Mission 9 boss improvement

[wite_kie]

I feel like the mission 9 boss is extremely unsatisfying. While I really like that is was the only boss that I personally felt was particularly challenging, it was in the wrong way. The boss relies on large AOEs for all of its attack which takes away almost all the area you can stand safely. Also it does its attacks in very quick succession. Even when is just moves around it deals damage you you if it runs into you and lights the ground behind it on fire, dealing damage if you move through it. Not to mention all of the smaller monsters running around making even harder to be on the ground to recharge fuel. All of this coupled with one of, if not the smallest, arena makes this boss extremely punishing if you not playing a build with a very low fuel consumption. To me it seems like the game is supposed to be a "play it your way" mech game with varying degrees of fast paced "in and out" style gameplay based of your build. So for a boss to so heavily punish every single build that isn't and low fuel consumption build seems to defeat the purpose of the game entirely. After I beat the boss without dying, (not using a build specifically designed for that boss) I didn't feel satisfied that I overcame a challenge, more like I can finally move on and I don't have you do this anymore. Up to this point playing through the campaign felt really good. I had a mech with a play style I enjoyed, that I could continuously improve after every mission. Even if the mech I was using wasn't ideal for a boss or a situation I could handle it even if it was a little tougher. When I reached this mission the game ground to a halt. I was forced to either build a mech specifically to combat this boss or try over and over until I got the perfect fight. Neither of these options are good for a game that again, to me, feels like a "play it your way' style game. All that being said I do think this boss could be one of the funnest bosses in the game. To that end here are my suggestions:
1. A solution could be to just make the arena a bit bigger. This would allow a little more breathing room for slower mechs and allow more of the arena to be usable during the fight.
2. Another solution would be to remove the small monsters entirely. Fighting him one on one would still be challenging but again without the smaller monsters would make more of the arena usable.
3. My least favorite solution would be to lower the damage of the boss. This would make the bosses area denial less of a problem. However I feel like this would just cater to an easier boss without addressing the main issue of punishing all but one play style.
4. My favorite and probably hardest to implement solution would be to make the boss use the entire area for the arena. However to keep in the spirit of a challenging boss some changes to its' attacks could make the boss really fun. Instead of running wildly around the map spreading fire, have it run quickly up and down the arena a couple times basically making 3 "lanes" with long lasting fire before stopping at the end or jumping to the end furthest from you. After landing or stopping have it then launch a series of the attacks it already has (the fireballs and the scratch attack down the entire length of the arena. This would split the map and allow for the the fast pace decision making of how to best avoid the attacks while managing fuel. After it gets low health it could still utilize the large area crystal attack that it has, just on the enlarged arena. Keeping the smaller monsters would provide incentive to not focus the boss immediately and provide an extra challenge. It would still have a lot of area denial and the challenge of having to manage fuel consumption while allowing mechs that can't boost for long periods to be able to have manage without too much punishment. I feel this would provide a unique boss fight experience to the game while sticking with the "in and out" play style.
These where just my thoughts on the boss and how to improve it in. I am curious if anyone else felt the same or if i'm just insane :).