Evaluate these super-OP optional bosses for my level 30 party

[50Copper]

My campaign is nearing its end, and I have built some super powerful hidden items to give away before they fight the final boss. However, they will not come easy, and each can only be acquired by defeating a super-powered optional boss. I will use this topic to post them as they are finished, in the hopes of getting critique. All of these fights will happen at level 30.

My party includes the following:

Tiefling Paladin, Saint, immune to dazed, stunned, and domination, capable of handing out healing surges and saving throws like candy, makes the party mostly immune to all statuses by saving
Dragonborn Warlord/Sorcerer, Exarch of Bahamut, hands out attacks to the ranger and fighter, does lots of damage with lightning daggers, big source of healing, can get all of his defenses over 55 for an encounter, seven canaries.
Minotaur Fighter, Adamantine Warrior, has regen 13 all the time, up to regen 38 once a day for an encounter while bloodied, resistance to all damage, knocks things prone constantly, loves charging, almost impossible to kill
Half-Orc Ranger, Battlefield Archer, Raven Knight, DPS champ, frost cheese, high crit, ten attacks in a nova round, insubstantial every round due to running, doesn't take attacks of opportunity from quarried foes
Doppleganger Wizard, Sage of Ages, gets all the benefits, utilizes mostly charm spells, magic missile is a constant source of much auto-damage.

I trust the two members of my party to not read any further. Without further ado...

http://i40.tinypic.com/2i08bcy.png
http://i40.tinypic.com/2i08bcy.png

Here we have Dale, inspired by a character I've played before in one of my friend's campaigns. Dale is a schizophrenic half-paladin, half-warlock, half-elf that worships Caiphon, and has been chosen to bring him into existence in the world. I don't have many of his attacks worked out yet, but he's gonna cherry pick some of the best paladin and warlock powers. The rest of his features are mapped out though. He'll fight until reduced to 0, explode with the radiant-one feature, then use two lay-on-hands to get back to 75% health. His aura means 75% of all attacks will be missing him unless some severe save penalties are placed upon him.

Upon killing him, the Paladin gets this:

The Grandfather (+7)
Weapon: Heavy Blade
Critical: +7d6 radiant damage
Property: When this weapon is wielded in two hands, you can also treat it as a heavy shield.
Property: You gain 30 maximum hit points and 3 healing surges.
Property: When you're not bloodied, you deal +7 damage with this weapon.
Power (Encounter): Free action. All of your defenses are equal to your highest defense until the end of your next turn.
Power (Daily): Free action. Until the end of the encounter, all of your defenses are equal to your highest defense, and you gain resist 15 to all damage.

http://i42.tinypic.com/muykvs.png
http://i42.tinypic.com/muykvs.png

My party managed to kill the Tarrasque at level 17. It's quite a disappointment as far as monsters go. I'm hoping this can help instill some of the fear that the 3.5 Tarrasque could cause in a party who didn't know how badly wizards broke the game.

If they win, the Fighter gets this:

Messerschmidt's Reaver (+7)
Weapon: Axe
Critical: +7d12 fire damage
Property: Whenever you roll maximum damage with this weapon, roll that die again and add that total to the damage dealt.
Property: Your weapon gains brutal 2 and high crit.
Property: You gain a +4 bonus to opportunity attacks and combat challenge attacks made with this weapon.
Power (Encounter): Free action. Use this power when you hit with an attack with this weapon. Deal +3d12 damage with the attack.
Power (Daily): Free action. Until the encounter ends, you deal +2d12 damage with every attack made with this weapon.

http://i42.tinypic.com/sb7s5x.png
http://i42.tinypic.com/sb7s5x.png

There is a running plot of colossi built in the image of evil gods used in the last great war 1000 years ago. The party has already encountered 3 of them, including the colossus of Tiamat, Lolth, and Gruumsh, destroying the first two after accidentally freeing each. They'll soon have to fight the colossus of Gruumsh as well.

This would be the most powerful of them by a fair bit, and if they killed it, they could salvage it for its dynamo, which would go to the Wizard:

Annihilus (+7)
Implement: Orb
Critical: +7d6 psychic damage
Property: Any arcane at-will power used with this implement deals +7 damage.
Property: Any arcane power used through this implement deals half-damage on a miss.
Power (Encounter): Free action. When an enemy within your line of sight would save against an effect, you can force them to reroll it with a -5 penalty.
Power (Daily): Free action. Until the end of the encounter, once per round when you are hit by an attack you can make a saving throw. On a success, you only take half damage.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2v8qyxg.png
http://i43.tinypic.com/2v8qyxg.png

This one needs some explanation. Ok, so first off, there's a type of weapon called an "Ironbow," in the campaign, which is a gun for all intents and purposes. It can only be fired by someone with demon blood, and the half-orc ranger qualifies. They've run into a construct bounty hunter a few times, who was after the minotaur because he had a shard of Tharizdun inside of him, and the big bad had hired the bounty hunter to kill him and bring his heart back. Said bounty hunter was driven by a desire to kill the unkillable, mostly hunting gods and immortal beings.

He worshiped the old gods, mainly deities and beings far older than the pantheon, and one of the few remaining ones was contained in a retriever shell he kept as a "tabernacle" of sorts. This is essentially him fusing with that god, coming back to battle the party one last time. His eternal soul cannot rest without such a challenge.

If they win, the Ranger gets this:

Widowmaker (+7)
Weapon: Ironbow
Critical: +7d6 force damage
Property: You can crit with this weapon on a roll of 18-20.
Property: This weapon never jams or needs reloaded.
Property: This weapon gains brutal 2 and high crit.
Power (Encounter): Minor action. Make an at-will power attack with this weapon.
Power (Daily): Free action. Until the encounter ends, you can use your hunter's quarry damage any time you hit a creature that you have previously chosen as your quarry.

http://i40.tinypic.com/i5xfgg.png
http://i40.tinypic.com/i5xfgg.png

Backstory. So, a chimera lich wizard has been plaguing the party since early paragon tier. Its whole goal was to replace its brittle body with one that could stand up to the BBEG, so he could take back control of his life. He had discovered and freed the BBEG, and had been made a slave. For awhile he was ok with it, but he didn't like the BBEGs plans, so he decided to take over through a xanatos gambit.

He failed at creating an ultimate life form on several occasions until the party killed the tarrasque. He gathered a sample of its remains and bred a few babies through genetic experimentation. Eventually he was able to craft a half-tarrasque using it as a base, adding genes from the party so that it would know how to defeat them each (think if Cell from DBZ was a phylactery).

Anyway, they would discover this as a failed experiment that continued to grow on its own in one of his leftover laboratories. I've always enjoyed how ridiculous Spelljammer's giant space hamsters were, and Woolly Rupert has always been my favorite "he-who-shall-not-be-named" monster. This is my interpretation, executed in 4e fashion.

If they win, they get this. It would be a corrupted crystal of elemental energy that had been fueling the beast.:

Wizardspike (+7)
Weapon: Dagger
Critical: +7d6 acid, cold, fire, lightning, and poison damage
Property: Choose one arcane at-will power that you know. You can use that power as a minor action once per round.
Property: Gain 15 resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and poison damage. If you already have resistances to any of these damage types, increase your resistance by 15 instead.
Power (Encounter): Free action. Regain one arcane encounter power that you have already used.
Power (Daily): Free action. Regain one arcane daily power that you have already used. You gain a +4 bonus to hit when you use that power.

That's all for now. I need to finish the last 3. Well, give me any feedback to make these fights more exciting. Thanks.

[Sipex]

I can't comment on the bosses really but the weapons, some comments.

First, I like this idea, I'm a huge fan of giving the players something special and if your players played ANY final fantasy game and liked it they'll love this idea so much. It's like getting the ultima weapons.

Second, you're going to need to shore up your final boss battle if your players get these weapons. The weapons themselves may not be too powerful (that remains to be seen) but the fact that your final boss will be weaker than the optional bosses is going to suck. The players need an epic finish.

Maybe add a final form to the boss which the PCs get to fight and destroy IF they get the weapons. If not, they are only given the option to seal it away?

[50Copper]

I can't comment on the bosses really but the weapons, some comments.

First, I like this idea, I'm a huge fan of giving the players something special and if your players played ANY final fantasy game and liked it they'll love this idea so much. It's like getting the ultima weapons.

Second, you're going to need to shore up your final boss battle if your players get these weapons. The weapons themselves may not be too powerful (that remains to be seen) but the fact that your final boss will be weaker than the optional bosses is going to suck. The players need an epic finish.

Maybe add a final form to the boss which the PCs get to fight and destroy IF they get the weapons. If not, they are only given the option to seal it away?

Basically the plan. It'll be level 35 base, and I'll increase it by 1 level for each weapon that the party gets. As well as the option to destroy it, rather than seal it away.

[Surrealistik]

UENT effects are going to _rock_ your solos.

Otherwise, they look pretty bastardly.

BTW, Blindsight and Truesight are essentially the same thing, unless you've houseruled otherwise.

[Sipex]

Sounds awesome :D

Oh jeez, I actually had more comments on the actual weapons themselves too :P

1) The Grandfather
- This sounds like a Full Blade almost although what you make it is completely up to you. I like that it acts as a shield as well, does your paladin care about shield bonuses at all?
- What's the Paladin's greatest weakness that he is aware of? IE: What does he complain about the most or talk about shoring up?
- I like the daily powers, very defender-esque.

2) Messerschmidt's Reaver
- I take it your fighter likes his damage? This weapon is full of it. Is there anything else the fighter enjoys doing that could add some variance?

3) Annihilus
- I admit, I'm not fond of the name. That's something for you to decide though but personally I'd go with something like "Eye of Ioun" or something which means a lot to the player. Maybe make a theme of allowing the players to name their own weapons instead? You can double back on this in a future campaign, using the names they gave their weapons as little call backs to them
- I like the ability to make a save harder than normal once an encounter, fits well with the wizard.
- I am unsure if the wizard cares about damage at all, but he's your player so you know him better than I do. If he doesn't care about damage though, maybe revisit those improvements.
- He's got a decent "OH NO" button added to this but it's a daily power and it only works once in the encounter (unlike the other two daily powers which last the entire encounter). Maybe try to shore this up? Unsure.

4) Widowmaker
- Getting a weapon from an esteemed rival is always awesome, good approach. The fact the Orc is one of the few that can use it is also a plus.
- You mentioned the ranger was into frost cheese but this weapon only deals force damage. Not only will this negate his advantage (unless he has other means of getting frost) but I'm not entirely sure why you chose force in the first place. There a reason for this? I'm just honestly curious.
-- Actually, that brings this ahead for everyone, do these mega weapons reflect their current weapons at all? I mean, some people build a good portion of their character around their weapon so you may need to check on that.
- The daily power seems very lacking, especially since it sounds like the party has (mostly) big boss encounters left. This ability seems to work best when the ranger has multiple targets and even then, only for a ranger who jumps from target to target on a regular basis.
- Does the Orc use an Ironbow already? Is he aware and does he care about the possibility of jamming?

[50Copper]

UENT effects are going to _rock_ your solos.

Otherwise, they look pretty bastardly.

BTW, Blindsight and Truesight are essentially the same thing, unless you've houseruled otherwise.

I thought so too, but you can be blinded with truesight. Since the Paladin has the immediate action power which blinds every time you attack within 5 squares, it actually came up.

[Surrealistik]

I thought so too, but you can be blinded with truesight. Since the Paladin has the immediate action power which blinds every time you attack within 5 squares, it actually came up.

The current definition of truesight according to the Compendium glossary:

truesight
See blindsight.

Exactly the same thing.

[50Copper]

Sounds awesome :D

Oh jeez, I actually had more comments on the actual weapons themselves too :P

1) The Grandfather
- This sounds like a Full Blade almost although what you make it is completely up to you. I like that it acts as a shield as well, does your paladin care about shield bonuses at all?
- What's the Paladin's greatest weakness that he is aware of? IE: What does he complain about the most or talk about shoring up?
- I like the daily powers, very defender-esque.

He really doesn't have a weakness, aside from damage. AC is useful, and yeah it was gonna be a fullblade. He used to be an avenger, and he used a fullblade, but traded for a longsword when he became a Paladin. Figure it'll let him come full circle.


2) Messerschmidt's Reaver
- I take it your fighter likes his damage? This weapon is full of it. Is there anything else the fighter enjoys doing that could add some variance

Surviving. He has insane regen, and he likes being able to stand toe-to-toe with anything. The daily works with the fighter stance where he deals auto-damage to everything, so he will love it.


3) Annihilus
- I admit, I'm not fond of the name. That's something for you to decide though but personally I'd go with something like "Eye of Ioun" or something which means a lot to the player. Maybe make a theme of allowing the players to name their own weapons instead? You can double back on this in a future campaign, using the names they gave their weapons as little call backs to them
- I like the ability to make a save harder than normal once an encounter, fits well with the wizard.
- I am unsure if the wizard cares about damage at all, but he's your player so you know him better than I do. If he doesn't care about damage though, maybe revisit those improvements.
- He's got a decent "OH NO" button added to this but it's a daily power and it only works once in the encounter (unlike the other two daily powers which last the entire encounter). Maybe try to shore this up? Unsure.

Naming theme stems from Diablo II Unique Epic items. He loves spamming magic missile, and its hard to get bonus damage to magic missile. Since he can fire it 3 times a round with warlord help and daily wizard's fury, it's like a bonus 21 damage. And the daily works all encounter, if that was not clear.


4) Widowmaker
- Getting a weapon from an esteemed rival is always awesome, good approach. The fact the Orc is one of the few that can use it is also a plus.
- You mentioned the ranger was into frost cheese but this weapon only deals force damage. Not only will this negate his advantage (unless he has other means of getting frost) but I'm not entirely sure why you chose force in the first place. There a reason for this? I'm just honestly curious.
-- Actually, that brings this ahead for everyone, do these mega weapons reflect their current weapons at all? I mean, some people build a good portion of their character around their weapon so you may need to check on that.
- The daily power seems very lacking, especially since it sounds like the party has (mostly) big boss encounters left. This ability seems to work best when the ranger has multiple targets and even then, only for a ranger who jumps from target to target on a regular basis.
- Does the Orc use an Ironbow already? Is he aware and does he care about the possibility of jamming?

It deals force crit damage, but he has frost whetstones to help. And it's because the enemy itself uses force damage, because he has so many vorpal attacks. The weapons themselves are fairly reflective of the character they will go to, yes, and no character has really built themselves around their weapons. The daily power will trigger on every hit, not every target, so if he hits one target 10 times in one round, thats 10x hunters quarry damage.

And yes, he has voiced many concerns that he is starting to need move and minor actions to unjam his weapons. He took a feat to lessen minor to free, and move to minor, but his best weapon right now was downgraded from standard to move, and has screwed him on occasion. He rolls a lot of dice.

[50Copper]

The current definition of truesight according to the Compendium glossary:

truesight
See blindsight.

Exactly the same thing.

Awesome. Really awesome.

[Sipex]

Right, sounds like you built the weapons around your players and I have no additional questions then, I'll watch this topic for the others as they come :D

[Surrealistik]

Oh, and save penalizers are also going to wreck your solos, since they have no reactive saving throw generators, or especial bonuses, and only one has multiple turns.

Hopefully the wizard isn't too heavy on them.

[Sipex]

Where are these solos you're commenting on? All I can find are rough descriptions of the bosses.

[50Copper]

They're images posted in the spoilers. Do you have images disabled?

EDIT: I've posted the links above the pictures.

[Sipex]

Ah, I do.

Thanks!

[50Copper]

Updated to include the 5th guardian of the epic weapon.

2 remaining.

[Surrealistik]

I'd give your solos that lack multiple turns some way of shaking off effects at a cost as No Action, either HP damage, transformation to a lesser effect/penalty, action cost (lose a minor or move for example), dismissing effects (like zones/conjurations), or exhausting a recharge power.

Even those with multiple turns need a way to address Until End of Next Turn effects.