PhreazerBurn

The game was actually designed around fairly low-level enemies. Then we got some higher level ones. Then we got steel path and steel path endless. Then we got circuit...and fighting very high level enemies there, for once, actually has a functional loot advantage. This has been the trend, and I don't expect it to change. Warframe is a game of breakpoints. Some builds that were amazing in star chart get nowhere in steel path. Some builds that work in low-mid steel path can't do much against L1000+ enemies. The only way to find out for sure which of those builds you just made is, you have to test it. Testing against 9999 lets you know a build can work anywhere and needs not be restricted to low level content. And like the OP said, L9999 is in the game NOW. Its just tedious to access for no real reason.

This is a very reasonable thing to ask for considering its something we can already do albeit after a long build-up. Having said that, I don't enjoy it. I can make a few builds that work at max level, but options are really limited. I like the freedom of build variety I have against level 150-200 enemies...which is most frames and most weapons.

I've never really understood this sentiment. Nidus is a few minor tweaks away from near-universal functionality...but he shouldn't be fixed because we need frames that are bad in most places? I saw this same argument in a Baruuk thread. There's another frame that just needs a couple tweaks and an augment that makes him start missions with less restraint, and he's suddenly solid in twice as many situations. But there were several people who were just like, "Nah, niche is great. Just leave him scuffed in low-density missions." I swear there are players who are annoyed that they fixed Grendel and Hydroid...

I actually considered that exact substitution. It makes a lot of sense. The armor stripping would be highly beneficial against Grineer who start to get a little too sturdy around L150-200. Have you tried it? Does the loss of that source of mutation stacks, CC, and health regen not cause issues? Let me guess. You saw "Nidus" in the thread title, made a boatload of assumptions, and went directly to the comment box...

I don't agree. Inaros is functionally a no-ability frame that is always tanky in any situation (short of crazy high-levels) if built even remotely competently. Nidus is situationally VERY tanky and situationally not very tanky at all, BUT Nidus has a complete set of highly effective abilities. After Grendel and Hydroid reworks, there are not too many frames that are even close to "no-ability"...Loki (but stealth is kinda OP), Oberon, and Chroma are the only ones that I feel like are even close...and they have niche functionality.

I'm seeing a couple of responses basically saying Nidus has throughput issues, and I would say that is not true. When I'm solo I can easily hit over 100 KPM in steel path survival, and I'm really only limited by spawn rate (200 KPM would be just as easy if I could just turn the faucet higher). Nidus has like 3-4 technical quirks that if (easily) remedied would have Nidus be a solid choice in most maps/situations.

That's just...every warframe at this point, isn't it? I'd have maybe said Hydroid, but that ship has sailed straight into A-Tier (at a minimum) lately. Inaros is seeming even more scuffed lately with the grand trifecta of easy health tanking: Arcane Blessing, Health Conversion, and Adaptation.

So what would need to be done to "fix" Nidus? It just occurred to me that if an ally kills something on his Ravenous, Nidus should still get stacks. Suddenly he's fine with groups...and even a good support. As for mobility, Nidus should retain the effects of his 4 for a set duration after leaving it...something like Wisp Reservoirs. Also, enemies on the Parasitic Link should teleport to him when he moves a certain distance away. And now he's decent on maps that necessitate mobility. As for his issues with just starting a map, it would make sense for him to start with 15-20 stacks of mutation (like everyone else starts with a little energy) so he can get the ball rolling more smoothly and even have enough for a single undying moment. This was all surprisingly straightforward. It kinda makes me wonder why it hasn't been done (at least in part) already. I'll add it to the OP.

Octavia is invisible (and has resonator) so goes where she pleases safely. Saryn has Molt, (generally) shield gating, and her 4 CCs. They hardly need to camp for the purpose of survivability. Saryn's damage ramps up very fast if you have decent strength, and you are allowed to use your guns (which get a huge boost from her 3's augment). Seriously, ESO maps are very short, and Saryn can lead damage there trivially. Octavia does decent damage while moving, too, but admittedly its not her best feature. However, its a simple thing to drop mallet in any room that has more than a couple enemies. Octavia works well in: Defense, Defection, Excavation, Survival, Rescue, anything endless, Interception, Liches/Sisters, etc. Saryn works well in Defense, Survival, Exterminate, ESO, Mobile Defense, Excavation, etc.

Saryn and Octavia are phenomenal in almost all situations...that's the opposite of Nidus's issue.

Playing without 3 and 4? You're gonna have a rough time with that strat. No damage mitigation, status-immunity, or health regen. :)

Every few months I give Nidus another try, and I always come away thinking, "Oh yeah, that's why I never play this." Far from meaning that it is a bad Warframe, Nidus is actually awesome. Its a completely unique experience and plays like nothing else. Every ability synergizes well with the frame as a whole and functions effectively...so much so that its hard to improve it with the Helminth system. Yet because of the game it was designed in, its just surprisingly hard to find a situation where it really shines. Need to move around? Say goodbye to your health regen, massive damage mitigation, etc. Playing with teammates? Well, they use your Larva as a target and keep you from building stacks. Doing a short mission? Well, you don't have time to build stacks, and you start off the mission oddly brittle. That rules out the vast majority of situations. Pretty much just leaves solo survival (but not too long since no shields), defense, and a few other niche cases. So what would need to be done to "fix" Nidus? It just occurred to me that if an ally kills something on his Ravenous, Nidus should still get stacks. Suddenly he's fine with groups...and even a good support. As for mobility, Nidus should retain the effects of his 4 for a set duration after leaving it...something like Wisp Reservoirs. Also, enemies on the Parasitic Link should teleport to him when he moves a certain distance away. And now he's decent on maps that necessitate mobility. As for his issues with just starting a map, it would make sense for him to start with 15-20 stacks of mutation (like everyone else starts with a little energy) so he can get the ball rolling more smoothly and even have enough for a single undying moment. This was all surprisingly straightforward. It kinda makes me wonder why it hasn't been done (at least in part) already.

Rivens never really succeeded in their intended purpose. That purpose is offering player-determined modding flexibility and giving weaker weapons a boost. Now more than ever rivens aren't doing either. There are a number of additional issues with the riven system, as well. The most significant of those issues is accessibility. Most players cannot afford a good riven. They cannot afford the platinum for one that already has good stats, and they cannot afford the million kuva it would take to roll good stats on a "trash" riven. Rivens currently do not do enough for weak weapons to make them viable. A weapon with a 1.45 riven disposition (excluding the new incarnons...more on that later) is generally awful and cannot be saved by a relatively minor multiplier in stats. Rivens would need a far greater magnitude than currently to salvage something like the Kogake Prime or the Ballistica Prime. The crazy thing is that the weapons with really unfavorable dispositions often aren't that great to begin with. Just a glance at the market tells the story. Any weapon with a 0.6 dispo that you can buy a trash riven on for 10p is not actually that good a weapon...often not in the top 20 of its type and certainly not meta-level. Generally weapons in this category wouldn't even be significantly improved by a well-rolled riven. Their dispositions should be much more favorable. The greatest hurdle towards addressing rivens will always be the understandably extremely vocal minority who are major players in the riven market and have hundreds of thousands or even millions of platinum tied up in it. I'm just going to say now that the only solutions in getting the riven system to be a functioning part of Warframe are going to make these few players very upset. The riven market is demonstrably ridiculous. Look at ANY other warframe, weapon, mod, or item. The most valuable of them are in the low hundreds of platinum. Rivens routinely have functional valuations in the thousands or more...which is crazy. So how do we fix this? Well, I would say that the true core problem with rivens is the RNG tied to getting the stats you want. Kuva takes a long time to farm, but if you want a weapon with 3 specific positive stats and 1 benign negative it will on average require you to spend weeks or months farming the kuva it will take for the hundreds or thousands of rolls to get it right. That is unreasonable. Instead, I think the solution is to let us lock stats once we roll ones we like. This let's rolling rivens become a productive process rather than making it a lottery. I think that takes care of the biggest problem with rivens but there are others. Unlocking rivens is often...dumb. While undetected and sliding with a hobbled dragon key equipped kill 17 enemies with headshots that are a minimum 100m away...that's not exactly a fun task or effectively training you to do something new. Its probably time somebody went back and cleaned up the worst of these and added some new ones. It would be a great opportunity to teach players about USEFUL skills they might not currently utilize. A recent but rather urgent issue with rivens is Incarnon weapon disposition. There are currently rivens with extremely favorable dispositions on pinnacle tier weapons. Its been hinted that this will be addressed at some point, but its sort of a joke on a system that was already pretty laughable. However, that is the main reason I suggested at the outset that this is THE time to fix rivens. There is already going to be a major shake-up in the riven market. Why not take this moment of instability and use it as an additional incentive towards moving things in the right direction now? So now I have a favor to ask. I realize this is a controversial topic, and I'm pretty sure that in this essay I've said something at least minor that you disagree with. But PLEASE don't let this topic get bogged down in nit-picking. If you are the world's biggest Ballistica Prime fan, please don't derail the thread over the fact that it was one example in one part of this issue. I think that the vast majority of us agree that the riven system is in terrible shape. Let's focus on how it can be improved. If, however, you think the riven system is currently in an ideal position I would like to hear that side of things. Thanks in advance for keeping this discussion productive.

Its an improvement...but its not going to be enough to meaningfully improve the situation with pets. As others have stated, losing vacuum and radar (even if its temporary) is deeply frustrating. Giving pets 3x more survivability is not going to help because relevant content (and I don't even mean bonkers endless modes) can do extremely high damage numbers. Making pets ACTUALLY immortal is a real solution, and its probably the simplest one. Just don't give pets a health bar. That works because the current benefits to pets are minor and secondary. Currently, I think a LOT of players would trade away their pet for permanent passive vacuum and radar in a heartbeat...which is incredibly sad. One alternative would be making pets MUCH stronger offensively/strategically but keeping their mortality. This would perhaps be the best solution. Having pets that could get 20-40 KPM on steel path would make it worth spending focus on them. Having pets that could CC a 30 meter area on demand would make it worth spending focus on them. And so on.

This all sounds good...definitely making Hydroid feel like he's not a bundle of useless abilities. Jury is still out on if it will be strong, but its a solid rework. Two caveats. 1. We are sure making a lot of reworked abilities use "better" damage types. Grendel from toxin to viral, Hydroid impact to corrosive, etc. Wouldn't it be more healthy to the game and offer more variety if instead we generally fixed bad damage types instead of having all frames just use the same 3-4 best ones? Why not make Impact disarm enemy weapons or something? 2. I like Tidal Surge being updated to be useful as a grouping tool...I'm just not sure it will be good enough to justify it being utilized that way. The clip shows 3 enemies all fairly close together. When the ability is used only 2 of them are grabbed (the ones that were hit directly by the 3ish meter wave). Now, I'd guess this is with zero ability range so its unclear whether it will grab from 20 or so meters once its packed with 265 range, but its something to consider.