn't even detonate on platforms. It's extremely pathetic.
My proposed changes are to allow the Prime Cannon's bombs to deal damage on contact with the player (duh) and allow them to bounce once before detonating as well. Instead of exploding on impact with terrain, they will explode a full second after bouncing. Additionally, they will have a 50% chance to bounce off of Platforms, so players can neither hide under nor on them to avoid damage.
One last thing: The Cannon should have an additional attack that it will occasionally use instead of the usual bombs: Mines. Every once in a while, when Prime is not in his spinning Rage mode, the Cannon will fire a special flashing spiked ball that will linger and deal damage to players that touch it, much like the spike ball mines used by Plantera and Santa-NK1, except smaller and less damaging. These will bounce 4 times on platforms before dropping though, and will linger for about 20 seconds before disappearing.
Next up is a series of additional armaments and gadgets that Skeletron Prime would be able to spawn with. Instead of always having the same old Vice, Saw, Laser, and Cannon combo, each arm would have an alternate appendage that it can be equipped with. This is just a handful of ideas I had, and I feel like posting them here to see what you guys think.
I'll post the original appendages before their alts for reference.
Also, take notice of the new and improved Skeletron Prime sprite contributed by
@Brutallama. Rejoice! And it doesn't stop there, he even went through and redid not just the original four, but also the four alternate appendages that I suggested here in this thread. You can see both the original style and Brutallama's improvements in the images below.
Click here to like Brutallama's post! And click here to support his sprite thread!
(Oh, and before I forget, Prime's appendages should have a 50% chance drop 1-2 Hearts when destroyed, and the Twins should likewise drop 1-3 Hearts when the first one is killed. Destroyer is the only boss which drops Hearts during the fight.)
View attachment 6730
Prime Vice
Health: 9000
Defense: 34
Damage: 52
Alternate:
View attachment 6727
Prime Mace (or
Axe)
Health: 10000
Defense: 40
Damage: 48
Like the Prime Vice, except slightly slower and much sturdier. Less of a threat overall, but harder to get rid of.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
View attachment 6729
Prime Saw
Health: 9000
Defense: 38
Damage: 56
Alternate:
View attachment 6723
Prime Blade
Health: 8000
Defense: 32
Damage: 60
Lighter, and faster than the Saw. Trades durability for offensive power.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
View attachment 6726
Prime Laser
Health: 6000
Defense: 20
Ranged Damage: 25
Contact Damage: 29
Fires lasers slowly. Somewhat accurate.
Fires more frequently during Rage.
Alternate:
View attachment 6728
Prime Machinegun
Health: 6000
Defense: 23
Ranged Damage: 20
Contact damage: 24
Occasionally fires brief bursts of bullets. Inaccurate.
Fires constantly during Rage with a high rate of fire.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
View attachment 6724
Prime Cannon
Health: 7000
Defense: 23
Artillery Damage: 40
Mine Damage: 50
Contact Damage: 30
Occasionally fires bombs, and mines when nor in Rage.
Fires rapid volleys of artillery at the player during Rage.
Alternate:
View attachment 6725
Prime Enforcer
Health: 7000
Defense: 20
Shotgun Damage: 24
Flame Damage: 36
Contact Damage: 30
Fires wide 5-shot spreads of shotgun fire.
Switches to a short-ranges flamethrower attack during Rage.
Finally, Skeletron Prime needs more uses for its loot. Specifically, we need more items that have Souls of Fright in the recipe. Right now, all you can craft is a Flamethrower and Neptune's Shell. In previous threads, I have suggested a new summoner weapon, the
Prime Staff, and a
Prime Vice, a weaponized Prime-themed Grappling Hook. That's enough to catch Souls of Fright up to the other two Mech Bosses' Souls, but if they also get an expansion of drops, then I have a couple of backup items based on the new appendages I suggested above.
Weapon sprites by
@Milt69466. Thank you!
(Thanks, Milt!)
The Enforcer
*Bullet-firing shotgun weapon.
*Fires a spread of 5 Bullets.
Damage: 26
Use Time: 37 (1.6 shots/second)
Knockback: 6.75
Recipe:
Shotgun
Illegal Gun Parts
Souls of Fright (20)
A middle-ground between the Shotgun and the Tactical Shotgun.
(Thanks, Milt!)
Terror Blade
*Sword-type Melee weapon.
*Throws a short-ranged volley of spinning plasma skulls which linger and deal additional damage.
Damage: 30
Use Time: 25 (2.4 uses/second)
Recipe:
Adamantite or
Titanium Bars (13)
Souls of Fright (20)
That's it for the suggestion. Feedback is always appreciated, so please comment! I hope this wasn't a waste of your time.