Looking back at the Wolf

[(PSN)BattleCry1791]

As Nightwave season 1 is winding down I thought I'd offer some feedback on the all things the Wolf of Saturn Six.  It's been done to death, but it hasn't been done by me.  So nyah.

The Wolf Lore

Personally, I don't really care about the lore for the wolf.  He's a vehicle to get stuff.  Dreamers Shmeamers.  I also didn't hate it.  But I truly appreciated the option to turn off the DJ in the orbiter.  I really don't get where the whole mask and Alad V thing came from and why.  Also didn't hate it.  I'm not a huge lore guy.

The Wolf (Well, why didn't you just say so?)

I like the look of the wolf.  I like that he's huge, and kinda psycho looking.  And swings a huge "screw you hammer."  Even without being a bullet sponge he's a tough fight due to his mechanics.  With being a bullet sponge...I've never seen all three PUGs in my team at Hydron just up and leave as soon as he appeared.  That's a new experience.  And that's why I like the Wolf and the meta of the Wolf.

I'm a year one player and I remember the first time the Stalker showed up.  I remember the first time The G3 showed up (fortunately I was wearing Brown Pants).  And I remember thinking how awesome it was that this game throws some random action at you to spice things up.  3600 hours later it's old hat, but the way the wolf affects newer and intermediate players was really interesting.  He presented challenges for me because he acts just like the stalker, who likes to show up when you're weak or alone...like on my base loki running Simaris scans.  I get that some players really hated the bullet sponge factor, but I didn't mind it once I realized I needed to prepare for it.  And that's the ZING! to the wolf.  Making sure I'm prepped for it...just in case.  

Wolf Drops

I don't have an issue with the drops tables for the hammer parts or the mask.  What I do have a problem with was the basic mods getting in the way.  If you wanted to put something else in the way...make it Auras, bump up the nitain drop rate...or just rarer resources like Tellurium, Mutagen Samples, Cryotic etc.  When you kill the wolf, it should have also been beneficial to 90% of the player base.  Tempo Royale and Target Aquired were nice to have as an option in the table due to their being so hard to farm, but why not make all of his drops that useful?  I'm not saying throw in Silver Grove level items, but I am saying...WAR HILTS.

The Fugitives

Looks wise...well, they looked like what they were supposed to be. When they showed up just as themselves...it was kind of like a treat for the instance.  When they came with the Wolf...different story.  The whole being invulnerable while throwing firebombs...tre annoying for me, horribly deadly for others.  I was running a PUG as a Nidus or Oberon, he shows up.  I'm dropping health pizzas everywhere and all three of my teammates kept dropping.

I think the issue with the Wolf fight was not the Wolf himself...it was the wolf + three guys you couldn't kill that did damage.  A better fight would have been something like, well, I hate to reference another game but something like the the Two Face Fight in the Gotham Mercy Hospital Daily Duo mission in DCUO.  Basically each add powers or heals the main (Wolf) and there's some thinking required of the player in the fight other than "Kill wolf, kill guys"

Wolf Level Rewards

I liked the rewards table.  Would have liked to have seen more Kuva (always need more Kuva), but the 3x bundles, potatoes, all good stuff.  I think though, there was room for improvement.  A lot of players could have cared less for the cosmetics, so why not make every level attained as an option to either claim the prize or 75 wolf creds?  What I really liked is that it gave me a goal to work towards. 

Wolf Armor and Syandana

I love these freaking things.  It's on my Mag, my valkitty, my Rhino, My Nova.  I'm a Graxx lover and proud of it.  I love anything that says "Grizzled Space Marine".  And I like the smaller armor sets that add accents to the shoulders and large chest pieces.  My favorite armor set in the entire game.  The Prisma version comes out when?

Wolf Cred Rewards (Frequent Howler Miles?)

As a MR27 with all the things, this wasn't a huge deal for me.  But I can see it being absolute murder for other folks.  I'd like to say it's a good thing for Vauban Pieces, but it really isn't.  Because if you're newer to the game or intermediate...or even a MR27, you're spending your Creds on potatoes and nitain.  So effectively, all the rewards system does is force choices that players don't want to make.  Specifically, I think Nitain is locked behind the rewards wall. It's the only place you can get it now.  I get the switch to this model...as a player who's always playing, I could catch random alerts all the time.  But for people with lives...this gives a streamlined way for them to earn towards a goal, like Corrosive Projection.  

But the problem there is that Nightwave requires being able to "do all the things" in the Warframe universe.  For a player like myself, Nightwave gives me something to do.  For newer players, it's likely "in the way" of working the starchart, leveling gear, and working on fashion frame.  It makes clans more important because it means more taxi's needed.  I don't know if that's a bad thing.  

Wolf Sledge

I like the Wolf Sledge.  But then, I like hammers in games. I'm not taking it into Arbitration any time soon, but it's useful in most of the starchart.  

Wolf Sledge Market

Caveat Emptor my fellow Tennos.  You didn't get get screwed if you paid 400 plat for a motor on day 3 of Nightwave.  You played yourself.  This is warframe and the markets change.  I paid zero for my sledge or mask, got em all before the wolf hunt.  Due to his spawn logic...all you had to do was run Hydron with a Valkyr and gear you needed to level.

Wolf Hunt

Not sure if this was always in the plans, seems like it was.  If it was, FOR SHAME on everyone that was crying about the wolf appearance rates.  I understand not having trust in devs (EA, Activision...anyone not DE), but come ON.  If you take to the forums to cry about something, try to do some research first.  They always said he'd be more available towards the end of the run.  And boy was he.  Why does no one have any patience anymore?  The Wolf Hunt was a success from my perspective.

Meta

My only problem with Nightwave was feeling like I had to run on my Valkitty the entire time this was active.  I PUG, so I always go with a "be prepared for the worst" mindset.  And in the case of the wolf, I carried multiple PUG teams over the course of this event.  I think it went a bit too long to be honest.  Maybe by two weeks.  But that's my perspective, for newer players, maybe it was too short.  I guess what will determine that is how long between now and the next Nightwave Episode.

What's next for the wolf?

I'm sure there's already a plan...but if there isn't (and even if there is)...there's a certain boss on Phobos he could replace as long as he's under Alad V's control.  Just sayin.  

Aftermath

I liked Nightwave Season one.  DE didn't have to go this far to rework the alert rewards.  Ultimately I applaud DE for making a change to their system.  It was a major gripe for the player base - random alerts.  And they changed it. They could have just used an existing character like Darvo and run it through him as a Syndicate or daily/weekly reward system (which everyone would have complained about as "more of the same").  But they created new content.   And put some serious time and effort into, and made it more than it needed to be, honestly.  And now I have cool new armor and a sledgehammer.  

We're talking about a dev that spent time developing two raids that they abandoned and walked away from when they weren't being used.  Think about that.  How many hours did it take to create those game modes?  Those game modes were someone's "baby".  They spent their time creating this thing they thought people would enjoy.  Anytime you create something, you flavor it with yourself, it becomes something you take pride in and is excruciatingly hard to give up (hoverboards?) on.  And DE shut them down because they didn't appeal to the PUG crowd (which I am not just member...I ran a total of 3 LoRs the entire time they existed).  They killed content because it wasn't working.

Does anyone remember the difference between what Eidelon Hunts looked like when it was introduced and what it looks like now?  Might as well be a different game. Especially with the plains remaster.

Or Solar Rails and the...what, three different version of that game mode?  (I still miss the last version with headless specters)  Ultimately, they tabled it and went with conclave.  And we won't speak about that.  

The reason I continue to play warframe is because it's the best managed game I know of that let's me virtually kill things.  Lore, Community...these things mean nothing to me (Except for Space Mom), it's about the steps DE has taken and the sheer ambition they have displayed over the years.  They are not a "AAA" but the product they've put out and the growth, not in terms of players but the universe they created....once upon a time, the crossfire/invasions could actually award an instance to an opposing faction.  Due to content release and Corpus prizes being preferred over Grineer...Mars become completely taken over by the Corpus with the exception of the Boss fight.  Which was a problem for getting pigments since you could only farm the boss fight for Mars Grineer but holy hell...that was awesome!  I can't think of anywhere else in all of gaming where...the game took over.  Just to have something like that exist...My INTJ meter maxes out every time I think about it.  

DE isn't perfect (host migrations, weapon...not balance, just making more of them useful, nerfing frames to oblivion...there's problems sure) and I'm not a fanboy (Except for Space Mom) but what they've done and continue to do...keeps me coming back.  I look forward to Nightwave Season 2.  DE has proven that over time they make adjustments and get the "big ticket items" right.  

 

 

[Aldain]

31 minutes ago, (PS4)BattleCry1791 said:

he's a tough fight due to his mechanics.

What mechanics?

He's basically the Sargent with a hammer and 3,000 times the eHP.

The only threat are the invincible molotov mooks and those can be hard CC'd until the heat death of the universe.

[(PSN)guzmantt1977]

27 minutes ago, Aldain said:

What mechanics?

He's basically the Sargent with a hammer and 3,000 times the eHP.

The only threat are the invincible molotov mooks and those can be hard CC'd until the heat death of the universe.

Then people have no reason to complain about encountering him. And yet, a brief glance at the forum shows a highly vocal minority who likes to pretend that he could only be beaten by adhering to a particular meta. 

But then again they're often members of the same highly vocal minority that likes to bash on anything. Like the lack of mechanics in a particular encounter. 

1 hour ago, (PS4)BattleCry1791 said:

 The Wolf (Well, why didn't you just say so?)

I like the look of the wolf.  I like that he's huge, and kinda psycho looking.  And swings a huge "screw you hammer."  Even without being a bullet sponge he's a tough fight due to his mechanics.  With being a bullet sponge...I've never seen all three PUGs in my team at Hydron just up and leave as soon as he appeared.  That's a new experience.  And that's why I like the Wolf and the meta of the Wolf.

I'm a year one player and I remember the first time the Stalker showed up.  I remember the first time The G3 showed up (fortunately I was wearing Brown Pants).  And I remember thinking how awesome it was that this game throws some random action at you to spice things up.  3600 hours later it's old hat, but the way the wolf affects newer and intermediate players was really interesting.  He presented challenges for me because he acts just like the stalker, who likes to show up when you're weak or alone...like on my base loki running Simaris scans.  I get that some players really hated the bullet sponge factor, but I didn't mind it once I realized I needed to prepare for it.  And that's the ZING! to the wolf.  Making sure I'm prepped for it...just in case

Over on PS4 I don't think I ever saw anyone bail on the fight after he appeared.

Personally I would already normally run Hydron or Sanctuary with at least one good weapon, capable of taking out the enemies as needed. When the wolf started showing up, I just changed which weapons I wanted to take with me, and adjusted the build accordingly. 

The whole time I was running on Hydron, I was levelling gear, and never had any problems taking the wolf down. Yes it's not a fight I can afk, or expect to use a crappy, unleveled piece of MR fodder to win. But one good weapon out of the range, isn't asking for much. 

And that's as it should be. 

Many of the people moaning about it, either don't understand why their builds are actually crap for this fight, or are clinging so tightly to the power fantasy that they've built that they cannot accept why any enemy should exist that doesn't just keel over and die when they enter the room. 

[(XBOX)Hyperion Rexx]

I liked fighting the wolf, he was a challenge albeit in a totally bullet spongey way.  His 3 buddies were always the bigger threat. 

For a lot of players though they simply don't have the gear to deal with him.  You can take your best eidolon gear capable of one shotting limbs and you'll be spamming ammo pizzas left and right to take him down.   Constantly being downed every few seconds is not fun and leaves anyone who isn't fully up to date with the meta and carrying top end gear feeling miserable as they literally can't scratch him.

He showed up for me on hydron last night.  Full squad, usual half ranked gear for that place and it took about 20 mins to take him down.  Mostly because I spent most of the time reviving team mates.  22 revives.  22 ffs.  Another guy in team done 14 revives.  

Creating a challenging boss that is accessible to all is probably an impossibility but de should try with who ever we have kill in season 2 to make it so we don't need a meta load out that is so tightly defined so lower or non meta players at least have a chance to contribute.

[BlachWolf]

Im just mad they nerfed him, even though you could easily deal with him, as long as you had a high dps weapon like the corvas, catchmoon, pyrana prime and basically any sniper or decent crit melee.

Edited May 15, 2019 by BlachWolf

[(PSN)guzmantt1977]

1 hour ago, (XB1)Hyperion Rexx said:

For a lot of players though they simply don't have the gear to deal with him.  You can take your best eidolon gear capable of one shotting limbs and you'll be spamming ammo pizzas left and right to take him down.   Constantly being downed every few seconds is not fun and leaves anyone who isn't fully up to date with the meta and carrying top end gear feeling miserable as they literally can't scratch him.

I dunno about that. There were several videos showing a Rubico taking him out of the action in under a minute. 

The issue I saw repeatedly on the forum was that many people who thought the gear they had was the best thing ever and refused to change. Most of the time what they were using was a very poor choice for dealing with the wolf. The fact that they were unable to grasp why the weapons were poor choices, and tried to blame their difficulties on the game says a lot about the players. 

The weapon I mainly used was definitely not the best, but it definitely allows me to deal with Hydron wolf, in minutes even if nobody else was able to contribute meaningfully. 

Yes, I had primed mods on it, but without those, I would still be able to approach half of the damage I was dealing. That's a very reasonable expectation for people who are in Hydron. If all 4 people in the squad are able to contribute similar amounts, then the wolf would go down about twice as fast as I could hope to do with the primed mods. 

Making use of the environment, using abilities to cc the fugitives, using abilities that protect or feed off of damage, using spectres to distract the wolf, all are viable options to keep from being downed repeatedly. 

 

[AltheusV]

Here's a concept for you: Don't have random bosses dropping in to missions based on pure randomness. I am bored with having to carry wolf-slaying kit about all the time, I want to use my varied status based primaries again without fear of running in to the wolf and not being able to do anything to him.

The character design is good for an assassination target, stick an extra node down on Saturn and leave him there, change his drop table to include the mask, armour set, hammer parts and some useful mods (not bleeding north wind, for the fourth time) and I would be perfectly happy with him.

 

 

[Ikusias]

Another idiotic sack of EHP with no strategy or counter except wailing at it for minutes while its 3 invincible stooges can oneshot you trough walls, obstacles, enemies and allies.

meanwhile all abilities don't work on it and it's got armored health on top of armor.

lazy design at its worst and a new player deterrent, imagine any newbie meeting this thing and the obvious result: one pnew player lost even before starting

[(PSN)guzmantt1977]

4 hours ago, AltheusV said:

I am bored with having to carry wolf-slaying kit about all the time, I want to use my varied status based primaries again without fear of running in to the wolf and not being able to do anything to him.

So, you don't realise that you can take a secondary, or melee, or archgun that's capable of hurting him? 

[--DSP--Jetstream]

Wolf need more work on how he move, it can just teleport and one hit you even rolling didnt stop that. And some weapons just deal like miniscule damage to him, so wolf kinda limit your loadout since you have to bring a rad gun anytime now. Its ok if its bullet spongy, but at least make his moveset animation less janky so you know when to dodge to avoid its attacks.

And its too dependant on what weapon you bring instead of your action maybe implement a way to counter wolf without relying on gearcheck like a weakspot or some phases and not just "shoot it till it dies with your rad archgun/catchmoon" thats uber boring.

[Jamescell]

I'm really hoping they dumb down most of the rewards so that simply playing the game lets players who play a good amount (more or less regardless of experience and mastery) receive all the rewards without having to spend most of their time working on the achievements. The more demanding achievements would allow more advanced players or players with more time on their hands to get ahead or catch up. 

[Toran]

NORA

The first sign of normality in the Tenno Universe! So far we only knew aliens, mutants, monsters, backwater allies and greedy megacorps. I really liked the voice acting and the odd-weekly lore bits. I wouldn't mind to hear more of her.

THE WOLF

Honestly, I hated the way he was implemented. He spawns randomly and most players are unprepared for him - so in most cases it ends up as a one-man-job - screw that sh!t. As the OP, I play random PUG 99% of the time, so Valkyr was the sound choice (for her Warcry and high armor, ultimate wasn't needed).

WOLF HUNT (Tactical Alert)

What the actual F? We get the chance to hunt him deliberately, so everyone can prepare for a tough fight that... won't come?! In the tactical alert his health seems nerfed to oblivion. The weaker one didn't even need a full mag of my Rubico to be killed. And the level 125 one didn't take much longer. Fasted PUG did the whole mission in 54 seconds (cheesing the doors)!

What a showdown this was... not.

REWARDS

Were OK, if not for the stupid random spawn factor. While I didn't pay the 1k+ plat of a day 1 set, later in the season and after about a dozen encounters, I paid about 300p for the two rare parts (BP/Motor)... no regrets (haven't seen the BP drop up to this date).

META

There was no meta, as you couldn't hunt him deliberately but in the tactical alert - and there he was nerfed so hard it didn't really matter what you pick for the fight aslong you brought hard hitting radiation weapons.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE

Another disappointment... his invincible sidekicks were the real threat in a PUG encounter. Without crowdcontrol, Adaptation and Heat resistence, their molotovs usually meant one-hit deaths for most Tenno.

COSMETICS

Boring. Blunt. As the hammer it screams LITTLE EFFORT. It looks ok with a very few Tennogen armors (Excalibur Graxx is probably the best choice for it).

SEASON 2

I appreciate that the planned changes reduce the more grindy parts. Still, I won't rush to rank 30 next season and simply ignore the more nasty bits. Hopefully, upcoming enemies won't be tied to terrible spawn chances, again.

[Urlan]

Mind, the only folk that have called us "Dreamers" as Nora so emphatically does were the Twin Queens. Also she uses a bunch of terminology that are not something anyone from the current in-universe setting would know or refer to.