Vulkodlak - a high-risk berserker Frame.

[(XBOX)Fluffywolf36]

Vulkodlak

“The Orokin tried to kill this wild, uncontrollable, ferocious Warframe. They succeeded. That only made it angrier.” 

Codex

Vulkodlak was something of an early prototype for Valkyr. As it was often difficult to truly “create” or even “predict” the focus of a Frame at that time, the Orokin couldn’t have imagined what they would’ve created while morphing the technocyte nanomachines into this shape.

The result was a violent, brutal berserker that kept trying to kill itself… and failing. When the Myrmidon came to hunt it, they could never kill it. Not permanently. But its combat prowess was unrivaled - the Orokin sent the first Vulkodlak unit to destroy a Buyan Alliance stronghold on Neptune’s moons, confident that the population of an entire moon could destroy it, and likely lure the alliance into a false sense of security.

The first Vulkodlak unit did not act according to plan. It slaughtered the population of the entire moon, crippling the Buyan Alliance almost overnight and forcing their remnants to flee to the furthest-flung habitats at the far fringe of the Origin System.

With yet another push by the Sentients, Vulkodlak was accepted for mass production. And that’s where the problems began - Vulkodlak Frames would assault each other without provocation and were prone to violent outbursts against anything, whether or not they had a [REDACTED] present.

Eventually, they started attacking anything Orokin (save for their fellow Tenno) at the slightest provocation. As these attacks grew too frequent, the Orokin issued a Mass Recall, calling on the Tenno to launch a coordinated assault to destroy Vulkodlak Frames.

Legend has it, however, that at least one Vulkodlak survived and hid on Ganymede…

Their signature weapon was the ‘Poyang’ grenade launcher, favored for its use as both a grenade launcher and shotgun, its incendiary rounds, and its ability to inflict self-harm.
 

Acquisition:

Awhile ago, I came up with an open-world concept for Ganymede.  It would've been an open-world with a heavy lore element, and most of the weapons I've made (except the Infested and Sentient ones) would've been rewards from there. However, I lost the thread of that one (sorry) due to weariness with grind islands.

Why is this relevant?

Because a Vulkodlak Frame is a rare miniboss that spawns at night on Ganymede. And, to acquire its blueprints, you have to beat it in a fight.

 

Abilities

 Passive 1: Desperation - The lower Vulkodlak's health is, the greater the damage he deals. This comes in stacks. 

Passive 2: Deathless - Vulkodlak has no shield.  However, his health is always regenerating. 

Passive 3: Hurt Me More - Vulkodlak receives self-damage instead of stagger. This is determined more by percentages of total health than base damage, though.

Passive 4: Feed - Killing an enemy while downed has a chance to revive you.

Passive 5: Echoes of Umbra: Melee attacks enemies while in SPOILER MODE.

 

1. Howl - Vulkodlak howls at a devastating volume, stunning enemies and opening them up to finishers. This can also do bleed damage. The lower his health, the louder this ability is. And the more range and duration it has. While comparable to Banshee’s 1, it’s actually more like a blast from an Arca Plasmor that does blast damage exclusively.

 2. Savage - Pounces at nearby enemies, and consume their health. 

3. Guard Dog: Simply aim in the general direction of a teammate and cast. This will give teammates an overshield, and slow Vulkodlak’s health regeneration to a crawl… while transferring the majority of damage received to Vulkodlak.  If the over shields receive enough damage, it’s transferred back to Vulkodlak, releasing a radial explosion. This is subject to health gating, meaning that - try as you might - this cannot actually kill him.

4. Rampage:  Expend stacks from passive to painfully transform (Vulkodlak audibly screams in pain) into a werewolf (were-kubrow?) form. Brief three-second period of invulnerability on casting. That said, Vulkodlak loses health the longer he's in this form. His claws, however, come with lifesteal, and have higher status and range (but less crit) than Valkyr’s talons.

 

How To Use:

First off: Self-damage is back, at least for them. But, with Vulkodlak it’s more dependent on percentages of total health than base damage of weaponry. It’s more about giving you an easy way to build up Desperation than encouraging caution. As such, the ideal loadout for Vulkodlak would have at least one weapon with self-stagger equipped. While I’d personally prefer primaries like the Astilla or Zarr, a good backup secondary would be a Tombfinger kitgun, or the ‘Hiro’ sidearm I made up awhile back.

Probably the best weapon to maintain low health with Vulkodlak is his signature weapon, the Poyang, which leaves a pool of fire on whatever it hits. Just stand in that for more energy and more damage.

Secondly, if you don’t build him for Rage or Hunter Adrenaline, you are doing it wrong. 

While on paper, Vulkodlak may seem to be a better version of Valkyr, this is compensated due to the extreme risk of using Vulkodlak. For maximum effectiveness, Vulkodlak should always be close to death.

Plus, his 3 gives him a lot of synergy for teams. You could, hypothetically, use it to help teammates in an Orb fight or Eidolon hunt, but with his heavy melee focus, I don’t know how useful that is. It’d definitely help out in an Arbitration, Sortie, or high-level Nemesis mission.

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by (XB1)Fluffywolf36

[(XBOX)Fluffywolf36]

Vulkodlak's Signature Weapon: Poyang Shotgun/Grenade Launcher

Mag size: 4 

Shotgun
Damage: 560
310 Heat
220 Slash
30 Puncture 
10 Impact
Critical Chance: 25%
Critical Multiplier: 2.6x
Status Chance: 11%

Launcher:
Damage: 400
180 Blast
180 Incendiary
10 Impact
30 Slash
Status Chance: 38%
Crit Chance: 24%
Crit Multiplier: 2.4x
Blast Radius: 4.5 meters

Primary Fire: Napalm Grenade - fires an incendiary grenade that explodes on impact, leaving a burning patch on the floor. This does heat damage regardless of what you modded it for. So, that means that hypothetically, you can have it built for gas, blast, and fire.
Secondary Fire: Dragon's Breath - Fires a shotgunlike blast of incendiary pellets.

The Poyang is a pump-action Tenno grenade launcher that is a study in contradictions. A Tenno weapon that was built to the artistic sensibilities of the Orokin... despite being their equivalent of the mass-produced, undercooked Grineer weaponry. Built among weapons that reward precision and accuracy... with two brutal firing modes. It seems either more Grineer than Tenno, or vice versa.

And the reason for that is simple: In the early years where the Orokin turned Grineer armed with saws and archaic ballistic weapons against the Sentients, where they died by the thousands and had lifespans measurable in minutes, it was a Grineer weapon. However, as the Grineer built their empire from a jumble of asteroids known as the Kuva Fortress, the Poyang was phased out in favor of the Zarr, which exchanged reload speed and rate of fire for larger warheads with bigger explosions, and the weapons used by Grineer Napalm troops. Both required less training and were simpler to build, anyway.

Upon impact, the Poyang's grenades have a stagger effect on enemies caught within the blast radius. It's a grenade launcher, it just wouldn't be the same without it.

Comparisons to other, similar weapons:
Zarr: The Poyang has a better shotgun, but the Zarr's grenades cause more status, crit, and the radius is technically larger. Cause, y'know. Cluster bombs. Also, the Zarr has more physical damage. That said, unlike the Zarr, the Poyang is capable of reaching 100% status. While the Poyang's stats (except in terms of physical damage) may seem to surpass it, the Zarr essentially explodes twice. So really, it's up to you what you want to do here. The Poyang also has a slightly slower reload speed, and a mag size of four!
Proxima: has a smaller blast radius at 4.0, but this is to compensate for the fact that it's proximity-detonated. Also, SLASH PROCS FOR DAYS.
Volikor: While the Poyang absolutely outclasses the Volikor's dumbfire mode, (that's more of a quality of life thing) the Volikor absolutely outdoes it in terms of burst damage.

artist notes
My attempt at coloring a Warframe concept! I'm not that happy with the coloring (I have no clue how to color in wood grain) but overall, I think this is a good attempt. If you're wondering why it's called the Poyang, well... it's a pump action grenade launcher. That looks like a giant shotgun. You might as well google the word 'poyang' if you don't get the joke. Originally it was called the Qinghai, but, well, that didn't seem immediately recognizable enough.

As for why it has a shotgun mode, well... I didn't really want to, but I figured that it was pump action and people would think "shotgun" no matter what I did.

 

[keikogi]

44 minutes ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

Passive 1: Desperation - The lower Vulkodlak's health is, the greater the damage he deals. This comes in stacks. 

Passive 2: Deathless - Vulkodlak has no shield.  However, his health is always regenerating. 

Passive 3: Hurt Me More - Vulkodlak receives self-damage instead of stagger. This is determined more by percentages of total health than base damage, though.

Passive 4: Pain Threshold - Reaching zero health releases a radial explosion.

Passive 5: Feed - Killing an enemy while downed has a chance to revive you.

Passive 6: Echoes of Umbra: Melee attacks enemies while in SPOILER MODE.

Man this is a bit too much passive and that's coming from a guy that on average uses two per frame ( 1 too explain the extra resourse and the other is the actual passive )

44 minutes ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

. Howl - Vulkodlak howls at a devastating volume, stunning enemies and opening them up to finishers. This can also do bleed damage. The lower his health, the louder this ability is. And the more range and duration it has. While comparable to Banshee’s 1, it’s actually more like a blast from an Arca Plasmor that does blast damage exclusively

The bleed seems odd , probably better to replace it with other debuff. Seems more like a Flush Ro Dah 

44 minutes ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

2. Savage - Pounces at nearby enemies, and consume their health. This has a cool down period in addition to energy cost.

Seems more appropriated to just make both the heal and the energy regeneration. Solves the Infinity energy problem without restricting mobility.

44 minutes ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

. Guard Dog: Simply aim in the general direction of a teammate and cast. This will give teammates an overshield, and slow Vulkodlak’s health regeneration to a crawl… while transferring the majority of damage received to Vulkodlak.  If the over shields receive enough damage, it’s transferred back to Vulkodlak, releasing the explosion from Passive 4. This can actually kill him, though.

The first problem is Seems like to many downsides for what is effectively a DR buff for your ally only. It Also like a Fuse ( a circuit breaker to stop fata damage agaist you , it probably should be unable to drop you below 5% health ). 

The Second problem is the skill is useless if you have no allies. Both a desing problem and a fluff ( I mean lore and gameplay x desing conection ), the frame is quite literally a lone wolf.

44 minutes ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

. Rampage:  Expend stacks from passive to painfully transform (Vulkodlak audibly screams in pain) into a werewolf (were-kubrow?) form. Brief three-second period of invulnerability on casting. That said, Vulkodlak loses health the longer he's in this form. His claws, however, come with lifesteal, and have higher status and range (but less crit) than Valkyr’s talons.

It is a exalted weapon that exust for fluff reasons. Has the new mechanic of escaping cost but on health with does create a dangerous dance for the player.

Edited April 12, 2020 by keikogi

[(XBOX)Fluffywolf36]

24 minutes ago, keikogi said:

Man this is a bit too much passive and that's coming from a guy that on average uses two per frame ( 1 too explain the extra resourse and the other is the actual passive )

 

That did worry me. If it helps, 4 and 6 aren't that necessary. But the others... Well, I need them to encourage the playstyle I was going for.

 

26 minutes ago, keikogi said:

The bleed seems odd , probably better to replace it with other debuff. Seems more like a Flush Ro Dah 

 

Oh, the idea behind that was the howl being so loud that it causes internal bleeding. It seemed funny at the time. Plus, slash procs are the best.

 

28 minutes ago, keikogi said:

The first problem is Seems like to many downsides for what is effectively a DR buff for your ally only. It Also like a Fuse ( a circuit breaker to stop fata damage agaist you , it probably should be unable to drop you below 5% health ). 

 

Unable to drop you below 5% health? Hmmm. I like that. That's definitely a good way to nullify some of the downsides, and encourage a playstyle of exploiting health gating.

 

28 minutes ago, keikogi said:

The first problem is Seems like to many downsides for what is effectively a DR buff for your ally only. It Also like a Fuse ( a circuit breaker to stop fata damage agaist you , it probably should be unable to drop you below 5% health ). 

 

...All honesty, I had no idea what to do about that. I knew I wanted something that worked as a support ability and damaged Vulkodlak, this was the best I could manage.

29 minutes ago, keikogi said:

It is a exalted weapon that exust for fluff reasons. Has the new mechanic of escaping cost but on health with does create a dangerous dance for the player.

It was, at the heart of it all, the core of this frame.

[keikogi]

17 hours ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

17 hours ago, keikogi said:

 

...All honesty, I had no idea what to do about that. I knew I wanted something that worked as a support ability and damaged Vulkodlak, this was the best I could man

Have you considered a lycantropy curse type of skill ? something like bite allies to give them some passives bite enemies to convert them into melee only berserkers. 

 

17 hours ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

It was, at the heart of it all, the core of this frame.

Might have sounded dismiseve but it just that people overuse exalted weapons , realisticaly speaking you should use them when they are necessary for gameplay ( weird mechnics that need a exclusive weapon ) or the lore side of it forces the weapom. 

 

17 hours ago, (XB1)Fluffywolf36 said:

Unable to drop you below 5% health? Hmmm. I like that. That's definitely a good way to nullify some of the downsides, and encourage a playstyle of exploiting health gating.

it is a conclusion that a reached while desining my first warframe, you can´t allow the stupidit of your ally to kill you, That´s why the skil needs a fuse. 

[(XBOX)Fluffywolf36]

7 hours ago, keikogi said:

it is a conclusion that a reached while desining my first warframe, you can´t allow the stupidit of your ally to kill you, That´s why the skil needs a fuse. 

You raise a good point. Awhile ago, back when I used to be interested in Overwatch, I thought "hmmmm, what about a character that can remove health from allies in exchange for buffs of some ki-"

And I nixed it immediately because if there's anything I've learned from Destiny 1, it's that if the players can abuse it, they will. It's why I've never added a nuclear grenade launcher for the Grineer. Although with self-stagger being a Thing, now I can!

I'll write that up by the end of the day. The health gating, that is. Not the grenade launcher.

7 hours ago, keikogi said:

Have you considered a lycantropy curse type of skill ? something like bite allies to give them some passives bite enemies to convert them into melee only berserkers. 

 

Honestly, no. Didn't consider that. It's an interesting idea and I like it, but I feel like "create allies" doesn't quite fit here.

Edited April 13, 2020 by (XB1)Fluffywolf36

[(XBOX)Fluffywolf36]

Update: VULKODLAK BUFFS:

1. the cooldown period for Pounce has been removed.
2. Health Gating has been added to ability 3 and passive 3! Ability 3 is still not so useful for solo play, but there's not much I can do about that. Vulkodlak's damage-buffing passive is increased while using it.
3. Passive 5 - the one that releases radial explosions - has been removed. The rest, however, were too integral. Admittedly, the one where he acts like Umbra wasn't that integral, but from a pure fluff perspective it really reinforced that he's wild and barely controllable.