I Will Miss Immortality, But Overheat Is Still A Decent Defensive Ability, Regardless Of What The Update Says.

[Kinethia]

I just did some testing by using Ember and Torid to try to pin down the new overheat's damage reduction.

 

Without focus equipped, it's about 40%. With focus equipped, it's about 53%.That's roughly equal to 110 armour, but as before, it applies to both health and shields damage, making it significantly better than armour alone could ever be.

 

This means that while overheated, ember is still the most durable tank in the game (excluding trinity, for obvious reasons). There is, of course, also a damage boost, which is difficult to complain about, if not especially meaningful (her other abilities will always do the same thing better than overheat ever could due to greater range, area, and/or energy cost). However, I do find it important to note that overheat's natural fire-based crowd control is just as effective as ever, so even the lighter damage reduction isn't as big a defensive debuff as it looks.

 

All in all, having tried the new version, I don't mind it too much, although it is unambiguously less powerful, and as i mentioned before, I will dearly miss immortality.

 

My main concern is the language used to describe the change, stating that this is no longer a defensive ability. Mechanically it seems more like striking a balance between offense and defense, which would honestly have been a better sell. Changes to balance are understandable within reason, but changing the theme of an ability changes the warframe's personality.

 

When I saw the update notes, I was honestly terrified that Ember would no longer have any effective means of protecting herself. That, and I'd become very fond of the thematic image of overheat in my mind: Bullets melting and burning up in mid-flight, blades softening and melting on impact, it was a fun and powerful image, and an equally awesome ability. (admittedly too much so: it was far and away the best defensive ability in the entire game, bar none.)

 

Maintaining that air of self-sufficiency and untouchability is crucial to keeping myself, and most likely many other ember players as well, happy. Also, it's important to me that ember have at least one ability which isn't primarily just fire damage over time, yet again. Diversity and flexibility are important to making a frame fun to play. Every other frame has something to mix things up a bit.

 

Lastly, if anyone is considering input, there are many things which could make overheat feel as powerful and interestingly different as it once was without it being as broken mechanically. A speed boost during the duration, for example.

 

Also, I like the name Overheat. I hope it doesn't actually change on the card.

 

Discuss below at your leisure.

[PsychedelicSnake]

I can honestly say I like your feedback on it. I, too, use Ember quite a lot, and I must say, although I am no longer totally invincible, the offensive/defensive weigh out rather evenly, and I am overall happy with it. Maybe with Armour 2.0, we'll see an increase in offensive power with Overheat.

 

All in all, I agree with what you had to say.