Understanding the Basics of EliteMobs
Here you will find described as briefly as I can the intended gameplay loop for EliteMobs. This guide is aimed at new admins who want to get a grasp of what EliteMobs can do.
Step 1: Player's first encounter
A player in your server will start facing Elite Mobs which spawn naturally around them. The level of Elite Mobs that spawn is based on the player's combat level, which is determined by their weapon and armor skill levels.
When multiple players are nearby, Elite Mob difficulty scales up to account for the group size, with each additional player increasing the challenge.
These Elite Mobs (when their level is high enough and the antiexploit system isn't triggered) can drop three types of loot:
- Procedurally generated loot (the most common kind)
- Custom loot (somewhat rare) - includes four subtypes: weighed, fixed, limited, and scalable items, each with different rarity and properties
- Elite Coins
(Note: You can read more about Elite Mob spawning and rewards here)
Upon looting, the player will be informed by the plugin that the coins can be used and the items sold at the store in the Adventurer's Guild.
Step 2: Discovering the economy
Once the player has gotten the information about selling items, they'll naturally be drawn to sell them. If the world is set up, they will then find the Adventurer's Guild NPCs (details for world download and setup and in the spigot resource post).
They will find out that EliteMobs uses its own currency, which is necessary for balance reasons. They will also discover the weapon skill system -- 9 independent skills (Swords, Axes, Bows, Crossbows, Tridents, Hoes, Maces, Spears, and Armor) that level up through combat. A player's combat level is determined by the average of their two highest weapon skills and armor skill, so diversifying and leveling multiple weapon types matters for progression. Gear above a player's skill level is restricted, providing a natural progression gate.
They will also be able to find out about the quest system, and start fulfilling quests to get extra currency, which will naturally lead them to seek opponents they would otherwise avoid. They may also find the Combat Instructor NPC, which will give them tips about the combat system. NPCs feature dynamic dialogue with greetings, conversations, and farewells, providing immersive interactions throughout the Adventurer's Guild and giving players important advice as they interact with them.
Step 3: Progression
Now that the players have an idea of what's ahead of them, they will fight against increasingly stronger Elite Mobs as they progress through item tiers.
As players fight with a particular weapon type, the corresponding skill levels up, unlocking new skill bonuses at key tiers (level 10, 25, 50, and 75). Players can select up to 3 active skill bonuses per weapon type, choosing from proc-based abilities, passive buffs, conditional bonuses, and more. This encourages players to specialize in their favorite weapon types while still being free to try others.
Additionally, they will encounter random timed events (occurring approximately every 5 minutes when conditions are met) and special moon phase encounters which spawn custom bosses at designated locations. These events should increase their interest in the various mechanics that the plugin has to offer, especially when it comes to custom enchantments - over 19 custom enchantments such as Flamethrower, Grappling Hook, Meteor Shower, Lightning, Critical Strikes, and various summoning abilities.
Step 4: High Tiers
Once the player has progressed up to around item level 80 and high weapon skill levels, they will start approaching the difficulty ceiling of EliteMobs. The maximum item level is 100 and the maximum skill level is 100. High level combat requires quite a lot more strategy, planning and combat execution than lower levels, as mobs have up to 7 different powers by that stage.
They will be able to tell which loot they want to keep and which they want to discard, and will have a good idea of which are their favorite custom items. I highly recommend you make a lot of custom items as these are currently the main focus of mid to top tier players of EliteMobs.
At this stage, players will also have unlocked high-tier skill bonuses (tier 3 at skill level 50, tier 4 at skill level 75) which provide powerful abilities and further differentiate weapon playstyles.
(Mini)Dungeoneering
Assuming you installed the recommended Minidungeons & Lairs at some point - possibly even rather early on - players will probably be drawn to challenge Lairs, Minidungeons and Adventures.
These are locations where Custom Bosses spawn and, after being killed, respawn on a delay, creating a centralized location where players can challenge tough bosses in a fair way.
Dungeons come in multiple categories:
- Instanced Dungeons - Separate world created per group
- Open Dungeons - Persistent world, multiple groups can participate
- Dynamic Dungeons - Procedurally adapted content
- Hub Worlds - Central areas connecting to other content
Within these categories, you'll find Lairs, Minidungeons, and Adventures.
Here are the main selling points of the minidungeons:
- Since the terrain is premade and protected, and so are the bosses, combat can't be exploited.
- Since it centralizes combat, you can have lower spawn rates for natural mobs and end up with a lower overall performance impact.
- Since the loot is premade, it is usually quite special, and players learn to go to certain places to farm for specific gear that they might like.
- Since the bosses are premade, the battles are manually balanced and it results in far more interesting & challenging but fair fights.
- In the case of adventures, these are full-on massive adventure maps with vast questlines, sidequests and sometimes even arenas and dungeons inside of dungeons!
- It looks great and players love spending days in them.
- Treasure chests can be configured as single-use (with timed respawns) or group-loot (allowing multiple players before cooldown). Some chests may spawn mimics as surprise boss encounters!
Instanced Dungeoneering
Some dungeons are instanced challenges. This means that a world is created when a group joins the dungeon, and once the group starts the dungeon players will be unable to join other than to spectate it.
There is a dedicated system for respawning which gives players 3 deaths each before being struck out.
Dungeons are the most balanced and developed content in EliteMobs, as they are significantly harder to exploit than any other content.
Dungeons have difficulties players can pick from, and the highest difficulties are the hardest challenges in EliteMobs but also the most rewarding!
Arenas
EliteMobs also has arenas which players can challenge. These are wave-based challenges which players must overcome for a preset amount of waves. They reward players for reaching specific arena waves.
This content is also instanced, and the join and respawn limitations from the Dungeoneering section also applies here.
Arenas can be quite hard to beat, so they make for a fun and rewarding challenge!