Hello, Survivors!
Up till now, we’ve introduced the narratives and distinctive play styles of the eight playable Characters.
In today’s Dev Bote, we’d like to talk about the enemies you’ll face throughout your journey in REMORE, especially a new type of threat: the Mid-Boss.
Mid-Boss: A Formidable Threat Descends Upon the Stage
If you’ve played Act 1, you may have already encountered special enemy events that occur as you progress through each stage. For example, in the “Crimson Lily Plantation” stage, a swarm of Petals ambushes the Survivors as they enter the central area. Or in “Sunset Docks” you join forces with the Shadow Nun Mienne to fend off a sudden onslaught of enemies surrounding the Guiding Pillar.
Enemies that appear under certain conditions like this act as a sort of checkpoint in the level design. In other words, before moving on to the next stage, you’ll need to prove you’ve got the minimum strength and skills to overcome what’s ahead. On the flip side, it also serves as a bit of a warning, letting you know that this level of threat will become the new standard, and that similar types of enemies will start showing up more often from here on out.
You’ll run into events like this again in Act 2, but this time, we wanted to give you something that feels more immediate and threatening, a challenge that stands right in your way. That’s how the idea of the Mid-Boss was born.
A Mid-Boss is a special kind of enemy, a one-time battle event that doesn’t come back once you’ve beaten it. They block your progress in various ways, either directly or indirectly, and you’ll need to take them down to move on. For instance, you might need an item that only drops from that Mid-Boss to enter the next stage, or maybe during the fight, traps appear that drastically drain your HP until you deal with them.
The biggest thing that sets Mid-Bosses apart from the usual event battles is that they have attack patterns. Each Mid-Boss comes with its own unique pattern, and unless you figure it out, you’ll take some serious damage. But once you learn the pattern and land the right skills at the right time, you’ll not only deal massive damage but also get that satisfying sense of mastery we all love.
We won’t spoil every pattern here, it’ll be much more fun for you to discover and counter them yourself when you face these bosses in-game. Just one small tip: pay close attention to the buffs and debuffs that change with the boss’s state.
Watcher: The Tyrant of the Guild District
The first Mid-Boss you’ll encounter in Act 2 is the Watcher. This creature, resembling a grotesque insect swollen on gold and jewels, is one of the toughest foes you’ll face up to that point, second only to Act Boss Olivia. It’s huge, has massive HP, and comes with the “Elite” trait, making it immune to forced movement, stun, execution, and suppression effects. In other words, brute-forcing your way through won’t work here.
To make matters worse, when you first encounter the Watcher, it’s protected by a trait called “Hardened Sense,” which caps the damage it can take at just 30 per attack, which really makes it a desperate battle. And to top it off, during this first encounter, a “Thick Dark Shroud” surrounds the area, cutting off all escape. Players have no option but to defeat the Watcher and light the Guiding Pillar.
Normally, we’d want you to explore the Guild District, stumble upon the Watcher, and figure out how to bring it down, that’s the experience we intended. But since this is the first time we’re showing off one of the Mid-Bosses, we'll give you a few light hints!
As mentioned earlier, Mid-Bosses have distinct patterns, and those patterns are triggered by various conditions. For example, certain attacks, especially ones with specific attributes, might set them off, or they might react when you spend a certain amount of resources like WP or TP. So, when you encounter a Mid-Boss for the first time, we recommend carefully observing its current state and experimenting to see which actions might provoke its next move.
The Watcher, in particular, can feel nearly invincible at first, it’s got such high defense that you’ll probably find yourself thinking, “How on earth am I supposed to kill this thing?” That’s your cue to start looking for ways to disrupt its defensive state by triggering specific patterns.
And if you check its traits closely, you’ll notice one called “Hardened Shell,” which includes a very interesting note: “Does not activate while knocked down.” That’s your clue, somehow, you’ll need to knock the Watcher down to create an opening.
Alright, let’s try attacking the Watcher. It curls up into a ball and enters its “Preparing to Roll” state causing a danger zone to appear on the ground, and it becomes untargetable. Now the question is, how do we knock it down while dodging its rolling attack? We move carefully, avoiding the danger zone and… Boom, there it is! The Watcher slams into a wall and collapses, it’s now knocked down.
While it’s down, we hit it with our strongest damage skill. One solid strike lands, and the Watcher immediately gets back up. Everything, except for its HP, resets to how it was when we first encountered it.
And just like that, we’ve seen one full cycle of the Watcher’s pattern, and with that knowledge, we can start figuring out a proper strategy to bring it down for good.
Once you defeat the Watcher, you’ll obtain a special Act 2 item called “Gold Bar.” At first, it might not be obvious what use gold could possibly have in Remore, where the spread of the dark shroud has completely shut down the economy. But if you keep pushing through the stage, you’ll soon find out.
Throughout the Guild District, you’ll come across strange, grotesque manifestations of greed, monstrous objects blocking your path. To move them out of the way, you’ll need to offer up the right sacrifice… and that’s where your newly earned gold will come in handy.
That was a quick look at the concept of Mid-Bosses, along with the first one you’ll encounter, the Watcher.
In the next Dev Note, we’ll be revealing another Mid-Boss, so stay tuned!
Thank you, Survivors!
REMORE