WildStar DevSpeak video explains how raids are different

I don’t know if this is a boss or not, but he looks imposing enough to head up this news item.

Raids are a big part of the group player’s MMO experience, and so WildStar will obviously have some. But WildStar prides itself on doing things a bit differently, so it’s probably for the best that the latest DevSpeak video explains what makes the raids in this game different from the norm.

For starters, raids are available for 20-40 players. The Telegraph combat system means that you can’t just learn a raid by reading a walkthrough online; you’ll need to experience it a few times to really get to grips with it. Replayability is a major thing, with different bosses and events available from week to week, and “enemies learn from your pesky visits.” The reward for surviving all of this, obviously, will be

I have to say that the raids on offer look kinda fun, and I’m not really a raider anymore because I hate people. One fight in the video shows the arena crumbling under the boss’ attacks, meaning that whoever’s taking fire needs to be be careful not to make the area completely impassible for half of the team. Another had whirling electric fields, and another had the boss spraying out bullet hell-like patterns of fire. I wouldn’t say any of this is exactly new – replayability aside – but if we can take this video at face value, it looks like pretty much every boss fight is designed to be as entertaining and complex as the best from other MMOs.

Oh, and the raids are also kinda big. As the video says: “Try six bosses, ten mini-bosses, and five events. Or, say, seven bosses, 16 mini-bosses, and two rooms. That are also bosses.”

WildStar is currently in open beta, and the full version is due out on 3 June.