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Arbitrations Revisited Part 2

[DE]Connor

By [DE]Connor,
in Developer Workshops

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[DE]Connor

[DE]Connor

Posted
Posted

Hail Tenno!

It’s been awhile since we updated you on the state of Arbitrations back in April. Listening to feedback from those changes, one recurring theme was that the mode doesn’t feel rewarding enough (unless you’re playing a certain mission type, that is...) - so we dug into the numbers to see why that may be, and what could be done to improve the game mode overall.
 

Each of the seven available mission types in Arbitrations has its own difficulty modifier. These were meant to add extra challenge, while leveling the playing field in terms of rewards. However, statistics show that we missed the mark: one mission type, Excavation, was a clear outlier in terms of reward output for time spent. 

We wanted to make all mission types feel somewhat equal in terms of rewards - this means bringing other mission types up to the standard set by Excavation, so you can play when you want, without feeling like it’s an inefficient use of time. We also wanted to address the feedback that the current extended reward rotations dragged missions out. 

Therefore, we are currently moving ahead with the following:

  • All missions will return to regular rotation length EXCEPT for Excavation. Timers on excavators will be reduced to compensate, so all modes should be receiving rewards at a similar rate.
    • (Note: Disruption was already using single rotations because of an oversight, and will continue to do so with tweaks to reward structure as detailed below)
  • The rotation cadence will be changed from “ABCCCCC...” to “AABBCCCCC...” So that the same level of time investment is encouraged.
  • Endo rewards will be reduced to roughly 75% of what they once were (since you’ll be receiving rewards twice as often). Rare non-endo reward drop rates are unchanged - you’ll just get twice as many chances!
  • Arbiter Drones will now have a small chance to drop Vitus Essence on kill.

With some fine-tuning, we’re confident this will bring other game modes up to the level of reward that players might expect from their Excavation runs. Getting Essence directly from drones also gives an incentive to take them down, making gameplay itself feel more frequently rewarding. Speaking of rewards...

With more frequent reward cycles we’ve decided to include a few new goodies, adding variety to all the Endo and sculptures you’ll be earning:

  • Five new Aura mods that follow a more Nightmare or Corrupted style! (Final numbers will be posted in Update notes.)
    • Aerodynamic: + Aim Glide / - Damage Taken while Airborne 
    • Swift Momentum: + Faster Charge Attack / + Combo Counter 
    • Sheperd: + Companion HP / + Companion Armor 
    • Combat Discipline: -HP on kill for self / +HP on kill for Allies
    • Melee Guidance: - Melee Combo on Self / + Melee Combo on allies 
  • You can expect five new Warframe Arcanes as well!
    • On Rifle Kill: Melee damage increased by x for y seconds
    • On Melee Kill: Rifle damage increased by x for y seconds
    • On Pistol Headshot: x% ammo efficiency for y seconds
    • On Six Melee Kills: Heal companion by x
    • On Heavy Weapon Summon: Gain x armor for y seconds
  • Drop tables will also include the occasional bundle of 5x Cyan Stars or 3x Vitus Essence.
  • Kuva has been added to the Arbiter Offerings, for purchase with Vitus Essence.


These rotation changes also mean that Vitus Essence output from Arbitrations will be more than double what it is now (twice as many wave rewards, plus Vitus from drones and other sources). The Vitus prices in our store were based on the current rate of acquisition, so I’m here to offer fair warning for our plans:

  • When these Arbitration reward changes go live, the price of goods in the Arbiters’ reward manifest will increase by about 50%. 
  • When the update is released, we will also run a script to increase players’ existing Vitus stockpiles by an equivalent amount. If you had 2 Vitus before the update, you’ll have 3 after! 

We’re doing this so players who miss this announcement do not have their existing collections devalued as the store prices change. Since Vitus mission output is increasing by more than Vitus prices are, rewards from the store should be 20-30% faster to earn overall.

As always, these plans are subject to change both before and after release, based on player feedback and usage statistics.

Thanks for reading!

 

EDIT: We hear you loud and clear Tenno - Cyan Star bundle has been removed.
EDIT 2: Updated names of new Aura mods.

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Kontrollo

Kontrollo

Posted
Posted

Ah nice, thanks a lot.

 

Edit: Oh alright, just one question. Any plans to balance out the mission types/factions a bit, or even let us select the nodes?

From what I've gathered it's ~50% Infested and Defence has the highest chance, just because there are more nodes of those:

Spoiler

 

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HyokaChan

HyokaChan

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Quote
  • Five new Aura mods that follow a more Nightmare or Corrupted style! (Final numbers will be posted in Update notes.)
    • Verticality: + Aim Glide / - Damage Taken while Airborne 
    • Wicked Strikes: + Faster Charge Attack / + Combo Counter 
    • Loyal Herd: + Companion HP / + Companion Armor 
    • Bloodletter: -HP on kill for self / +HP on kill for Allies
    • Bladed Restraint: - Melee Combo on Self / + Melee Combo on allies 
  • You can expect five new Warframe Arcanes as well!
    • On Rifle Kill: Melee damage increased by x for y seconds
    • On Melee Kill: Rifle damage increased by x for y seconds
    • On Pistol Headshot: x% ammo efficiency for y seconds
    • On Six Melee Kills: Heal companion by x
    • On Heavy Weapon Summon: Gain x armor for y seconds

Hell no pls spare us

The loot table is already diluted enough as it is with an ephemera that is useless after getting it the first time 

Now it is mods that you will never bother with using. 

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vanaukas

vanaukas

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Xadden said:

Five cyan stars? It's not like I have more than 600 cyan stars and only 50+- amber stars.

I think it's for making your own ambar, but I don't think it's good in any case...
__

Have you considered doing an "elite arbitration"? No revives at all, like the old days? That stuff was very encouraging to put your best gear and do the best effort to stay alive while getting rewards

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diaversai

diaversai

Posted
Posted

This was a real rollercoaster to read. It was like with every positive, you threw in a negative to compensate. 

Positive: All missions will return to regular rotation length.  Negative: The rotation cadence will be changed. Endo rewards will be reduced to roughly 75%. 

Positive: Arbiter Drones will now have a small chance to drop Vitus Essence on kill.  Negative: When these Arbitration reward changes go live, the price of goods in the Arbiters’ reward manifest will increase by about 50%.

Were you just aiming for a net 25% boost? I feel like you would've been fine leaving the rotation cadence at ABCCCCC, and leaving the endo rewards the same and not changing the shop at all. 

 

 

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Autongnosis

Autongnosis

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Posted
il y a 5 minutes, BiancaRoughfin a dit :

Nekros going Healer now? :3

He always was, check out double pulse :3

 

By the way, nice chunk of changes that entirely miss the mark. 

You can give fifteen thousand kuva per rotation, arbitrations are just badly designed as a combat loop. Very boring blanket invulnerability drones, enforced self buffing tank/invis meta, badly thought out difficulty modifiers (interception is pretty much the only good one) and a revive system that punishes whoever stays alive. 

 

I mean, the rewards were sort of a problem... But what about the faults of the gamemode itself? Also, this is now the THIRD round of reward baiting you tried with Arbitrations. Do you mean to keep doing this? Cause I've just kinda had enough of that. 

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Gabbynaru

Gabbynaru

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, [DE]Connor said:

5x Cyan Stars

Amber! Tell me this is a typo and you mean Amber, cause this is the most useless reward I've seen in the game. Cyan Stars drop super easy, Amber Stars are as rare as 1 per day, if that! I know with the changes to Vitus Essence drops, we could make our own, but the blueprint is not a good deal. The blueprint is a rip-off. So please, reconsider this.

Other than that one complaint... damn, I might actually be interested in playing Arbies now, cause those changes look pretty neat... except for what I stated above and the reduced endo drops.

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Velothed

Velothed

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, [DE]Connor said:

Bloodletter: -HP on kill for self / +HP on kill for Allies

That sounds interesting 😄

15 minutes ago, [DE]Connor said:

On Six Melee Kills: Heal companion by x

Hm, we allready got companion healing via melee, could we maybe have it for primary or secondary instead?

 

17 minutes ago, [DE]Connor said:

Kuva has been added to the Arbiter Offerings, for purchase with Vitus Essence.

Oh, I like that!

19 minutes ago, [DE]Connor said:

Drop tables will also include the occasional bundle of 5x Cyan Stars

Correct me if I'm wrong, but has anyone ever not have enough Cyan Stars? I get that it's a filler reward, but if I'm not mistaken this would literally be completely worthless.

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Hello

Hello

Posted
Posted

This is peaking my interest so far. I might be willing to go back to survival arbitrations now. Haven't even wanted to do them since the Disruption change. That was the most enjoyable at when it was first available.

 

Edit: The cyan stars is a bit meh though. They drop like candy in normal missions. Maybe a bundle of 3 amber stars instead?

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Giantconch

Giantconch

Posted
Posted

Looks good so far, time will tell how well this will actualy end up being, but I'm really liking the new auras

 

**Though, I am glad you arent going back to the one-life-tanks-only style of arbitration, it would be nice if the red things dropped by drones for reviving were an optional pick-up, so those who don't want to have their health reduced can just keep playing while one person can task themself with reviving if they were to choose to.

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Voltage

Voltage

Posted
Posted

Awesome. I can't wait to farm for these new goodies for collection, and the bar being set on Excavation is perfect. Hopefully the frequency of missions is brought close to each other as frequent Defense/Survival overshadows other modes.

How much Kuva will we get and how much Vitus Essence will it cost?

Will Arbiter Drone Vitus Essence drops be affected by Boosters/Smeeta?

54 minutes ago, [DE]Connor said:

(twice as many wave rewards, plus Vitus from drones and other sources).

I am curious what "other sources" refers to.

Will any of these Aura Mods feature a Zenurik Polarity? We currently only have Brief Respite, so changing that Aura or adding more to Zenurik polarities would give more purpose to Aura Forma in loadouts.

Thanks for the notes Connor. Looks good.

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