Tracks Crowd Control effects
If bosses, including world bosses, were vulnerable to every character's Crowd Control effects (e.g., a freeze or stun), they'd be too easy to beat. On the other hand, these effects should count towards something, so Blizzard created the boss stagger system in Diablo 4. This is a thin, gold-colored bar that displays underneath the boss's health bar. When players hit the boss with an attack that includes a Crowd Control effect, the bar starts to fill. Once completely full, the monster suffers a brutal injury [1] that handicaps it for the rest of the fight:
"The cool thing about bosses in Diablo 4 and Ashava is a great example of this is the new stagger system. This means you can bring your control effects into fights against bosses, like your stuns, freezes, chills. When you apply them to bosses, it builds up the stagger bar. When it's filled, the boss becomes staggered and something cool happens."Joe Shely · Diablo IV Game Director ·
Unique injury for each boss
Each boss in the game will suffer a unique injury when players get its stagger bar full. Sometimes, bosses can suffer multiple injuries, impairing them further. Ashava, the world boss, for example, can have both of its arms/wings broken, which prevents it from using its devastating sweep attack on players:
"What it means is, for each boss that we design, we build a unique behavior. When you stagger Ashava, you can break off its arm blades. This changes the whole fight because this giant sweeping attack that it performs are greatly reduced in their range. Areas of the battlefield that were dangerous become safer. In fact, if you stagger Ashava multiple times, you can break off both arm blades. This changes the remainder of the fight."
Xiphoid has been playing Diablo since the original's release in 1997. He made one of the largest Age of Empires sites in the late-'90s and early-'00s. Now, he runs MythicDrop.com, a premier Diablo 4 fansite.
Sources
| Article | Source | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2019 BlizzCon: Diablo IV Systems and Features | Blizzard |
Changelog
| Ver | Change | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Alpha | Published original |
