[Melee Revisit: Phase 1 Feedback Megathread]

As a Melee-centric player myself (20-30% guns, 70-80% melee), I have to agree with a couple of recurring constructive feedback/criticism points on the new melee update:

1) Manual Blocking should be brought back!  The new auto-blocking seems to work when it feels like and feels sloppy in actual gameplay. The angle of the block is ridiculously small and narrow now. Making it an automatic "one size fits all" function takes away from the precise dedicated and satisfying melee blocking system we used to have. The new melee looks prettier (audio Fx even sounds better) but feels very generic, sloppy, and less precise now.

2) Being able to slow-mo glide while blocking with melee needs to return!  Aim-gliding with a gun forces you into aim mode and drastically reduces field of view (especially with snipers).  Melee blocking and gliding was very satisfying because it kept your field of view large while gliding, allowing for great placement, and melee strategy (you could slow-mo glide and really put that sword, hammer, or polearm - and yourself - where it needed to go).  New system again removes a lot of that precision and downgrades the awesome feel and flow and flexibility and responsiveness of the old melee down to something more generic and limited (albeit automatic).

Part of the ongoing enjoyment of Warframe was you could get bored with the repetitive missions and tilesets, but you could still enjoy the massively flexible combat mechanics and keep adapting honing and expanding them in new ways (same reason the old repetitive Street Fighter 2 kept you coming back for more) . This was especially true of the old melee 2.0 - the reason it felt so good is because it was precise, dedicated, and you could specialize and develop your own style in it. A tenno who honed his/her melee skills could arguably take on any gun-toting tenno or any game content just as well, and looked darn good doing it. Many times I ran into melee tenno with different styles from my own who took on problems and enemies in very different ways, and it was amazing, looked good, felt good, and was very empowering. It kept me wanting to explore, change, and adjust my melee play style, with very cool and empowering results. (I say "empowering" because like one video review of old I believe DE's aim is to give as much power and control over combat, movement, and flexibility to the player, rather than limiting them, and it truly makes the player feel empowered, and defines the standard of controls for other AAA developers and studios - in this DE has succeeded phenomenally so far, and always catered to user feedback).

The new system by contrast is visually and acoustically pretty, it's easy to use (especially for newcomers) but is generic and much less satisfying in actual gameplay. I find less room to grow, explore, and specialize. I can keep mashing that same melee button and cool stuff will automatically happen, but there's much less of ME and my play style and strategy and depth in it. It gets boring quick, and sometimes frustrating, especially for seasoned players.

The good news is it seems Blocking can be very easily brought back, and the Melee button binding (F on keyboard or hold-Y on controller) is still open and can be brought back to put you back into a more dedicated melee mode - not as easy or automatic to use, but in the hands of any practiced melee tenno extremely liberating, precise, and amazing looking (again, "empowering"). This to me was the end game combat mode that kept me coming back, and it has been unduly nerfed or generalized by the new system. But to me it seems the two can be made to coexist, so please DE bring it back.

Dedicated blocking is critical to bring back.  Whereas the new channelling mechanic is OK, but could also be fully restored via a dedicated melee mode (and again, the two modes could coexist, if DE allows it, making new tenno and gun-toting tenno happy, and skilled melee tenno happy as well). Allowing both would truly expand the combat mechanic and the game, rather than limiting it.  Having both may even set the new standard for all other fps/tps games to follow (no other game currently does it as well and as fluidly as Warframe).

[Melee Update [I Don't Like It] [w/ constructive text...]]

As a Melee-centric player myself (20-30% guns, 70-80% melee), I have to agree with the OP on several points with the new update.

1) manual blocking should be brought back!  The new auto-blocking seems to work when it feels like and feels sloppy in actual gameplay. The angle of the block is ridiculously small and narrow now. Making it an automatic one size fits all function takes away from the precise dedicated and satisfying melee blocking system we used to have. The new melee looks prettier (even sounds better) but feels very generic, sloppy, and less precise now.

2) being able to slow-mo glide while blocking with melee needs to return!  Aim-gliding with a gun forces you into aim mode and drastically reduces field of view (especially with snipers).  Melee blocking and gliding was very satisfying because it kept your field of view large while gliding, allowing for great placement, and melee strategy (you could slow-mo glide and really put that sword, hammer, or polearm - and yourself - where it needed to go).  New system again removes a lot of that precision and downgrades the awesome feel and flow and flexibility and responsiveness of the old melee down to something more generic and limited (albeit automatic).

Part of the ongoing enjoyment of Warframe was you could get bored with the repetitive missions and tilesets, but you could still enjoy the massively flexible combat mechanics and keep adapting honing and expanding them in new ways (same reason the old repetitive Street Fighter 2 kept you coming back for more) . This was especially true of the old melee 2.0 - the reason it felt so good is because it was precise, dedicated, and you could specialize and develop your own style in it. A tenno who honed his/her melee skills could arguably take on any gun-toting tenno or any game content just as well, and looked darn good doing it. Many times I ran into melee tenno with different styles from my own who took on problems and enemies in very different ways, and it was amazing, looked good, felt good, and was very empowering. It kept me wanting to explore change and adjust my melee play style, with very cool and empowering results.

The new system by contrast is pretty, easy to use (especially for newcomers) but is generic and much less satisfying. I find less room to grow, explore, and specialize. I can keep mashing that same melee button and cool stuff will automatically happen, but there's much less of ME and my play style and strategy in it. It gets boring quick, and sometimes frustrating.

The good news is it seems Blocking can be very easily brought back, and the Melee button binding (F on keyboard or hold-Y on controller) is still open and can be brought back to put you back into a more dedicated melee mode - not as easy or automatic to use, but in the hands of any practiced melee tenno extremely liberating, precise, and amazing looking. This to me was the end game combat mode that kept me coming back, and it has been unduly nerfed or generalized by the new system. But to me it seems the two can be made to coexist, so please DE bring it back.

Dedicated blocking is critical to bring back.  Whereas the new channelling mechanic is OK, but could also be fully restored via a dedicated melee mode (and again, the two modes could coexist, if DE allows it, making new tenno and gun-toting tenno happy, and skilled melee tenno happy as well). Allowing both would truly expand the combat mechanic and the game, rather than limiting it.  Having both may even set the new standard for all other fps/tps games.