Objective-linked invulnerability makes boss damage the result of a separate, finite task. The protection state, every required objective, completed count, release transition, and window expiry must share one authoritative ledger so players can predict when ordinary attacks matter and when the loop resets.
At 0.62 s Tavi’s sword stops on Kern’s shield. Three visible crystal pylons and their solid conduits establish the full requirement before Tavi starts the route; the first crystal breaks at 1.18 s.
Autoplay is disabled by reduced motion. Scrub across 0.62, 1.18, 1.92, 2.68, 2.88, 3.05, 3.46, 4.05, 4.22, and 5.10 seconds to inspect the blocked hit, three completions, protection release, accepted hit, window close, restoration, and reset.
Build an authoritative objective ledger, an explicit immune hit response, visible links between objectives and protection, reachable routes, clear completion ownership, a synchronized release transition, a timed damage window, deterministic reset rules, multiplayer scaling, accessibility equivalents, and assertions that boss damage cannot bypass or outlive the objective state.
Represent the required objectives as stable IDs in one authoritative ledger with pending, complete, invalidated, and reset states. Derive the boss's damage permission, shield presentation, counter, encounter scripting, save or checkpoint behavior, and network replication from that ledger. Damage code should ask whether the gate is open; it must not infer openness from missing visual objects, elapsed time, or a phase animation. Give blocked attacks an explicit result without consuming upgrades or lying about contact.
Reveal the full objective count and causal links before players commit to the route. For each source, define its interaction, range, interruption rules, persistence, and feedback at completion. Measure travel between the worst pair of objectives while the boss remains active, preserve a body-sized route, and decide whether order is free, fixed, or conditionally constrained. In multiplayer, state whether objectives scale, can be completed concurrently, and who receives credit.
After the final objective, run one synchronized release transition before accepting damage, then expose window duration and remaining time through the boss, HUD, arena, and audio. Budget approach distance, attack startup, hit confirmation, and retreat inside the interval. Close damage atomically, reject late hits consistently, restore protection visibly, and only then reset or respawn objectives. Test cancellation, death, checkpoint reload, joins, and repeated completion for duplicate-open bugs.
If an unmarked source, endlessly respawning target, or off-screen interaction still feeds the shield after the visible counter appears complete, progress becomes unreliable. Declare the finite set up front, show every dependency, distinguish optional hazards from required objectives, and make the completion count come from the same IDs that control damage permission.
A final objective that silently permits damage a few frames before the shield breaks rewards guessing; a bar that remains open after damage is disabled teaches the opposite rule. Sequence completion, release, permission, warning, close, and reset with named events, and test attacks exactly on each boundary under low frame rate and network delay.
Completing an already complete source must not increment the count, replay rewards, or open another window. Use stable objective IDs, reject duplicate messages, and log the transition that changed the ledger. This is especially important when an explosion overlaps several targets or multiple clients report the same interaction.
A protection objective changes whether normal boss damage is permitted; it need not share the boss's health, body, or hit reaction. Show that relationship with links, material flow, sound, or interface grouping. When a source is also a body part, keep its own durability and the global gate as separate values so repairing one cannot corrupt the count.
Measure the longest legal objective route, interruptions along it, final-source distance to the boss, approach speed, attack startup, and window duration together. A wide objective spread can create meaningful arena movement, but the last objective should not decide damage opportunity by accidental spawn location. Consider a short grace period or boss reposition after completion.
Use source state, severed links, a completed count, boss material change, a release pulse, a remaining-time bar, audio, haptics, and captions as redundant descriptions of one state. Do not rely on color alone. Assistance may add route markers or extend the window, but should preserve the finite ledger and causal chain.
Kern drives three carved stones into old sockets around the quarry. Thin rune currents return from each seal and lock the elemental's plates into a seamless shell. When Tavi cuts the final current, the shell opens like cooling rock and the core stays exposed only until the sockets rekindle.
Every seal accepts the same readable sword interaction, the route uses ordinary ground movement, and the last seal leaves enough time to reach Kern without a dash or invulnerability upgrade. The initial blocked strike proves the exception without punishing experimentation, while the open hit and retreat remain distinct beats.
Situational immunity changes damage permission when one condition, tool, element, or linked object is active. Objective-linked invulnerability tracks a declared set of encounter tasks whose aggregate completion opens a window. A wave-clear objective advances by resolving spawned groups, while a survival phase advances with elapsed endurance; either can feed this gate, but its ledger, signals, and reset remain a separate contract.
Uumuu's membrane rejects ordinary nail and spell contact until a separate arena actor breaks it. In the Godhome version, an Ooma's released explosive core becomes a movable objective whose collision with Uumuu creates a short vulnerability interval. The example shows a compact one-item ledger and makes the protection change legible through a complete silhouette and material transition.
Rennala's first phase makes the dependency set spatial: a golden sphere protects the boss while one highlighted, singing scholar at a time carries the active requirement. Three successful disruptions break the sphere and drop Rennala into a damage window. Distinct visual and audio markers keep a changing objective identity tied to one finite completion count.
Megaleg turns the boss body into the route and protects the Grand Star with nested physical objectives. Reaching the head, removing the outer cage, opening a temporary fence gap, and breaking the inner casing form a visible dependency chain rather than a hidden health gate. Each completed barrier materially changes the remaining objective and escalates the arena response.
Found an inaccuracy or have a suggestion for this page? Propose an edit on GitHub