Druid frame idea

[Pikachu195]

I've been thinking for a while that I missed the druid class from diablo II and transformed it into a warframe idea  because I really love druid-type characters that can summon companions and fusion with them. Anyway let's jump into how it would work, this frame would be a tank frame which focuses on healing but can do his share of damage as well, with 2 summons on his 1st and 2nd abilities. 
I honestly have no idea what stats it should have but I'd go for hp focused (would have shields too but quite low) with mid-range armor, something like  250-300 armor. 

The 1st ability: The birb drone. (Thinking of a sawgaws as design but smaller) 
This ability would let  Druid throw ahead a small container from his back that would turn into a bird designed looking drone with wings that  would drain energy over time and fly around Druid staggering enemies that are around him for  0.25/0.50/1sec (more time over rank) the staggering being able to last longer based on the duration that would affect the energy drain as well and going for further enemies based on range.


The 2nd ability: The Kubradon
This ability would let Druid drop a bigger container that he keeps on his back that would transform into a kubradon incarnade robot that would act like a charger and deal  puncture and impact damage with puncture being the focused damage , the kubradon can be attacked by enemies and is affected by health/shield/armor mods on the frame as well as ability strength like an exalted weapon would, of course this ability would drain energy, more than the firs ability.
The kubradon would be moded as a melee exalted weapon (will get into why at the 4th ability) 


The 3rd ability: Order
Simply pressed it would cycle between the 2 summons  but while held it would give commands to the selected summons

-The bird:
on enemy target it would stagger that specific target   
on allies: it would get on that specific ally's sholder and heal them over time and give bonus armor to them, the bird would become invisible while aiming like mirage's clones so it wouldn't become annoying  for the player
on nothing: it would get on Druid's shoulder and do the same it would on an ally 

-The kubradon: 
on enemy it would charge that specific enemy and focus it's following attacks on him
on ally: it would follow that ally and attack enemies around them thus protecting the ally
on nothing: it would return to Druid and protect him instead


The 4th ability:  Fusion
The 4th ability would  combine Druid with his companions  at double the drain cost of the normal summons  and would fusion with the companion selected by the 3rd ability's cycle 

The bird: with this companion Druid would gain it's wings and float like Hildryn's 4th  making an AOE around Druid that would heal and give armor to enemies in the area. Druid will still be able to use primaries and secondaries while in this form

The kubradon: This companion would transform into a critical focused 2 handed exalted hammer with one end of the hammer being flat and the other a spike and would shift from being a puncture focused weapon to a impact weapon but not to the point of which it can't be built  for puncture letting the player decide if they want puncture or impact to be the focus of this form.


Anyway this is my idea for a Druid frame, as you can see it's very bare boned since I do not have any idea how to balance it so I won't try to give specific numbers on anything but I think this type of frame would be fun to play as and not entirely out of meta, while obviously not able to outshine any frame or drive them into obscurity. Thank you for coming to my TED talk, reply with your opinion on it if you want to 


Also sorry if this shouldn't be posted here on feedback. 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Pikachu195

[Omnistorms]

Just saying I like the whole idea of a druid frame and its not just about transformations you have support and offensive uses here with pets and your idea with the fusion ability i really like especially with your thoughts on the kubradon exalted hammer having two sides with 2 different damage attack types.

[IudexJimmy]

Ah yes a furry frame

[Xzorn]

I still miss old school Druids before the animal companion thing caught on.

From perspective of Diablo2 an old school druid would have been Elemental + Shapeshift with some rogue qualities. AD&D Druids could do potent elemental spells like Flame Strike and some even more nasty ones like Creeping Doom (1st testimate level insect swarms) and Storm of Vengeance (pretty much deletes towns with a CAT 99 Hurricane).

They did summon but they summoned Elementals; not animals. Shapeshifting has mostly remained a staple but given they lost much of their rogue qualities I think it's undermined as a feature now instead of a characteristic of the class. Much as a rogue is hard to spot in a crowded city; a Druid is similarly hard in the wilderness.

Anyhow I like the idea of a Druid frame. I would propose a base mechanic where they have two aspects. Elemental and Shifting. Essentially mix Chroma and Equinox mechanics together but of course in a much better way. Some easy in-game manner to cycle Elements and Shifting form type. Their 1st ability could essentially cycle between types for the alternate forms. ie In Elemental you cycle Shifting options and Hold-to-cast while in Shifting you cycle Elemental and Hold-to-cast.

Non-movement restricting cast of course for smooth play.

Some liberties would have to be taken to convert to Warfare like the Shifting forms would probably need to be werebear, werewolf, werecat, ect. While the Elemental types would generally reflect their types. Water aka Cold would do Ice abilities with some sub healing mixed in. Fire and Lighting aka Electric would do what they do but with enough distinction between the two and Earth aka Toxic? Would do Defensive abilities, Poison, Insects or similar.

Edited December 23, 2019 by Xzorn

[Pikachu195]

9 hours ago, Xzorn said:

I still miss old school Druids before the animal companion thing caught on.

From perspective of Diablo2 an old school druid would have been Elemental + Shapeshift with some rogue qualities. AD&D Druids could do potent elemental spells like Flame Strike and some even more nasty ones like Creeping Doom (1st testimate level insect swarms) and Storm of Vengeance (pretty much deletes towns with a CAT 99 Hurricane).

They did summon but they summoned Elementals; not animals. Shapeshifting has mostly remained a staple but given they lost much of their rogue qualities I think it's undermined as a feature now instead of a characteristic of the class. Much as a rogue is hard to spot in a crowded city; a Druid is similarly hard in the wilderness.

Anyhow I like the idea of a Druid frame. I would propose a base mechanic where they have two aspects. Elemental and Shifting. Essentially mix Chroma and Equinox mechanics together but of course in a much better way. Some easy in-game manner to cycle Elements and Shifting form type. Their 1st ability could essentially cycle between types for the alternate forms. ie In Elemental you cycle Shifting options and Hold-to-cast while in Shifting you cycle Elemental and Hold-to-cast.

Non-movement restricting cast of course for smooth play.

Some liberties would have to be taken to convert to Warfare like the Shifting forms would probably need to be werebear, werewolf, werecat, ect. While the Elemental types would generally reflect their types. Water aka Cold would do Ice abilities with some sub healing mixed in. Fire and Lighting aka Electric would do what they do but with enough distinction between the two and Earth aka Toxic? Would do Defensive abilities, Poison, Insects or similar.

I like your idea too but personally I decided to go with companions when thinking about such a frame because warframe already has quite a bit of elemental frames like frost,ember,volt and saryn and  the only frame that touched into companion based  abilities is khora that doesn't really have her kit built around her companion but rather her companion built around her kit.

[Raqiya]

Neat idea but it should be posted here https://forums.warframe.com/forum/89-fan-concepts/ . I don't you can pass the character as a "Druid" since Oberon sort of adopted that theme.

[Xzorn]

2 hours ago, Pikachu195 said:

I like your idea too but personally I decided to go with companions when thinking about such a frame because warframe already has quite a bit of elemental frames like frost,ember,volt and saryn and  the only frame that touched into companion based  abilities is khora that doesn't really have her kit built around her companion but rather her companion built around her kit.

 

Sadly there's good reason we don't have many companion based frames and even more why we wouldn't want them.

The AI in Warfare hasn't improved much over the years and current Companion AI is dumb as dirt.

I feel a frame based on companions would just end up bad by default.

There are of course Elemental based frames but not really an Elementalist. It could allow for some interesting element combinations. Super heat enemies then hit them with Ice causing it to explode. Douse enemies in noxious fuming poison then ignite that poison causing a spreading conflagration. Fortify allies with "Stone Skin" them prime them with water healing them over time but when the Stone shielding ends a torrent of slowing mud spreads out from that ally.

When it comes to the 4 primal elements this stuff almost writes itself then add in some shifting for more layers of play. When in Elementalist form your chosen shift at the time adds bonus effects to your abilities and when Shifted your chosen elemental type at the time adds bonus effects to your abilities.

[Pikachu195]

9 hours ago, Xzorn said:

 

Sadly there's good reason we don't have many companion based frames and even more why we wouldn't want them.

The AI in Warfare hasn't improved much over the years and current Companion AI is dumb as dirt.

I feel a frame based on companions would just end up bad by default.

There are of course Elemental based frames but not really an Elementalist. It could allow for some interesting element combinations. Super heat enemies then hit them with Ice causing it to explode. Douse enemies in noxious fuming poison then ignite that poison causing a spreading conflagration. Fortify allies with "Stone Skin" them prime them with water healing them over time but when the Stone shielding ends a torrent of slowing mud spreads out from that ally.

When it comes to the 4 primal elements this stuff almost writes itself then add in some shifting for more layers of play. When in Elementalist form your chosen shift at the time adds bonus effects to your abilities and when Shifted your chosen elemental type at the time adds bonus effects to your abilities.

Yeah, you're right, I didn't take into consideration the AI. But while I like the Elementalist idea, the problem I see is that it will get nerfed into the ground because of it's overloaded kit, being able to do damage, cc echanting, healing while itself being able to keep itself alive.
It would be a very useful frame but just as DE nerfed banshee into the ground because it was the only frame people used for DPS-ing I think this frame would end up with the same fate as her.This is why I didn't want to come up with an extremely powerful or overloaded frame, I wanted to make a frame that people would play because they find it fun,  which is why I gave it a little versatility with the bird giving it a chance at being a good support frame and his kubradon turning into an exalted weapon to give him a chance at dealing some serious damage.

To be hoest as the person above you said: the druid frame  was already a name put to oberon so I guess I'd like to see both mine and your frame in the game under different names, probably a summoner frame and an elementalist frame.