Weapon Balance: Stacking Damage Problems + Recent Squad Instability and Necramechs

[XVMII]

At the time of writing this I am quite tired so I will be brief. Luckily the topics I am focusing don't require some treatise to cover adequately.

 

While the recent changes to AOE were appreciated (my FPS counter thanks you), I have been thinking more recently about the design of the recent weapon mods and arcanes which require damage to ramp up before they reach full effectiveness. Some points I have thought recently (as I am too tired to properly construct sentences atm)

Galvanized mods require kills to build damage/multishot/crit/etc. As a result:

1. the first kill feels sluggish
2. if trying to down a priority target but no other enemies present, then no bonuses
3. discourages weapon swapping except for dexterity arcanes (generally i like playing with one weapon (been really enjoying the cedo recently) but I hate the feeling of having to overcome the first few kills when swapping weapons)
4. some weapons are very bad at building stacks compared to others (some can't even really build stacks in the first place)
5. Having to find fodder enemies to kill while avoiding the actual priority target to build stacks can feel like putting to brakes on the flow of combat.
6. The timer watching habits I have developed in trying to avoid losing a deadhead stack for example is an unwelcome addition to gameplay. (I'd prefer to keep timer juggling relegated to ability management.)

There are other issues stacking bonuses brings to gameplay considerations, but these immediately come to mind. Some possible recommendations:

1. Considering the additional investment a player must make to first obtain and then install galvanized mods and weapon arcanes, perhaps giving full benefits upfront should be considered
2. Cascadia empowered should be added to primary arcanes (I'm looking at you phage).
3. Maybe reworking arcanes to be less about base damage buffs and more about utility (like bonus punch through to help save mod space)(many options are available, though some might require more far reaching changes to work properly)

I have other suggestions but as I said, I'm super sleepy and running on 2 brain cells atm. Fighting angels really stresses the buff timers as when transitioning between operator and warframe, after completing the operator section, my buffs are consistently gone or are about to vanish and I have to look away from the angel to down more fodder enemies. 

To summarize: I think ramping up damage is a terrible system and I struggle to understand the mind that created it. Too often the less expensive, old barrel diffusion/split chamber/hornet strike/serration end up more effective (sometimes far more) than their updated counterparts due to an inability to first ramp up. I would suggest reworking weapon arcanes and galvanized mods to be less hostile to weapon swapping by providing benefits at the outset. I would also recommend bringing some secondary arcanes to primary weapons as well and potentially offering some additional utility to weapon arcanes. 

 

ANCILLARY POINTS

1. I would prefer that the necramech timer be removed. I very much like necramechs (and no I don't use voidrig) and as I have limited opportunities to use them now I would like to use them uninhibited, especially given that archguns are not that powerful.
2. Recently, I have been experiencing EXTREME connection issues. Host migrations ad infinitum. I am practically playing solo. No known network connection changes have happened on my end though I may be wrong. It seems however that I am not alone in suffering from this. Until there is a change in squad connection performance, continuing to play warframe is simply too cumbersome manage atm.
3. I would like more unique secondary fire modes rather than AOE or mag dumps (but I repeat myself). For example I was hoping the kuva kraken would take advantage of the scope and implement a deadshot style system (think Lando Calrissian ability in Battlefront I and II).

[XVMII]

One additional concern I forgot to mention. DE nerfed corrosive so that it could not fully armor strip. Viral slash is king and has been for a very long time at this point. Recently, DE changed the math on ability based armor strips to make full stripping more feasible. Given how easy it is to armor strip with abilities, I wonder if DE should reexamine corrosive procs (on that note I think puncture and impact (and maybe gas as I miss old gas) should be totally reworked)

[Pakaku]

Galvanized mods start with that drawback because their effects can stack, way higher than the standard versions of the mods. If you're not getting enough of that buff, you might as well run the standard.

[(PSN)Shaun-T-Wilson]

If you dont like stacking mods or arcane then dont use them. Its a choice of the player to balance convenience with effectiveness. They are alternatives to the galvanised mods and arcane you are referring to.

[XVMII]

4 hours ago, (PSN)Shaun-T-Wilson said:

If you dont like stacking mods or arcane then dont use them. Its a choice of the player to balance convenience with effectiveness. They are alternatives to the galvanised mods and arcane you are referring to.

Not to distract from the main post but didn’t you reply to my only other post? I mean no offense but your last  reply was similarly unremarkable. Tbh looking at your past posts it kind of feels like you assume those to whom you are writing are dumb or something.

[cute_moth.npc]

Cascadia Empowered kinda sucksss, even on weapons it should mathematically be optimal with like Kompressa or Twin Grakatas it still gets its butt kicked by Flare hands down. It probably wins for like the first .25 seconds until Flare is stacked up and then it's over ^^;

I do think more arcanes that scale off of non kill objectives would be nice though, I am basically always carrying a Flare secondary now because it is reliable to scale up and use very quickly and without needing kills.

[Famecans]

suggestion for a new arcana: killing an enemy increases damage by 125% for all weapons in the loadout. stacks up to 3x.

this would be one of the best arcana in the game and with that the player can diversify the loadout where each weapon would have a different element kit to make its effectiveness more flexible against different types of enemies even without the first accumulation.

another situation is to make the galvanized mods a set of mods that trigger each other regardless of the weapon ie secondary weapon galvanized mods trigger the primary galvanized mods, note that it would be fair to have new galvanized mods for melee so the galvanized system could be triggered by any weapon.

we have awesome weapons but these awesome weapons can't make other weapons awesome as the "on kill" mechanic is encapsulated and functional only for the weapon in use. this strangles the usefulness of the loadout as there are few mods and synergies that can be performed