Analysis On Endless Defense Missions

[HellEnforcer]

  As the title suggest. This post is just a personal analysis made on the endless defense mission.

 

 The main issue I would like to touch is the why is this mode so popular. To understand why is it popular, we need to see what are the other options and also why are those not so popular.

 

 Let's look at some of the other modes and what do we do in them:

 

• Capture: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target. Insult the target. Watch him get on the floor to be captured. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point.
  
• Raid: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target. Open the tube. Take the target. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point.
  
• Rescue: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target. Open the cells. Find the target. Here is the particular challenge of the mission, keep the target alive while you go to the extraction.
  
• Sabotage: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target. Destroy each target. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point.
  
• Spy: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target. Get each data. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point. Here is the particular challenge, you are limited to only secondary weapons once you get the first data... (zero problems to those who are mainly melee, like me)
  
• Deception: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target with the secondary weapon (if used). Insert data. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point.
  
• Assassination: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target. Kill the boss. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point.
  
• Mobile Defense: Infiltrate the vessel. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the target using only secondary weapon if used. Here is the particular challenge, defend the computer for a limited time from a small platoon of enemies. Go to the second one and repeat. Sometimes you have to do it a third time depending on the map. Kill/destroy/decimate/ignore/pass through everything on sight to the extraction point.
  

 

 If you actually took the time to read each, you will notice some small similarities. Of course, that's overly simplified and some people, like me, don't go directly to the objective but wander around looting everything on sight and even that not on sight. However, the main point is there. They are pretty much all the same. Fortunately, we got random events to make things more interesting, but that's another topic.

 

 Endless defense is the only mission that offers something completely different. We have to stay and defend some useless naked and frozen dude that somehow never catches a cold from an attack strangely made of small platoons of enemies poorly organized and that come in fixed intervals of time. They will eventually get so much health, armor and attack power that they end up becoming and actual threat and more than a threat for you, a threat for the fancy block of ice.

 

 People like this game probably for a small group of reasons:

• First, happy trigger people everywhere. Every game has them. Do not get me wrong, I don't see it as bad. These kind of people like to jump right into the action and are not concerned about anything else. Endless defense provides that right away.
  
• Challenge. As I said before. The enemies eventually gain enough power in various way that they actually become a threat. This is perfect for those who consider the other missions rather easy. Unfortunately, form my perspective, the threat is more centered on the icy dude rather than in your survival and skills. That is a vague statement. Here is the explanation for it. You are stuck on the same spot trying to defend it. You lose by either letting the enemies melt the ice or all your team dying. If the enemies are not hitting you, they are probably hitting the pod, or getting close for that.
  
• Farming. Some people use it to farm mods. Since it is pretty much the only mission where the enemies are infinite as long as you can survive along with the pod, the chances of finding more mods and faster is quite higher than the other missions. Some people claim that it is also useful for farming materials, I don't think so, but some people do, nonetheless, it also enters in this category. Farming some strange blueprints and keys for the void are also only possible on this missions.
  

 

 After all this... What is the point of this post? Well, actually I would like to get more opinions if my thoughts were right or way too off. I am one of those who think some of the missions need to be changed to make the game more interesting. To my eyes, there are only 2 different types of missions, one of which has some small variants to it. After a while, it gets tedious/boring.

 

 "Self Index"

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/53457-bug-and-sugestion-index-point/

[Pendragon1951]

A minor correction on the Rescue mission, if you have a fast frame like a Loki or Ash you can actually leave the recuee behind and as long as you get to the extraction point before he dies the mission still counts as complete:)

[LongDraw]

Actually, the most pertinent issue comes down to the fact that 90% of the planets we can go to are considered too low level to provide even the slightest challenge to the typical maxed frame/weapon/mods player.  I joke with my co-workers all the time how I like to troll the annoying players that join my session by just walking through the entire level never firing a single shot or using a single ability, letting them all die repeatedly, and still completing the mission.

[BadAimbot]

The problem is that Defense is the best place to aquire almost everything. It is the best mission type to get mods, rare mods, and experience. The only other things worth getting are creds, which are best gotten from Void missions, whose keys come from, you guessed it, Defense, and resources, which are best collected from Assassination missions for the most part. There are also the rare mods from the Void, but once again it is tied to Defense.

 

This ties into challenge too though, since that Defense, Assassination, and Void missions are the hardest types (Mobile Defense coming up just behind), their rewards have to be good, but right now, they are too good. Right now, the only reason not to do one of these mission types is that you don't like them or can't do them very well by yourself/can't find a group. I think the other mission types need some incentive, like you said, because right now they're just barriers to the good missions, unless someone carries you there, of course.

[LongDraw]

Well, personally, I would be in favor of the devs just boosting the levels of enemies per planet by say 10 additional per planet you go towards the most difficult area.  That way we end up with something like level 90-100 enemies on the most difficult planet.

[HellEnforcer]

 Well, so according to these replies, it seems i was not too off of the point. If I pay careful attention to the posts, it actually seems it is not that it offers something different, but also that all the end tier mods, good drops (keys) and such are tied to the defense. It is almost as if the other modes are being neglected to some extent.

 

 Altough boosting the level of the enemies on the last planets would do offer some challenge to those who have maxed equipment, it is probably not enough incentive for others to play it. People looking for some extra challenge might appreciate that though, and will probably play a bit more of them. I made a fast, crude and inaccurate scan of how many people is playing what (counting just once the amount of open groups in missions), seems that almost half of the open groups are on defense missions, while the other half are scattered on all the other modes.

 

 I would like to see more people playing everything, not just spamming one mode (I wonder how many do defense because they love it instead because they have to). The game has so much potential, but at the same time not much to offer.

[General-Griffin]

yea agreed. I love defense but it's more for the lack of difference in the other levels.