Vector - The Momentum Frame (Augments And New Art Added)

[jmforeman02]

Made by MrPigman 

 

 

Note: In This Post the Melee Damage Multiplier will be abbreviated "MDM" 

Concept:
Vector is a momentum based, melee ninja with an advanced playstyle. Both his damage and armor will be based on his momentum in the form of his Melee Damage Muliplier (MDM). *for those that don't know, the MDM is already a feature in this game. Hits are recorded on a hit/combo counter and increase the MDM when certain hit counts are achieved. If you go more than 4 seconds without a hit, the MDM resets.

Name:
This frame was previously called Impetus which means momentum, but now I am trying out the name Vector. Technically it means that something has both magnitude and direction. Momentum is a vector. (Poll here for favorite name: http://strawpoll.me/3869052)

 

Level 0 Stats:
Health: 90                   (270 at rank 30)           *below average
Power: 120                 (180 at rank 30)           *above average
Armor: 200   (multiplied by current MDM)   *above average        
Shield: 75                    (225 at rank 30)          *low
Sprint Speed: 1.15                                          *above average
Stamina: 150                                                   *high

 

Abilities:

 

1. Shadow Lunge: Vector lunges towards his target at remarkable speed bypassing all enemies in his path and releasing a small shockwave to the front when he comes to a stop.

Made by MrPigman

*Design- this ability is a cross between Itzal’s Blink and Slash Dash. It would come to a stop at either it’s max range or the spot aimed at when activated (if aimed at the floor), whichever comes first. The shockwave would progress forward in a 180° arc for ~3 meters and activate a ~2 second stun. The lunge could be pointed upward somewhat to clear small obstacles but would not go more than about 15° above level. It’s a lunge not flight. Enemies passed through or stunned contribute to the melee hit counter though they are not damaged. I see it as him shooting forward very rapidly in dark clouded streak. He comes to a stop and the cloud disperses revealing him with his arms forward as if he pushed the air to generate the shockwave.

 

*Reasoning- this would be essential for getting him from one group of enemies to the next before his MDM could reset. It would also stun enemies just long enough to give him the edge in melee and could be a panic button for escape.

 

2a. Concentrated Blast: Vector channels a small portion of his built up momentum towards his reticle, knocking down all enemies near the impact zone and doing damage.

Made by MrPigman

*Design- The damage done would be ~150 x MDM. Using this ability would reduce your hit counter by 30 which might reduce your MDM as well (depending on if that would reduce it under a MDM threshold). The animation I have in mind would show energy in some form shooting from his palms toward his target. All enemies near the impact point will be knocked down. If the impact point is an enemy, that enemy is ragdolled and thrown. 

 

*Reasoning- This and his ultimate are the only abilities that do damage. This would be useful for setting up finishers or quickly disabling that pesky Bombard or Heavy gunner that's destroying you from a distance while you are busy with other matters. The hit counter cost fits the theme of using momentum and also discourages spamming it to stunlock enemies as this would quickly deplete your momentum regardless of energy efficiency mods. 

 

2b. Channel Surge: Vector super-charges his frame with energy to prepare for melee combat, putting his melee weapon in channeling mode, and eliminating all channeling and stamina costs.

Made by MrPigman

*Design- Optionally this ability could also double the rate the hit counter increases, doubling the speed he acquires momentum, if the ability isn't useful enough as is. I think Impetus might look shrouded in shadow when this ability was active. You would still be able to see channeling energy though and it should get brighter as your MDM increases.

 

*Reasoning-  This could, with a properly modded weapon, significantly increase melee damage and increase survivability enormously with Life Strike.  It would also give us an excuse to use some of those channeling mods we never use like Quickening.

 

3. Momentum Sink: Vector forms a bubble that funnels the momentum of enemies and enemy projectiles inside into himself, increasing his own momentum while slowing them. If there are no enemies in range, Vector cannibalizes his own speed to feed the counter and keep his MDM up. Any knockdown done by an enemy in this bubble will not have the necessary force and will only cause Vector to roll/dodge/handspring in the direction of the wave.

Made by MrPigman

*Design- all enemies and enemy projectiles inside will be slowed by ~10% x MDM and his melee hit counter will increase by 1 for each enemy, each second. This would  give Vector a useful CC ability, help him with melee combat, and give him a way of keeping his MDM from resetting (for a price) when he hits a dry spell. Hitscan weapons would only lose damage since their projectiles couldn't be slowed.

 

*Reasoning- This idea was to provided from the comments below (thank you (PS4)Mr_TJ_A_B34ST and eXpendableOne). Knockdown resist of some type is essential for melee with heavies and eximuses (eximi? eczema?) Using directional dodging to avoid knockdowns will make it look like he's compensating for the knockdown with agility rather than face-tanking them like Rhino with Iron Skin or Valkyr with Hysteria. 

 

4. Unbalanced Force: Vector releases all of the momentum he’s built up in one huge explosion that deals damage, ragdolls, and launches enemies at high speed whlle priming himself to build momentum again.

     "An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." - Newton's first law of motion.

Made by MrPigman

*Design- when activated this would do ~700 x MDM damage to everyone around. The MDM would be reset by the use of this ability. Afterwards, It would double the rate his hit counter increased until he reaches his previous MDM. In a long mission type this could be used repeatedly, so that he could build momentum progressively faster each time, but only to the MDM he previously had. For the ragdoll and throw effect I'm thinking Jat Kittag x 1,000. I want enemies in closed rooms to bounce around like pinballs.
 

*Reasoning- The base damage is quite low for an ultimate reducing the tendency to spam 4. But when Vector is played correctly to build momentum it would become powerful.  By priming him to build momentum again, you make this power have more strategic use as well as lessening the punishment for using it. It allows Vector to rollover about half of his momentum in case he hits a place or period where enemies are sparse. This would be very useful between waves on Interception for example. It could also make Vector more viable in endless mission types where melee typically doesn't scale well. 

 

Possible Augments:

Arching Surge: Channel Surge's effects are shared by all nearby Tenno.

Implosive Force: Unbalanced Force now knocks down all all affected enemies and pulls them to Vector's feet. 

Momentum Redistribution: Momentum Sink now gives movement speed and attack speed to all Tenno inside the bubble.

 

Passives: 

Vector would physically change as he gained momentum (MDM) to reflect his increasing armor and strength. He'd start off the about the size of Nekros, grow through the size of Excalibur, and eventually max out at about the size of Rhino as his MDM got progressively higher. When the momentum is expended or lost, he would shrink again. This might be hard to program and make operate smoothly so it may be something we need to sacrifice for this frame to become a reality. That being said, I think it could be done more easily if a cloud of smoke or a flash of light appeared briefly to obscure him as he made a transformation so that they wouldn't have to be smooth or look nice. It would take work however to keep it from looking cheesy if they went this route. Others have suggested that he have an aura of some sort that grows more larger or more intense as he gains momentum. This would be another option instead of his frame growing in size.

 

Vector is able to use his hands and feet as sparring weapons if he doesn't have a melee equipped. This means that he will always be able to melee regardless of his equipment and gives him a unique warframe weapon like Ash, Valkyr, and Mesa  (thanks Blastertrion).  It also makes him feel like a true ninja. Other options just to add more flavor to him might be: a bonus to certain weapon types, a bonus if only a melee weapon is equipped, or more efficient channeling.

 

Increasing the MDM reset time from 4 seconds to 6 seconds, reducing/eliminating blocking stamina cost, making his melee counter not reset while blocking damage, increasing stamina recharge rate, or wider blocking arc might be necessary to make this frame more viable. Testing would be required. One thing that I think would be important is for him to have a timer that counts down how long he has before his MDM resets. This could be placed as if it's an ability timer for his ultimate since his ult doesn't need one. 

 

Artwork:  

 

There is no official artwork yet. This is a place for fan interpretations of what Vector might look like. I will probably choose the official artwork for the frame from here at a later time.

 

 

Made by MrPigman 

 

 

Made by MrPigman 

 

 

 

Made by Darkseal 

 

 

Conclusion:

Momentum is not just a theme for Vector; it forms his gameplay.  As long as Vector is attacking he gets stronger. If he avoids the fray too long, his armor and all of his abilities weaken. All of his abilities either contribute to or draw power from his MDM and the Shadow Lunge is what holds it all together by letting him chain combos from enemy to enemy without losing speed. 

 

This frame makes you want to dive into the mix to increase your power. Vector would be constantly dashing, dodging, blocking bullets, surprising and cutting down enemies. I think this is the kind of ninja we all had in mind when we first heard about or started playing Warframe. I know it’s what I was thinking.

 

Notes and Thanks:

 

Notes: All numbers provided are only to provide a general idea of the stats or ability strengths. They could obviously be changed to avoid any balancing issues and shouldn't be considered as concrete.

 

I thought about using the name Momentous Discharge for one of his abilities, but ewww... that paints the wrong picture.

 

This frame was formerly known as Impetus. The name is still subject to change.

 

I hereby give Digital Extremes permission to use any and all ideas in this post for their products. That way there are no legal reasons to not build this. Please make my frame!

 

Thanks: Thanks to Blastertrion, (PS4)Mr_TJ_A_B34ST, and eXpendableOne for their ability ideas. And a whole lot of thanks to Darkseal and MrPigman for creating some amazing artwork for Vecor.

 

Thanks for reading. Much of his design has been based on suggestions left in the comments so please feel free to offer any advice or tweaks. I look forward to your feedback. If anyone wants to attempt some concept art sketches, I'd love to see what you come up with and may add them to the post with credit.

Edited April 15, 2015 by jmforeman02

[CruelCrow]

Very good concept, I like the idea of momentum/inertia and flow.

My one and only complaint(minor) is that the first and second abilities make me think a bit too much of Zephyr. Although I definitely want a teleport that lets you choose a spot(Which is what I thought Ash would be like) so I understand  how it's different, and to an extent ability repeating is inevitable.

 

Edit:

Plus it'll satisfy the people whining because Warframes aren't ninja-like enough and the designs are getting sillier ;)

Edited January 28, 2015 by CruelCrow

[jmforeman02]

Thanks. I like the first ability as is, but am definitely not committed to the second. I'm hoping that someone can suggest a better alternative. Then it would be less Zephyr like.

Edited January 28, 2015 by jmforeman02

[(PSN)IIIDevoidIII]

I love the concept of armor increasing as you melee more often. 
In my opinion, that is the perfect Berzerk frame. Multiplying that with the stealth capability, and you have a very unique concept.

[jmforeman02]

Good to know that a moderator likes it. Y'all see concepts all the time. Hopefully we can flesh it out and DE will like it.

Edited January 28, 2015 by jmforeman02

[(PSN)Lord_Azden]

For his second, you could make him steal momentum, whether it be from surrounding enemies or getting hit by projectiles/melee.

 

You can call it Dark Collision and a percentage of damage taken can be used to further augment physical aspects/capabilities. (armor, sprint, jump, melee damage)

Edited January 28, 2015 by (PS4)Mr_TJ_A_B34ST

[jmforeman02]

For his second, you could make him steal momentum, whether it be from surrounding enemies or getting hit by projectiles/melee.

 

You can call it Dark Collision and a percentage of damage taken can be used to further augment physical aspects/capabilities. (armor, sprint, jump, melee damage)

Hmmm. I'll try to think about how implement this. Thanks.

[Hadowsay]

As a melee... I don't know practitioner? I got some complaints about the stats. those stats are too low for me to think of using him for heavy melee. Ember prime is very close to those stats and I can see it being a very frustrating time with anyone but infested. I think at least one of the stats should be bumped to 450 max, probably health, and that the other should be 300 maxed. Stamina recovery time should be considered here too. I use Stamina recovery on all my frames because they are all too slow for a fast close combat action. He should break the mold and be the one to have a very fast stamina recharge. Even higher than Loki. the reduced channeling price would help with survivability when combined with Life strike mod but I feel this would lead to a issue where the only people using the frame in higher levels is one who can afford or find a lifestrike.  Either than that the powers seem ok to me at this time.

[jmforeman02]

As a melee... I don't know practitioner? I got some complaints about the stats. those stats are too low for me to think of using him for heavy melee. Ember prime is very close to those stats and I can see it being a very frustrating time with anyone but infested. I think at least one of the stats should be bumped to 450 max, probably health, and that the other should be 300 maxed. Stamina recovery time should be considered here too. I use Stamina recovery on all my frames because they are all too slow for a fast close combat action. He should break the mold and be the one to have a very fast stamina recharge. Even higher than Loki. the reduced channeling price would help with survivability when combined with Life strike mod but I feel this would lead to a issue where the only people using the frame in higher levels is one who can afford or find a lifestrike.  Either than that the powers seem ok to me at this time.

Well the stats may be close to Ember's but the abilities are all designed for melee. Use 1 to get in and stun them to get the fight off right, if you get into trouble use 2 to knock them down or 1 to escape. Use 3 to increase your damage against crowds or 4 to wipe them out. Also I think you're forgetting that his armor increases by 50% after only 5 melee hits. His armor is tied to his melee damage multiplier so it can be considerably higher when in use. But I think you may be right about normal stamina recharge being to slow. I think I'll add that in the passives section of the OP. I also kept the stats low to keep him from being overpowered but they could be tweaked if he's not viable.

Edited January 28, 2015 by jmforeman02

[eXpendableOne]

For his second, you could make him steal momentum, whether it be from surrounding enemies or getting hit by projectiles/melee.

 

You can call it Dark Collision and a percentage of damage taken can be used to further augment physical aspects/capabilities. (armor, sprint, jump, melee damage)

If you're trying for a melee oriented frame, I would honestly make this something more like causing all enemies immediately surrounding the frame to slow or even stop while causing your melee speed and possibly movement speed to increase. This would make it somewhat spammable for those wanting to melee in late game without exactly duplicating either hysteria or your proposed third ability of a temporary free channel mode...

[(PSN)Lord_Azden]

Looking forward to seeing the fully finished concept

[jmforeman02]

 

Looking forward to seeing the fully finished concept

 

Thanks. I've added a few concepts to it. Like making it so that visibly changes as he gathers momentum (in the concept section) and making it so that while his ultimate lets him charge with momentum faster in the future. This way he can become progressively stronger as a mission continues. I think that's important for keeping melee relevant in endless mission types.

Edited January 29, 2015 by jmforeman02

[jmforeman02]

Really hoping this thread will pick up momentum.

[Zounderth]

Interesting concept.

 

regarding the frame changes form according to his MDM, i'm not sure how that is gonna be like in-game or do i feel it is necessary to have it like that. i would prefer a fix look and that i wont have to worry about the game bugging out because the in game model keeps changing lol

 

perhaps have like a syndicate logo on the bottom left screen to represent his MDM form? and maybe have the functionality of the syndicate mechanics as well? so there is a buff/burst/AoE damage effect. so basically he will be the first Frame to have that game mechanic similar to the syndicate guns. but if he looses MDM then the logo should also indicate that. i'm thinking the logo as the lotus logo?   

 

can i share one ability idea? but im not sure if it suit the theme you've got here.

 

Shadow Swords : Impetus summons 2 Shadow Skana Swords that forms in mid air which rotates around him and helps Impetus in battle causing damage and MDM. These swords acts and functions like the Skana swords but 2x the damage stats (well there is two right?)

either make these swords have their own combo behavior or it follows your current melee combos. its is affected by duration mods and strength. (reach would be good too). 

 

keep up the good work! 

[jmforeman02]

The syndicate style logo and AoE damage is an interesting idea. I may edit that in as an alternative. I also have doubts about him being able to physically change smoothly, but if it could be done, I think it'd be a really nice effect. Especially him being rhino sized using his ultimate, and then only a nekros sized frame is left. Realistically that part may have to go though and I edited the OP to reflect that.

I'm not sure about the ability you suggested. It would help him in melee and feed his MDM but I'm not really sure if it works with the momentum theme. As I said in the post though, momentum was originally only supposed to describe his gameplay style, not his powers, so that's something I'll consider redoing. Thanks for the feedback.

Edited January 29, 2015 by jmforeman02

[(XBOX)TheLegend 64312]

I really enjoy the idea of this frame. The 2b ability seems more suitable for his play style. Slowing enemies makes him take less damage plus the constant armor buff as his MDM scales. Just one question. Is the MDM a percent? Or a straight damage multiplier? Because 200x is a LOT different than 200%

[jmforeman02]

I really enjoy the idea of this frame. The 2b ability seems more suitable for his play style. Slowing enemies makes him take less damage plus the constant armor buff as his MDM scales. Just one question. Is the MDM a percent? Or a straight damage multiplier? Because 200x is a LOT different than 200%

It's a damage multiplier so it could be 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x and so on. It shouldn't become overpowered though. Getting to 1.5x requires only 5 hits, but 3x requires 405 hits on the counter which will reset if you don't get a hit within 4 seconds. That's a lot of hits with no breaks. It becomes exponentially more difficult (by a factor of 3) as it increases so the difficulty curve is pretty steep. I'm actually worried that his armor isn't high enough as it is. It would take 4x to get his armor up to Valkyr's as it is now. I think I'll have to increase it.

Edited January 29, 2015 by jmforeman02

[(XBOX)TheLegend 64312]

Oooh okay. Are you just using the already established in game multiplier? If so, just from experience, you might want to edit some of his stats. Unless it's a defense, mobile defense, or survival it's pretty hard to keep the multiplier up. There just aren't usually enough enemies with less than 4 seconds of travel time in between. The highest I've gotten that multiplier (as a rank 14 with 450+ hours) is 2.5x. So I would either increase his base stats or make 2b a tiny slow for himself so that it could be spammable. He definitely is going to need duration builds.

[jmforeman02]

Oooh okay. Are you just using the already established in game multiplier? If so, just from experience, you might want to edit some of his stats. Unless it's a defense, mobile defense, or survival it's pretty hard to keep the multiplier up. There just aren't usually enough enemies with less than 4 seconds of travel time in between. The highest I've gotten that multiplier (as a rank 14 with 450+ hours) is 2.5x. So I would either increase his base stats or make 2b a tiny slow for himself so that it could be spammable. He definitely is going to need duration builds.

Yes it's the already established multiplier. It is usually difficult to get it above about 2.5x, but Impetus' first ability is made to help with that. Also 2b 3, can be used to keep it from resetting between groups of enemies, for a price. And finally, his ult will reset it, but will make it increase twice as fast next time. He could use this when he knows he's going to lose it anyway so that he could spool up faster in the future. And each time he does that, it will get better. So really he's designed to keep it going.

All that being said, it's still will be difficult to get beyond 3x. I think the exponential increase in hits required is too high personally. Right now the exponent is 3 which makes it increase very steeply. I think it should be 2 which would still make it progressively difficult, but not quite so bad. Perhaps 2.5 would be a good compromise.

Edited February 3, 2015 by jmforeman02

[(XBOX)TheLegend 64312]

Okay this makes much more sense. Sounds like a fun warframe. I'd definitely play him. It's a very unique play style. And, like you said, a great ninja oriented frame

[jmforeman02]

Okay this makes much more sense. Sounds like a fun warframe. I'd definitely play him. It's a very unique play style. And, like you said, a great ninja oriented frame

 

Thanks. I'm hoping it catches on enough to grab DE's attention and make it a possibility. Or at least inspire someone enough to make art for it (my art skills are horrbile), I know that that will grab peoples attention and get this idea moving. It's a long shot I know but still... I don't think there's anything about this frame that would make it particularly hard to program except the idea of making him physically change as he gathers momentum, and that's just an option to add icing to the cake. So that should help it's chances of becoming a reality.

Edited January 31, 2015 by jmforeman02

[(XBOX)TheLegend 64312]

If anything, a visual of his momentum will probably end up like Mesa's ballistic battery. Making him grow sounds really cool but kind of annoying to code. That or it's incredibly simple and we're just assuming.

[jmforeman02]

Yeah, I'm not really sure how difficult it would be, I hope that DE could do it. But if it's the one thing that would stop this frame from becoming a reality, I'd be willing to ditch that part in a hurry. I just thought that it'd be a nice touch.

[(XBOX)TheLegend 64312]

It would definitely be a cool effect. I'd like to see it

[Hadowsay]

I think it this would make for a great advanced frame. Id like a few more of em to be honest. XD I think there could be a few more effects to the passive much like Mesa's has 3 different effects even if there are conditions that need to be met