Syndicate Mercenary Improvement Ideas

[IamQwerty]

Syndicates at this point in time don't really make sense in terms of who they send after you one you've become 'a problem'. Here are a couple examples to illustrate my point:

• Arbiters of Hexis send the corrupted after you which doesn't really seem to fit what little lore we have on them.
• New Loka, a group all about purity, sends the infested after you. This definitely doesn't fit the lore we have on them.
• Perrin Sequence, a group who's described to be nonviolent sends Corpus units after you with the aim of killing you.

You get my point. I have some ideas on how to improve them.

• Red Veil now sends the assassins we see the Chains of Harrow quest. They have the ability to turn invisible, making it harder to dispatch them. This makes them become very assassin-like. Another idea would be to give them the ability to use void magic since they were so obsessed with it. This would make them become very cult-like.
• Perrin Sequence now sends corpus taxmen, much like the ones we see in the index. Until they're dispatched, your energy or credits (or both) start to drain.
• Arbiters of Hexis now sends assassins that look similar to the ones we see standing inside the door of the relay. Their appearance is a trial of sorts. A timer appears and if they are not dispatched when the timer goes off, they disappear, and you become downed.
• Cephalon Suda now sends a group of holographic enemies that if not scanned before death, will be revived.
• Steel Meridian is fine sending Grineer units, but Steel Meridian models should be used instead. They should also be heavily armored and could possibly have some DOT attacks.
• New Loka sends a pack of Elite Kubrows that do more damage and are harder to take down.

I tried making these suggestions with the goal of having all the mercenaries use models that are already in-game. What do you guys think?

[Kainosh]

Yeah....what we have now feels like a placeholder.  Even those that "fit" the syndicate theme are garbage...Check out those Meridian rollers.

 

By the way, Syndicate Operatives ( 2 npc's who follow you on syndicate mission) also need improvement.

  These need :

1. Standing reward for each surviving operative.  I mean...these guys should have some value, right?  Because now it feels like noone cares about them. 
2. "Downed operative" HUD indicator + longer operative pleedout (similar to resque targets)
3. Melee weapon. Their AI clearly tries to use it (they dont shoot if enemy get too close)....but, since they do not have any melee weapon, they just freeze.   

[NinjaKitsune56]

Hm... maybe Elite Kavats on New Loka's kill team? Not like it's an impossibility, and holds on the fact they pulled units from the Derelicts.

[NinjaKitsune56]

2 minutes ago, Kainosh said:

Standing reward for each surviving operative.  I mean...these guys should have some value, right?  Because now it feels like noone cares about them.

I usually leave mine camped at start while I run the mission. Generally they wind up killed or stuck somewhere otherwise.

[IamQwerty]

29 minutes ago, NinjaKitsune56 said:

Hm... maybe Elite Kavats on New Loka's kill team? Not like it's an impossibility, and holds on the fact they pulled units from the Derelicts.

Ah yes! For some reason, I blanked on their name so I only said Kubrow lol

30 minutes ago, Kainosh said:

Yeah....what we have now feels like a placeholder.  Even those that "fit" the syndicate theme are garbage...Check out those Meridian rollers.

 

By the way, Syndicate Operatives ( 2 npc's who follow you on syndicate mission) also need improvement.

  These need :

1. Standing reward for each surviving operative.  I mean...these guys should have some value, right?  Because now it feels like noone cares about them. 
2. "Downed operative" HUD indicator + longer operative pleedout (similar to resque targets)
3. Melee weapon. Their AI clearly tries to use it (they dont shoot if enemy get too close)....but, since they do not have any melee weapon, they just freeze.   

That's a great idea too! 

I also think it would be cool if players couldn't attack syndicates they were at maximum with. Every time somebody in game says that they're being attacked by my syndicate, I feel like I'm betraying them lol

[GrayArchon]

1 hour ago, IamQwerty said:

Perrin Sequence, a group who's described to be nonviolent sends Corpus units after you with the aim of killing you.

They're not nonviolent; they just don't partake in war profiteering as they deem it immoral. Ergo Glast seems to have no problem utilising violent means, specifically the Tenno, to accomplish his goals in the Glast Gambit, Operation: Ambulas Reborn, and general Syndicate operation.

Ideas seem solid. I'm a little worried about new players handling it, since you can access the Syndicates at MR3. Especially the scanning part for Cephalon Suda. But scanning is part of Saya's Vigil, which is aimed at new players, and a big part of The New Strange, which is kind of intermediate. I guess as long as there were dialogue lines indicating what you needed to do it would probably be okay. I do think the Syndicates need a bit of an update overall.

[(PSN)Killjoy20]

Technically, the New Loka arent sending Infested units after you. they're Ancient Healers, which are not in fact Infested.

 

Though my friends and I came up with the idea that if you're allied with the syndicate that's going after a player, you can attack that player as well.

Edited January 18, 2019 by (PS4)Killjoy20

[NinjaKitsune56]

On 2019-01-18 at 3:52 PM, (PS4)Killjoy20 said:

Though my friends and I came up with the idea that if you're allied with the syndicate that's going after a player, you can attack that player as well.

They actually allowed that previously, iirc, but they removed it since nobody was actually using it.