New Ideas: Passive Abilities And Warframe Specialization Bonuses

[FragPenguin]

Ok, so Warframe centers around each warframe representing a different class i.e Ash is a Rogue, Frost is a Battlemage, Rhino is a Tank, Saryn is a Warlock, etc.

 

So as long as we're in the realm of MMO fantasy mechanics, why not add passive abilities that unlock as you level up your Warframe? Here's a few ideas:

 

-Rhino-

+Additional damage reduction at regular interval levels (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30)

+Enemies are more likely to target Rhino when he uses his abilities, OR enemies automatically turn their attention to him when he activates Rhino Skin. So basically he generates more threat.

+Any melee weapon he uses automatically bypasses a percentage of an enemies' armor due to the massive strength he puts into his swings. Ex: Instead of taking 33% normal damage, Medium Grineer take 36-45% reduced damage from Rhino's melee instead.

+Redirection and Vitality are 5% more effective when placed in Rhino's polarity slots due to his heavy armor, resilience, and constitution.

+All Mods that add Chance to Stun are 1 to 5% more effective when wielded by Rhino.

+[Added AFTER original post] There is a 1 to 10% chance that a 2H weapon's attack will be uninterruptable, even when Rhino Skin is not active. (This Passive ability will be difficult to unlock [see Warframe Specialization section] as it is a potentially VERY powerful advantage to have.)

+If Rhino takes more than 100 points of Health damage from a single hit, he gains 2 seconds of invulnerability.

 

-Loki-

+Enemies take .5 to 1.5 seconds longer to react to Loki when first spotting him when in an unalerted state.

+Kills made while Invisibility is active extends the duration of Invisibility by 1 to 1.5 seconds, which can stack up to 15 times.

+Cameras take 1.5 seconds longer to enter Alert status when Loki is spotted.

+[Added AFTER original post]  All melee attacks performed have a 0.1% chance MAXIMUM to bypass enemy shields and be instantly fatal. A melee attack performed from behind an enemy has a 0.5% chance to be fatal. A melee attack performed on an enemy in an unalerted state has a 1% chance to be fatal. A melee attack performed from behind an unalerted enemy (not a stealth takedown attack) has a 1.5% chance of being fatal. This does NOT apply to Bosses. While this may seem useless at first, imagine your surprise when a level 45 Ancient Disruptor with full health dies with one hit from your Ceramic Dagger. A nice surprise that will happen once in a LONG while. (To balance this passive, only Level 20-30 1H melee weapons may benefit from this ability)

+If Loki takes more than 125 points of Health damage from a single hit, he gains 3 seconds of Invisiblity.

 

-Volt-

+Ability to recharge a portion of his shields if he interacts with any sort of terminal, even if it doesn't need to be hacked. However, each individual terminal can only be used this way once per mission, and consecutive uses within a certain amount of time is subject to diminishing returns.

+At Affinity level 30, Volt has a chance to emit an AoE electrical charge when his shields are depleted. This AoE effect is a weaker version of his Overload Uber ability, but has a shorter range and reduced damage, but has a 100% chance to stun all enemies in the active radius. This ability has a 2 minute cooldown.

+All Mods that add Electrical damage are 5 to 25% more effective when wielded by Volt.

+Corpus weapons deal 5 to 30% less damage to Volt's shields, as Volt seems to be designed to combat the Corpus.

+[Added AFTER OP] There is a small chance that Volt will regain some energy when hit by Corpus energy weapons (0.5 to 1%) or upon completing a console hack without using a cipher (1 to 3% chance)

+[Added AFTER OP] Using Shock on a console will overload it, and will initiate a lockdown in that area.

+[Added AFTER OP] Using Shock on a locked Storage Locker grants a 25% to overload the system and unlock it.

+[Added AFTER OP] Using Shock to kill a mechanical enemy (Moa, Osprey, Latcher, Roller) will overcharge its systems, granting a chance that it will drop an Energy Orb +50 instead of a +25.

+[Added AFTER OP] Shock has a chance to arc to up to 3 nearby enemies, with each bounce dealing 50% of the original damage. This only works if the enemies are metallic in nature (This includes Corpus Crew because they have metal helmets. The arc will also work with some Grineer because their weapons are metallic.) Grineer that are hit by the arc will drop their weapons and revert to melee [VERY debatable].

+If Volt takes more than 100 points of Health damage in a single hit, he gains 2 seconds of increased speed.

 

-Ember-

+Ember is 25 to 95% resistant to all forms of fire damage. I mean, one of her abilities sets her on fire, and she doesn't take any damage then! Inconsistency alert, DE!

+All mods that add Fire damage are 5 to 25% more effective when wielded by Ember

+Infested deal 5 to 30% less damage to Ember, as she is specially designed to combat them.

+Ancient Disruptors' Energy Drain is only 50% effective versus Ember's Shields and Energy Pool. (I'm not so sure about this one. I think it would make her overpowered on Infested missions.)

+If Ember takes more than 125 points of Health damage in a single hit, she will self-immolate for 5 seconds, dealing the same amount of damage as her second Ability.

 

-Trinity-

+At Affinity level 30, Trinity possesses a Health Regen Aura similar to the Artifact.

+Immunity to Poison damage.

+Bonus melee damage versus Infested.

+Health Orbs are 100 to 300% more effective. This may seem like a lot, but seeing that 100% more than +25 is 50, 300% doesn't seem all that high.

+If Trinity takes more than 125 points of Health damage in a single hit, she will self-heal for 1.5x the amount of damage taken. This can only occur once every 5 minutes.

 

-Mag-

+Reduced Health damage from ballistic projectiles. Mag has a constant aura of magnetism surrounding her that slows the speed of incoming metallic objects. The percentage reduced increases with Affinity level.

+Reduced damage from shrapnel-based explosions, such as Grineer grenades and Latchers, but not exploding barrels, which are mostly extreme heat.

+Mag encases her bullets with a magnetic field, giving them more penetrating power causing them to deal additional AP damage. (Gauss rounds)

+Using Pull on a shattered window when the hull is compromised lowers the [metal] blast shield without the need to override at a console.

+Latchers cannot attach to Mag because of her constant magnetic repulsion.

+If Mag takes more than 100 points of Health damage in a single hit, she will surround herself with a magnetic repulsion field for 3 seconds. This field repels all matter, including bullets, shrapnel, and charged particle projectiles. Infested will be unable to approach.

 

-Saryn-

+Saryn passively deals corrosive damage with her melee attacks. .5% poison damage every 5 Affinity levels.

+Instead of taking damage from poison, Saryn gains health by standing in poisonous vapors or being hit by the aftereffects of a Toxic Ancient. She gains health at the same rate that others lose health when poisoned. This rate does not increase with Affinity Level for the sake of balance.

+Saryn does not take Health damage in a vacuum. She already has deadly poison in her lungs. I don't imagine that a lack of oxygen would affect her much, either.

+At Affinity level 30, Saryn is constantly surrounded by a poisonous aura that deals corrosive damage to enemies within it's radius. Once an enemy has taken a certain amount of damage from this aura, it no longer affects them (this is purely for balance, as this ability could easily be abused).

+If Saryn takes more than 100 points of Health damage in a single hit, she will automatically activate Molt, even if she has insufficient energy, or it isn't equipped. This can only occur once every 3 minutes, and the discarded shell is 50% weaker than the normal one.

 

-Frost-

+Frost does not suffer from reduced shield capacity on Extreme Cold missions. (This is NOT my original idea. Credit goes to Feldgrep. I just thought this idea would get more press here.)

+Frost slowly regenerates energy on Extreme Cold missions, similar to the Artifact ability.

+Frost's abilities are 5 to 20% more efficient (reduced energy cost) on Extreme Cold missions and 3 to 15% more efficient on any mission where snow and ice is present.

+Frost's abilities deal more damage and slow enemies more on missions where snow and ice are present (includes Extreme Cold missions)

+Damage abilities used on or near extreme heat sources (Ex. Ice Wave used on an explosive barrel) will generate an obscuring cloud of steam that forces enemies out of an Alerted state for the duration of the steam cloud, allowing you to perform Stealth Takedowns while in the cloud with impunity.

+On snowy missions, Frost's base armor value is increased 5 to 25%.

+On Extreme Heat missions, Frost is surrounded by a steam cloud that reduces enemy accuracy by 20 to 50% at ranges other than point blank.

+Mods that add Freeze damage have a 5 to 30% increased Slow duration when wielded by Frost.

+If Frost takes more than 100 points of damage in a single hit, he will freeze over, gaining a thick shell of icy armor for 3 seconds that reduces all damage by 90%.

 

 

Now, those are just a FEW ideas, and I know I didn't touch some of the other Warframes. But those examples were to set you up for my next idea: Warframe Specialization Bonuses. You see, those Passive abilities aren't available to you as soon as you acquire a new Warframe. No, no! The more you use a specific Warframe, the more Passive abilities you will unlock! The Passive skills will increase in potency as you gain Affinity, but only when you have used a Warframe enough will the most powerful Passive skills be available. Let me give you an example:

 

You just finished creating the Volt Warframe in the Foundry. It's Unranked. You've never used it in the field, so you have no Affinity with it. Only ONE Passive ability is unlocked: 5% Shield damage reduction vs. Corpus weapons.

Your Login Reward that day gives you enough Warframe Affinity to advance your Volt Frame to level 2 (It's an example. Roll with it.). That is enough to unlock his Passive Ability that allows him to recharge his shields by interfacing with a console. HOWEVER, you still haven't gone into the field with him yet, so that Passive is locked. How do you unlock it? You gain Specialization by meeting certain requirements with a Warframe while on missions. Killing 250 enemies from any faction will be enough to unlock the Shield Recharge Passive. However, in order to unlock the more powerful or specialized Passives, you will need to accomplish certain things. For example, in order to level your Damage Reduction vs. Corpus weapons, you will need to take a certain amount of Shield damage from the Corpus enemies. Let's say you need to unlock Reduction vs Corpus Level 3. That would require you to take maybe 250,000 points of Shield damage from Corpus enemies.   

 

By adding Passive abilities, you would be adding further incentive to specialize in one particular Warframe, and would extend the playability lifetime for each one. Making it so you need to unlock each Passive by meeting certain requirements will also encourage players to stick with one Warframe to master in order to maximize face-wrecking ability before moving on to master the next one.

 

I am open to constructive criticism, but please don't be overly negative. I would like this idea to come to the attention of the Developers, so please help me out by up-voting so they will take notice.

Edited May 20, 2013 by FragPenguin

[Vesper_Akiri]

They do have passive abilities as they level up, increased health, increased shield, increase in power and increase in energy pool. You'll notice this when your frame levels up and in brackets it will explain what increased.

[FragPenguin]

They do have passive abilities as they level up, increased health, increased shield, increase in power and increase in energy pool. You'll notice this when your frame levels up and in brackets it will explain what increased.

I know all about that. However I don't think those would make each Warframe more unique, do you? All the increase in power, shields and health represents is that the Warframe just increased its power. That alone won't encourage players to max out a Warframe and stick to it. I want Warframes to differentiate themselves from each other with more than just their Active Abilities.

[crow-k]

Ash is a Rouge

 

She doesn't look red too me.

 

 

Also, I plus 1. This is not a shabby idea

Edited May 13, 2013 by crow-k

[FragPenguin]

Ash is a Rouge

 

She doesn't look red too me.

I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. Good catch, sir. I'll fix it right away.

[-Thresher-]

I like your ideas! Having these passives make the Frames more unique.

+1

[Jalal76]

I really like this idea. What sells me the most is how you've linked passives to meeting certain in-game requirements. This would encourage players to not only play more with their frames, but also to romp around other planets in the entire solar system instead of sticking to the early maps or farming defense maps.

 

One variation you might consider is to make the passives optional somehow - like a tree. I have no idea how this is going to be done, but this is what I have in mind. Taking your examples further, supposing you raise affinity for Mag up to the desired level, so now you have a choice; either take guass rounds OR take reduced health damage from projectile weapons. You have to pick one. Once you've made your selection (after clicking yes, on the mandatory 'are you completely, absolutely, 100%, cross your heart and hope to die SURE,' button) then the passives will upgrade automatically after meeting the in-game requirements for levelling that passive (shot at for 250,000 dmg for lvl 2 etc.)

 

Then, supposing you think your passive progression wasnt working out like you thought it would and you want to respec. Simple. Shell out the platinum for the handy dandy Orokin Recalibrator and reset your passives back to level 1. You can choose passives depending upon your affinity pool but you will lose any additional levels you had earned. If you dont want to shell out plat for the Orokin Recalibrator-thingy, then you can farm '?' alerts for the ultra rare bp drop, OR hope you get lucky with the daily reward (fat chance there).

[Tegajinn]

I like the concept.  Currently, none of the warframes have much variation other than thier 1 through 4 skills.  Furthermore, I'd like to see each frame synergize with certain weapons while having disadvantages to others.  I dislike how all of my frames can utlize my Hek with the same expected result.  For example, the Trinity should not be as proficient in heavy weapons as the Rhino but is more proficient in small arms.

[Unknown924]

I like the idea. What about having slots for the passives that unlock as you level up? At level 30 you could use all of the abilities but at lower levels you would have to decide which ones you want for each mission.

There could also be a few universal passives that could be unlocked through mastery rank or reaching level 30 with a weapon. These could take up a passive slot or not.

EX Master of Many Forms - increase experience by 5% for each mastery level you have.

Ammo Efficiency: Rifle/Pistol/etc - gain 5% more ammo from pickups for each level 30 weapon you have that uses that ammo type.

If there are passives based on having level 30 weapons, they could only count the weapons in your inventory. This would help DE by giving players more reason to buy slots and keep existing weapons instead of selling them off to make room for new ones.

The specialization idea is really nice also. A few I thought of:

Rhino: Chance to ignore crowd control while swinging a heavy weapon. This could be unlocked by getting crowd controlled or by dealing damage with heavy weapons.

Excalibur: Increased damage with single blades like Cronus. Unlock by dealing damage with the appropriate weapon type.

Frost: Chance to apply cold slow effect when dealing damage from any source. Unlock by slowing enemies with cold damage/effects

Edited May 14, 2013 by Unknown924

[Dantal]

Its a good idea, but why not make them warframe specific mods like they are already doing with some weapons. If more room is needed, maybe they could move the warframe abilities to their own slots that dont cost mod points and give warframes 8 regular mod slots.

 

This would give players something more to work for.

[Geisterklinge]

I agree with the principle of passives/diversification and like it concept very much.
However, I think that a lot of the examples are incredibly strong and/or remove diversification. For that reason I strongly disagree with warframes getting more effectiveness than other warframes out of some mods. I very much like the flavor-ish things though like Ember fire resistance or Mag Pull to seal hullbreaches I'd love to see stuff like that.

[FragPenguin]

I agree with the principle of passives/diversification and like it concept very much.

However, I think that a lot of the examples are incredibly strong and/or remove diversification. For that reason I strongly disagree with warframes getting more effectiveness than other warframes out of some mods. I very much like the flavor-ish things though like Ember fire resistance or Mag Pull to seal hullbreaches I'd love to see stuff like that.

Getting more effectiveness out of specific mods would encourage players to have a Warframe that specializes in dealing with a particular faction. Elemental mods in non-specialized Warframes would still be as effective as they are now, but boosting the effectiveness when used by certain Warframes would add a little incentive to acquire a Warframe if only to deal with a specific faction.

[FragPenguin]

I really like this idea. What sells me the most is how you've linked passives to meeting certain in-game requirements. This would encourage players to not only play more with their frames, but also to romp around other planets in the entire solar system instead of sticking to the early maps or farming defense maps.

 

One variation you might consider is to make the passives optional somehow - like a tree. I have no idea how this is going to be done, but this is what I have in mind. Taking your examples further, supposing you raise affinity for Mag up to the desired level, so now you have a choice; either take guass rounds OR take reduced health damage from projectile weapons. You have to pick one. Once you've made your selection (after clicking yes, on the mandatory 'are you completely, absolutely, 100%, cross your heart and hope to die SURE,' button) then the passives will upgrade automatically after meeting the in-game requirements for levelling that passive (shot at for 250,000 dmg for lvl 2 etc.)

 

Then, supposing you think your passive progression wasnt working out like you thought it would and you want to respec. Simple. Shell out the platinum for the handy dandy Orokin Recalibrator and reset your passives back to level 1. You can choose passives depending upon your affinity pool but you will lose any additional levels you had earned. If you dont want to shell out plat for the Orokin Recalibrator-thingy, then you can farm '?' alerts for the ultra rare bp drop, OR hope you get lucky with the daily reward (fat chance there).

Good input, but if we are going to have different trees, shouldn't they be categorized? 1 tree for Offensive capability (Gauss rounds), 1 tree for Defensive capability (Damage reduction), and 1 tree for Unique abilities (Using Pull to shut blast doors, recharging shields by interfacing with consoles, etc.).

[Nuntium]

Excalibur could get a

5-20% bonus to one handed long swords

5-10% attack speed bonus with long swords

5-10% accuracy bonus

Edited May 15, 2013 by Nuntium

[MageMeat]

This is a brilliant idea! While I'm not exactly sure how this could be implemented with balance, it would make each warframe much more unique than they are now.

 

Also, Loki instakills? Interesting idea.

[Drakontis]

Ash is a Rouge

 

She doesn't look red too me.

 

 

Also, I plus 1. This is not a shabby idea

TIL Ash is a girl. 

[Fluffbox]

I support this idea.

[inthephonebox]

This is a wonderful idea. I also fully support a trait tree as described by Jalal. I would also like to see some proficiency differences between weapons and maneuvers. It doesn't make much sense that a Scindo/Gorgon in Mag's tiny hands is just as effective as a Scindo/Gorgon in Rhino's massive hands. In the same way seeing Rhino flying through the air (jump-slide-jump) with the same grace as banshee doesn't seem to fit either. 

 

I would really like each warframe concentrate on the roles they were clearly designed for while still being effective on their own and synergistic with others in teams. It would also be nice to see each warframe become unique (to a degree) even to other players with the same frame. 

[MageMeat]

This is a brilliant idea! While I'm not exactly sure how this could be implemented with balance, it would make each warframe much more unique than they are now.

 

Also, Loki instakills? Interesting idea.

 

I'm taking back the balance part of that, after re-looking at the small (but fair) percents.

[Stupid_Idiot]

To be completely honest passive skills (the idea of buffing everyone, essentially) without much tradeoffs easily make (non-solo) game as it currently being played too easy.

and if the tradeoffs are substantial, we probably don't need unlocking in the first place.

 

so my suggestions is that if you make these into mods specific to each warframe (instead of affinity levels, use mod levels or whatnot) it would be better (as in they replace mod slots, especially castable skills).

 

Rationale:

1) easier to implement because we have an existing mod system

2) easier to balance because mod capacities are now factored into

3) Since it is a tradeoff between abilities and specs (like the slot to put your redirection/vitality/continuity/focus/reach/etc.in case you want both active and passive), we have much less power creep, so most levels will still be of appropriate level to play without much modification

 

Unlocking can still be done... just don't allow the mods to be put on until whatever objectives you may have in mind are completed, or only those objective give such mods

 

With that being said... my suggestions would be: (all have polarity as those ones of active skills)

Rhino:

1) automatic knock down attackers whenever receiving melee damage [scales frequency (once every so often) with mod level]

2) + stun on all weapons, stacking with the stun mods on the weapon as well (specifically not stacking with active abilities)

3) damage reduction on your SHIELD (steel fibre only reduce dmg to your health)

4) increase range/AOE on melee attack (jump attack has larger AOE, swings and charge attacks has longer reach, perhaps one mod level for each or scale by amount)

Trinity:

1) passively regen health on the party (scales with distance and amount)

2) passively regen energy/shield on the party (scales with distance and amount)

3) every time you take damage, one random nearby other ally/team member (including your sentinel) is healed (scales amount)

4) every time you are down, all other party member gains invulnerability (scales duration / frequency)

Mag:

1) every time you get hit by a ranged attack (perhaps save the melee one for volt), you increase energy (scale with amount)

2) you get a shield boost every time energy drops below <threshold>  [scales boost amount and threshold with mod level]

3) increases shield-only damage with melee attack

4) reduce bullet drop for projectile weapons and reduce damage fall-off for shotguns.  Hitscan (instant-hit) guns get an accuracy boost

Frost:

1) Chills (what cold damage would normally do) attackers automatically when receiving melee damage (scales dmg/duration)

2) chilled enemies move and attacks even slower (scales reduction)

3) reduced damage from enemy who is chilled (scales reduction)

4) cold damage to all weapons, stacks with the mod on the weapon itself (scales dmg)

Ember:

1) fire damage reduction (scales reduction)

2) attackers automatically set on fire when receiving melee damage (scales dmg/duration)

3) fire damage to all weapons, stacks with the mod on the weapon itself (scales dmg)

4) increase damage to enemies who is on fire

Loki:

Bear with me, Loki isn't only about stealth play in the description, it's "specialized reconfiguring abilities"

1) enemies take % longer to react to your presence [even when you are spotted, since it's percentage based] (scales with increase)

2) all nearby enemies are switch teleported with each other whenever your shields is depleted (scales with area of effect and frequency)

3) a small chance to disarm attacker (stop them from using melee) when you got hit by melee attack (scale chance) now watch them hopelessly stands there after you disarm their ranged attack as well.

4) all party member (including you) goes invisible for <duration> every time you are down (scales duration/frequency)

[KALUHS]

Rhino's Iron Skin definitely needs to aggro all the mobs towards him, making his team play effective

+1

[Caliocerion]

I think Volt's Shock should be changed to Railgun which has Pierce property, because IMO shock is useless and doesn't necessarily hit what I am at. Plus a railgun's cool no?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmX2fLZTE28#t=2m05

Edited May 17, 2013 by Caliocerion

[Strintfire]

I think Volt's Shock should be changed to Railgun which has Pierce property, because IMO shock is useless and doesn't necessarily hit what I am at. Plus a railgun's cool no?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmX2fLZTE28#t=2m05

Railgun is based on magnetism more, than on electricity itself. IMO it'd looked better on Mag.

[Garth_Tremor]

Old Thread, but we need something like this atleast in a form of warframe specific mods. Maybe with reduced effect when used on other warframes

Adding a new warfame each month for versatility, which overall only has a diffreant skill set, seems get boring quickly.

[SyderithePL]

This is great topic and you surely put a lot of work into it. Sadly DE already stated in one of livestream that they aren't fond of conventional passives and would rather make them into mods and I think that would be better direction.

Also today I read a topic about abilities morphing - a system that would allow to evolve Rank 3 ability mod giving it additional effect in the process. Some of those effects are passive or semi-passive (passive component only active while ability is active) and I got a strong feeling that a lot of your ideas would  fit that concept quite well.
If your interested check: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/70247-ability-morphing-possible-way-to-increase-customization/
 

Edited June 27, 2013 by SyderithePL