Warlohk

Speaking as someone with Legendary Rank 3 I am 50/50 on this decision, I understand from your point of view that you want new players to play your newest releases but from a player's point of view this isn't quite healthy for a new player. When there is 10 years worth of content, skipping to the end will be very overwhelming to the new player (and the game already is overwhelming for new players with just its modding system), the new player must be introduced the content slowly, especially cause the quests introduce many new mechanics that take time to learn. Look at for example League of Legends, a new account can't hop into ranked until the account level is at least 30 because it takes time to learn how to play the game, the game mechanics, the many different characters all with their own abilities to understand what they do, many many items one can build etc. While yes, their new content consists exclusively in the form of cosmetics and occasional new game mode the point still stands that new players can't play ranked because it takes TIME to learn how to play the game. Another example are the Souls games who do get new content in the form of DLCs but when a new player starts the game right away they aren't asked to go ahead and skip to the DLC because that's the newest content, they first need to be introduced to the game and taught how to play the game and understand its mechanics before they can be hopping in to any new content. A great example as to why you shouldn't is WoW, they sell character boost so that people can get into the newest content, but to a new player giving a character boost is likely going to put them away from the game due to how many abilities a character unlocks until its ready to access the newest content, a new player will be entirely confused when there are 2 talent trees to read through and maybe understand how the character can be played. Whereas when one levels a character to the level needed to access the newest content then by that TIME they know how to play their class and spec and know if they would even enjoy playing said class and spec. Narratively speaking story skip isn't good because the player needs to experience the story as the developer had envisioned instead of just skipping through it, adding a story skip shows to the new players that you as a developer do not really care about the story you had crafted for your game. Regarding the approach of the skip, I agree that there should be something like it to help out the newer players but it shouldn't be story skip, it should be everything holding them from those quests, be it crafting times(maybe a for plat upgrade to the foundry which permanently reduces crafting time but also allowing the option to farm for the upgrade so it doesn't feel like the game is purposefully gating you), modding system needs reworked to be simplified (I.E. damage increase, multishot, and other autoinclude mods to be lets say permanent upgrades to the weapon itself for like a forma cost - ofcourse stuff like crit chance, status chance, elemental damage mods should still remain as they are since those are situational and not included for every weapon, which would allow other mods like ammo max, magazine increase, reload and other mods that are often overlooked to be able to shine once the mandatory mods aren't taking up room) naturally the modding system should still include an in-depth explanation that is easy for the new players to understand. Also removing the MR requirements for the quests, as well as removing the unnecessary "try tomorrow" if one would mess up their MR promotion(I understand that in cephalon simaris' room you can practice each challenge but would the new players know about it? likelihood is not), if you do want to keep the spirit of this lets call a challenge then make it so that 1-10 MR has no daily limitations for how often they can try, 10-20 MR have 5 tries per day, 20-30+ have 1 try per day. Instead of thinking how can we get new players to play the new content on day 1, instead think how can we allow new players to reach the new content(which should be the exciting thing for them to reach as a goal) without hindering their progress with timed lockouts (daily standing, MR promotion, weapon and warframe crafting times, etc.)

Cant wait! I hope we get more information on how certain melees will work with the upcoming automelee, like the melee thrown(and Wolf Sledge) who have their separate function with hold melee keybind.

I agree that some of these ideas a more shaky than others because honestly I was trying to think about what could be done within reason if DE were to listen to these ideas. For the Waterbender: the puddles that stick on the wall are exclusive to the mobility for him, the idea is that aside from the floor "teleport" he should be able to do the same against the walls considering this game isn't so much about being stationary. The survivability comes from the passive, Ability 2 augment, Ability 4 augment. For the Pirate: I agree there was the missed opportunity on not letting the heat stacks be doubled when enemies are coated in rum, so would definitely add that as long as DE's balance team would think that wouldn't be broken in their book. I agree that this idea is missing survivability, so let's say his Ability 4 grants damage % resist per alive crew member, or they grant Hydroid overguard each time they hit an enemy. For the Eldritch Sea Monsters: I completely agree that it would be cooler to have various sea creatures with eldritch elements to them, but I was thinking how visually viable it would be for DE to make something like that. It's highly unlikely that they would make various different sea creatures for him to use, so I focused on the one thing they pretty much implemented - the kraken, but instead to be able to summon the tentacles more often. And yeah this one also is missing some survivability to make him go into late game, and aside from Ability 2 augment there is none, so for him maybe to change the passive that grants him damage % resist where he gains stacks of those based on abilities cast. Phrased something like this: Hydroid's connection to the Eldritch realm gives him Eldritch armor as he connects to the realm. When Hydroid casts an ability he gains 1 stack of Eldritch armor which grants him 10% damage reduction up to 9 stacks for X amount of seconds(whichever time feels good enough) Overall I think I understand your criticisms it is just that I was trying to think what realistically DE would do based on the theme and gameplay perspective as it is right now.

Considering Hydroid's rework has finally been announced I thought I'd share ideas I had been cooking for his rework. Preface Hydroid's identity is no longer what it used to be. He was supposed to be initially water wielding pirate warframe with hints of eldritch vibes with all the tentacles both in his model and his abilities. Since Yareli's release she became the resident water bender (who also needed help from DE to be good). What I propose for Hydroid's rework is that DE chooses one of the 3 themes that describe Hydroid (water, pirate, eldritch sea monsters) and lean into one of those and only sprinkle the other two for thematic clarity. So he should either be a master of water manipulation, or a pirate, or an eldritch sea monster summoner. I will try my best to keep in mind balance, thematic, how reasonable it is to make such an ability (complexity), and the rule of cool. Water manipulator Passive Water is ever changing, and Hydroid being the water manipulator he is has become one with water. The more hits Hydroid takes the more does he change into water form reducing damage taken and temporary removing unit collision with enemies allowing him to pass through enemies and the enemies he passes through are slowed for a short duration. Hydroid abilities apply a debuff on enemies that double certain status procs. Ability 1 Summon a barrage of water bullets in an area that deals damage, stagger enemies and slow them in the process, and each bullet that hits an enemy applies additional stacks of his debuff passive up to a cap. Augment Each bullet also strips defenses (armor and shield) permanently, defense strip % scales with strength. Ability 2 (Tap) Sends a tidal wave from Hydroid pushing enemies away, those enemies that make a contact with a wall stay pinned against it for a duration taking damage that increases over time. (Hold) Summons three waves that crash towards Hydroid grouping enemies and disarming them. Creates a puddle on the floor under the grouped enemies, keeping them rooted in place for a duration. Augment Each enemy hit gives Hydroid and his allies in Affinity range health regeneration stacks up to a cap for a duration. Ability 3 Hydroid turns into water dashing to nearby surface, removing status effects from himself and becoming immune to damage for duration of this ability, in this water form he can aim at surfaces and he will dash to them dragging any enemy hit with him pinning them where he lands and creating water puddles (this ability works on walls and floor). Hydroid can recast this ability up to 2 more times (3 in total) while in this form by using primary fire without spending energy. Augment Changes the cast amount to 1 but the area of the puddle is doubled.(subject to change) Ability 4 Hydroid covers a large area with water and creates a puddle under enemies, after which all water puddles active made by Hydroid will start violently drowning his opponents taking damage over a short time, if an enemy's health drops below certain health threshold Hydroid will execute them with water specters. Augment Enemies killed by Hydroid's water specters have extra chance (or 100% chance) to drop extra loot. Pirate captain Passive Each time an enemy is killed by Hydroid or an ally within affinity range it counts to Hydroid's doubloons which gives him X amount of credits for each of them and if certain doubloon threshold is met (like 50, 100, 200, etc.) he will get a treasure chest which will increase Hydroid's and his allies' drop chances when they kill enemies - the idea is that as the thresholds are met the enemy drop chances increase up to 100%, doubling the drop chances for at long as Hydroid stays in the mission. Ability 1 Hydroid calls in a cannon barrage which does blast damage which scales based on how many hits the enemy took from this ability (so the damage ramps up) Augment Instead of barrage of cannon balls Hydroid calls in one big blast that scales based on number of enemies in the area. Ability 2 Hydroid throws gunpowder in front of him and lighting it on fire creating a line of fire that lasts for a certain duration. Enemies that walk into this fire will ignite and start running towards their allies unknowingly setting the other enemies of fire. Augment Each enemy on fire provides Hydroid with health regeneration. Ability 3 Hydroid summons a barrel rum before he throws it ahead of himself, it deals blast damage and coats enemies in Hydroid's special rum which gives Hydroid guaranteed super critical hit and reduces enemy accuracy(or possibly stuns the enemies in place). Bosses have reduced duration of this rum coat and only guarantees normal critical hit. Augment Instead of wasting all that rum Hydroid chugs the whole barrel giving him flat 100% additive crit chance but reducing his accuracy by X amount. Ability 4 Hydroid summons a pirate crew consisting of 3 melee and 3 ranged pirates. The melee are wielding cutlasses (lets say nami but with added incarnon stats), and the ranged ones are wielding handheld cannons (lets say zarr but with the stats of kuva zarr, and only have access to the cannon mode). Augment Hydroid's pirate crew gives Hydroid overguard for each enemy slain (for this to work his crew needs to do enough damage to kill enemies) OR for each enemy hit (in this case the crew can be weaker where they arent just straight up nuking rooms) Eldritch summoner Passive Hydroid's abilities apply a stacking debuff up to cap, the debuff makes the affected enemies to take additional void/true damage per stack - the damage scales with power strength. Ability 1 Hydroid summons tentacles from his hand bursting out forward in a cone, if an enemy is struck they will be knocked on the ground. Augment (HOLD)Hydroid instead of knocking the enemies on the ground Hydroid will pull enemies to himself opening them to finishers. Ability 2 Hydroid turns himself into a mass of tentacles pulling enemies in range and holding them for the duration, after the duration finishes Hydroid bursts tentacles from himself dealing damage based on how many enemies he pulled(this range should be at least double the pull range, and have eyesight hitbox so he doesn't just nuke stuff behind walls) Augment Hydroid gains overguard for each enemy pulled Ability 3 Hydroid summons a tentacle on the ground grabbing an enemy if they walk into it keeping them in place at their defenses (armor and shield) are drained giving hydroid portions of their defenses for a duration. Hydroid can summon up to 5 tentacles, casting a new one will disperse the oldest one. Augment (HOLD)Hydroid will teleport to the target tentacle summoned by this ability instantly killing the held enemy and gaining their defenses. Ability 4 Hydroid unveils the horrors of the eldritch monsters summoning a being from the 4th dimension. For a duration tentacles keep summoning around Hydroid grabbing enemies and slamming them to the ground (each tentacle can grab up to 3-4 enemies). The tentacles also apply a debuff on the enemies making them take shared damage between them all. Augment Enemies grabbed by the tentacles have increased chance (or 100%) to drop extra loot. I understand that some of these ideas seem stronger than the others at least conceptually but that's why I haven't really written any numbers considering that should be left to DE balance team (if there is one?). These are my initial thoughts about how I think Hydroid should be, and what I could see be done with the game's mechanics. I'm very much open to questions, suggestions, and criticisms.