[Warframe Concept] Nephthys, Flowing Redirection

[ZephyrPhantom]

Entry Log V90, Following Tethra's Doom

 

Dear Diary,

 

We do not speak, but that does not prevent us from writing, does it not? I believe the events of today are significant enough to be worth recording, regardless they be in voice, through pen, or by my silent hands at the data pad.

 

The day before, we had raided a strange looking Orokin Ship, clearing out the corrupted in the usual fashion. However, the place felt less like a ship, and more like a... tomb. The further we went in, the further Valkyr became increasingly...disturbed. Her muttering changed from ineligibble gibberish, to screams, to... sobbing.  The Lotus almost ordered us to extract based on her mental state alone, but my squadmate refused, despite the obvious hesitance of the Rhino and Nyx that had been also accompanying us.

 

The tomb ended at a single, small room, almost completely gilded, and surrounded by a ring of water; inside the room was a pod. As we stepped inside, it opened, and a tenno in a warframe stumbled out, getting to her feet and looking blankly back at us. Her entire exterior was a smooth, silk-like white with many blue lines runnng to and fro over the body, like rivers on a plain.

 

But what struck us was the helmet; the curved, crescent shaped teal mask that started back at us, adorned with a slight gold trim, with a symmetrical piece of mask on the other side of her face, held together by what appeared to be a golden lily. It was, no, it had been what would have been Valkyr.

 

Except this one was whole.

 

She took one look at Valkyr, and they lunged at each other in possibly the first time I've ever seen my comrades give a "hug". Valkyr was crying again, but she wasn't the only one we could hear crying over the comms this time. Between the sobs, I managed to pick up one coherent word uttered by my broken ally. "Nephthys."

 

- Carmilla

 

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"Fluid and emotional, the Tenno who don the identity of NEPHTHYS strive to grieve for their fallen allies while fighting for the peace the Orokin had failed to achieve."

 

Greetings, tenno! Inspired by this thread's discussion on a Valkyr Prime, I decided to try to design a Warframe that would represent what Valkyr had originally been, but eventually ended up designing something very different from Valkyr. Her name is Nephthys, the Egyptian goddess of the rivers and mourning.

 

Default Coloration : White/Blue, in addition to the typical gold bits on a prime frame.

Apperance : A smooth, complete white 'skin' that is covered by numerous blue lines running all her body, giving the impression of many flowing rivers. Her helmet has a small metallic lily (gold when primed) holding two symmetrical 'tear' halves together.

Playstyle : "Pacifist" CC and healing support - Nephthys doesn't gets her hands dirty if she doesn't have to. Her water abilities are all about redirecting enemy and ally forces in different directions. Her cast animations are very fast to represent her fluid-like nature and she moves at a slightly faster pace than most frames.

 

Starting Stats:

Health : 100 (300 at rank 30)

Power : 120 (180 at rank 30)

Armor : 65

Shields : 75 (225 at rank 30)

Sprint Speed : 1.1

Polarities : 4 Ability, 1 Defense, 1 Utility (Prime adds 1 attack)

 

Ability 1 : Tidal Ring

Power Cost : 10
"Nephthys creates a ring of water around her, pushing enemies back a considerable distance. Enemies that try to wander into the ring will be pushed back with even greater force."

Nephthys quickly emits a 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 meter ring of water around her that lasts for 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 seconds.  Enemies that make contact with the ring at any point are pushed and ragdolled back 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 meters. The ring's range, duration, and distance pushed are affected by Power Range, Duration, and Strength mods, respectively.

 

A quick crowd control move. It doesn't deal any damage but with careful planning you can push enemies into hazards, other frame's traps/AoE moves, bottomless pits, or just away from the objective you're defending. As the rings last for a bit as well, you can set up 'obstacle courses' to mess with opponents, ranging from the oridinary infested to the all powerful Grustrag Three Stooges.

 

Ability 2 : Energy Harvest

Power Cost : 30
"Nephthys blesses her allies, allowing them to transmute energy used in their abilities to their shields and health. "

For the next 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 seconds, you and your teammates get a buff - for every ability used by a Tenno, they recover 20% / 25 % / 30% / 40% of the energy spent to their health (if health is full, shields are regenerated instead). This includes the initial use of Energy Harvest. The duration of the buff is affected by Power Duration mods.

 

An unorthodox move that rewards inefficient/expensive abilities by healing a much larger amount than spamming one, though spamming a move for quick healing is also viable. If you're in a pinch, you can use this and several Tidal Rings to set up a defensive potion while quickly healing yourself.

 

Ability 3 : Blessed Rain

Power Cost : 65
"Nephthys covers the battlefield with rainclouds that shower down healing rain upon her allies. Enemies caught in the storm will instead be constantly stunned by the torrent of rain."

Creates 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 large rainclouds that slowly float over the battlefield for 7 / 9 / 12 / 17 seconds, healing allies by 5 / 6 / 7 / 9 HP per second. Enemies caught under the clouds will instead be constantly staggered, rendering them unable to do anything until the clouds pass them or dissipate. Cloud size, duration, and healing power are affected by Power Range, Duration, and Strength mods, respectively.

 

A stronger crowd control move that can get your allies out of a pinch while giving them some time to recover. If the clouds aren't getting all the enemies, you can push them in with Tidal Rings.

 

Ability 4 : Dragon's Judgement

Power Cost : 100

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. Nephthys conjures up a giant familiar of water that proceeds to attack all enemies in sight."

Nephthys uses water to conjure up the image of a giant dragon made of water that proceeds to fly and attack enemies across the battlefield for 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 seconds using AoE water barrages similar to Raptor's missile attacks and clawing at any enemies it gets close enough to. The water deals Cold damage and the claw slashes deal Slash damage. Damage, health, and shields all scale with enemy level - generally, the highest enemy level encountered so far on the mission will be used as the base for the dragon's stats, with the final armor stat being based on Nephthys's current armor value. The duration and attack power of the dragon can be boosted by Power Duration and Strength mods. Due to it's "boss"-like nature the Dragon has a very high aggro draw, on par with that of Nyx's Absorb.

 

A "summoner" move that takes a different look at things than Nekros's shadows - instead of "raising the undead', you're summoning a powerful monster to fight for you in a vein similar to classic RPGs. Since it concentrates all it's power into one giant minion rather than summoning a bunch of weaker ones, this can be used as both an offensive tool and a distraction to protect objectives and revive downed teammates much more effectively. Wait, what's that, enemies realized you're still the problem? Push them back into the angry dragon's line of sight with Tidal Ring. Need more value out of the move? Use Energy Harvest first. Need to prevent enemies from running away? Stunlock them in with Blessed Rain. It's arguably the only real offensive move Nephthys has, but it works very well with her other ones.

 

Attempting to Connect Nephthys to Valkyr (Please note the following concepts are optional ; however, if you are interested in this please read and post.)

"But what struck us was the helmet; the curved, crescent shaped teal mask that started back at us, adorned with a slight gold trim, with a symmetrical piece of mask on the other side of her face, held together by what appeared to be a golden lily. It was, no, it had been what would have been Valkyr.

 

Except this one was whole."
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Due to trying to tie her to being Valkyr's "unbroken" form, Nephthys shares some similarities to Valkyr; you would have been able to equip any ability mods that Nephthys Prime uses onto Valkyr, and vice versa, but I scrapped this idea when it became clear Nephthys had become too distinct to be the actual Valkyr we all know and love.

 

Her abilities overall take a few cues from Valkyr (specifically, the ability to aid the team and crowd control, and channeling all your power into a powerful offensive state), though they are significantly different to emphasize her distinct "technical pacifist" nature and water motifs vs Valkyr's berserker attitude.

 

Nepthys's name and high armor are also a nod to who she could have 'become' when captured by the Corpus and the Bastet helmet designed for her by the Tenno.

 

Overall, she's clearly very close to Valkyr in some form - there's a possibility that she could've been the frame targeted for the Zanuka Project instead and that she could've been the "Valkyr" rescued from the labs instead. I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate this connection at the moment and would appreciate any suggestions; two ideas I've considered so far are the idea of a Nephthys Vandal and Nephthys's introduction coinciding Valkyr Prime + some mods she had saved for Valkyr, giving us more insight onto what Valykr was originally like.

 

As always, I'd love to hear feedback and would greatly appreciate any art. Hope you enjoyed this concept and feel free to comment!

Edited March 9, 2014 by ZephyrPhantom

[Namacyst]

I can not describe how your concept is not making any sense whatsoever regarding Valk's original form. You can not just turn a Melee Berserk Frame with shouts and stuff into a Water Themed caster frame.

 

All the -1 in the world.

[ZephyrPhantom]

I can not describe how your concept is not making any sense whatsoever regarding Valk's original form. You can not just turn a Melee Berserk Frame with shouts and stuff into a Water Themed caster frame.

 

All the -1 in the world.

I'll openly admit that I probably went overboard with trying to make this different from Valkyr, but since I'd already had the story written up, I figured I should at least try to put it out and see if it worked. (A little constructive suggestion on the most glaring issues  would've been nice, too.)

 

Should I make the frame more melee-oriented, scrap the whole Valkyr connection and run with the whole water frame theme, or does anybody else think this is fine as is in terms of concept?

Edited March 9, 2014 by ZephyrPhantom

[Scherhardt]

Sorry to tell you but that does not make sense lore wise.

Your concept is better off as water frame not valkyrs original form.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Scherhardt

[WrothBog]

personally i like the concept of a prime only valkyr origin. i think it has merit.

 

one thing that i hadn't considered early in the original thread is the origin of ripline. the other three abilities could clearly be the result of Al's interference but ripline is too technical.

 

it could have been something that was already part of valkyr's physiology. or added by the tenno after she was reclaimed.

 

water abilities are one avenue as are floral or plantlike abilities

i'm not sure what else could be represented by her helmet it's swept lines and some what leaf like shapes work well for either but those were just the two i think it looks like.

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=236558450

 

her helmet is already somewhat primeish just take the shackles off and fix the other side. ironically i was erring towards blue prior to any of this discussion

[ZephyrPhantom]

I decided to remove the Valkyr connection for now due to the initial negative feedback but have left it in a spoiler for future reference. If enough people show interest in the concept then I will try to reopen it and make it work.

 

On the subject of ripline, an energy grapplling hook is likely something the corpus could've easily invented, given the Grineer use normal ones all the time.

Edited March 9, 2014 by ZephyrPhantom

[(PSN)bmulligan]

Adding this to not use another post:

I decided to remove the Valkyr connection for now due to the initial negative feedback but have left it in a spoiler for future reference. If enough people show interest in the concept then I will try to reopen it and make it work.

 

On the subject of ripline, an energy grapplling hook is likely something the corpus could've easily invented, given the Grineer use normal ones all the time.

 

"Forged in the labs of the Zanuka project, the original Valkyr was subject to cruel experiments leaving her scarred, angry and frighteningly adept at killing"

(Black text is easier to read if highlighted.) So a rip line of energy could be corpus tech, and I suppose water could be corpus tech to, as it could be used as a coolant, and Corpus are supposedly born, not cloned, so water should be necessary for them to live.

 

(I'm still trying to work in ways where Nephthys COULD have become or been Valkyr.) 

 

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As the other to have said, and I will restate, this frame isn't exactly a prime version of Valkyr. 

 

The concept itself is good, it just needs some adjusting.

 

Perhaps, instead of a "completed  Valkyr"  Valkyr could have a sister or (preferably, as male casters are overshadowed at the moment) brother, which could make this an easily viable concept, lore wise. Or, they could have been friends, both abducted and sent to the labs. If altercations had been different between Valkyr and her friend (Who would end up as Nephthys) then Nephthys COULD HAVE been Valkyr, so it would again, be viable.

 

However, I like the abilities. I don't feel like they're all geared towards casting, so much as support. When I think of casting, I think of buffs, debuffs, and healing. Nephthys, to me, feels more like a paladin, similar to the way Oberon is.

 

I would suppose the best ( and easiest way) to fix anything that has been brought up that you'd like to include would be to edit/rework parts of the concept, or add more to the existing pieces.

Edited March 9, 2014 by (PS4)bmulligan

[ZephyrPhantom]

A sibling/close friend with a touch of "what could have been" does sound a lot more plausible than trying to make this another form of Valkyr. I'd have to think more about it and give it some specific details, but I think it's doable. (I'd appreciate if anyone else had any suggestions for that plotline, too; the idea of a Nephthys Vandal would be... interesting, to say the least.)

 

Some other ideas I'm jotting down for future reference : perhaps her cyropod was close to Valkyr's and the crewmen fudged the coordinates/Alad V didn't want a squishy caster for his copydog, alernate mods saved by Nephthys that are intended to give us an idea of what Valkyr originally was, Valkyr Prime would be released at the same time as Nephthys to emphasize the connection, etc...

 

From a certain point of view i can understand where you're getting the support/paladin impression from (especially with the 2nd and 3rd abilities), though I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I'll wait for future feedback before I make any big changes, though I do have my eye on changing Blessed Rain somehow (which was quickly pulled together as an ability meant to work with the other 3).

 

Like I did with Carmilla, I intend to keep editing and reworking this frame design until it's in a balanced and well-designed state, and will appreciate any balancing/theme/design comments to that end.

Edited March 9, 2014 by ZephyrPhantom

[(PSN)bmulligan]

I'd suggest posting a link to this in here: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/144434-new-fan-concepts-index/page-13

 

and then ask for feedback from the community.

[ZephyrPhantom]

I'd suggest posting a link to this in here: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/144434-new-fan-concepts-index/page-13

 

and then ask for feedback from the community.

 I'll be doing that then. Thanks for the feedback so far.

Edited March 9, 2014 by ZephyrPhantom

[gnat6]

I don't really care if this frame fits the lore or not but I love the design and skills this would be one of my favorite frames if it was implemented ingame.

[Bibliothekar]

Water based frame, hm? If DE should really do this, I hope they take a good look at the waterbenders from Avatar for the casting animations.

 

 

/e: Found it ... and now I'd like to see Ember pull off some Shaolin Kung Fu moves for her casting animations. :-/ But

... Edited March 9, 2014 by Bibliothekar

[Tytangamer]

I for one love the idea, and I can see how they'd still match up (as long as they're still visually similar).

 

Considering Valkyr was abducted by the Corpus and altered for their purposes I'd imagine they might have been a little upset to have found a sleeping pacifist.