Rhino's Iron Skin And Charge - Heavy Metal Menace

[Vaskadar]

As I'm sure you've all seen many Rhinoceri as of late, with no end in sight to Iron Skin's perma-active state (which doesn't prepare these rhino-exclusive players for late-game content, leading to a very sharp and punishing falloff) I've come up with a more interesting solution to Iron Skin's lack of tactical potential, while simultaneously making it a better tanking ability. This proposed change should be in tandem with a change to Rhino Charge, but more on that later.

 

This is how I'd like to see Iron Skin function.

 

Iron Skin

 

Brief period of damage absorption (which bolsters health kind of like how Snow Globe works at the moment) like a reactive/ablative gel that hardens when damaged (fixed at 3-5 seconds, unmodifiable by duration mods). This brief period of absorption should be activated with tactical thought, drawing fire from all enemies nearby for that duration.

 

The aggro drawn from nearby enemies will bolster your likelihood of drawing fire away from your teammates, giving a more defined tanking role.

 

This gel, however, slows his movement speed up to a certain percentage (probably up to a 10-30% at max movement speed penalty) depending on how much damage he's absorbed. We're talking massive damage absorption. Iron Skin values modified by strength, health and armor. Still immune to knockdown for its duration.

 

 

To visually provide feedback for the player, the more damage absorbed, the more ferrite crystals pop up on his armor.

 

After this period of tremendous damage tanking, Rhino's ablative metal gel starts to dissipate. This period is stretched out over a 30 second time period (when the ability is maxed out), and as the excess armor is shed, the movement speed penalty dissipates. The dissipation period can be extended massively by Narrow Minded and other duration mods.

 

Because duration modifies the new Iron Skin's lasting effects, it would then make builds utilizing Fleeting Expertise less effective overall. You'd have to choose between being able to cast more frequently and have your extra armor deplete faster, or the opposite for more energy.

 

This proposed change will make Rhino more effective as a late game tank, without making him roflols easy in planetary missions.

 

Rhino Charge

 

An activated (toggle-able) state that functions much like Volt's speed, except you're locked into a high speed, stamina-free sprint mode with reduced turning, but deal damage to and knock down everything you come into contact with. This will offset the negative aspects of Iron Skin's movement speed penalty. While you won't be invincible in this state, you'll take a bit less damage from the front (25-50% less perhaps?). It has a set time limit that is affected by duration, but you can de-activate it mid-charge with no delays. This gives Rhino a more interesting way of closing distance to the enemy, and makes it less of a power clone of Slash Dash or Tidal Surge. Immune to knockdown during duration.

 

Power range affects how wide the charge shield is.

 

Necessary Clarifications

Iron Skin clarifications

-New Iron Skin retains its knockdown-impervious status and proc immunity until it's fully dissipated.

-New Iron Skin will function like an 'overshield' from the Halo series, diminishing slowly over time until fully exhausted.

-New Iron Skin absorbs damage (for a set amount of time, unmodifiable) and converts it to total armor, a la snowglobe's absorption feature. Tanking damage can massively boost Iron Skin's health.

-The speed penalty begins to apply after 300-2000 damage has been absorbed, ramping up to full after an unspecified amount.

-The speed penalty will have fully dissipated after the absorbed armor has been shed. Activating without absorbing will not incur a speed penalty.

-Draws max aggro while absorbing damage.

 

Rhino Charge clarification

-Initial charge cost for Rhino Charge is 10 energy. Full usage will cost up to 25 energy. Power strength will affect top speed and damage dealt. Power duration will extend the maximum time active. Efficiency's effects are obvious.

[izzatuw]

I've always had the idea of the Charge but I'm not sure how well it'd transition in game. It wouldn't make Fleeting users won't be effected much but the question would be Stomp or Iron Skin? Narrowminded drastically decreases Rhino Stomp range but in return you get 3 great abilities.

[Noble_Cactus]

I don't feel like typing up a new post, so I'll just copy and paste my post from the other Rhino thread:

 

 

Okay, I'll admit this is a bit of a necro, but I wanted to clarify what I meant by the Brute character archetype.

 

The Tyrant from Nosgoth exemplifies the Brute. In fact, several of his skills are eerily similar to Rhino's... except that they help him fill the Brute/offtank role much better.

 

Granted, Nosgoth is a PvP game, but I feel like some of the basic concepts behind the class apply to WF. Take a quick look through this video and see how the Tyrant's abilities allow him to fill the role:

 

 

Another video with skilled match gameplay:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wbOhilvCNY

 

Charge is, well, what Rhino's charge should be. It allows the Tyrant to tactically scatter enemies in tight spaces so his teammates can pick them off one-by-one, whether by hitting them or by causing them to sidestep the charge. He can also follow it up with a few abilities. What if Rhino had this charge, and during this charge, he generated a small force shield in front of him that blocked enemy fire and protected teammates behind him?

 

Ignore Pain is Iron Skin, but better. It allows the Tyrant to reliably soak enemy fire for his teammates, make enemies waste their cooldowns, and open them to attack. It also wipes some debuffs and interrupts from the Tyrant.

 

Shockwave and Smash both allow the Tyrant to reposition enemies for kills, and they can be used after Charges to do so. Smash is pretty much Rhino Stomp; something like Shockwave would make for an interesting Stomp augment, perhaps.

 

And if you look closely, the Tyrant can't mindlessly facetank gunfire. His high health allows him to take extra nicks in combat, but he'll still get blown up if he plays with no brain. To succeed, he needs to initiate for his teammates and sometimes finish fights by approaching from blind angles. Once he's in there, his high health and high damage ensure that there is little escape for the enemy unless he is focused or he is outmaneuvered.

 

That's how Rhino should be.

 

While DE obviously can't just lift mecahnics from Nosgoth and drop them into Warframe, it's refreshing to at least look at what a proper Brute looks like in a third-person shooter.

 

Charge is the focus here.

 

Also shown: what the Attica could have been like.

Edited April 2, 2015 by Noble_Cactus

[Vaskadar]

Well, at least we basically agree on what needs to be done.

[TheBrsrkr]

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/425341-why-dont-we-rework-rhino-instead-of-buffing-him/

 

Not really liking the duration Rhino, but that just might be my personal preference. The lowered speed is also a bit unnessescary, as Rhino is already slow enough as it is.

[weirdee]

if a charging rhino hits a wall, will they bounce off like archwing? lol

[letir]

Coptering and air dash will kill any speed penalty. Add "no jumping" rule.