Valkyr - Rework ideas

[OnTarasMind]

DISCLAIMER -

I want to put a disclaimer here saying that I am by no means a game designer. My suggestions are merely what I think could be fun and/or interesting and what may fit Valkyr's thematic/gameplay style.

VALKYR - WHY HER CURRENT KIT DOESN'T WORK -

Overall, with Valkyr's design thematic being based on rage/brutality, there's really only two abilities that fit that thematic, those being Warcry and Hysteria, but even then, those abilities have issues on their own. Let's start by listing these abilities off in order and talking about why they don't work for her thematic.

Passive - Knockdown recovery and immunity to hard landings is severely underwhelming, nor does it fit her thematic because it doesn't quite say "rage" to me, but moreso fits someone who is moreso nimble/agile/quick on their feet. Rage to me can be described as unstoppable, so were her passive to be preserved, I'd honestly just say that she should be immune to knockdowns as a whole, along with being immune to hard landings, but that won't be the case, as will be described later.

Ripline - Ah, yes, a relic from the old days of Warframe, back when mobility was spinning around really fast. Nowadays, what ripline used to function for can be done by basically every frame, even those without any form of mobility boost. This ability would more than likely need to be rebuilt from the ground up to be even remotely useful.

Warcry - While boosting you and your teammates attack speed is a good way to display "rage," there's a lot more that could be done with this ability to display that thematic better, as will be described later on as well.

Paralysis - Another relic of old times, Paralysis has become severely underwhelming because it's barely even a crowd-control ability. This would more than likely need to be overhauled or replaced entirely.

Hysteria - In it's current state, Hysteria has a very good baseline for her thematic. While being invulnerable is a very powerful tool, it uses up too much of the ability's power-budget to be worthwhile when compared to many of the other exalted weapons in the game.

THEMATIC -

To me, Valkyr is a one-woman army of rage and power. She should be able to take on hordes of enemies and after they're all dead, she should be able to come out of that fight even stronger than before. As a one-woman army, her playstyle would be a lot more selfish than before, allowing more of her power budget to be aimed at making her better at one thing - Ripping enemies apart like stuffed animals.

POTENTIAL CHANGES -

Passive - Valkyr does not use her Parazon to do mercy kills. Instead, she uses her claws. Upon successfully landing a mercy kill, she gains a damage/speed buff for a duration, which can stack a few times. Her mercy kills still activate Parazon mods when applicable. 

This would potentially call for custom mercy kill animations, but I think that would be good for her overall, since her animations could be much faster than other frames when they do mercy kills, allowing her to incentivize going for mercy kills to proc her passive. This also incentivizes her going into the thick of a fight, exactly where she wants to be.

1 - Ripper - Valkyr targets the nearest enemy under a certain health threshold and dashes to them, ripping them apart with her claws and executing them. Any enemies executed by this ability proc her passive.

Since Ripline can basically be outright replaced, this is what I came up with. Giving her a tool to more readily proc her passive will allow her to more effectively push through enemies and allow her to keep her buffs up.

2 - Warcry - Valkyr gains attack speed and lifesteal for a duration. Any enemies that are executed/mercy killed while this buff is active heal her to full health.

This is where the one-woman army comes in - Instead of buffing her allies, Valkyr will now only buff herself, allowing the buff to be more powerful on it's own since it only affects her.

3 - Paralyzing Scream - Valkyr lets out a terrifying scream, causing nearby enemies to become paralyzed with fear. Enemies that are paralyzed by this ability have their execution threshold increased.

This is a tool for a bit of safety. If Valkyr becomes overwhelmed, this would allow her to have some breathing room to get back to doing what she wants to do.

4 - Hysteric Rage - Valkyr gains damage reduction, becomes immune to knockdowns and readies her claws. Enemies that are killed by her claws proc her passive, and her passive stack cap is now doubled.

Hysteria on it's own is really only used as a tool for survivability, and I think these changes allow for this ability to become more than just a tool to stay alive. Giving her incentive to actively kill enemies while the ability is active allows her to become a snowballing death machine capable of bringing down the toughest of enemies like they were nothing.

IN CONCLUSION -

Valkyr hasn't aged well at all, and she could desperately use some love and care to push her up to being what she is meant to be - A one-woman army of rage and bloodshed. These changes in my eyes allow for her to become that. 

If you have any feedback/opinions to give, please keep it constructive. Thank you.

[Andele3025]

OR
Just make 1 this (and giving the enemy pull a momentum kill and hard wall like Wraith Shadow 1 while removing momentum kill on valkyr after the line is released).

And 4 this (but keeping invul and with hp drain depending on damage stored that gets lowered with overheal from lifesteal and purged with finishers).

Aka the 2 abilities behave as intended by initial design.

[(XBOX)Onyx Schnee]

On 2021-07-10 at 7:50 AM, Andele3025 said:

OR
Just make 1 this (and giving the enemy pull a momentum kill and hard wall like Wraith Shadow 1 while removing momentum kill on valkyr after the line is released).

And 4 this (but keeping invul and with hp drain depending on damage stored that gets lowered with overheal from lifesteal and purged with finishers).

Aka the 2 abilities behave as intended by initial design.

I readily dislike hp drain on anything, but i would LOVE if Valkyr's hysteria functioned like A2's rage mode.

Currently my only complaint with Hysteria is the stance. if Valkyr had more wide swinging, vicious combos it'd be perfect(and up the attack speed of all exalted melee skills because after berserker's nerf, they feal extra clunky.) Or, if it was absolutely necessary, go with what everyone else wants and ditch her claws and make hysteria work exactly like A2's rage: buffing attack speed, and granting her immense power for melee weapons(and a drastic boost in movement speed...afterimages are a must.)

[AkHannar]

On 2021-07-10 at 2:28 AM, OnTarasMind said:

Passive - Knockdown recovery and immunity to hard landings is severely underwhelming, nor does it fit her thematic because it doesn't quite say "rage" to me, but moreso fits someone who is moreso nimble/agile/quick on their feet.

That's because Valkyr is supposed to be you know... a cat lady... you know cats, right...? land on all fours...? cats...? 

On a more serious note - I actually like the idea behind your suggested passive and how it works with your suggested rework. I't a simple synergy, but effective. The one thing that Valkyr desparately needs though is coverage. At the very least her claws as an exhalted weapon need to have some gimmick that will increase their range - some scratch mark-like waves released with each swing or something. Maybe not flying forward like Excalibur's 4, but meduim range in distance, but spread wide?

[asianguy262001]

please consider my proposition as the psychopath who put range on valkyr just for her 1. with the new corpus title and some old yet big title, her 1 can be amazing in terms of traveling. they just need to fix the inertia, maybe something like canceling player momentum when recasting, or reduce the momentum after you've exit her 1, or let you get out of it early by recasting, or make it so that you wont get out of it unless you're 1m away from the target/recasting the ability

 

essential changes that will definitely benefit this ability are base range with duration scaling, lower energy consumption (if we're going by the momentum canceling mechanic i suggested since we're gonna recast it a lot of time), and target interaction. "invalid target" sometime can be a random door, or a boss which is infuriating since with some door it works and if it does, you're pulled toward the door and if the door open automatically in time, your momentum pushes you foward uninterrupted. That feeling is amazing until you get hit with the "invalid target" for another door. if we can't pull it toward us, let her 1 pull us toward them. this goes for bosses, doors as said, corpus mini ships thingy that carries corpus unit. I do want to note that if its a boss, or an enemy unit in general, your momentum should be stopped after ward immediately. The reason her 1 is bad on unit right now is because when you pull an enemy, the momentum keep pushing them to your back, rather than right infront of you for a clean melee attack.

her 1 should stay a ultility spell imo, helping you to move around easier rather than a combat ability. i'm pretty sure no one above rank 4 will use her 1 to combo with their melee weapon.

[asianguy262001]

also the fact that she does not get stagger in her 4 , her 1 sometime works, and you dont have to cancel your falling animation into a slide to leave out the recovery animation are the qualities that valkyr players enjoy. Thats not all the good stuff she brings, but small stuff adds up and i really don't want these gone.