Expanding, Exploring and Fixing Warframe through the power of Mods

[CrownOfShadows]

I've been on a bit of mod theory bender, may be posting some mod concepts here.

Explore as you like and leave me any constructive feedback or any comments or ideas you have. These mods may encompass everything in WF except tank, health and DR, which I have a separate thread already running for. Some of these may be patches to serious problems, some may be boundary pushing, and others may be just for fun. I'll add to this as creativity strikes me.

In case you didn't see my adaptation thread, these auras work as a set and identical mods don't stack. All members benefit from all the effects, as long as the set mod is present, anyone equipped with one of the set will reap the benefits, they're all shared; it's an opt-in style of aura. If one of this set is run alone, the listed benefit still applies to whoever carries it. Team members who don't carry one of the set don't benefit from it, unless otherwise noted.

Changelog:

• Alliance: First Aid's "ally" changed to "member" to indicate tenno using Alliance mod set
• Sentinel: Tractor Beam renamed to "Pulse Grapple"

[Graavarg]

I think the general idea is quite good, since co-op Warframe needs all the help it can get. It would also be good as a step away from the "egocentric meta"-approach that DE, for some unfathomable reason, has been supporting. Soloing is one thing, "solo-lording" over three other players in a random squad is an abomination for a co-op game. Co-op is the opposite of this, so any co-op effect is by definition "a great addition" to the game. As long as it doesn't contribute to the dumb-ass "power fantasy" and power creep too much, so focus should be on new options and diversity rather than "power".

One problem is that even at glance I can see several ways of how to "exploit" your mods. As an example: using the first mod in your set and bringing an unmodded pet (that revives itself) would generate Health and Energy by that pet continuously being downed, which is completely illogical and a typical game immersion-breaking "numbers"-exploit. We do NOT need any more of that sh*t (I'm still waiting for DE to fix the most glaring problems, like "shield-gating"). 

Another problem is that your bonus effect are not limited to actual co-op gameplay, as some of the effects seems to be active "map wide". They should all be limited to affinity range or a mod set-driven "player-to-player link".

Converting non-rare mod pickups to endo immediately is not only irrelevant (since any player can do that in the orbiter), it is an unnecessary forced conversion that not everyone would want without any upside. Which would make that mod "unusable" for some.  

We are already strong enough to co-op farm SP for hours, so while there could be some extra "power bonus" it is not all that important. And this is even more true for any bonus that increases afk-farming (even in a "co-op friend" squad). Much more interesting (than "power") is the possibility of enhancing the farming result(s). However, making a mod set that allows players to sidestep buying boosters (which are of economic importance for the continuation of the game itself) or makes "any warframe" into as good a farming setup as the current "farmers" is not really an option. So any farming bonus would have to be smallish and very specifically tailored (to companion kills/damage, to "dying from status proc effects", to "damaged by two or more players" etc. etc.).

There are some further co-op options that potentially could be "explored", like all melee hits increasing the combo counter for all players in the squad (at 1/4 rate per player in a four-player squad) or a shared shield and/or health pool (down to 50%, or 10%). Or even more complex options like introducing an Eximus (or any "special enemy") radar icon & effect with an "exponentially increased" range per player using the same mod (2.5 m, 6 m, 15 m, 40 m), since "special enemies" is a thing you need to handle (preferrably as a team) during longer farming sessions.

[CrownOfShadows]

5 hours ago, Graavarg said:

I think the general idea is quite good, since co-op Warframe needs all the help it can get. It would also be good as a step away from the "egocentric meta"-approach that DE, for some unfathomable reason, has been supporting. Soloing is one thing, "solo-lording" over three other players in a random squad is an abomination for a co-op game. Co-op is the opposite of this, so any co-op effect is by definition "a great addition" to the game. As long as it doesn't contribute to the dumb-ass "power fantasy" and power creep too much, so focus should be on new options and diversity rather than "power".

One problem is that even at glance I can see several ways of how to "exploit" your mods. As an example: using the first mod in your set and bringing an unmodded pet (that revives itself) would generate Health and Energy by that pet continuously being downed, which is completely illogical and a typical game immersion-breaking "numbers"-exploit. We do NOT need any more of that sh*t (I'm still waiting for DE to fix the most glaring problems, like "shield-gating"). 

Another problem is that your bonus effect are not limited to actual co-op gameplay, as some of the effects seems to be active "map wide". They should all be limited to affinity range or a mod set-driven "player-to-player link".

Converting non-rare mod pickups to endo immediately is not only irrelevant (since any player can do that in the orbiter), it is an unnecessary forced conversion that not everyone would want without any upside. Which would make that mod "unusable" for some.  

We are already strong enough to co-op farm SP for hours, so while there could be some extra "power bonus" it is not all that important. And this is even more true for any bonus that increases afk-farming (even in a "co-op friend" squad). Much more interesting (than "power") is the possibility of enhancing the farming result(s). However, making a mod set that allows players to sidestep buying boosters (which are of economic importance for the continuation of the game itself) or makes "any warframe" into as good a farming setup as the current "farmers" is not really an option. So any farming bonus would have to be smallish and very specifically tailored (to companion kills/damage, to "dying from status proc effects", to "damaged by two or more players" etc. etc.).

There are some further co-op options that potentially could be "explored", like all melee hits increasing the combo counter for all players in the squad (at 1/4 rate per player in a four-player squad) or a shared shield and/or health pool (down to 50%, or 10%). Or even more complex options like introducing an Eximus (or any "special enemy") radar icon & effect with an "exponentially increased" range per player using the same mod (2.5 m, 6 m, 15 m, 40 m), since "special enemies" is a thing you need to handle (preferrably as a team) during longer farming sessions.

First mod is not meant to apply to pets, only to players. Will update it from "ally" to "team member" when I have a chance so that it's more clear.

I didn't want to restrict the set to sitting in one place, if people want to wander a bit I don't want to punish them for that, so was sparing with the affinity range requirement. Co-op doesn't necessarily mean sitting in one place.

As for the endo conversion, it's meant to save players who could care less about mod pickups the step of endo conversion later. I personally have thousands of mods of a type and would just prefer the endo at this point.

The power bonuses and Resilience mechanic is there for squads that aren't cheesing using Vauban or Khora or Hydroid - for squads without those then this provides some stuttered relief from the constant onslaught of enemies. It's nice to catch a breather every so often, especially in SP.

The resource drop chance and doubling is the most dangerous part of the set for sure, but I tried to keep the numbers small enough that they really only see any effect over long missions as a sort of reward enhancement for endurance.

[CrownOfShadows]

Update: Added some companion mods I was thinking about. I think Conservation related mods are a seriously underused category, and here's a few that help out with hunting in specific scenarios, as well as a mini-aura set that is designed to help out with companion survivability.

Note that with Loyal : Inbred it's a question whether or not kavats and vulpaphyla are related and would revive each other (since they share mods, no other relation). Since Kubrows and Predasites aren't related through mods, I'd personally opt for the others to be separate too, and the same goes for Moas and Hounds, which also share some mods. This mod doesn't apply to sentinels since they don't go into a 'downed' state.

Quick note on the purpose of Bloodhound: it's a Fetch alternative with lower base vacuum range but with really high burst vacuum.

[CrownOfShadows]

Update: Added the Trained Hunter series of conservation mods and a robotic version of Bloodhound as well as more sentinel mods and conservation mods, also increased the Loyal Aura to a full 4 mod set.

 

[CrownOfShadows]

Added Sister Recognition - just an experimental interaction, and Corpus Specialist - designed to help out with nullifiers. In SP nullifier spawns are actually a little bit out of control, I'll probably be adding a few more mods relating to this down the line.

Added an entire set of Excavation mods, designed to fix a lot of the problems with that mode. I'm especially proud of the Tellurium Rig concept - being able to place an excavator anywhere you want would be such a QoL. Giving excavators a bit more defensive capability certainly would be appreciated as well, and the power cell situation just needs a lot of help, which I attacked several different ways.

[quxier]

https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Tractor_Beam

^ the name is already taken

[CrownOfShadows]

Added two aura sets: Fossil and Nemesis.

Fossil is designed mostly for relics but with some solid QoL additions too, and like the Alliance set it is a delicate balance between offering further rewards without becoming too strong, so I kept the percentages pretty low.

The Nemesis set is a fun set I was thinking about, very experimental. This SET: ONLY is meant to be so that it only works if everyone on the team is using the set - because you don't want to bring in these modifiers to regular gameplay especially pub squads that are not equipped for them, so it's a very specialist sort of aura designed for those who want even more challenge and more reward - it fills missions with chaos. Note that it also only works on SP missions. Some notes on the terminology: a Tau Sin-Rex is a dark Thrax variant that does incredible damage and cannot be killed, but only lasts for a short duration (perhaps 20-30 seconds). The whole concept behind this variant is that it must be run from and cannot be fought. If nobody dies from it, it drops item(s) before exiting. A Tau Savage is basically a Junction boss - a corrupted warframe similar to the acolytes, but stronger (technically this is a call-back to an old concept of mine, you can search for it if you want). The Nemesis modifiers are: +30 enemy levels (stacks on top of SP), +50% enemy hp, +50% enemy armor. High level enemies (basically all spawns, which Nemesis cranks up like crazy) have expanded drop tables and drop multiple things at once with slightly higher rates than SP. These include but are not limited to relics (with a chance at being pre-refined) and rare items from across the starchart like tellurium, argon, holokeys, etc etc. High level enemies drop a minimum of 2 items, and a max of perhaps 10. The idea is to offer rewards that make the modifiers and spawns worth fighting, because I think it'd be hella fun, but nobody would take the time to organize and run it if there were no good rewards for it.

Also added Link:Resistance, a desperately useful and needed mod, which I saw recommended elsewhere.

[CrownOfShadows]

Added some necramech related mods, specifically orphix related, as that game mode needs a lot of help. Some notes on these:

• The Orphix aura set works like traditional auras - stacking stats per aura mod, with the exception of Orphix Portal Collapse which is a hard stat unaffected by others. These are designed to fix the problems associated with Orphix spawn spam, necramech survival, and orphix travel time. Unfortunately necramechs don't have aura slots or I'd put these there, but there's a fair case to be made to make them just regular necramech mods instead.
• The Necramechannibal is meant to solve the problem of losing your necramech and thus pretty much failing the mission because you can't respawn your own fast enough (especially solo). While finding a dormant necramech can still be tricky, it should ease the burden of this problem.
• Alpha Mech is meant to solve the problem of pet survivability in orphix missions. Since the usual methods of maintaining your pet's health don't apply and yet they're still running around anyway there needs to be some way to recharge their hp. I played around with lifesteal links based on necramech melee but that is in such a sad state that I went with ability cost instead. The crazy percentage here is due to the fact that necramech abilities cost almost nothing to cast.
• The two Iron Bride mods are meant to make that cool weapon feel just a little better to use. I understand the slow animation is meant to reinforce the immense weight and presence of the weapon itself, but it ends up being painful to swing rather than satisfying. Slam attacks with Iron Bride are great fun too, but unfortunately are extremely ineffective - I'd like to use them on par with heavy attacks.