Kuva Lich Concept -- Modification Favor

[Cobalt313]

I honestly can't say for certain that this is a good idea, but it's an idea nevertheless. Between the manic creative episode that spawned my other two Kuva Lich Improvement Concepts and the way last Devstream addressed DE's plans to mitigate the more frustrating RNG aspects of the Kuva Lich system. Valence Transfer allows you to benefit from rolling a new weapon of a type you already own without letting the upgrades on your old, weaker one go to waste. Palladino will eventually let you opt out of Liches that just plain suck. The new upcoming "Bait" mechanic will help tip the odds in favor of rolling a specific weapon of your choice, and my Kuva Lich Improvement Concepts- Lich-Controlled Territory Assassination and Kuva Thrall Generals thread was my idea on how to soften the blow of random chance determining when exactly you get to fight your Lich. What, is there, then, for those unfortunate souls for whom the dice refuse to roll them an Elemental Bonus on their weapon that goes higher than 30%?

Realistically they're probably going to have to let Palladino take that Lich off their hands so they can roll up a new one, but that fact hasn't stopped me from envisioning an alternative way to make use of unwanted captured Liches in a manner similar to what "Bait" will let you do with unwanted spare Lich weapons:


Lich Modification Favor -- or, "Make this thing suck less and we'll call it even."

Basically, if you have a weapon with an elemental bonus of a satisfactory type but unsatisfactory percentage level, and don't feel like waiting for RNG to match you both the right weapon type and a higher bonus percentage than what you already have, you can instead capture a new Lich of a type that matches the bonus on the weapon you want improved, and consume their token to call in a Favor to make it stronger. This removes both the Lich and the weapon in question from your inventory for a while, possibly in addition to some assorted materials for crafting components, for a period no longer than 12 hours plus the option to skip with plat like in the Foundry or Dojo decoration. And at the end of that time, you'll be able to claim the weapon again, with the same Polarities and/or Catalyst as before, but now sporting a higher elemental bonus courtesy of the bonus on the expended Lich's weapon. Naturally this wouldn't be straight addition- you wouldn't put a 25% bonus on a 30% weapon for a 55% total, but more of a percentage of a Lich's bonus, say 10-20% so a common 25% Lich would increase a weapons bonus by 2.5% or 5% or so. Also you probably wouldn't be able to raise a weapon's elemental bonus above what the maximum random bonus allows- ok, maybe a little higher, but certainly not past, if even to, 100%. Maybe there's even a limited number of times you can do this to a single weapon, like 5 or something idk.


What's stopping the Lich from just keeping the new tricked-out gun for themselves and using it to turn on you? Good question, the answer to which being "I'm not sure yet whether that would be fun or not."

Favor Rendezvous -- or, "Agh! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

Now if I haven't made it clear enough already I already have reservations about this idea from the start, but this is the part I am genuinely the least confident about. Don't worry, it wouldn't make you fight your Lich all over again from the beginning, especially since you've beaten them once already and should still have their Requiem on record. Instead, after the crafting time is over or the Rush platinum is spent, you won't just claim your new weapon directly from your Foundry or a console at the Crimson Branch. Instead, you'll get a message from your Lich stating that their work is complete and they are ready to deliver you the weapon- come to these coordinates alone to pick it up. Ordis may interject saying he has a bad feeling about this or questions your willingness to trust that thing, and advises you to review their History in the Codex and prepare your weapons and Parazon accordingly before you go, just as a precaution.

In any case, upon receiving this message, a point on your starmap will be marked as a Lich Rendezvous Point- where exactly I'm not sure, maybe it's just a random override unrelated to what's normally there, maybe it's a Railjack mission where they're waiting aboard an empty station, heck, maybe they're waiting at one of the Solar Rail Junctions you've cleared. Point is: wherever they are, it all turns out to be a trap, they decided they'd rather keep the weapon for themselves and present your corpse as tribute to the Queens, and the only way you're getting that gun back is to 1v1 them and pry it from their cold, dead hands. And so you fight them and, if you've properly prepared, defeat and Vanquish them, and when you return to your Orbiter, your new (old) weapon will be waiting for you in the Foundry. Same Polarities, same Potato if you had one, new and improved bonus.

Another possibility, though, is that it's not guaranteed whether or not the Lich will betray you at all. Maybe depending on their level, certain personality traits, and/or how much they increased the weapon's bonus by, there could be a chance they just hand over the weapon without a fight. I can envision it working like when you arrive at the location, your hired Lich will be standing alone in the middle of a conspicuously arena-like tile, greet you, and call you over while holding out your weapon. You will then be able to move but unable to shoot- as if in a hub like the Relay, Cetus, or Fortuna, and be prompted to walk up to your Lich and interact to claim your gun. If they betray you, they try to fake you out and go in for a grapple execution, but you counter and break off at the last second, the two of you separate to a respectable distance, and the fight begins. If not, you take the weapon from your Lich without incident, they say some final words to the effect of "If we ever meet again, it will be as enemies", the two of you part ways, and that's the end of the mission. Go home and claim your prize. I'm not sure for certain whether higher or lower level Liches would be more likely to betray you or not; I imagine for the sake of anti-frustration higher-level Liches might be more likely to have a modicum of respect for you seeing as you could defeat them at the height of their power, while lower-level Liches would be a bit cockier and more willing to take another chance at defeating you and regaining their place among the Grineer.


TL;DR: A possible means of using captured Liches to boost the elemental bonus on a Kuva weapon you own they match bonus types with, by a percentage of their own bonus. Might only work a limited number of times on a single gun, definitely will have a cap on how high you can raise the bonus, probably won't go much higher than you can normally roll. Permanently consumes the captured Lich's token and temporarily removes the weapon being upgraded from your inventory. Can be rushed with plat. Might also have some additional material costs. May or may not have a chance that they'll betray you at the last second and require you to fight and defeat them again in a straight 1v1 fight at a random location before you can claim your upgraded gun. Or maybe they'll just hand it over without a fight, it depends on the Lich.

 

Full disclosure I am REALLY not sure about this one, but I figured I'd share it anyway. So what do you all think?