[Warframe Concept] Tremor, The Earth / Terraformer Warframe - (10/14) Final Update & Retirement

[Archwizard]

 

 

 

 

Warframe Profile: Tremor

 

This is Tremor – the terraformer, the saboteur.

The embodiment of pragmatism, Tremor’s preferred battleground is the underground.

 

Tremor’s abilities allow him to transmute surrounding stone and metal, physically reshaping the battlefield as he sees fit:

 

Barricade creates a solid wall of minerals, which can be used as cover from incoming fire, a launching pad against enemies, or a platform for fellow Tenno. Melee strikes can launch the stone, which will shatter on impact with enemies for additional damage.

 

Burrow merges Tremor into the floor and walls, removing him from combat to place his traps in secrecy and safety, as well as increasing Tremor’s movement speed.

 

Quicksand marks the ground in contact with Tremor while active. Once deactivated, all areas marked by Tremor collapse into sandpits, inescapable to any foes who attempt to cross.

 

Get ready for The Big One, Tenno. Fault Zone makes the area sensitive to tectonic shifts. Any attacks within this field, even those against the Tenno, can be amplified into damaging quakes to strike additional enemies.

 

Tremor’s territorial control can be expanded with the use of mods. A Duration mod will benefit all of Tremor’s abilities, while a Range mod will increase the area affected by Barricade, Quicksand and Fault Zone. With the addition of a Strength mod, Barricade and Fault Zone can become more devastating weapons.

 

Our enemies may reach beyond Earth, Tenno, but Tremor reminds them to fear the rumbling beneath their feet.

 

Stats, Abilities and Augments:

 

Theme: Ground and Elemental Stone

Roles: Stealth Trapper / Area Denial / Defensive Support

 

Health: 125 (375 at rank 30)

Shields: 125 (375 at rank 30)

Armor: 150

Power: 100 (150 at rank 30)

Speed: 0.95

Aura: Vazarin () - Perfect for Rejuvenation while Burrow is active

Polarities: 1x Madurai (), 1x Naramon ()

Passive - Increased Traction:

-   Extended wall cling timer

-   Hostile knockback/push/pull distance is halved while on the ground (disabled while airborne)

-   Tremor cannot be rendered airborne by hostile push or pull effects while on the ground or clinging to walls

 

Barricade: Tremor draws forth a wall of stone at the target location. The wall can be launched at enemies.

-   Barricades have a wide length, a shorter height and a slight depth. At minimum rank it is tall enough to provide cover to a crouched Tenno, while at maximum rank it can cover the hat of a standing Limbo. The scale of a Barricade is affected by Power Range, in the same manner as Electric Shield.

-   Barricades act like environment objects, blocking movement and line of sight, and allowing Tenno to climb and stand on it, parkour across it, or cling to it. Barricades block projectile fire from both Tenno and enemies, but can be bypassed with Punch Through.

-   Barricades do not have hit points.

-   Can be summoned standing upright on floors, or parallel to the ground out of vertical surfaces.

-   If aimed on the ground, Barricades are summoned perpendicular (lengthwise) to the caster's line of sight (in other words, the long side covers you, rather than the short side).

-   If cast while aimed at a target, the Barricade is summoned under them, lifting them up. When summoned horizontal to or under an enemy, they are immediately launched as per Bounce. This deals heavy Impact damage, affected by Power Strength.

-   If a Tenno dive-kicks or melee attacks the long side of a standing Barricade, the wall will continuously move forward (away from whichever side was impacted to launch it) and shatter on impact with the first surface or entity it meets, dealing Impact damage/status in a radius. Impact is affected by Power Strength and Range.

-   If cast on a ceiling, the wall will immediately drop and shatter on impact with the first surface or entity it meets, dealing Impact damage and knockdown in a small radius. Impact damage is affected by Power Strength and Range.

-   Allies standing on or clinging to a Barricade sent into motion can remain attached to it in-transit, allowing them to ride it to the destination.

-   Enemies who are charging (ie Ancients, Shield Lancers, Manic Grineer) will not attempt to circumvent a wall made after they began charging; they will crash into it and be knocked down.

-   Barricades can be stacked on other Barricades, BUT all stacked Barricades break if the "base" moves or ends duration, falling and dealing damage in a radius around the original position of the "base".

-   Cannot be cast while airborne, but can be cast while wall-clinging.

-   Unalerted enemies will investigate Barricades summoned within line of sight, a la Undertow, but will not be alerted by this. Similarly, they will investigate Barricades that have been dropped from the ceiling, as if the Barricade was summoned on the floor.

-   Alerted enemies may attempt to use Barricades as cover, a la crates.

-   An unlimited number of Barricades may be active at once.

-   One-handed cast; Tremor uses the Pull animation.

-   Unless dropped, a standing Barricade is affected by Power Duration until launched (if Duration ends while the Barricade is in-transit, it will continue to travel until it strikes a surface). Base Duration is comparable to Electric Shield.

 

Burrow: Tremor fuses into a surface and travels under enemies.

-   While Burrow is activate, Tremor and his companion are considered invisible, intangible, and out of line of sight, with no collision against enemies. His movement speed is increased by up to 50%, unaffected by mods.

-   Tremor drops datamasses/power cells and cannot use weapons or inventory items, interact with objects, pick up loot, or revive allies while Burrowed, but can use other abilities with reduced cast time.

-   Tremor is immune to any area-based hazards and will bypass lasers while Burrowing, but is also unaffected by beneficial area-based effects and buffs applied by allies within the area (ie Roar, Hallowed Ground, Team Restore totems, etc).

-   Tremor can bypass Barricades without moving them. If a Barricade is directly above him when Burrow ends, it shatters on the spot.

-   If Tremor moves toward a connected perpendicular surface, he can freely climb and turn upon that surface as if wall-running with unlimited stamina.

-   When Burrow ends or is deactivated, Tremor is forcibly propelled a short distance away from whatever surface he’s on, a la wall-running.

-   Shield regeneration, Energy Siphon and Rejuvenation auras will remain active while Burrow is active.

-   Tremor is still affected by Eximus auras while Burrowing.

-   Two-handed cast; if standing, Tremor literally dives into the floor upon activation, as if into water.

-   Burrow cannot be cast while airborne, but can be used while sliding, wall-clinging or knocked down; in such a case, Tremor simply sinks into the nearest surface.

-   Burrow is affected by Power Duration, but can be prematurely deactivated (a la Rift Walk).

 

Quicksand: Tremor destabilizes the ground he walks on, causing it to give way beneath enemies who attempt to follow.

-   Quicksand is toggleable, consuming Tremor's energy over time while toggled on.

-   While Quicksand is toggled on, any contact Tremor makes with the ground traces an energy-colored path along his route. When Quicksand is toggled off or energy runs out, the path traced activates to become a sand trap for a period based on Power Duration.

-   Enemies who walk/run across the activated sand trap will get their feet caught in the ground, staggering them as they try to pull themselves out and immobilizing them until the Quicksand hardens again.

-   Enemies can still attack while immobilized, and most movement effects (ie knockback, Bounce, Ripline) are reduced to stagger. Enemies who suffer knockdown within Quicksand have reduced recovery speed until Quicksand ends. Switch Teleport can free foes.

-   Enemies have a reduced turning radius while immobilized by Quicksand, and are unable to aim backwards; Tenno directly behind them are functionally invisible.

-   Allies who stand within the sand trap are also immune to all knockback, push and pull effects, but not knockdown or other statuses. If pushed or pulled onto the sand trap, the Tenno gains traction and moves no further, but will not instantly recover from any knockdown effects.

-   Can be cast while airborne, but has no effect until Tremor lands.

-   Quicksand may be toggled on while Duration is active, but any of the Tremor's active Quicksand will be cleared and replaced once the effect is toggled off.

-   Can be toggled on without interruption, a la Speed. One-handed cast when toggled off; Tremor snaps his fingers, similar to Contagion.

-   Quicksand may be toggled on for as long as energy allows, with no maximum Duration.

-   Power Range affects the width of the Quicksand.

 

Fault Zone: Tremor creates invisible fault lines. Any damage dealt within the field releases a miniature quake.

-   Tremor draws energy from the ground and slams it back down, lining the ground with energy-colored cracks in a massive circle affected by Power Range.

-   Whenever an ally or enemy receives damage while standing within Fault Zone, the damage is duplicated and stored, similar to Chroma's Electric Ward. Once a minimum amount of damage to the target is stored or the target dies, an expanding shockwave similar to a Shockwave Moa’s attack will erupt from their current location, dealing a percentage of the total damage received to enemies it strikes, affected by Power Strength.

-   If the affected ally or enemy receives a physical or elemental status within Fault Zone, the resulting shockwave has a 100% chance to inflict the same statuses received to surrounding enemies.

-   Fault Zone deals no initial damage and will not alert enemies who enter its boundaries, or who were within its boundaries upon activation. Being struck by a shockwave will still alert affected enemies.

-   Fault Zone will release shockwaves caused by any damage source, including status effects, except Fault Zone itself.

-   Fault Zone will not apply to airborne targets, neither releasing shockwaves nor allowing them to receive damage from them.

-   Fault Zone can release multiple shockwaves from a singular damage source, i.e. a group of enemies caught within Fire Blast will each release their own shockwave of Heat damage.

-   Shockwaves released by Fault Zone will use the same damage types as their damage sources, in the same ratio as their contribution to the total damage; primary elements will not combine, i.e. being hit by Ice Wave and Fireball will not release a Blast damage wave, but one of 64% Cold and 36% Heat damage.

-   Shockwaves can inflict headshot damage if the target is knocked down.

-   Maximum radius of each shockwave is affected by Power Range.

-   Maximum duration of Fault Zone is affected by Power Duration.

-   Two-handed cast; Tremor draws in energy like the start of Overload in "The Prophet" trailer, then slams it down like Ice Wave.

-   Cannot be cast while airborne, but can be cast while wall-clinging.

-   Fault Zone cannot be recast while active.

 

Augments (Available from Steel Meridian and New Loka):

Wave 1 – The Terraformer

Plateau: Barricade can be cast while airborne to call forth a pillar for Tremor and his allies to stand on.

-   The pillar instantly rises up from the ground under Tremor to his current height, independent of Power Range. Summoning the pillar stops all of Tremor's aerial momentum, allowing him to stand on it.

-   Diameter of the pillar is based on augment rank, but not Power Range.

-   Base duration is affected by augment rank and Power Range, shorter than a normal Barricade.

-   Activating Burrow on the Plateau will initiate hasty descent to the bottom of the pillar.

-   As with Barricade, Tenno may parkour around, atop and across the Plateau.
-   When the Plateau is summoned, enemies directly under Tremor will receive damage (unaffected by Power Strength) and be propelled as if a Barricade was summoned under them. Allies directly under Tremor will be brought to the top of the Plateau with him.

-   When the Plateau expires, it crumbles to deal Impact damage and knockdown in a radius, affected by rank, Power Strength and Range a la Barricade.
-   Unlike standard Barricades, the Plateau is not affected by dive-kicking.

-   Barricades may be stacked on the Plateau, provided Tremor is standing.
-   Only one Plateau may be active at a time. Recasting Barricade while airborne will simultaneously destroy and replace the active Plateau.

 

Quantum Tunnel: Burrow will create a passage for allies upon Tremor's exit.

-   Upon the expiration or cancellation of Burrow, a two-way Wormhole is formed from the location Tremor activated Burrow to the location Burrow ended.

-   There is a short travel delay between entering and exiting the Quantum Tunnel, during which time the Tenno is treated as having entered stealth and the camera tracks in a straight line from one endpoint to the other (regardless of Tremor's actual route). No other actions may be taken during this delay. Closer Quantum Tunnel endpoints will reduce this delay.

-   Allies who use the Quantum Tunnel are propelled away from the exit in the same manner which Tremor is propelled out of Burrow.

-   Unlike Wormhole, a Quantum Tunnel may not be used by enemies, but is still invisible to them.

-   Number of charges before the Quantum Tunnel collapses is affected by rank.

-   Maximum Duration is affected by rank and Power Duration.

-   Limit one Quantum Tunnel at a time. Activating Burrow will not close an active Quantum Tunnel, but exiting Burrow will remove all active charges from an existing Quantum Tunnel upon creation of a new one.

 

Enveloping Sand: Quicksand caps damage taken by allies based on how long they stand still within it.

-   While allies stand within an active sand trap, they gain a buff that reduces the maximum amount of damage they can receive per second, similarly to Nullifier bubbles.

-   Every second allies stand still within Quicksand, mitigation increases by further restricting the cap on incoming damage.

-   Every second allies move within Quicksand, mitigation decreases at half the rate of the above.

-   This effect is applied before all other forms of mitigation, allowing damage to be decreased further.

-   Overlapping Quicksand will not alter the rate at which this effect accumulates.

-   The effect is cleared if the target leaves Quicksand, or if Quicksand ends.

-   Base damage cap and multiplier are inversely affected by rank and Power Strength.

 

Quake Storm: Fault Zone deals damage to enemies who enter the field, based on the current tileset.

-   When Fault Zone is created, an instance of damage is dealt to all enemies within the field, similar to Fire Blast. Enemies who enter after activation will also receive an instance of damage.

-   The damage type is split between Impact and an element based on the current tileset:

--> Infested Ship/Derelict: Viral
--> Corpus Ship: Electric
--> Corpus Outpost/Arctic: Cold

--> Corpus Gas City: Gas
--> Grineer Galleon/Asteroid: Heat

--> Grineer Shipyard/Laboratory: Corrosive

--> Grineer Desert: Blast
--> Grineer Forest: Toxin (Karma for the Cicero Toxin)
--> Orokin Tower/Moonbase: Radiation

--> Tenno Dojo/Simulation: Magnetic

 

In the case of Orokin/Derelict Sabotage and Invasion missions, the damage type will change based on which end of the portal or bridge the Tenno initially cast from.

-   Damage is affected by rank and Power Strength.

-   Damage dealt has a high status chance, and will initiate shockwaves from Fault Zone.

-   Enemies will be alerted by the damage dealt by Quake Storm.

 

Wave 2 – The Saboteur

Quartz Barrier: Barricade is now made of crystal, refracting elemental attacks that strike the wall into damaging beams.

-   Elemental attacks must be dealt to one of the long sides of the wall to activate this effect.

-   The beam fires out of the opposite side from which the wall was struck, perpendicular to the length of the wall itself.

-   Beams from Quartz Barrier can activate other Quartz Barrier beams.

-   Quartz Barriers will count as an additional enemy for the purposes of Fault Zone.

-   Power Strength affects the percentage of damage transferred into the beams, Power Range affects the maximum range of the beams.

 

Eruption: Exiting Burrow dislodges nearby debris, dealing damage and stagger to surrounding enemies.

-   Effect activates regardless of if Burrow was deactivated prematurely or Duration ended.

-   Damage is dealt in two simultaneous waves of equal effect. One deals Impact damage, the other deals Blast damage.

-   The Impact wave has 100% status chance.

-   As with explosives, the Blast wave's damage and status chance is reduced by the target's distance from the effect; deactivating Burrow closer to targets will inflict more damage and increases the chance to ragdoll them.

-   If Burrow ends or is deactivated while Tremor is precisely under a target, the target is flung as if by Bounce.

-   Maximum damage of each wave is affected by rank and Power Strength.

-   Effect radii are affected by rank and Power Range.

 

Mummify: Enemies trapped in Quicksand are slowly turned to stone the longer they remain within.

-   While an enemy is within an active sand trap, they gain a stacking slow debuff every second. This debuff affects attack speed as well as movement speed.

-   This slow may stack to 100%, causing a stony Freeze-like effect on the enemy for the remainder of Quicksand. This visual effect will only occur if Mummify reaches 100%, unaffected by other slows.

-   The slow remains as long as the target is trapped within Quicksand. When Quicksand ends, stacks of the debuff wear off one at a time, affected by Power Duration.

-   Overlapping Quicksand effects will not increase the potency or speed of stacking.

-   Slow is affected by rank only.

 

Landslide: Fault Zone will draw in enemies prior to activation.

-   Casting Fault Zone places a landmine under Tremor, which constantly pulls enemies towards it similar to Vortex. When an enemy steps on it, the Fault Zone field is created.

-   Landmine is comparable in size and activation to Bounce.

-   Distance of pull effect is based on rank and Power Range.

-   Pulling effect continues until and ceases upon the activation of the Fault Zone.

-   Pulling effect does not knockdown or ragdoll foes, a la Prolonged Paralysis.

-   Enemies passing within range of Landslide will have their flight disabled for a period affected by rank, but not Power Duration.

-   Fault Zone can be recast as long as the landmine remains untriggered, removing the previous mine and repositioning it.

-   Unalerted enemies will not be alerted upon entering the pull radius, but will investigate the mine, similar to Undertow. Alerted enemies may suffer knockdown if they try to run.

 

Obtaining Tremor:

Quest – Buried Alive

Phase 1:

Operatives have intercepted outgoing transmissions from an undersea Grineer laboratory concerning recently unearthed Orokin research. Prior to the Old War, planets and celestial bodies such as Phobos and Venus were thoroughly terraformed to be more hospitable; such technology could be turned against enemies of the Empire, causing landslides, eruptions, even poisoning atmospheres to eradicate those who do not have their degree of body modifications – allowing unopposed Grineer control of the Origin System. Tenno, it is your duty to make sure this research never bears fruit. Infiltrate the research lab, steal their data and wipe their drives.

 

Grineer Laboratory – Spy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Operator, the Orokin research you stole has more recent attachments. Apparently, this data was being used during the Old War, in connection to the development of a superweapon. However, the data collected by the Grineer is cursory at best. Perhaps if you located the origin of this research, we could obtain a completed copy?

 

Grineer Shipyard/Gate Crash – Mobile Defense

After we wiped the drives from the laboratory, the Grineer returned to this facility to recover an extra copy. Tenno, we’re going to do here what we did to the Grineer: once you collect the data, we’re going to sabotage the entrance to the facility. Kill anyone you encounter.

 

The mission plays out like a reverse Orokin Sabotage or Spy 1.0 mission: You must enter the Orokin facility, defend an Orokin computer within until it releases a datamass, defend computers in the portal chamber as they recalibrate the portal, then carry the datamass to extraction. Completing the mission awards the Tremor Systems Blueprint.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This research is fascinating, Operator! It would appear that the weapon the Orokin developed was actually a Warframe! Which would mean that “Project TREMOR” isn’t simply a title, but –

 

Ordis, did you just say “Tremor”? That’s a name I haven’t heard since – Tenno, we must continue to investigate.

 

Continues after you finish crafting the systems.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Phase 2:

Tremor was only deployed once during the Old War. The last time I saw him, he sustained damage in battle that caused a malfunction of his abilities, to devastating effect. He was recovered by an Orokin medical team, but I never heard about him again. Tenno, we must find out where the Orokin took him.

 

I believe I have an idea on how to do that. Operator, if we can pirate the Corpus satellite network, we can use the part you created to locate similar frequencies!

 

Corpus Outpost (Mars) – Interception

You must successfully complete three consecutive rounds for Ordis to inform you that he’s found a signal, upon which you will automatically extract.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I believe I’ve found the medical facility that Tremor was taken to, Operator! Unfortunately, what remains of it is near a Grineer excavation site.

 

Grineer Settlement/Gate Crash (Derelict) – Crossfire/Mobile Defense

For this mission, you must enter a facility that is being fought over by the Infested and Grineer, and defend a computer until it produces a datamass for you to bring to extraction. Completing the mission awards a Tremor Helmet Blueprint.

 

Continues after you finish crafting the helmet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Final Phase:

According to the data recovered from the medical facility, Tremor was sent to another Orokin lab to repair his Warframe once his wounds healed – Oh… oh dear.

 

What? What is it? Did something happen to Tremor?

 

No, but I’m afraid I made an error. The machine in the medical facility released a distress signal pointing toward the lab Tremor was sent to. I thought it was inconsequential, but now…

 

Now the Grineer are hot on our trail. Tenno, it seems we’re now racing against time. Any data the facility has on Tremor’s Warframe could put the Grineer back on track to replicate Orokin terraforming.

 

It’s worse than that. Operator, if the facility had the resources to repair a Warframe, it may lead the Grineer to new weapons against the Tenno.

 

Hurry, Tenno. We cannot allow the Grineer to succeed here.

 

Grineer Forest/Gate Crash – Sabotage

Your goal this mission is twofold, Tenno: Prevent the Grineer from obtaining anything of value from this final facility – by any means necessary – and investigate what became of Tremor. No Tenno will be left behind.

-----

The facility uses a beaten-down and overrun Orokin/Grineer hybrid tile, similar to the opening mission to Vor’s Prize. Fighting your way into the Orokin research facility eventually leads you to a chamber deep within, which contains only an Orokin computer in front of a wall created by rubble. Close inspection of the rubble reveals a petrified hand, reaching out.

 

Tremor?! Tenno, access the final datalog. I must know what happened here, NOW.

 

Activating the computer begins an earthquake. The wall of rubble collapses as the rest of the facility comes apart, dragging Tremor into a chasm and revealing a new exit. The Tenno must use their knowledge of parkour to escape the collapsing facility before the Sabotage timer runs out. Completing the mission awards the Tremor Chassis Blueprint.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue:

Back on the Liset, Ordis attempts to console the Lotus, who for once seems upset at the outcome of a mission – Tremor was lost, right before her eyes.

 

According to the final data entry, a routine check on Tremor’s systems quickly… escalated, after a malfunction caused him to become inseparable from the wall. He panicked, and nearly brought down the facility attempting to get out.

 

And the Orokin simply… left him behind. To die. To rot there, until we found him.

 

Not entirely true. The system never ceased working to correct the malfunction, using the data from the cave-in he caused. Would the Operator be interested in the updated specifications?

 

… Without Tremor’s influence to slow them down, the Grineer could have obtained untold weapons against us. Please Tenno, recreate his Warframe, in honor of his sacrifice. Even in death, he protected and served.

 

Additional Art Assets by arch111

 

Note that the following images are quite large for this forum. Among the community, arch111 is notable for his ability to accurately convert concept drawings into 3D models; these are a few of the many generated during the concepting process (which, I might add, is never over!). If you want to see more, check out his deviantArt gallery!

 

Weapon Assets

Keras, the Pilebunker

-   Designed by GunsDownGrace

-   One-handed heavy melee weapon; attaches directly to the forearm, a la Shield weapons

-->   Drill is driven forward during Charged punches and the final hit of combos; drill then spins, but needs to be reset between swings

-->   Finishers involve driving the drill into the target (Stealth: lower spine, Parry: under jaw), then revving the drill and tossing the target

-->   Stances may involve striking with other limbs for reduced damage while drill is being reset

-->   Blocking wields the pilebunker like a shield

-   Damage distribution: High  Puncture, mid-low  Impact, low  Slash

-->   High Charged attack damage, but slow swing speed

-->   High critical damage, average critical chance, low status chance

-   Low swing range (on par with fist weapons), but deals a short frontal cone on Charged attacks that ragdolls corpses

-   L-bar folds up when not in use

-   Increased Ground Slam radius and damage

 

Commentary

This is my second attempt at creating an Earth Warframe concept. As it's been a year since the release of that thread, I didn't feel the need to kick a dead horse back to life, just to show behind-the-scenes updates.

As I have difficulty drawing a straight line with a ruler, for these past few months I've been teaming up with artist arch111 (Perhaps you've seen his work?) to deliver the best possible version of Tremor to my fellow Tenno. Today, I feel secure with Tremor's design both visually and in terms of gameplay, and he's finally ready for his grand unveiling!

 

Since the release of Zephyr, I've been pondering the opposite values of our resident Wind elemental. While Zephyr's abilities focus on maximizing her effectiveness from above her opponents, an Earth elemental should be more in-tune with the ground. I for one prefer to play frames with their own identity - not just someone who throws stones and copies Iron Skin. For this reason, Tremor's abilities focus on three principles:

1) Altering his terrain. Warframe has a real niche for somebody who can change the battlefield - not simply making Snow Globes and rings of fire, but adding physical platforms to parkour and giving his allies the literal high ground over enemies. Tremor's intended role can be stated to be area denial. (Naturally, I also wanted to prevent players from trolling with him, which is what spawned the stone-throw mechanic on Barricade!)

2) Tactile transmutation; he must be in-contact with some surface to use his abilities. (I felt this was more reasonable of a limitation than amplifying his weight.) The ground is both his shield and his weapon, and in space, there isn't a lot of raw "earth" to work with; instead, Tremor can use his abilities to alter metal (refined earth) as well as stone. "Why can he tunnel into walls in Galleon-class warships?" Orokin-brand space magic: he transmutes himself.

3) Scalability. The issue with a lot of early Warframes is that they lack utility or scalability into end-game. When I wrote Tremor's abilities, I focused on their mechanics first; their numbers were the least important part of the design process.

 

Zephyr's main strength is her mobility. When thinking in opposite terms of her, I had to focus on how Tremor would get around without having to leave the ground; traditional Earth elementals are slow movers, but Frost has already taken the "traditional" niche. As a result, Burrow was the first part of Tremor's kit to come into existence. Since I was still worried after Oberon's release, I wanted to be sure that all of Tremor's powers interacted with each other and created synergy with other Warframes; synergizing with Burrow required that all of his skills became stealth viable.

I've always believed that a Warframe's first skill should be both the tonal summary and cornerstone of that kit; it's the most important part of the design process. Too many Warframes have first skills that deal damage and contribute nothing else to the kit, so I wanted something whose mechanic was a constant rather than its numbers, in the vein of Decoy. Barricade was heavily inspired by Avatar the Last Airbender; earthbending didn't simply conjure the element like wielders of fire or air could. Every attack or barrier required that the stone be drawn from somewhere nearby, causing the most property damage out of all elements and reshaping the battlefield on-the-go. This principle became the backbone of Tremor's kit. In creating a method to raise the earth, I wanted the equal ability to lower it to directly disadvantage foes as well, spawning what would eventually become Quicksand in succession.

When I started working on Tremor's ultimate, I made the mistake of thinking of it purely from an offensive angle. I initially wanted Tremor's ultimate to be a persistent earthquake, but Banshee already claimed that. Fault Zone came into being when I considered, of all things, Cataclysm: Limbo manages to influence the entire battlefield in his favor with one ability, which had hardly any direct offensive implications. If I wanted to call Tremor a "terraformer", I needed a skill that wouldn't simply put Tremor on the literal high ground, but the tactical one as well - something that would give some payoff to his particular CC and defensive mechanics. Instead of one earthquake, the skill would create a multitude from the vast number of damage sources employed on the battlefield, amplifying simple attacks into Molecular Prime-level nukes and causing enemy assaults to backfire (so long as you remain up-close, fitting with Burrow).

 

In terms of visual design, I didn't want to go with an overtly "tanky" look, as that would simply bring Rhino to mind; Tremor can have above-average durability, but his skills are more tactical and pragmatic in nature, like the classical rogue archetype. I've worked with arch111 to make a Warframe who visibly invoked stone or crystal, but with the same subtleties as other elemental Warframes relative to their elements.

Presently, we're working with the idea that Tremor is affected by the environment as much as he affects it, which will hopefully be reflected in future concept art.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Archwizard

[Dwolfknight]

Really like the concept art and the first abilitie and would really like to see ingame, the fourth has potential and all but not sure (would be needed to see ingame), , thrid seems overpowered and would need some tweaking and don't know what to say about the second (not that it's bad i just don't know what to think of it).

[Archwizard]

thrid seems overpowered and would need some tweaking

 

Not sure what you mean by that, but I suspect you may have misinterpreted the effect.

 

Essentially, you toggle the skill on and all it does is give you a buff to leave a trail behind. The trail does nothing on its own; it's completely inactive.

As with Absorb, the real effect occurs when the ability is deactivated, turning the path you traced into a sandpit. It only occurs on the path itself, not something arbitrary like the space between enclosures. This sandpit is affected by Power Duration; none of the CC is kept up by the toggle.

 

The CC it provides is comparable to Bastille: Bastille completely immobilizes enemies but is limited to a number of targets. Quicksand is not limited by the number of targets, but does not prevent them from fighting back. (That's what Barricades and Worldbreaker's stuns are for.) Both CC any targets who enter the affected area during any point it's active.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Archwizard

[Dwolfknight]

Not sure what you mean by that, but I suspect you may have misinterpreted the effect.

 

Essentially, you toggle the skill on and all it does is give you a buff to leave a trail behind. The trail does nothing on its own; it's completely inactive.

As with Absorb, the real effect occurs when the ability is deactivated, turning the path you traced into a sandpit. It only occurs on the path itself, not something arbitrary like the space between enclosures. This sandpit is affected by Power Duration; none of the CC is kept up by the toggle.

 

The CC it provides is comparable to Bastille: Bastille completely immobilizes enemies but is limited to a number of targets. Quicksand is not limited by the number of targets, but does not prevent them from fighting back. (That's what Barricades and Worldbreaker's stuns are for.) Both CC any targets who enter the affected area during any point it's active.

ooh thanks for the explanation, i was thinking of something like the hydoids undertow area spreading at the same size wilhe you walk and then being a hard CC, but now i see and it's really a cool concept +1 would like in the game

[arch111]

Good to see that the concept is up!

You put alot of work into the powers and how they work. It would make for some nice tactics.

[Elydir]

3) Scalability. The issue with a lot of early Warframes is that they lack utility or scalability into end-game. When I wrote Tremor's abilities, I focused on their mechanics first; their numbers were the least important part of the design process.

 

Already better than Ember, Oberon, even Rhino.

[Archwizard]

I reformatted the OP to put some emphasis on the meat-and-potatoes of the work, rather than having to dig all the way to the bottom to look for his stats.

[Krislen]

A couple of questions on this one

 

1. Given the existence of knockback/drag effects can Quicksand be placed on walls and would the root effect apply should an enemy be knocked/dragged into said wall?

 

2. What is the "trigger" range of World Breaker, I could see this making or breaking the skill? On one hand if it is too short it would pretty much require precision placement with burrow/be relegated to only being useful on infected defense maps, on the other if it is too large it would be horribly broken (though honestly in combination with a Nix I think it would be horribly broken anyhow.

[Archwizard]

A couple of questions on this one

 

1. Given the existence of knockback/drag effects can Quicksand be placed on walls and would the root effect apply should an enemy be knocked/dragged into said wall?

 

2. What is the "trigger" range of World Breaker, I could see this making or breaking the skill? On one hand if it is too short it would pretty much require precision placement with burrow/be relegated to only being useful on infected defense maps, on the other if it is too large it would be horribly broken (though honestly in combination with a Nix I think it would be horribly broken anyhow.

 

1. I hadn't particularly considered it, but I see that as being much harder to code through ragdoll effects. Impact status "knockback" in Warframe tends to be little more than a heavy stagger, not necessarily strong enough to push someone into a wall. Otherwise, I would see no reason why not to.

 

2. Same as Bounce. I figured if the trigger range was any larger, it would be far too sensitive, activating when only one or two enemies enters the damage radius. I wanted it to be small enough that it would require planning to use effectively (rather than encouraging "Press 4 to Win"), but large enough to still be reasonable.

[Noble_Cactus]

Awesome concept. I especially like how you worked Geomancer themes into Worldbreaker, and how all of his skills can work together to allow for a very flexible trap-based play that differs from Vauban's. It's also kind of refreshing seeing a Terra frame that isn't a big hulking brute like you'd expect him to be, but bulky enough to align himself with the earth.

I do have a couple concerns that I'm sure can be improved upon.

- You said Barricade can be bypassed by punch through. Does this mean that teammates can't shoot through the stone without punch through? If so, I can see a lot of teamwork issues involving aiming, like Shadows of the Dead but worse. Also, the upcoming Riot Moa seems to have the ability to jump onto crates and such. I'm guessing they'd be able to do the same with the rock shard?

- Burrow pretty much seems like what Undertow should have been from the start. I don't know what else to offer besides that, though.

- Worldbreaker sounds awesome, but its effect seems a little underwhelming for an ultimate (environmental proc and Impact proc + damage). Would adding a chance to knock down enemies be too much? Or even a slow and a knockdown? It seems to me that an Earth frame would have a move that knocks enemies down to the ground. As it stands, Banshee's Sound Quake almost does a better job of representing earthquakes.

- In addition, how many Worldbreaker mines can Tremor pay down at once? What's preventing Tremor from laying down a bunch of mines in one spot to nuke a chokepoint? Or is that intentional?

Otherwise, nice work. I hope whoever combs the forums for ideas at DE takes a liking to your thread.

-

As an aside, a while back I came up with an idea for a mobility move for a potential Terra frame. Upon activating this ability, the frame would curl up into a boulder and transform into a literal rolling stone. The move would slowly drain energy whole active and would pilot similarly to how the Morph Ball works in the Metroid Prime games, taking momentum and slanted surfaces into account while rolling. Enemies who came into contact with the ball would be staggered or knocked down, depending on how fast the player was moving. The player would also be able to turn in tight circles at low speeds also like the Morph Ball, or like the Metal Warden's ball from Bloodline Champions.

I initially thought the move would ultimately be too unwieldy to use for reliable mobility, so I held off on posting the idea. One day I decided that I'd do it anyway, but not before checking out the Behemoth monster in Evolve, who is also centered around an earth theme. Turns out he had the exact same move as my rolling boulder.

Ah well.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Noble_Cactus

[Archwizard]

- You said Barricade can be bypassed by punch through. Does this mean that teammates can't shoot through the stone without punch through? If so, I can see a lot of teamwork issues involving aiming, like Shadows of the Dead but worse. Also, the upcoming Riot Moa seems to have the ability to jump onto crates and such. I'm guessing they'd be able to do the same with the rock shard?

- Burrow pretty much seems like what Undertow should have been from the start. I don't know what else to offer besides that, though.

- Worldbreaker sounds awesome, but its effect seems a little underwhelming for an ultimate (environmental proc and Impact proc + damage). Would adding a chance to knock down enemies be too much? Or even a slow and a knockdown? It seems to me that an Earth frame would have a move that knocks enemies down to the ground. As it stands, Banshee's Sound Quake almost does a better job of representing earthquakes.

- In addition, how many Worldbreaker mines can Tremor pay down at once? What's preventing Tremor from laying down a bunch of mines in one spot to nuke a chokepoint? Or is that intentional?

 

- Correct, allies can neither see through it nor strike through it without Punch Through. It's not Electric Shield, just a method of summoning cover; the opacity and solidity of it is both the point, and what balances its low cost. Unlike the unpredictable element presented by Shadows of the Dead, this can be countered by dive-kicking the wall out of the way, or by using the Quartz Barrier augment. Most enemies can also climb on boxes or obstructions in a tileset, but you'll also find that the AI hesitates running headfirst into Fire Blast and even Undertow, behaviors which could be utilized here.

- Ironically, when Hydroid came out, I felt like he had a lot of what Tremor could have been. I tried writing up a meteor strike ultimate in my first concept, and it ended up a lot like Tempest Barrage.

- All these things are possibilities - but then I'd have to remove the status chance from it. It would basically ruin the point of having a tileset sectioned off as a Blast tile if it has no differing effects from everything else. Of course, if you remove the status, then the effect becomes useless on Infested and Corpus tilesets.

- No limit, totally intended - landmines are used to create minefields, after all. I thought about a move that would even turn the area you mark with it into a full-blown minefield, but decided against it since I didn't want to recycle existing skills (like Quicksand's marking, or delayed blast Tempest Barrage), and didn't want to have it randomly place your mines for you either.

 

As an aside, a while back I came up with an idea for a mobility move for a potential Terra frame. Upon activating this ability, the frame would curl up into a boulder and transform into a literal rolling stone. The move would slowly drain energy whole active and would pilot similarly to how the Morph Ball works in the Metroid Prime games, taking momentum and slanted surfaces into account while rolling. Enemies who came into contact with the ball would be staggered or knocked down, depending on how fast the player was moving. The player would also be able to turn in tight circles at low speeds also like the Morph Ball, or like the Metal Warden's ball from Bloodline Champions.

 

I actually thought about something like that that after seeing the Goren in World of Warcraft doing basically the same thing (and the rock trolls in Frozen, and the Rollout move from Pokemon...). Attach a mitigation effect to it (because he's a rock, shooting it will only get you so far) and it becomes perfect for some kind of Earth tank.

 

Of course, transforming into the element is basically Hydroid's shtick, and being the unstoppable mass trying to flatten everything in its path also seems like the whole point of Rhino Charge. Burrow works better in Tremor's case, since you can use it to climb walls, and it just has a different feel from everything else in the game.

Edited March 30, 2015 by Archwizard

[Elydir]

Enveloping Sand sounds really complex, and only useful at extremely high levels. Could you simplify it somehow?

[Cohee]

Take my +1 :) I love the concept and the unique skill mechanics!

[Archwizard]

Enveloping Sand sounds really complex, and only useful at extremely high levels. Could you simplify it somehow?

 

I considered the complexity, since I didn't want it to be overtly necessary at all levels (although I guess the requirement to stand still addresses that).

 

By simplify, did you mean explain it or make it less complex of a mechanic? I assume the latter, since you seem to have a grasp on it.

 

The alternative idea I was considering was to have it work in reverse - give you a stacking buff every second you stand still to shave off up to X damage every second from incoming hits, up to a maximum amount, with the same falloff mechanic.

It felt too much like Group Iron Skin, however, while the advantage of Enveloping Sand is that it puts a hard stop to incoming damage; enemy output can no longer exceed X amount at once, whether you're level 30 or 300. It would prevent you from getting oneshot (although for that, you'd have to have it reduce damage to <500 per second to save the party), but receiving a consistently high amount of damage still puts you at risk.

 

I wanted it to pair well with other forms of protection and mitigation, without being the end-all-be-all, which was rather the point of the Terraformer augment grouping: synergizing with and supporting allies.

[arch111]

I have a thought I want to bounce around a bit.

Would you consider Tremor to be the 4:th Element of the classic four?

Ember : Fire

Hydroid : Water

Zephyr : Wind

Tremor : Earth

They make a perfect Elemental Cell!

[Archwizard]

Would you consider Tremor to be the 4:th Element of the classic four?

Ember : Fire

Hydroid : Water

Zephyr : Wind

Tremor : Earth

They make a perfect Elemental Cell!

 

Pretty much why I've been on the idea of Tremor being male.

 

Imagine having Trinity with them as "Heart"...

 

Of course, with Red Chroma as a possible replacement for Ember in that cell (so she can join the other elemental cell of Frost, Volt and Saryn), Tremor's gender is perhaps more... mutable.

 

(Edit: I vote the genderbent name be Terra, naturally.)

Edited June 21, 2015 by Archwizard

[Elydir]

Pretty much why I've been on the idea of Tremor being male.

 

Imagine having Trinity with them as "Heart"...

 

Of course, with Red Chroma as a possible replacement for Ember in that cell (so she can join the other elemental cell of Frost, Volt and Saryn), Tremor's gender is perhaps more... mutable.

 

Which might make Tremor even more of a foil to Zephyr in that way.

[Krislen]

 

 

Pretty much why I've been on the idea of Tremor being male.

 

Imagine having Trinity with them as "Heart"...

 

Of course, with Red Chroma as a possible replacement for Ember in that cell (so she can join the other elemental cell of Frost, Volt and Saryn), Tremor's gender is perhaps more... mutable.

 

Which might make Tremor even more of a foil to Zephyr in that way.

 

All we need now is a Grass and a Bug type and we have Pokeframe

[Elydir]

Have you thought about weapons to go with Tremor? Mirage had Akzani, Nekros with Reaper, Obys got his mace...

[Krislen]

Have you thought about weapons to go with Tremor? Mirage had Akzani, Nekros with Reaper, Obys got his mace...

Aesthetically I'd say Furax would go great with him, as for an all new weapon maybe DW Maces for something different but would kinda fit the theme?

[Archwizard]

Have you thought about weapons to go with Tremor? Mirage had Akzani, Nekros with Reaper, Obys got his mace...

Aesthetically I'd say Furax would go great with him, as for an all new weapon maybe DW Maces for something different but would kinda fit the theme?

 

Well, I wouldn't say Furax precisely (most signature weapons are Tenno in design, unless the Warframe itself has visual calls to a specific faction, ie Valkyr and Lecta), but you're on the right track. Since Tremor has tactile abilities, I'm going along the lines of a fist or sparring weapon, something that requires him to get up-close and strike forcefully. Kogake, for instance.

 

Of course, for a weapon that just happens to come out simultaneously... 

Chroma's marketed with Ripkas and Kohmak, despite both being Grineer designs. Limbo's marketed with Opticor despite being Corpus in design. They don't particularly have "signature" weapons (although Kronen might retroactively be for Chroma)...

 

Short version is, I imagine Tremor having a pile-bunker, like Vandre's submission to the melee contest.

Naturally all I can do is plug it, since I don't actually have permission from Vandre to use its design with Tremor.

Nobody does. Vandre hasn't been on in a year.

 

A pile-bunker's great, since the natural drill design fits perfectly with the Earth concept, on top of our serious lack of Puncture-based melee weapons.

arch111 and I have talked about it, and if we wanted him to have a "signature" pile-bunker, we could go for some kind of Tenno weapon designed after the Excavators.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Archwizard

[DrRitz]

I definitely like the overall idea of the barricade ability and the mechanics behind it. It might need a different kind of anti-troll measure though, just not sure what. Burrow and Quicksand, Id like to see beyond my own imagination and how one would implement it into the current game. It sounds like there would be a number of potential use for those skills. Worldbreaker sounds pretty solid, I just don't like the idea of a landmine itself. Maybe something landmine-like but in the form of an earthbender/Yamato from the Naruto world.

First set of augments sounds like great addition to the fun factor. 2nd set much more practical though. So overall, great mix between fun and actual utility.

Also, I'd say give him a new hammer. He seems like a hammer kind of guy. Besides, we've not had an impact-based melee in awhile. Actually we've not had an impact-based anything in awhile now that I think about it. Let us make better use of Primed Heavy Impact pl0x. Jat is great and all but a tiny extra variety would be nice.

[Noble_Cactus]

Well, I wouldn't say Furax precisely (most signature weapons are Tenno in design, unless the Warframe itself has visual calls to a specific faction, ie Valkyr and Lecta), but you're on the right track. Since Tremor has tactile abilities, I'm going along the lines of a fist or sparring weapon, something that requires him to get up-close and strike forcefully. Kogake, for instance.

 

Of course, for a weapon that just happens to come out simultaneously... 

Chroma's marketed with Ripkas and Kohmak, despite both being Grineer designs. Limbo's marketed with Opticor despite being Corpus in design. They don't particularly have "signature" weapons (although Kronen might retroactively be for Chroma)...

 

Short version is, I imagine Tremor having a pile-bunker, like Vandre's submission to the melee contest.

 

[snip]

 

Naturally all I can do is plug it, since I don't actually have permission from Vandre to use its design with Tremor.

Nobody does. Vandre hasn't been on in a year.

 

A pile-bunker's great, since the natural drill design fits perfectly with the Earth concept, on top of our serious lack of Puncture-based melee weapons.

arch111 and I have talked about it, and if we wanted him to have a "signature" pile-bunker, we could go for some kind of Tenno weapon designed after the Excavators.

 

 

Man, I'm still a little sad that Pilebunker didn't win the contest. Same with how its creator hasn't been online for so long.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Noble_Cactus

[Archwizard]

Maybe something landmine-like but in the form of an earthbender/Yamato from the Naruto world.

 

Isn't Yamato more of a wood-type guy?

 

Also, I'd say give him a new hammer. He seems like a hammer kind of guy. Besides, we've not had an impact-based melee in awhile. Actually we've not had an impact-based anything in awhile now that I think about it. Let us make better use of Primed Heavy Impact pl0x. Jat is great and all but a tiny extra variety would be nice.

 

I see Tremor as being more hands-on. As I said, his tactile abilities mean that he focuses more of his power directly through his hands and feet; if my powers focused on getting my fingers on something, I'd want to leave them free, rather than wrapping them around a weapon.

 

As for the lack of Impact-based weaponry, we've had 3 hammers, 3 staves, 3 fist weapons, Kogake and Kestrel.

There are 4 Puncture melee weapons, and that's including a Prime variant. (Excluding the second Puncture glaive coming soon.) 

 

Just because we haven't had one in a while doesn't mean there is a great need... but I'm sure Tremor could take Excalibur's place modeling the next hammer after his release.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Archwizard

[arch111]

Hmm. Drill-warhammer? Sounds like fun.