Focus School System Rework - A Broad Overview

[[DE]Megan]

Focus School is in session! The Focus System is getting an extensive rework in the Angels of the Zariman update coming April 27th on all platforms to refresh the gameplay potential of Operators, movement, School identity and balance.

Almost every aspect of Focus is being reviewed & touched, and this Dev Workshop aims to provide a broad overview of the current changes. The Official Patch Notes on launch will house all final information. We felt it was a priority to give intent & vision to the community in workshop form, so let’s get to it!

 

WHAT IS FOCUS?

Focus has been a lot of things over the years. What started in 2015 as a pivotal decision moment in Warframe’s story has continually evolved into its own form of gameplay: Convergence was introduced alongside Focus Lenses to give players an added boost to collecting Focus, Update 22: Plains of Eidolon shook the system up to add new Focus School nodes and Way-Bound abilities, and Update 22.6 attempted to bring the 5 schools’ power levels closer together with numerous abilities reworked.

 

At its core, Focus aimed to be an exciting new path to enjoy Warframe from the lens of another character. What we’ve come to realize over the many years is that there was a lack of true synergy between Operator and Warframe. We hope to change that while also bringing something fresh to the table!

VIDEO COMPANION

We covered many aspects of this workshop in our Devstream, please see the timestamped section here for convenience & more details:
 

 

OPERATOR GAMEPLAY REWORK OVERVIEW

The Operator Gameplay and Focus School reworks aim to improve the flow between Warframe gameplay and Operator gameplay, with the goal of encouraging players to swap more frequently between their Operator and Warframe to maximize the benefits received from both gameplay systems.

 

For Operator Gameplay specifically, these changes come in three major ways: first, the introduction of Void Sling; secondly, re-engineering Operators to be Client-authoritative to reduce jank caused by latency issues related to the mission host; thirdly, removal of Void Blast to allow Melee inputs to cause automatic Transference from Operator to Warframe.

 

Void Sling is the intended replacement of Void Dashes as a more fun and controllable system. In full transparency, the current state of sustained Void Dash movement has a spam-centric loop that we want to refine. We are very much approaching this like how we added Bullet Jump to Parkour: we want movement to be king, but better controlled. Current Void Dash does not provide easily controlled movement in the typical gameplay spaces. We are aiming to strike a balance to ensure good distance can still be covered, but some re-mastery will be required of this new movement system (much like having to learn Bullet Jumping)!

 

Additionally, Operator Transference has been re-engineered to be Client-authoritative to alleviate the common scenario of latency. Previously, Transference was Host-authoritative, meaning when Clients used Transference the responsiveness was determined by the round trip network latency. In order for the new Void Sling functionality to be more responsive, the switch was made to be Client-authoritative. 

 

Void Dash to Void Sling

The Operator sends a Void Sling of themselves and then Void Slings to it. It is the Operator’s ‘Double Jump’. *After its debut on Devstream #160 and following further playtesting, the team has since increased the overall speed of the Operator’s Void Sling thanks to feedback.

• Tap or hold jump while in the air to send out your Void Sling. A tap will travel a minimum distance before the Void Sling. 

• Void Sling can also be activated using the old Void Dash input, by holding jump while in crouched Void Mode.

• Holding jump sends out the Sling further, up to the Sling's maximum distance, which upon being reached, will automatically Void Sling the player to that space.

• Letting go of jump before hitting the maximum distance is reached will initiate a Void Sling.

• The Sling is sent out in the direction the camera is facing once fully charged, or upon release.

https://clips.twitch.tv/CleanAntsyHeronGivePLZ-Ao-fwjI2sHY70emc 

 

Void Blast to Warframe Melee Transfer

Melee input while using your Operator will now instantly Transfer to your Warframe and perform a Melee attack. 

• Having no Melee weapon equipped will result in Transferring to your Warframe holding your Primary/Secondary instead.

• Warframe Melee Finishers can be triggered as Operator with ‘Use’ input near an unaware or stunned enemy, automatically insta-Transferring to Warframe to perform them.

• So what about Void Blast? It’s been retired and replaced with the above. For scenarios where Void Blast is requested (disarming Kuva Guardians, etc) using the new Void Sling mechanic (or Amps in some cases) will do the trick.

 

FOCUS SCHOOL REWORK

The Focus School rework aims to boost the lesser used Schools by a) giving them more interesting and useful abilities, b) defining a clear role and gameplay style for each school, and c) incentivizing Warframe-Operator Transference as part of the core gameplay loop.

 

General Notes:

• Ability Inputs while in Operator are now used to perform brand new Focus School abilities! Each School is launching with 2 Abilities, meaning that what you use to cast your Warframe’s First and Second Abilities (i.e 1 & 2 keys on PC) now have a use while in Operator! 

• The Pool has been removed! Any Focus points you’ve spent on upgrading your Pool capacity will be returned to you in the form of Radiant Eidolon shards, which you can convert into Focus points for a School of your choosing. The original intention of the Pool was to allow you to select the active nodes within your chosen Focus School, but as time went on the Pool only added unnecessary complexity for no real gameplay benefit. 

• Removed passive draining abilities because players would typically have deactivated these abilities to avoid the passive Energy drain. Any abilities that spend Energy are manually triggered as opposed to passively draining.

  • As a result, we’ve removed the toggling functionality to have nodes on or off as Pool capacity and passive draining abilities are no longer a factor.

• The Focus School UI has been updated! Not only does the UI now apply your chosen UI Theme, but each School screen displays a legend of all Way-Bound abilities to easily reference the ones you have unlocked. This legend also allows you to quickly switch between schools with the click of a button. 

• Unlocking all the nodes of a Focus School will grant you access to Represent. Rep your School with all new cosmetics (purchased with Focus points) via the Represent button in the respective Focus screen (Madurai, Vazarin, etc). 

 

MADURAI

The Madurai way follows the path of Engage the Enemy. Speed and savagery characterized the Madurai school. 

Madurai’s abilities focus on granting that offensive edge in combat with a combination of Damage increases, weapon efficiency, and Speed enhancements to recklessly attack your foes.

• 6 new Focus abilities.

  • Each Ability will be detailed in the Update Notes, we are still finalizing. For a preview, see https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450149577 

• Eternal Gaze and Inner Gaze remain unchanged.

• Reworked Void Strike:

  • Consumes all Operator energy to increase damage for 8s. Deal 10% additional damage for every percentage of Operator energy consumed. 40s cooldown.

    • eg. 100% of Energy consumed is 1000% damage.

    • Why: Old Void Strike’s long charge up time didn’t provide an ideal gameplay experience within the fast paced environment. Players found themselves sitting in Void Mode waiting for the Damage bonus to build up. Now Void Strike no longer needs Void Mode and has instant damage on input. Additionally, Void Strike is Duration based now instead of per shot, meaning damage gets applied to all pellets of a shotgun for instance.

• Tweaked Phoenix Talons:

  • Physical Damage and Operator Damage increased by x%.

    • Why: Adding the additional Operator Damage allows for benefits for both Warframe and Operator in the name of synergy. 

 

UNAIRU 

The Unairu push themselves to Outlast The Enemy. Those who mastered the Unairu school are granted enhanced damage resistance and damage reflection.

Unairu’s main pillar aims to make Unairu a proper tank Focus School with increased Armor, and opportunities for increased immunity and survivability. 

• 8 new Focus Abilities.

  • Each Ability will be detailed in the Update Notes, we are still finalizing. For a preview, see https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450149579 

• Reworked Unairu Wisp:

  • x% chance to summon an Unairu Wisp for each enemy hit by Sundering Dissipation that will seek out the nearest ally within Affinity Range and increase their Operator damage by x% for x secs.

    • Why: Its new coexistence alongside another Focus ability unifies the 2 together to add another layer that benefits both Warframe and Operator. It also removes having to pick up the Unairu Wisp manually, and will instead find you within Affinity Range. 

• Tweaked Stone Skin:

  • Increases Armor for Warframe and Operator by x.

    • Why: Adding the additional Operator Armor allows for benefits for both Warframe and Operator in the name of synergy. 

 

ZENURIK

The Zenurik believed the clearest path to victory was to Dominate the Enemy. Those who master the Zenurik school believe that sheer strength could erase any resistance. 

Rest assured the core of Energizing Dash remains as-is with some slight updates. Our goal is to bring other Focus Schools up to the level of Zenurik while still maintaining the School’s tactical benefits.

• 6 new Focus Abilities.

  • Each Ability will be detailed in the Update Notes, we are still finalizing. For a preview, see https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450149581  

• Void Flow, Void Siphon, and Energy Pulse remain unchanged. 

• Energizing Dash is now Wellspring with the slight change of being a direct input Ability as opposed to a Void Dash.

 

NARAMON

The Naramon discipline focuses on Knowing The Enemy. They believed that to truly understand a foe would confer the greatest advantage upon a warrior.

True to its focus in the art of assault, Naramon continues to heavily lean towards a Melee support role with speed and distance enhancements.

• 7 new Focus Abilities.  

  • Each Ability will be detailed in the Update Notes, we are still finalizing. For a preview, see https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450149582

• Mind Step remains unchanged. 

• Power Spike and Affinity Spike have moved.

  • Slight increase to Melee Affinity gained from Affinity Spike 

 

VAZARIN

The Vazarin are trained to Counter The Enemy. Those who mastered the Vazarin school maintain constant awareness in order to defend against all aggression. 

The Vazarin Focus School aims to now be a proper support School in both life and death. 

• 6 new Focus Abilities. 

  • Each Ability will be detailed in the Update Notes, we are still finalizing. For a preview, see https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1450149580 

• Enduring Tides and Mending Unity remain unchanged.

• Tweaked Rejuvenating Tides: 

  • Effect is doubled while controlling Warframe.

    • Why: Additional benefit between using both Warframe and Operator.

• Tweaked Mending Soul:

  • The first x Revives are instantaneous. All following Revives have their speed increased by x%.

    • Why: Players would often remark that the ability eventually became useless in longer missions. Mending Soul retains its immediate strengths, but once used up, now offers a more permanent benefit! 

 

Focus Refund & Re-spec

Upon login, all Focus points will need to be re-spec’d. You will be met with 2 types of Focus Refunds in order to execute this:

1. All your Focus points will be returned to their respective School. 

   1. I.e. my 5,000,000 Focus points I put into Madurai will be returned to that School for me to freely re-spec how I want.

2. Any Focus points you’ve spent on upgrading your Pool capacity will be returned to you in the form of Radiant Eidolon shards via Inbox, which you can convert into Focus points for a School of your choosing.

 

We hope this broad overview of the changes thus far will help guide the transition for these changes and assist you in early planning on how you will revisit Focus for your own purposes. Note that the above may or may not see changes before release. The official Forum Patch Notes will have the final versions of this massive Focus Rework effort!

[(PSN)Vexx757]

FEEDBACK & SUGGESTIONS

 

Spoiler

These changes do not support operator only gameplay. The operators now with void blast can protect themselves but the changes require you to switch between operator and warframe to get the buffs which mean your operator can`t use their powers to fight back or defend themselves. If you are surrounded by infested and you can`t move, how are you going to fight back? and I'm not including arcane I'm talking about their void powers. This not only makes no sense but it`s not practical or fun, it`s unfair that you listen to 1% of players that wanted sentinel riven and the one person that didn`t want universal medallions but the over 1% people that enjoy playing operators on their own wants void blast to stay but you won`t listen. Doing this will make operators no different than using a sentinel for uni vac, a tool for the warframes use and will turn people off on playing operators on their own so just keep void blast and add the new abilities to what we have.

 

Make it have a skill tree similar to this, on for the operator and one for operator/warframe synergy

 

 

Since I like the concept of the Naramon focus school I will give more of my opinion as well as improvements.

Spoiler

Naramon:

Key -  OM = operator melee – it can benefit from

Mind step

The sprint speed should have a 50% speed increased (operators sprint needs to be improved all across the board), the speed of the operator is too slow.

 

Opening slam

This could be useful if operators had melee but again this only benefits warframes, unless operators get melee this is an ability, I won`t be using.

To make it more useful why not make it pull enemies in the centre to bring them together.

 

Amp strike

I like this but I have to use my warframe to get it this would synergise well if operators had their own melee, unless it’s easy to get 8x combo I think it should be reduced to x4. I Like that they get their amp buffed but I can`t get it while in operator mode.

 

Void levitation

I like this but again if operators had melee this would be good for them, 6m radius is too small this should be 15m radius and the duration should be increased to 10secs (I also think this is what Nyx`s 1^st ability should be).

Enemies should levitate like Trinity`s 1<sup>st</sup> ability not like Calaban`s 2^nd.

 

 

Lethal levitation

I like this (om).

 

Sling stun

Even through I don`t like the new change I like that you kept this ability (om)

 

Killer`s rush

Operators should also be doing the finishers (OM).

 

Overall

Despite what I said I am disappointed in the changes to this focus tree. You have removed the stealth part of the tree which I enjoyed (seeing enemies through walls - Void hunter), this focus school has just made the damage melee meta worse. I didn`t use it that much coz I wanted om to come out to make it be fun but with the stealth part removed and no om this is the focus school I won`t be using. Like I kept on saying keep the abilities we have but just add the new ones to it.

Zenurik:

Harden wellspring

This should also support the operator:

Operator will have electrical orb surrounding him/her which will seek out enemies within 12m which will shock them and deal 1,000 electric damage for 20 seconds.

 

Disarming sling

This should be on Naramon, it synergises with melee gameplay so put this on Naramon instead, their is no reason for zenuriK to have this, it`s just going to make it more useful. PUT IT ON NARAMON.

 

Temporal drag

The range should be around 15m for it to be useful and the duration should also be 15 secs.

 

Temporal shot

This will only be useful for operators if the radical is more visible for AMPs like warframe weapon radical otherwise it won`t work.

 

 

Madurai:

Void strike

The duration should be increased to 15secs and the cooldown for 10 secs.

 

Chained sling

To add to this, it should send have a fire explosion at the end of the dash that damages enemies and leave a napalm behind for 20secs.

This will synergise with contamination wave.

 

Contamination wave

The wave should have a range of 15m with a wide cone. I should also include operator damage in general.

 

 

Vazarin:

Mending souls

The faster revive should take 4secs.

 

Squad regen

To make this better for you and your team, if you and the team`s health is full you will get 100 over-health. It will also give 100 shields.

 

Void snare

The pull range should be 15m, it also should drain enemies’ health also.

 

Guardian shell

The 4sec duration won`t start until it takes damage. The shield can resist knockdowns.

 

Guardian break

This should work for operators by giving them shields.

 

 

Unairu:

Caustic strike

The radius should be 15m to make it useful.

 

Unariu wisp

The seeking needs to be fast otherwise it will have the issues of Oberon`s old 3rd ability.

 

Magnetic flair

This should have a 15m radius and if enemies leave it their shields should be permanently striped.

 

Bringing back some void blast/mode abilities

You have mentioned that the operator has a 1^st and 2^nd abilities but they don`t have a 3^rd and 4^th ability.

My suggestion is to bring some of the other abilities that supports the operators from what we currently have.

Void mode abilities can be combined with void mode but not drain anymore energy while void blast abilities can be on the 3^rd ability.

Spoiler

Void mode ability/Void blast 

Naramon

Void hunter

Void Mode reveals enemies within 30m through walls. This will stay active up to 20s before the range decreased overtime when the Operator leaves Void Mode.

 

Basilisk Gaze (from unairu)

Increase the radius of Void Blast by 60% and can knockdown enemies with a slow knockdown recovery.

 

Madurai

Blazing Dash

Void Mode leaves a trail of fire that deals 1000 damage/s over 20sec.

 

Flame Blast

Void Blast releases a ball of fire that deals 250% of the Void Blast damage and explodes on impact.

 

Zenurik

Void Static

Void Mode emits a pulse that deals 500 damage/second over 15 meters.

 

Voltaic Blast

Void Blast creates a surge of electricity, zapping enemies within 10 meters for 200% damage.

 

Vazarin

Void Aegis

Void Mode creates a shield up to 12m over 5s.

 

Guardian Blast

Void Blast grants 160 shields when alies are hit within 8m.

 

Unairu

Void Chrysalis

Void Mode reduces damage taken by allies (operators) within 25m by 50%.

·       When out of void mode you and ally operators will have 20secs before the affect wears off.

 

Void Spines

You are invulnerable for 4secs, after that 100% of damage taken is returned to the attacker staggering them.

·       4sec invulnerability won`t start unless attacked.

·       The damage will also scale.

 

And the 4^th ability can be equipped button for operator void melee.

Spoiler

Here is how it works:

The melee weapons that operators use are made up of void energy, they can summon it from within themselves (visually like excel 4th ability).

 

·       The melee weapons that operators use are made up of void energy, they can summon it from within themselves (visually like excel 4th ability).

·       Since it`s pure void energy, the colour is based on the operators energy colour.

·       Void weapons will work the same way as normal melee weapons. (option)

·       The weapons have their own stance however you can also use existing stance mods on them.

·       blocking incoming damage to give them survivability by giving operators 90% damage reduction.

·       Void damage will be included with the other stats.

·       When attacking an enemy, any bullets that stray near the enemy your attacking will reflect the damage back at the enemy that fired them. (the opposite to bullet attractor)

·       Using void weapons will use the same button as the one using void blast. To use void melee, you have to hold the button.

·       If the operators have their void melee weapon equipped while transferring into the warframe, the operator will have it equipped still when transferring out.

·       Operator can preform melee finishers while in void mode.

·       Since this does mostly void damage, they are highly effective against sentient enemies.

 

 

I still think the operators should have gotten other improvements before focus improvements. The biggest thing they need is better movement, like increased sprint speed, knockdown recovery and more.

Spoiler

 

Like I keep saying the operator needs to be good on their own if we are going to use them which includes them having their own melee weapons (void melee).

 

To see some ideas I have for operators, take a look. As you can see this post is the most popular operator post.

 

Some comments that are underrated I have seen that I agree with and needs to be addressed:

 

@DoomFruit

Oh, and there's another thing to miss when taking away operator melee. The ability to smash crates within a very large area. True, that's a Zenurik addon. But it's still extremely useful.

Not strictly to do with the proposed changes, but I'd also like a way of getting loot and/or enemy radar in operator mode. I've been doing some operator-only syndicate missions recently and it's really annoying to constantly pop back into my warframe just to check if there are any white squares on the radar.

 

@George_PPS

It's pretty much clear now that the "REWORK" really means massive nerfs of many popular and actually USEFUL operator abilities. On top of that, the operator is going to become way more squish and more sluggish to move with void dash (blink). All these nerfs are uncalled for. I wonder if this is going to be the last straw for me to quit Warframe. I hated it when Archwing blink's effectiveness and fun factors was removed with massive cool down and shorter traverse distance. Sounds familiar? Now the same thing is being applied to the operator. What's wrong having these fun abilities and fast and fluid movement that is the signature of Warframe's character as a game? We want fast and fun, not slow and dull. 

 

@AlexMercer

Not a fan of the new void sling it looks slower and clunky and the visual aspect looks worse it is worse overall even after todays speed boost. The current void dash is perfect please don’t change it or at least please give us an option to switch between the current live void dash or the new void sling?

 

@DrakeWurrum

I still genuinely do not like the way Void Blast is being replaced. Most of this does sound good, but the mechanic of summoning your Warframe over and having it use the melee attack instead of having the Operator with their own power just... sounds clunky and weird to me. 

 

@feralknights

To be absolutely fair this is not what we meant when folks asked/requested/begged for Operator melee as far back as the release of TWW.  Void Blast opened a lot of opportunities to play the game differently and allowed us to have an at-hand CC even if we didn't have a 'frame or a weapon that had a specific ability for it-- it was an important piece of emergent gameplay, and now we're gonna have that taken away from us.

I've been doing strictly Operator-only gameplay since TWW as both a challenge and a fun alternative to normal gameplay to keep things spicy and fresh, especially in high level content, and now I'm just not going to be able to do that anymore.

 

@God_is_a_Cat_Girl

Void Blast could've stayed and be expanded with Operator getting the ability keys (a couple of new nodes wouldn't be that bad when the reset is happening and overall costs could be easily adjusted), instead it's and removed to get nothing worth noting as replacement.

Void Fling change to make it more combat worthy instead of "bumping it walls" was fine, except in some cases I could already do that by pressing E, now I have to fling, possibly bump an obstacle, turn around and shoot if I want to disarm a Kuva Guardian (or catch Kuva, which Fling seems far less user friendly than Void Blast), when I all needed to do was press E and shoot.

 

@TheLordOmega2

I'm still not sold on Void Sling, the new version looks "not as bad" as the previous one but still inferior to normal void dash, if you're honest, leave both accessible in game and let us, the players, judge witch one plays better.

I also don't like void transfer thematically, i think the old void blast was perfectly fine and this just replace two key presses by one. Give us operator melee options instead (there's lore to back this up too)

 

@FOVZERO

I sincerely believe that Void Sling is a mistake.

The fun of WARFRAME is its gameplay, the main one being the character control. In Warframes it's practically perfect, very enjoyable, on the other hand the Tenno is very slow and weak. 
Void Dash and Void Mode are two methods of making the Tenno moderately functional. It's still not fun to control, but at least it's useful.

Why do I think Void Sling is worse? Because it adds unnecessary steps. Void Dash is a single action, one move instantaneous. Void Sling adds intermediate steps and a pause, which in full action can be detrimental for us.
Perhaps keeping both options or creating a combination of both would have been ideal, but that's not the case.

 

@Twin_Fawn

Void sling and removal of void blast - this is weakening the operator for general gameplay, especially with how Void Dash was the one true advantage an operator had over a Warframe that couldn't be matched by something else. Making them slower and less capable isn't going to make players use their operator more. Basing a design around giving buffs by switching in while simultaneously nerfing reasons to actually play the operator will just give a strong incentive to pop into operator like an egg timer and then immediately get out.

Focus schools definitely had some issues with stuff that was hampered by an energy cost it didn't warrant or was bugged and it's nice to see an effort to address that but like.. That doesn't mean you need to completely rework movement, remove void blast and skills that are frequently used for Eidolons for example. Players were using and liking these things and they were a good match for the content available to us. It seems like a bad idea to just go out on a limb and make changes like this on things players did actually like.

 

@Likilike

Dear DE,

Please do not change "void dash" to "void sling" and let people choose what they want not what you want. For me going from "void dash" to "void sling" is going to feel like going from Doom Eternal to Doom(2016) boring and slow because in Eternal you have 2 dashes and in normal Doom you do not have dashes at all. Please i really beg you let US PLAYERS to have a choice what WE want to play "Void dash" or "Void sling". I do not have problem with "Void sling" existing because there are player for which this mechanic is going to be more comfortable but there are also ADHD sugar adicts which see everything in slow motion from how sped up they are and we want everything to be fast. 

 

@Giantconch

I also gravely despise removing void blast. If I wanted back in my frame, I would press 5 again. Unnecessary, unrequested change.

 

@Joezone619

Feels like your nerfing operators while encouraging their usage.

 

 

[Zahnny]

Hi, I noticed a nerf to one of my favourite Focus abilities in the game and wondered if I could get some feedback on why it was changed.

I forgot what it was renamed to on the Devstream but in the current build it's Zenurik's Temporal Blast.

Where using Void Blast would slow enemies by 80% for 15s

In the Devstream I noticed it got changed from 15s to 10s.

Is there any reason for that? As it was already an ability with a low area of effect. Has it been given a bigger area of effect or etc to compensate?

EDIT: Here's screenshots.

Current Build:

Devstream:

[vanaukas]

Operator chanegs looks absolutely fantastic. I'm really excited to play with this new kit!

[(PSN)killer115550]

Looking forward to the focus changes. 🙂

[An8rchy]

I will start with the bad: (because i want to end with the good!)

- Unairu's Wisp feels like it could have a bit more buffs for the Warframe, a lot of the focus rework is set on operator buffs (understanably so), but if its a tag team, Frames should get at least a bit more. If anything, keep operator dmg at 100% but give Frame half of the buff.
-Void Strike... To just state it, I'm not an Eidolon Farmer. 
I feel the Void Strike shown is VERY close to being good, but it has a lot of unknown attached: 
o Is the buff a separate multiplier or is it diluted with +dmg% mods? 
o The uptime seems very short (cooldown + duration) I feel if either cooldown goes down or if the duration goes up, it would make it more consistent.
Understandably, this ability can be very strong, but i feel that there is a bit more fine tuning in numbers that has to be done here.
(My suggestion is a 30s cd with a 10s duration, but start cd after duration ends + being a unique multiplier)

Now the Good!
-Thank you dearly for speeding up the Void sling! This has been my main gripe with the rework at the time (2nd to Zenurik and Naramon).
-Overall Thank god for both positives from Zenurik and Naramon being kept! (Just keep the shown values!)
-I really love how every focus tree seem to incentivize types of gameplay from the abilities and passives that they have!
-Overall, i must say, if not many other changes are done to what was shown (Besides Madurai in my opinion), It's looking like a very good and solid rework!

[Saad]

Focus rework looking good doe

[(XBOX)KawaiiAsa]

8 minutes ago, [DE]Megan said:

Focus Refund & Re-spec

Upon login, all Focus points will need to be re-spec’d. You will be met with 2 types of Focus Refunds in order to execute this:

1. All your Focus points will be returned to their respective School. 

   1. I.e. my 5,000,000 Focus points I put into Madurai will be returned to that School for me to freely re-spec how I want.

2. Any Focus points you’ve spent on upgrading your Pool capacity will be returned to you in the form of Radiant Eidolon shards via Inbox, which you can convert into Focus points for a School of your choosing.

what about Eidolon Shards spent to unbind the waybound nodes? will those also be refunded or not?

also kinda sad that we lost Phoenix Spirit on Madurai... would've been nice if it was incorporated into Talons but its whatever, I guess

[captainHalide]

Hey, could DE please clarify whether the Vazarin mending sling is going to do that 60% HoT on defense objectives like consoles, kuva siphons or excavation drills?  
Cuz it really, really should.   It's been a very long time since this nerf was brought in, and it has sucked ever since.  Fixing this and giving Vazarin something uniquely powerful - rather than something outshone by Trinity's 4 - would really help pull Vazarin back up to being playable, rather than largely ignored.

That 100 hp/s heal we have right now is still doing us absolutely no favours whatsoever in high-end content.  We put in literally dozens of posts in threads on how much it wasn't good enough for sorties, long endurance missions or 'hardmode', and we were right.

We gave you miles of feedback on the Vazarin change here, and there was no response.  Ignoring this again while giving Zenurik and Unairu mountains of buffs would be rather frustrating.  I have clanmates who haven't played in years because of how mad they were over this change, I would like to have my friends back in this game.

[rayPrime1]

I still don't like the new Dash and the cooldown on Void Strike seems excessive. The rest seems alright, though. 

[Omegaduc]

Please return inner might to heavy efficiency, trading it for 1 free ability cast per 60s is just too much of a nerf.

[Alopex_Lagopus]

Void Shadow from Unairu was one of my favorite abilities, and it's gone. Overall, I'm happy you didn't gut too much of the trees, especially Zenurik - though I would consider making energy regen universal, as it's a core gameplay system that lead people to gravitate towards that one school.

[Genitive]

R.I.P. void blast, 2016-2022.

But the changes look pretty good.

[UnOriginalGN]

40s cooldown on void strike. Mhm. Gonna love how void strike isn't going to even be an option in solos or duos anymore. Just slowly tick the shield with klamora. How exciting innit. If we even want to make void strike a good option for eidos anymore, we would need to either do trios with no person on unairu wisp, or full squads. Low end PCs and old gen consoles will love full squads in eidos innit. 30 FPS my favorite.

[alttea]

Ok, I was real worried about dash but it does seem more flexible now, without speed loss. Would still prefer the old one as it was though. I don't get why it needs to be changed at all, how is it better now? Sending projection Wisp-style doesn't seem to fit into fast-paced gameplay in new Zariman modes.

[AlexMercer]

Not a fan of the new void sling it looks slower and clunky and the visual aspect looks worse it is worse overall even after todays speed boost. The current void dash is perfect please don’t change it or atleast please give us an option to switch between the current live void dash or the new void sling?

[(NSW)jhj82]

Will caustic strike fully strip armor on multiple casts? Will hurt eidolon hunters if they (dps) fully strip the armor lol 😅

[--ZeRo--]

This'll probably get drowned out, so i'll keep it short. Overall, the focus changes are good, But the 40s cooldown on Void Strike, that's just not necessary. You took something that was strong and fun and added a damage cap(fine) + cooldown(not fine). The ability is powerful and does need a cooldown to balance it, but not 40s. Just feels like a massive FU to eidolon hunters.

 

[NoLazyShadow]

8 минут назад, Omegaduc сказал:

Please return inner might to heavy efficiency, trading it for 1 free ability cast per 60s is just too much of a nerf.

They litteraly replacing useless extremly niche ability with something useable, all tho with questinable trigger conditions

[PublikDomain]

22 minutes ago, [DE]Megan said:

Void Dash to Void Sling

The Operator sends a Void Sling of themselves and then Void Slings to it. It is the Operator’s ‘Double Jump’. *After its debut on Devstream #160 and following further playtesting, the team has since increased the overall speed of the Operator’s Void Sling thanks to feedback.

• Tap or hold jump while in the air to send out your Void Sling. A tap will travel a minimum distance before the Void Sling. 

• Void Sling can also be activated using the old Void Dash input, by holding jump while in crouched Void Mode.

• Holding jump sends out the Sling further, up to the Sling's maximum distance, which upon being reached, will automatically Void Sling the player to that space.

• Letting go of jump before hitting the maximum distance is reached will initiate a Void Sling.

• The Sling is sent out in the direction the camera is facing once fully charged, or upon release.

I will still say that I don't like this. Or maybe, I just don't understand it. The increased speed in Devstream 161 does alleviate most of my concerns and it now looks very similar to the Void Dash we already have. So really the only difference now is that the input is backwards. Why? The same mechanical improvements could have been applied to Void Dash without having to build a new movement system.

For example:

Quote

Void Dash Improvements

The Operator performs a Void Dash. It is the Operator’s ‘Double Jump’.

• Tap or hold jump while in the air to Void Dash. A tap will immediately travel a minimum distance. 

• Void Dash can also be activated using the old Void Dash input, by holding jump while in crouched Void Mode.

• Holding jump makes Void Dash travel further, up to the Dash's maximum distance.

• Letting go of jump before hitting the maximum distance is reached will end a Void Dash.

• The Dash is sent out in the direction the camera is facing immediately.

Which would be the same thing as the Void Sling with all the same improvements, but no input lag or having to relearn the timing we've spent 5 years getting used to. Just press and nyoom instead of press and wait. I'll survive, and the new one looks fine when maxed out, but I still think it could have been better if what we had was just improved in situ instead of what feels like change the sake of change.

[Leqesai]

17 minutes ago, Alopex_Lagopus said:

...especially Zenurik - though I would consider making energy regen universal, as it's a core gameplay system that lead people to gravitate towards that one school.

While true, the zenurik energy regen is far from the best option to regain energy. A dagger zaw with exodia brave is better than zenurik.

Arcane energize + Dethcube is miles ahead

Protea's dispensary paired with arcane energize is also miles ahead

I do agree that people gravitate towards zenurik for the energy regen, it really is a low to mid-level gameplay boon. 

Universal energy regen is absolutely not needed when there are really powerful options for energy regen already available.

[(PSN)bitraiser]

15 minutes ago, Zahnny said:

Hi, I noticed a nerf to one of my favourite Focus abilities in the game and wondered if I could get some feedback on why it was changed.

I forgot what it was renamed to on the Devstream but in the current build it's Zenurik's Temporal Blast.

Where using Void Blast would slow enemies by 80% for 15s

In the Devstream I noticed it got changed from 15s to 10s.

Is there any reason for that? 

Honestly, it's a bit op. Can wreck nearly anything that isn't immune to it with little effort. This nerf makes sense. 

[Memorii]

All in all, I'm looking forward to experiencing these new changes and trying them out.

I just want to be able to remove focus lenses though. I don't even care if I get it back. The option to destroy would be just fine.

Having had Focus maxed out long ago, I find the Focus Convergence Orbs in missions distracting unless I'm actually seeking them out, which I obviously don't need to anymore. Normally, I'd just sell the thing and re-make it, but I was dumb way back when and installed a lens on my Excalibur Umbra. Since he's from The Sacrifice, a mainline Story Quest, it's not possible for me to sell him from my inventory and remake him. I just wish I could make him lens-less, but it seems like even after all this time, that still won't be possible.

[sitfesz]

I wish operator crouch+dash would just instantly did a maximum range void sling.

There is holding space to choose distance and tapping space to minimum distance, so yeah a maximum distance option would be the best to directly replace old dash hotkeys.

[Navarc]

looking fowards to seeing those vazarin cosmetics, i'm glad vazarin is getting some QoL after so many years of nerfs, though i'm certain Zenurik is still going to dominate with its massive buffs its receiving & has been receiving over the years

edit:
to those wondering what i'm referring to, first iteration of vazarin was long-range AoE instant multi-revives for all players & NPCs, infinite on a cooldown so it was worthwhile on endless missions + healing objectives/operatives
second iteration was 8 normal instant revives + 5s invulnerability + 60% of max health as health to objectives/operatives you dash through
third iteration was 8 normal instant revives + no invulnerability, 500 health healing to objectives with 47,000+ health when dashing through the objective

naturally with this pattern that has been going since focus first came out we were worried but i've only seen people glad & thankful we're going back to vazarin not exhausting its usability in endless missions just like in 2017