I for one am really looking forward to the introduction of the Epic difficulty setting in Menechtarun this week.

Here's a little suggestion as to how it could be applied to the easiest raid in the game. Presenting: Epic Reaver's Fate.


1) Changes to the raid mechanics:
Keep the 'idiot box' for deaths, and the two levers. Pump the spikes up to deal ~300 damage.
Keep the spinning orbs and the 20 or 25 air elementals, but do not scale them up from elite (they aren't meant to be the key challenge in Epic mode).
Keep the concept of 'getting a charge', subject to the changes below.
Keep the final puzzle as-is.
Keep the overall time limit (IIRC it's 23 minutes). This version of the encounter includes a significant DPS race - raid groups will need to put out significant DPS and losing 2-3 players early may cause the players to be unable to deal enough damage before the bomb goes off.

2) Changes to the Reaver himself:
Increase the Reaver's stats to give him enough HP to sustain about three minutes of sustained beatings from a top-notch, well-equipped raid group; give him melee attacks comparable to those of Arraetrikos on Elite and offensive spellcasting comparable to the Abbot on Elite. He's not the major threat here, but he shouldn't be so soft that he can be ignored.

3) Changes to the 'charge' mechanic:
As in the normal versions of the raid, players can get up to four charges, and while they have exactly three or four, receive a potent buff (immune to Air Ele knockdown; +40 max HP; massive SP regeneration), and just as on Normal/Hard/Elite, the Madstone Rod can clear all charges a player has. However, losing a charge (for any reason) is much more dangerous on Epic.
Whenever a player loses their charges for any reason (time expiring, or overcharging by getting a 5th charge) other than being hit by the Madstone Rod, an enormous eruption of electrical energy surges forth from that player. This energy burst deals 100d6 electrical damage per charge to that player and all others within 40 feet (Reflex DC 50 for half). In short, it's pretty much always fatal to overcharge, to stand near someone that overcharges, or to run out of time on a charge - the only safe way to deal with this power is to ground it with a Madstone Rod. This pushes players to communicate and use teamwork.
In addition to the normal benefits of a charge, add something more for melee builds: A player that is charged gets a +60% enhancement bonus to melee attack speed and a 125% bonus to ranged attack speed (does not stack with Haste). This will be important, as high DPS is required to beat this encounter within the 23 minute time limit, and this allows melee characters to contribute in an environment where casters have unlimited SP.

4) Changes to the encounter pacing/scripting:
After the first orb is lit, have the Reaver call out (as an emote, like the Abbot announces Inferno), calling for help from the three dragons in Gianthold Tor by name. "Grundrassir! I am under attack, come to assist me at once!" "Rhudavathir, your master calls you, come and play your role in the Prophecy", and so on. (These names are likely wrong here).
As the dragons have all been slain by the players in the blooding process, the Reaver isn't able to summon them alive - instead, the corpses of the three slain dragons appear in the centre of the room.
When the second orb is lit, the Reaver notices that his dragon allies are dead and calls out 'Rhudavathir! What has become of you? Grundrassir? *name of the third dragon*? Who could have bested you? Return to battle! True Resurrection!'. At this point the DM voiceover states 'The Reaver's potent magic brings the dragons back to life. You have a fight on your hands.' From this point on, the party suffers a 'grounding' debuff, which prevents all jumping and flight, for as long as a dragon remains. The raid group must slay the three dragons, as well as deal with the exploding charges, Reverse Gravity (after four orbs are lit) and the remaining Air Elementals, and then they can fly up for completion/resurrection as usual.
When the dragons fall under 5% HP, each says something to the effect of "Stormreaver! I will not sacrifice my life again for your prophecy. No more of dragonkind shall die for you - I abandon you to your madness." and then teleports away. (Note - this provides the perfect opportunity to use one or more of them later as recurring villains somewhere else)
Once the three dragons are defeated, the encounter is the same as the Elite mode, except for the Reaver and the earth and fire elementals being tougher than usual.

5) Stats of the dragons:
The dragons are the main challenge in this design of Epic mode. Their HP should be truly significant - each should have HP 50-100% more than that of Arraetrikos in Shroud part 5 on Elite, and they should deal similar damage (each) to normal mode Arraetrikos.
In short, to beat them before the bomb goes off, players are going to need charges for the extra damage from both weapons and spells, and the extra SP for healing. Players may also want to use teamwork to focus on one at a time.
Give the dragons different defences against melee attacks - give the White Dragon a high AC and heavy fortification (as White Dragonscale armor provides these), plus a high DR; the Blue Dragon has medium AC and only 25% fortification, but deals retributive damage when struck (similar to Lightning Strike guards from the Shroud, but less damage and more frequent procs - say a 10% chance to proc 40d6 lightning damage on striking it); and the Black Dragon has low AC, only modest DR and no guards but uses a wing buffet attack.



There. That's how I'd program the epic Reaver's Fate. Discuss!