Should Rimworld have bosses?

[Call me Arty]

As tribal start, isn't any centipede attack like a boss fight ? :-)
Sure if you know how to handle it, it isn't that worse anymore like in RPG's with a good group.

Well, true to a degree, but you wouldn't add a bear to the list of bosses in Skyrim, would you? It doesn't take too much progress for you to be able to just shout them off the sides of mountains. Centipedes are more of a Level 40 enemy, while you're a Level 5 Tribe. A couple snipers (and a rocket launcher, if you're feeling grand) can equalize that pretty quick.

[BetaSpectre]

I think that boss fights shouldn't be a thing, the enemies should use the same kind of tech you have access to. So if a megatank appears, I want one too!

[Jaymistic]

I think the word "Boss" is being seen as a means to an end in terms of gameplay. I think it should be seen more as OPTIONAL BOSS BATTLES that has no major impact on the end game. Boss fights I would love to see are:

1. Faction Bosses (Can colonize a new base, loot and/or cripple a faction upon completion. Difficulty is 10 out of 10 with numbers being HIGH for the enemy)
2. Slaver Boss (Can accept a new colonist upon completion. This would rate 8 out 10 in difficulty)
3. Tribal Boss (Random weapons and Loot upon completion. This would rate 5 out of 10 in difficulty)
4. A variety of Alien Bosses (New Technology tree opened (RARE) or weapons upon completion. Also, only ONE alien boss battle per playthrough. This would rate 10 out of 10 in difficulty.)

These should all be OPTIONAL battles, AVOIDABLE and NOT game breaking. There would be no unique special weapons on their side or to claim for yourself, which makes it fair for both sides. This will further improve the game's uniqueness in general IMO.

[Dashthechinchilla]

I think insects should be relaunched as a boss. It always annoyed me that a whole hive and wolf sized insects could spawn on the dining table everyone uses twice a day unnoticed. Instead, an insect queen should spawn at the map edge and lay\build them.

Like a siege event. The queen spawns at the edge and moves to a nearby spot. Then spawns workers that build hives and walls for a nest. At higher wealth she can spawn with guards.

[East]

Rim World has been good to this day. However, the pattern of enemies is so simple in the battle of enemy base and world map. charge! Only that. Many games add boss-like monsters to avoid such simplicity. If there is a better way, the boss is not necessary, but if there are no other good ideas, the boss can be the next best thing.

[Kori]

While I really like the idea of bosses, please never add humanoid bullet sponges. That would be terrible.

[RyanRim]

I think it was discussed already in the toranns Magic mod thread, where many people wanted bossfights cause the mod is so OP eventually, that you have nothing to kill with a challenge. If bosses would drop valuable rewards what they "hold" then I think RimWorld would take a huge step forward (to becoming neverwinter lol). Occasional bossfights - I mean boss versions of mechanoids would be cool, and the frequency and strength of bosses grow the further you progress in game like in normal Cassandra.

[Call me Arty]

While I really like the idea of bosses, please never add humanoid bullet sponges. That would be terrible.

Exactly my point in the original post (have you tried clicking it?). I always pictured some big beastie or tough machine, seems like it would be a good alternative to "swarm of weaker things".

At the same time, ever play with the Logann mod? Basically, they're Wolverine (the animal and superhero) people. This includes a healing factor that has five strengths. It's an interesting challenge for some of them. Level 1 is can get-by without needing treatment for bruises or small scratches, and can probably heal them overnight. Level 3 can recover from some pretty serious injuries, able to justify running at a smaller/weaker firing squad with something painful at the end of a stick. Then, there's the Level X. You probably aren't going to kill a Level X Logann. What you're going to do is hope you can remove enough limbs and cause enough pain to keep him down while you kill-off the rest of his pals and he runs-off. Unless you dismember one, they will get up and keep fighting. Randy have mercy if he's taking anything.

That being said, the lore does mention a special breed of human made for war, and we do have a slew of drugs. Maybe the more lore-friendly answer over Logann of a super soldier would be fun. Less of shooting him through the neck, and just praying you can bleed him of enough go-juice, luciferium, and healing serum that he doesn't get-up again.

[Soultwister]

I only started playing Rimworld so I don't know everything about this game, but one thing I was thinking is that 'bosses' do not have to be outright aggressive but could be like a form of an event where you have more interaction.

No idea how well this would work but imagine if there was a creature that 'ate' electricity. Strong enough defenses can prevent it from doing so but it it was able to reach a power conduit it would tap in, disabling all devices attached the the power conduit and even draining connected batteries (so kind of like an isolated solar flare event). This would give some possibilities on how to deal with it. You can try to kill it where it would go on a rampage threatening your base and pawns. If you let it feed it will eventually get full and leave on its own and if you are worried about this creature you can make some redundant systems so that important systems won't get compromised. If you really wanted to you could create a decoy, a system that generates power but doesn't actually power anything.

Another boss like event could be a mechanoid scout drone that either enters your map or is located on the globe. If you leave it alone, you could likely expect a mechanoid raid of around what would normally be generated. If you attack it and it escapes, the raid will be stronger than normally generated. If you destroy it, no additional mechanoid raid will be generated other than what is normally created by the storyteller (let's assume that they don't care if a drone goes offline without reporting anything).

Again, I don't know how well these ideas would actually work, but I think 'bosses' can work in this game but not in the sense of simply a very strong enemy. Unless you hunt after on the world map like some people suggested, there should be ways to avoid fighting it but it should cost something while taking the risk to kill it should be dangerous but come with a reward.

[Call me Arty]

. . .
No idea how well this would work but imagine if there was a creature that 'ate' electricity. Strong enough defenses can prevent it from doing so but it it was able to reach a power conduit it would tap in, disabling all devices attached the the power conduit and even draining connected batteries (so kind of like an isolated solar flare event). This would give some possibilities on how to deal with it. You can try to kill it where it would go on a rampage threatening your base and pawns. If you let it feed it will eventually get full and leave on its own and if you are worried about this creature you can make some redundant systems so that important systems won't get compromised. If you really wanted to you could create a decoy, a system that generates power but doesn't actually power anything.

Another boss like event could be a mechanoid scout drone that either enters your map or is located on the globe. If you leave it alone, you could likely expect a mechanoid raid of around what would normally be generated. If you attack it and it escapes, the raid will be stronger than normally generated. If you destroy it, no additional mechanoid raid will be generated other than what is normally created by the storyteller (let's assume that they don't care if a drone goes offline without reporting anything).
. . .

Those are actually really neat ideas. I'd love to see them in the game! I put this in the General Discussion section to start a conversation, but you should legitimately brainstorm those for a bit and put it in Suggestions. You've got solid ideas, and some actually really clever ideas on how to deal with them (ignoring the drone, attacking and failing, preventing a raid, and the decoys for the electricity eaters), I don't even care if they're borrowed from other sources.