Soa, The Infernal One is a Mega Realm Boss in The Extended Tale of Diep. Idea by Diepmon.
Design[]
Soa is a giant red being with circles for hands and constantly floats in the air. His main body is slightly ovoid shaped, longer vertically. He has a mask similar to the Archprophet's but which covers the entire face. Soa's blazing white eyes are the only things visible against the rest of the silver-plated mask and his scarred gold-yellow face. He has no arms, and is constantly engulfed in orange-yellow flames. Everywhere he goes, he leaves fire in his wake and a trail of sparks and smoke.
Backstory[]
Soa was a warlord of the ancient race known as the Atakar that existed in the Panzer Era, which ruled the parts of the Realm west and south of what is now Imperium. The influence of Panzer did not spread that far during this time, and the Atakar were able to set up an empire of conquest stretching from what is now the Infernal Mesa to the western coast of the Realm, now known as the Idle Flats. The warlords of the Atakar were descended from one of the Sons of Panzer, specifically The Crusader, who lead an expedition into the far reaches of the world and returned millennia later much unlike he was. The reason for this was because he felt the need to raise the Atakar, then a primitive race that evolved from the Polygons, into greatness. The Crusader secretly plotted to usurp Panzer and take his place as ruler of the Realm, and by raising the Atakar as a race loyal to him, he would have the strength to do so. Unfortunately, infighting between the Atakar warlords for centuries, leading into millennia, made it difficult to even form a unified race. Eventually, the Great Cataclysm (which may or may not have been caused by the meddling of a certain tan being) struck the southwestern part of the Realm. The Great Cataclysm was a supervolcanic eruption that destroyed a third of the Atakar Empire, and what remains of that mountain became the Charchallan Archipelago. The Tanks were just beginning to be created as a lesser slave species at this time. Weakened by the event, the Atakar warlords in the western peninsula were wiped out by explorers and disease, while the three remaining in the south, including Soa, fought for what was left of their land. Panzer caught wind of this previously unknown (and somehow weakened) race, so his armies moved in and wiped out the rest of the Atakar, imprisoning the rest and driving the species into extinction. Soa was the last of his kind to be attacked, but he proved too powerful to bring down, enhanced with some sort of unknown power. The Son who lead the assault on Soa's fortress managed to imprison Soa in a sort of stasis. However, just as they were about to finish Soa off, the fortress was engulfed in flames. The army hightailed it out of there as the walls collapsed around them. A third of the army was still inside when the fortress exploded in a giant fireball, presumably taking Soa with it. However, when the ruins of this fortress were discovered 25,000 years later by a journeying Tank army, Soa was disturbed from his slumber and reawoke with a burning vengeance...
Battling Soa[]
Soa instantly inflicts 100 HP in body damage and Burning for 20 seconds upon contact. Luckily, he remains immobile during the fight. The arena that players fight him in is circular. There are 8 pylon structures arranged in the four cardinal directions and diagonals in a ring near the outer edge. Soa is situated in the very center of the room. Note that this floor is simply a platform, and players who fall off the outer edge will die from fall damage.
The music's intro starts as soon as players enter the room, and the music loops so that the fight starts at 1:15 on the timestamp and loops back to that position.
Phase 1[]
After Soa finishes his intro, he begins attacking. He has several attacks in this phase:
- Void Pylons: Soa energizes 2-4 pylons next to players if they are close to the outer edge, forming a vortex that sucks them in while inflicting 5 damage a second. Players must destroy the pylons to end the attack, which have 500 health.
- Flame Rift: Soa sends out lines of fast-moving flames from the center of the room. Players must avoid these, otherwise, they will be inflicted with Burning and Weakened for 4 seconds as well as medium damage.
- Ball Lightning: Soa constantly spawns "Ball Lightning" entities, slow-moving and invincible - well, balls of lightning that follow their target around. A max of 2 Ball Lightning can be active at one time. If they reach their target, they explode, dealing more damage the more players it hits in a 10 tile radius and inflicting Paralyzed for a whopping 12 seconds. To avoid them, targeted players must keep moving until they disappear after 35 seconds. Soa does not spawn new Ball Lightning under 75% health.
- Fire and Brimstone: Red targets appear on top of players. They have 2.5 seconds to move, lest they get hit by fireballs that inflict Broken and high damage on impact.
- Infernal Inferno: Soa sends out a line of fireballs spiraling out from him that inflict Burning for 3 seconds and medium-low damage on contact. When the fireballs reach the outer edge, they explode for even more damage.
Phases 2 and 4[]
Phases 2 and 4 are very similar. At 70% and 30% health, Soa becomes invincible, and players must rush to the edge of the room where they started (in front of the entrance) as the center falls away, leaving only the outer ring. Soa pulls large statues from the walls and smashes portions of the outer ring, causing them to fall down to certain heights. Players must use these as steps to continuously move down for 12 steps. On the way down, there are some power generators that must be destroyed, each of which has 400 health. If players fail to destroy at least 6 on the way down, for each one missed, Soa will damage them once they reach the bottom for 30 damage for each generator missed. There are 10 generators total; for each one destroyed over 6, Soa receives Broken for 10 seconds after he loses Invincibility in Phases 3 and 5.
Phase 3[]
In Phase 3, Soa can now summon up to 5 Ball Lightning at a time instead of 2. He also has two new attacks.
- Void Pylons: Soa energizes 2-4 pylons next to players if they are close to the outer edge, forming a vortex that sucks them in while inflicting 5 damage a second. Players must destroy the pylons to end the attack, which have 500 health.
- Flame Rift: Soa sends out lines of fast-moving flames from the center of the room. Players must avoid these, otherwise, they will be inflicted with Burning and Weakened for 4 seconds as well as medium damage.
- Ball Lightning: Soa constantly spawns "Ball Lightning" entities, slow-moving and invincible - well, balls of lightning that follow their target around. A max of 5 Ball Lightning can be active at one time. If they reach their target, they explode, dealing more damage the more players it hits in a 10 tile radius and inflicting Paralyzed for a whopping 12 seconds. To avoid them, targeted players must keep moving until they disappear after 35 seconds.
- Fire and Brimstone: Red targets appear on top of players. They have 2.5 seconds to move, lest they get hit by fireballs that inflict Broken and high damage on impact.
- Infernal Inferno: Soa sends out a line of fireballs spiraling out from him that inflict Burning for 3 seconds and medium-low damage on contact. When the fireballs reach the outer edge, they explode for even more damage.
- Mind Trap: Soa selects a player and traps them in a room with a miniature version of him that attacks using fireballs and melee swipes. The Soa projection has 1200 health. To free the trapped player, their teammates must destroy the "Mind Trap" object that spawns in the main arena, which has 2000 health.
- Kinetic Toss: Soa levitates a player and throws them into the walls of the room over and over 10-12 times, causing rocks of various sizes to fall from the sides. The player is not damaged, but the falling rocks will cause medium-low to medium-high damage if players are hit by them, depending on the rocks' size.
Phase 5[]
Phase 5 is exactly like Phase 3, except that Mind Trap (which traps up to 4 players in separate rooms) and Kinetic Toss are used much more often now. When Soa's HP reaches 0, light beams start appearing from him as he writhes in pain and fury before he explodes in a massive fiery blast (think anime explosion sequence).
Quotes[]
- "You come marching, believing yourselves as equals to the ancients who chained me. But I am not of their time. Their ancestors called me Soa, wrath and power, and knew fear. The Atakar was my rule, their Empire my testing ground. I have waited twenty-five thousand years. I will wait no longer!" (Intro)
- "I have waited twenty-five thousand years. I will wait no longer!" (Randomly said)
- "Your forces are lost!" (Randomly said)
- "Know who appears before you, for I am the embodiment of your fears!" (Randomly said, Phase 3 and 5 only)
- "Fell the skies! Let the earth shake, for I have returned!" (Said when marking the transitions to Phases 2 and 4)
- "I command them to know fear! I command them to raise me to my throne!" (Randomly said)
- "My lust for vengeance burns like a dragon's unyielding breath!" (Sometimes said while using Flame Rift)
- "You will know the pain of two dozen millennia, the suffering I have endured!" (Sometimes said while using Fire and Brimstone and Infernal Inferno)
- "I call upon the power of Caelis, Lord of the Sky and Master of Storms to pummel these worthless ones!" (Sometimes said while using Ball Lightning)
- "I see inside your thoughts. I can trap you in them..." (Sometimes said while using Mind Trap)
- "Feel stone's cold embrace as you smash your heads in fruitless attempts to defeat me!" (Sometimes said while using Kinetic Toss)
- "They slay, not knowing that I am the seed of destruction in their hearts. I am master and creator, what the Realm fears!" (Said at 5% HP)
- "No! NOO! IT CANNOT END THIS WAY! THE ATAKAR MUST RECONQ-AGGHHH! NOOO-" (Death sequence)
Trivia[]
- Soa is based on the final boss of the same name of SWTOR's Eternity Vault operation. His backstory will serve as the basis for the Panzer's Legacy expansion, perhaps not being developed until mid-2019, based on my current schedule.