Dev Diary: Draigoch

Another Developer Diary has been released; this time focused on Draigoch, the dragon who is the boss of Rise of Isengard’s new 12/24-man raid.

The diary states that one of the most important features of Draigoch was his physical aspect.  Turbine’s goal was to make him large, but at the same time to create a fight that didn’t seem a bit silly in its nature:

When we set out to make this encounter, one thing stood out as crucial: we wanted to make an encounter with a massive creature. We wanted to impart the feeling that players were interacting with a creature that couldn’t be approached in the same way that they approached smaller creatures, like those they faced on landscape. We always thought it was a little funny that no matter how big or small the enemy, the same approach of stabbing it in the toe was enough to keep its attention. (Not to mention the fact that any tank could simply take the hits of this massive creature when in “real life ” it ought to just pick you up and throw you.. or eat you.. or … you catch my drift.)

So we set out to make an encounter with a large creature that you needed to approach somewhat differently.

So what’s so different about this fight in comparison to most other fights in LOTRO?  Well, players will need a lot of coordination and maneuvering in order to “…attack the separate portions of Draigoch’s body in order to take him down.”  Only after weakening parts of his body will you be able to face him in a final confrontation and defeat him.  However, another thing that makes him different is that there are also a lot of drama sequences in the game.  There is one when you first enter the raid, another when the fight begins, and possibly more following that.  Plus he is always talking to you for the duration of the raid and promises a lot entertainment.

The diary also defines that the difficulty of the raid is not so much dependent on different skills or increased stats for the boss, but instead on the number of people who are able to participate in the raid.

Our intention is that Draigoch be fairly easy for a larger group and more difficult for a smaller group. For those brave souls willing to forego the extra players, the reward will be that much greater. And, hey, since there are less players to share with, you’ll be receiving even more rewards.

As always, there will be a challenge mode for Draigoch and it will only be available on the Tier 2 difficulty.

Concluding the diary is the statement that loot will be “…a standard allotment of equipment that will only be available from defeating Draigoch.” We know from forum posts from Beta participants and interviews with Turbine that this will include the head and shoulder pieces of the raid set that is being released with Isengard as well as an assortment of other items and exclusive recipes.