General Consensus on difficulty of Warframe - please feedback!

[Zakalwe]

I'm very curious, how is everyone else finding the difficulty of the game?

Do you find it starts out more difficult because of your lack of survivability, and gets easier as you progress?

Do you find the later levels to be a challenge or a letdown once you're fully powered?

Could you also please give an example of yoru typical end game set up in terms of mods for your frame and weapons of choice, and how you manage Pluto when you use them? (can you solo? do you need a full 4 man group? etc...).

Not a brag thread, please keep it cival. I'm genuinely interested.

-

My current Pluto set up:

Exclalibur - 30 - All unlocked

+ 70% Armour

+ 44% Armour

+ 39% Armour

+ 50 Shield Cap

+ 50 Shield Cap

+ 49 Shield Cap

+ 20% Shield Recharge

+ 39%shield recharge

(considering taking sprint or health mods in place of shield cap considering they disappear in seconds - I would add melee damage but I havn't found a single one for my frame... in fact, this is the best I've got so far, and I've levelled two frames to 30...).

Snipetron - 30 - All unlocked

+ 50% reload

+ 25% clip cap

+ 25% AP

+ 10% crit chance

+ 14% crit chance

Aklato - 30 - All unlocked

+ 30% ammo cap

+ 33% clip cap

+ 82% crit dmg

+14% crit chance

Heatsword - 15 - All unlocked

+ 14% melee dmg plus + 9% fire rate (double mod)

+ 9% rate

+ 9% rate

+ 8% melee

With this set up I can solo most of Pluto including Outer Terminus.

-Not tried solo hades

-Not unlocked all defense missions yet - can solo up to the third one (find them boring, will test soon)

Finding the end game content to be quite easy, with the only real challenge knowing when to wait and recoup shield before popping my head back up to kill. It hasn't slowed me down much.

I would like to see a difficulty increase, Hard Mode without HP bloat or something.

-

How are you guys doing?

Do you think the general difficulty is too easy, too har,d or just right?

Cheers!

Edited January 20, 2013 by Zakalwe

[Solvite]

It's too easy. But its a beta, they want us to test stuff.

They can't have us find bugs if we are too busy "progressing" through the content.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Solvite

[Ryme]

I am running a Loki frame that is lvl 30, but not unlocked. I find content to be very difficult, as I am most ceratinly dead within a few shots when rushed. When not dropping dead instantly, I take my time to pick enemies off from a distance and move up slowly. For the most part, I can't take anything on head on and must exploit terrain and cover as much as possible. I expect this will be the experience of every non-paying player. It is frustrating and not very rewarding to even attempt Pluto missions for me currently.

Frankly. I think the game's balance needs to be rexamined, as there is a huge disparity in what you can accomplish with fully unlocked weapons and frames, compared to if your equipment is still locked.

[Zakalwe]

I expect this will be the experience of every non-paying player.

I bought a reactor and catalyst with my 50 free credits, so F2P players are given the chance to have one unlocked frame right away.

I also farmed and built all of my weapons and Frames.

Just saying.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Zakalwe

[Solvite]

I bought a reactor and catalyst with my 50 free credits, so F2P players are given the chance to have one unlocked frame right away.

I also farmed and built all of my weapons and Frames.

Just saying.

Definitely this.

And a level 15 gorgon can handle anything in the game weapon wise.

[UkyoSonoda]

The game gets easier the faster you find decent mods to stack in your gear atm. It feels like a majority of your power comes from mods rather than your selection of frame and weapons.

[Zakalwe]

The game gets easier the faster you find decent mods to stack in your gear atm. It feels like a majority of your power comes from mods rather than your selection of frame and weapons.

Yes. Obviously!

Could you guys please list the mods you're using and how you're finding the difficulty so we can see exactly how the balance is? I'm wondering how many peopel who say it's easy have a lot of super powered mods like multi, etc...

I'm going to attempt some pluto runs with no mods at all and see how it goes.

[Solvite]

The difficulty of this game is dependent on how many people are in your game.

Solo = hard mode

4 players = easy mode

[Zakalwe]

The difficulty of this game is dependent on how many people are in your game.

Solo = hard mode

4 players = easy mode

Untrue.

Solo is still easy for me and many others.

Wondering what the set-ups of those other players are.

Also wondering what the set ups of those finding it difficult are.

[Wiawyr]

If you're not busting through everything, you're getting killed horribly. There's really no middle ground. Once you're not killing enemies fast enough, they swarm you and your shields don't have time to regen.

[Ced23Ric]

I can solo any mission, any boss, and hardly find much intimidating scenarios short of being bumrushed into a corner by a flock of Shockwave MOAs. I could potentially handle bosses better with a Gorgon, but would lose my long-range accuracy. As you can see, I don't have a single Multishot mod installed, nor do I stack armour in all slots I run a melee-heavy setup, too - and it wrecks normal mooks, regardless of level. My gameplan is stunning them with electricity as I get close, popping Iron Skin as needed, and slicing them up when I covered the distance. Rhino's [3] gives me breathing room, I never use the [4]. The [1] gets used to travel, mostly.

My setup is pretty straight, optimized against Corpus.

Rhino

• [1] Rank 30 | Armour +70%
  
• [2] Rank 30 | Armour +70%
  
• [3] Rank 30 | Armour +68%
  
• [4] Rank 30 | Armour +40% / Melee Damage +39%
  
• [5] Rank 30 | Melee Damage +75%
  
• [6] Rank 28 | Melee Damage +71% / Shield Capacity +46
  
• [7] Rank 30 | Health +50 / Stamina Recharge +60%
  
• [8] Rank 29 | Health +72

Braton

• [1]Rank 22 | +19% Freeze Damage / +58% Max Ammo
  
• [2]Rank 30 | +15% Freeze Damge / +15% Electricity Damage
  
• [3]Rank 30 | +25% Electricity Damage / +5 Puncture
  
• [4]Rank 30 | +25% Electricity Damage / +50% Reload Speed
  
• [5]Rank 30 | +15% Armour-Piercing Damage / +50% Reload Speed

Lex

• [1] Rank 30 | +49% Critical Damage / +10% Critical Chance
  
• [2] Rank 28 | +46% Critical Damage / +9% Critical Chance
  
• [3] Rank 27 | +46% Critical Damage / +13% Freeze Damage
  
• [4] Rank 29 | +47% Critical Damage / +34% Clip Capacity

Heat Sword

• [1] Rank 29 | +24% Melee Damage
  
• [2] Rank 25 | +22% Melee Damage
  
• [3] Rank 25 | +22% Melee Damage
  
• [4] Rank 17 | +17% Melee Damage
  
• [5] Rank 26 | +14% Melee Damage
  
• [6] Rank 26 | +14% Melee Damage
  
• [7] Rank 12 | +9% Melee Damage

Gear

• [1] Rifle Ammo Box
  
• [2] Rifle Ammo Box
  
• [3] Shield Restore
  
• [4] Team Heal
  
• [5] Team Heal
  
• [6] Team Heal
  
• [7] Team Heal
  
• [8] Team Heal

[Aligyon]

The difficulty of this game is dependent on how many people are in your game.

Solo = hard mode

4 players = easy mode

Aanyyyways back to the subject. I agree on what Solvite said, the game is hard when playing solo but just by having another player with you makes the game to easy.

not sure if they have this but does the game increases the spawn and difficulty of the mobs when there are more players?

[Wiawyr]

Aanyyyways back to the subject. I agree on what Solvite said, the game is hard when playing solo but just by having another player with you makes the game to easy.

not sure if they have this but does the game increases the spawn and difficulty of the mobs when there are more players?

It increases the level of the bosses, which means more health to wear down, but otherwise none observeable at this time. I've personally gotten about 2-3x the kills solo as an entire 4-man team on the same mission as well, so there appears to be no difference in spawn numbers either.

[Sealgaire]

In my opinion, the game's difficulty was almost perfect before they doubled shields again, at least at higher levels. It also seems the decreased enemy damage at the same time, as I'm able to stand and take fire longer relative to the shield numbers. I can solo any mission in the game currently without having to pay too much attention. My primary set up is:

Excalibur

3 +75% melee damage, +50 shields

1 +75% melee damage +75% shield recharge

1 +75% melee damage, +40% armor

1 +100 shields

1 +50% power strength

1 +25% sprint speed

Heat Sword

3 +34% attack rate

1 +25% melee damage

2 +100% crit damage, +15% melee damage

1 +100% crit damage, +15% freeze damage

I don't use guns much with him, but when I do, it's Aklatos with one 91% and three 75% multishots on them, sometimes switching one out for a +10 puncture.

[Wiawyr]

Those are some amazing mods that don't seem to drop any more, or if they do it's not even on Pluto after 30 runs. Trying to balance the game around that setup is going to make it unfavorable for the vast, vast majority of players.

[Eversor]

Game is easy, not gonna put a wall of text, only certain situations with shockwave moas in corpus missions on pluto can get things a little hairy.

Maybe some uberlevel alerts with level 50ish mobs too, but those are really funny and challenging.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Eversor

[Sealgaire]

Those are some amazing mods that don't seem to drop any more, or if they do it's not even on Pluto after 30 runs. Trying to balance the game around that setup is going to make it unfavorable for the vast, vast majority of players.

Oh I totally agree. That guy is well within end game character territory. But it didn't take that long to get him there. Remember it's only been a few weeks after the wipe, so if DE wants to satisfy players who enjoy optimizing frames and testing them against ridiculous challenges, which probably isn't a small percentage of players, they'll need to craft end game content that scales almost exponentially in difficulty if mods continue to operate like they do now.

[Volt_Cruelerz]

Volt 30

[1] 75 health

[2] 29% power range

[3] 39% power range

[4] 40% shield recharge

[5] 68% armor

[6] 92 shield, 37% armor

[7] 95 shield

[8] 97 shield

Burston 30

[1] 68% multishot

[2] 73% multishot

[3] 24% piercing

[4] 17% damage

[5] 73% max ammo

Aklato 15

[1] 2 puncture

[2] 10% electricity

[3] 9% piercing

Cronus 9

[1] 7% rate

[2] 11% piercing

[3] 12% electricity

Artifact

[1] Rejuvination

Overall, this build has worked quite well for me whether I'm playing solo Pluto or with a team. I can't do Hades by myself with this unless Etina bugs and can be instagibbed by Overload or I get on a box above it just right, but everything else is more or less a cakewalk. My shields are thick enough that when I am playing with other people, I'm generally the front line. By the time the enemies have brought down my shields to ~20%, they're almost entirely dead so I fall back to let them recharge while my allies finish off the remaining ones.

The system I've got IMO actually works out pretty well as far as handling different ranges of engagements and if all else fails, I press 4 to kill everything in the current and adjacent rooms.

Long: Aklato (pinpoint accuracy)

Short to Medium-Long: Burston (one good shot can down either a Moa, though that almost never happens in practice, or a Crewman)

If somehow my health does go to critical, I just fall back if solo (that room under the stairs is a fantastic place) and let Rejuvination work its magic for a bit (if under the stairs, I'll just alt+tab for a couple minutes lol). And if I happen to be on the same team as someone with energy siphon, I'll be spamming Overload all day long lol.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Volt_Cruelerz

[Trancemaster]

The game is super easy atm and the PvE will need some tuning to become more intresting.

I am going to post my setup etc as other ppl have.

But for now lets just say that the game is way to easy and you are able to solo every mission and carry others in them. Everything from spaming Hades to exp grinding in Callisto...does not make any differance.

Lvl 30 Rhino

75+ health

75+ health

70% armor 40% power range (blue)

70% armor

70% armor

70% armor

69% armor

Lvl 30 Gorgon

45% crit damage 13% electricity (blue)

25% damage

25% damage

5 puncture

44% multishot

Lvl 30 Hek

15% electricity 15% freeze (blue)

50% crit damage 15% damage (blue)

27% multishot

25% damage

25% damage

Lvl 30 Aklato

25% damage

25% damage

25% fire damage

15% crit chance

Lvl 30 Scindo

37% heavy charge speed 91% crit damage (blue)

34% charge damage

44% charge damage

10% crit chance 15% electricity (blue)

15% fire rate 25% charge damage (blue)

34% charge damage

25% charge damage

as you can see my stuff is quite nice and i have everything unlocked with reactors etc so i can get the extra mod slots etc. This setup deals insane damage and can deal with anything that the game decide to throw at you.

The only place that gets hairy can be the Hades mission when you have 3 or 4 shockwave moas coming at you but then again you are a rhino so use your iron skin thats op.

Pluto should have been a lvl 100+ mob planet or something and then re-tweek the other planets abit more for the 1 to 29 or something like that.

[UkyoSonoda]

Setup I use atm.

Volt 30

+70% armor

+70% armor

+69% armor

+68% armor

+70% armor

+75 Health

+74 Health

+74% Melee Damage

Hek 30

+50% Multishot

+4 Puncture/+9% damage

+25% Freezing Damage

+21% Electric Damage

+25% Damage

Bolto 28 (Not Supercharged)

+21% electric damage

+15% damage

+12% damage

Cronus 21 (Not Supercharged)

+15% Electric damage

+12% Stun Chance

+12 % Melee damage

Hek pretty much 1 shots normal enemies on Pluto that arent elites. With the puncture it will blow through multiple enemies each shot if they're clustered close enough. (Or blow through the enemy I shot and break the reinforced glass behind it... oops...) The combination of armor + health makes the damage I take when my shield drop laughable unless I let myself get swarmed out in the open by like 20 Moas, Grineer marines with rifles, and so on. But that comes from sheer volume of fire since each hit will still do a minimum of 1 damage. But I'm a Volt so I can just use overload if I end up in that situation. Another thing to note is I run with the Rejuvination card equipped that causes my health to regen passively. Still looking for new mods and hoping for alert missions that drop me more catalyst blueprints.

[Ryme]

I bought a reactor and catalyst with my 50 free credits, so F2P players are given the chance to have one unlocked frame right away.

I also farmed and built all of my weapons and Frames.

Just saying.

If they are going to give every new player 50 Plat free, then that would aleviate some of the difficulty in facing the lvl 15 limit. But if we only got free plat for testing purposes in this closed beta, then my statement still stands.

I also farm and build all my warframes and weapons. But they all still hit the progression lock at lvl 15.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Ryme

[Ryme]

Those are some amazing mods that don't seem to drop any more, or if they do it's not even on Pluto after 30 runs. Trying to balance the game around that setup is going to make it unfavorable for the vast, vast majority of players.

I question the current implementation of mods in the game. As some have noticed, mods make or break your performance far more than the base stats of what you're using. This I find to be a bit disconcerting, as mods are less about optional customization and more of a necessity to meet the required stats level of a given encounter.

Most of the "setups" I see people post and brag about, involve stacking numerous top tier quality mods that more than triple their starting stats. I'm more curious if the Devs consider such stat levels the "norm" of what the game will be balanced around.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Ryme

[Zinn]

Honestly, I don't think the difficulty is much related to your weapon/frame setup unless you're severely under/overpowered. Almost everyone here is end game specced because it's rather easy to level up and there aren't that many places to kill things, so the setup thing is a little unnecessary, perhaps.

What needs to change as you go through the levels is AI, enemy unit types and the spawn system. Currently, enemies either rush you (melee) or go in random cover (ranged), no matter how intelligent it seems or the unit mix in the area. If enemy units instead had the ability to know the Tenno's and eachother's positions on the map and respond accordingly by moving in groups, it would be much harder to deal with. Likewise, utilising the same system, ranged enemies could hide in cover until melee units got close and then fire at the occupied Tenno. On top of this, changing up enemy units as you go through the planets might be a good idea. I could imagine the Corpus bringing out a robot like the mini mech in Robocop, the Grineer having tougher units with elemental weapons and new types of ancients and regular infested showing up.

Finally, the spawn system should change a bit. While the randomness is currently the most challenging aspect, it does become incredibly annoying with enemies coming out of the walls or a horde of ancients spawning in a room you just cleared. Aside from enemy scaling dependant on amount of players, it might be a good idea with a system that detects that you're having it too easy or too hard, if possible, and changing the numbers and types spawned ahead of you. Currently, the game is just easy because it's a DPS check in both ways: If you have enough shield/armor/health to withstand a room on Pluto, odds are you can make it just fine on your own and the same applies to how much damage you can dish out in bursts and over time. If I just power through with my Gorgon and spend some credits on ammo packs (which I never do due to lazyness), I can probably murder most of the room before they even detect me and the same could be said for just about any level 30 weapon. There's a significant difference in mission difficulty whether I naturally gimp myself by not using my Gorgon (which I normally do) and when I decide it's time to just make the enemies get the hell out of my way.

No amount of mod balancing will change the overall difficulty, as you will naturally hit a wall and climb over it anyway. I'd rather see difficulty in the core gameplay as you progress and then do some number crunching afterwards.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Zinn