Now that the dust has settled...

[White_Matter]

What do you think about the Steel Path ? Was it a success ? Or a failiure ? Did it adress the "challenge" aspect Vets have been asking for years ? 

Does it have potential ? Should DE continue working on it ?

 

My experience has been mostly "Meh." I like the fact that the game gave me some kind of an incentive to play, but at the same time, the "rewards" are pretty underwhelming(not only because of lack of variety but because of the excessive amounts of farm they need). Also I had trouble finding squads, especially lately.

What can DE do to liven it up ?

 

[Gabbynaru]

I played a few missions and I moved back to the normal starchart. It's so boring. Without an AI revamp to actually make the enemies be threatening, it's still easy af, it just takes longer. Basically, it's a massive waste of your time and I, for one, treasure mine. So I'm not gonna go back any time soon.

[Xaero]

I only wish for it to be expanded to frequently played missions like fissures (with increased chances of rare drops) and kuva siphons (with increased kuva gains).

[JackHargreav]

It's alright.

I like to play it time to time.

[Hypernaut1]

I like it. I'm not rushing through it though

I wish I could make everything I do "Steel Path". But I think it may fraction the player base too much

[(XBOX)C11H22O11]

I don't think it's awful but I'm not going to touch it for a while I'll wait until more stuff comes to the store.

[(PSN)NoTrollGaming]

9 minutes ago, Gabbynaru said:

I played a few missions and I moved back to the normal starchart. It's so boring. Without an AI revamp to actually make the enemies be threatening, it's still easy af, it just takes longer. Basically, it's a massive waste of your time and I, for one, treasure mine. So I'm not gonna go back any time soon.

yeah this, it just takes longer than normal and forced to use certain weapons and frames if you want to finish it quicker

[(PSN)ErydisTheLucario]

I'm on Neptune atm, and I think I've played enough to say for sure that I dont like the Steel path very much. The modifiers...we didn't need them, and imo are too high. I personally would have been fine with 150% modifier at most if they really needed a modifier. Most primaries, in my experience suck, and I've had to use melee all the way up to this point. Enemies are bullet sponges for the sake of bullet sponges. The lvl increase though was cool, as well as the increased spawn rate, but that's about all I liked out of it aside from the Bishamo armor and both epehemeras. The rewards...if this was supposed to replace the simulacrum as many people claim, then rewards shouldn't have been added imo, which again, the only rewards worth grinding for are the armor and epehemeras. After that, you just have useless steel essence piling up. This is just my opinion on it, if others like it, that's great, I'm glad you can find enjoyment in something that I can't. 

[OniDax]

Steel Path reveals, imo, that Warframe's core gameplay is boring. Frames and weapons are cool, but the gameplay experience is boring. The missions are boring. The AI are boring. What often makes up for that is the power fantasy: being able to decimate enemies quickly. When you make the enemies more bullet spongey and give them more damage, then it quickly becomes boring because, in a lot of cases, unless you're using meta weapons and OP frames, you've now taken away the one thing that makes Warframe fun: wiping the floor with enemies. I think that's why there aren't a lot of people playing most of the normal star chart or Steel Path.

Older mission objectives and map design need a rework. AI behavior and gameplay mechanics need a rework. Player gameplay mechanics need a rework. Animations need a rework. Without a rework of the core gameplay experience, modes like Steel Path will continue to only be valued by most players for their rewards, not the gameplay.

[xcrimsonlegendx]

I only did like 3 planets, only got like 2 steel essence. Didn't' find it particularly worth the effort of clear the entire star chart again.

[TheKurtiStryke]

50/50

i enjoyed it as much i got bored/frustrated while playing it.

pros:

A good(kinda) challenge due to the enemy level + the spawn rate it's set to the max and even futher from the beginning of the mission( a good thing for those who likes to mass murder  lot of things), the farm for the endo/mods is good(mods can be sold for endo an credits, and believe me, you farm a lot of mods in the steel path) and some(few) rewards are...ok

cons

these are just the normal missions but with stronger enemies, nothing else has been changed, same enemies, same AI, no hazard of any kind to make the mission feel different or more engaging, the reward(in general) are...mhe

 

 

 

[(XBOX)YoungGunn82]

I enjoy when I play, wish the rewards were a bit better. I play a few missions every now and then till I get through the void. All I want is the planet trophy from Mars, Jupiter, Derelict, Earth, Venus, Lua, Void for decor purposes, so not in a hurry. That and the teshin cuirass for the belt. Almost done with Jupiter, I’ve completed Venus, Earth, Lua, Derelict. 

26 minutes ago, White_Matter said:

Does it have potential ?

They one thing I really really like is how tanky the assassination targets are. I get more interaction with those bosses than I normally would. Wish that tankiness was in reg mode too. 

 

29 minutes ago, White_Matter said:

Was it a success ? Or a failiure ?

I don’t think it was either. It’s something to do, pushes my gear check, it’s a good niche for those that like to min/max. 
 

 

30 minutes ago, White_Matter said:

Should DE continue working on it ?

Yes, just need better rewards.  Such as  like triple the amount of endo, affinity and credits you can earn in SP, is really it. Tired of the same ol area grind for those. 

[Traumtulpe]

I like it in theory. In practice I have no reason to play it.

I do Sorties sometimes - can't do it on the Steel Path.

I do fissure missions sometimes - can't do it on the Steel Path.

I do Arbitrations sometimes - can't do it on the Steel Path.

I do bounties sometimes - same rewards, Steel Path just takes more effort.

Steel Path has the same rewards as normal missions. I don't need those. Steel Essence doesn't drop at all if you play normally.

[TheGuyver]

The only things I actually like about it are the uncapped spawns and timer on your gear items. It's not hard, it's not even really that fun for me. I'm pretty comfortable with all of my builds to know exactly what I'm capable of. 

Slapping blanket buffs on everything and calling it hard mode is really lazy.

[Aguzo]

There are games like Sonic Adventure, where hard mode would include more advanced enemies.

 

If they added bosses to the enemy spawn pool (not the big ones, unless maybe they are in an open area), then it would probably feel more like hard mode.

Example: Jackal's Rippling Shockwave disables Warframe abilities. So stuff like that could make gameplay tougher

[Hypernaut1]

My biggest issue with SP is that I can't solo Interception without cheasing it. 

I don't mind having to run from point to point , but the rate at which the enemies cap is almost impossible to solo without certain frames that can cheese it

[Xylena_Lazarow]

Steel Path succeeded in offering core gameplay against non-trivial enemies. It's still not "hard" but it at least requires a baseline level of thought and engagement (melee aside). I do indeed replay Steel Path missions when I want to really try out new gear or builds. Going back to normal mode is... depressing. Your choices simply don't matter there. It feels insulting to be "forced" to do trivial content as a geared late game player.

Seconding Steel Path fissures and kuva siphons, especially the siphons, because short missions should be a legitimate kuva option too, not just 3hr survivals.

[Jarriaga]

I've migrated to TSP Survival whenever I'm not farming Kuva. I feel more engaged than normal mode.

[RazerXPrime]

I think it's boring. Just the same missions with bullet spunges. Sure it has better rewards, but that's not really what I'm looking for. I think the Steel Path was expected. It's an easy update for those that want to see if they can kill stuff at higher levels. Thing is, that already existed through endurance runs. Now the boss battles may prove more challenging, although I've already seen vids of people clearing those relatively quickly. Meh.

It would have been better if they added a different mode with separate content and missions. Maybe add some more complicated platforming while disabling razorwing and such abilities from traversing these things. Maybe add different enemies that can deal with crazy damage output. Update AI to have hearing senses to include footsteps and increased range instead of this tiny cone in which they can see you. Update AI to be able to dodge stuff or counter your abilities. Right now the AI is like super retarded. It just walks towards you and tries to kill you. There's almost no actual intelligence, enemies all do the same thing over and over again. Want to make it more difficult, I thnk that's where it's at.

Over the years WF has spiralled a bit out of control in terms of how much damage you can do. With the different frames adding different buffs or scaling abilities and min maxing you can deal some crazy damage. That's not an option for each and every frame of course, but for those min maxers that only play one or two frames because meta rules their life.

DE decided to simply counter that by increasing HP and such. But the thing is you can already get that challenge without steel path if you just remove mods from your frame and weapons. It is the exact same experience.

[(PSN)AbBaNdOn_]

DE sure as hell will never share the metrics for steel path to show how the community has engaged with it.  

I never wanted a hard mode, I think it was a complete waste of time.  

Things I would want

-ALOT more activities per week for nightwave(without messing with the standing).  Maybe a spin off of nightwave where you get tons of daily objectives but not for NW standing but just for credits/forma bp/void trace..

-Instead of difficulty I prefer intensity,  I dont think its technically even doable but more enemies, more waves, faster spawns.  Some of my favorite shooter game memories are from Borderlands 1... There were a couple of area where the enemies just kept coming and kept coming and be the time you made them stop showing up your guns were empty and you felt physically exausted irl.   Loved that.    But this really cant be done currently with Warframe because it would probably be a huge performance issue.

-I dont know HOW,  but I'd love to see anything that helps strengthen squad play, make all 4 people have to pull their weight.  Like forcing people to stick together, not letting people run off on their own.  Without turning it into meta garbage like eidolon fights where you need people on different frames.   Maybe just better Visual Q's when you are in affinity range,  better loot/affinity the bigger your affinity link is.  Then it would be a very easy thing to do to start shrinking affinity range forcing people to fight together.

Random squads are just about leechs and individualism(screw the squad) right now.  Most of the time im blocking people instead of making friends.  

[ShogunGunshow]

Dunno why people expected Steel Path to be a game changer. It's just slapping levels onto mobs. And slapping levels onto mobs isn't exactly new. You can still cheese them. 

[Kaggelos]

For Steel Path I want more mission types, like Fissures, Kuva Lich Nodes, Syndicate Missions, Kuva Siphons etc, then i'd play the feces out of it, cause it has lots of potential.

[Xylena_Lazarow]

7 minutes ago, (PS4)AbBaNdOn_ said:

I never wanted a hard mode, I think it was a complete waste of time... I'd love to see anything that helps strengthen squad play, make all 4 people have to pull their weight

Our tastes are completely opposite. I love Steel Path as much as I hate Railjack. DE has a hard job.

[RazerXPrime]

6 minutes ago, (PS4)AbBaNdOn_ said:

DE sure as hell will never share the metrics for steel path to show how the community has engaged with it.  

I never wanted a hard mode, I think it was a complete waste of time.  

Things I would want

-ALOT more activities per week for nightwave(without messing with the standing).  Maybe a spin off of nightwave where you get tons of daily objectives but not for NW standing but just for credits/forma bp/void trace..

-Instead of difficulty I prefer intensity,  I dont think its technically even doable but more enemies, more waves, faster spawns.  Some of my favorite shooter game memories are from Borderlands 1... There were a couple of area where the enemies just kept coming and kept coming and be the time you made them stop showing up your guns were empty and you felt physically exausted irl.   Loved that.    But this really cant be done currently with Warframe because it would probably be a huge performance issue.

-I dont know HOW,  but I'd love to see anything that helps strengthen squad play, make all 4 people have to pull their weight.  Like forcing people to stick together, not letting people run off on their own.  Without turning it into meta garbage like eidolon fights where you need people on different frames.   Maybe just better Visual Q's when you are in affinity range,  better loot/affinity the bigger your affinity link is.  Then it would be a very easy thing to do to start shrinking affinity range forcing people to fight together.

Random squads are just about leechs and individualism(screw the squad) right now.  Most of the time im blocking people instead of making friends.  

This is mainly because Borderlands scaling is equal to the area you're in and the amount of players in your party. If you play the game normally, without powerfarming then you get your challenge at every turn. If you powerfarm then yes you can snooze through the game. Since the content in WF's content isn't really aimed at a frame and weapon that maxed everything and it has everything open once you clear the star map, there's really no content to match your skill/power other than endurance runs, sorties and arbitrations. And since there's no power scaling on enemies having more people in your party makes everything a lot easier. So the game is balanced around solo play which can get challenging at higher levels depending on your loadout and skill.

But for vets that follow the meta this is all meaningless.

[bibmobello]

Steel path is just a palliative to keep calm for a while some advanced players bored by the trivial gameplay. Reducing in HoD the MR requirement from MR 15 to 8 just means: "old players find something else to do".  If they just want people to test their weapons they can just give a customizable puppet in the simulacrum.