Mastery Locked Gear

[Hodor_Roe]

What do y'all think of mastery locking gear?

As a player who has introduced several new players to the game and helped countless others to find their way in the origin system, as well as a prolific trader of all things, I think I have some solid insights into the systems, its benefits and shortcomings.

Firstly, Mastery locking is inherently a limiting factor. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is important for understanding its purpose and goals, which is necessary for separating shortcomings from intended mechanics. I propose that the purpose of Mastery Locking is to guide new players towards weapons they can actually build and to give them some time to understand the game before they make serious blunders (ex: riven trading mastery lock, mr 0 & 1 weapons often costing only creds, higher mastery weapons usable if obtained at lower mastery).

Note that I do not see the purpose of Mastery Locking to be restricting players to weaker gear. That I see more as a shortcoming than a purpose. See Hek, Nukor, Spectra, Lex, Hikou Prime, Machete, Dual Zoren, Anku, Boltace, Guandao, Redeemer and Nikana for examples of normally accessible weapons MR 4 and below that are plenty powerful and all Kuva and Tenet weapons as examples of endgame weapons which bypass mastery lock. Also note that many Kuva and Tenet weapons are obtainable long before their base variant. Again, I choose to see this as intended, rather than a shortcoming of the system. I don't want to live in a world where players have to wait until MR 12+ before starting the Lich/Sister grind.

With purpose established I would like to point out the core shortcomings I see in Mastery Locking. Chief among them is that the average warframe player has access to the entire starchart at MR 6 or earlier, with quest and junction mastery locking being the primary obstacles to players reaching such a point earlier. Another point is the locking of riven usage behind variable mastery ranks (I will not comment on the restriction of trading rivens). Lastly is the system of increasing mastery, which the majority of players don't understand until directly told by other players. Most players will reach MR 3 or 4 before hitting a wall and not knowing why their mastery is going up so slowly until they look up an external guide or get help from a player who already knows how it works.

I propose a fairly simple solution: cap mastery locks on equipment at MR 6 or rework the mastery system to be more new player friendly. Capping mastery locks at MR 6 is a simple and easy solution, but doesn't really solve the core issue of mastery, that it is a confusing mess poorly explained in game and hard capped to one rank a day. The more complex solution is removing the once a day restriction on mastery rank ups and tests and either shifting more mastery to mission and quest completion, or adding better explanations of the mastery and affinity systems to the game (think an obnoxious popup that shows up once you reach a mastery lock on the starchart or in your quests that tells you everything there is to know about increasing mastery rank and building/leveling weapons and warframes alike).

Now I know the gut reaction of every warframe player is going to be, "DON'T TOUCH IT YOU FOOL!!!!!! REMOVING TIMEGATES ON MASTERY WILL RESULT IN PLAYERS SPEEDRUNNING TO HIGH MASTERY!!!! EVERYBODY WILL BE MR 30+!!!!!" And I have to ask: How many of us veterans, those of us who've been playing for years and have had everything we needed to hit MR 30 for months on end have actually bothered to finish the grind and hit MR 30? Is it really a problem if players who play the game day in day out and actually put in the work hit MR 30 in less than 30 days instead of 30 days exactly? Personally, I don't think that's a problem. Most players I know hit MR 12~16 actively, then stopped caring and passively hit their current mastery rank, myself included.

Bit of a rambling post so I'll put a tldr.

TLDR: I think Mastery Locking should stop at MR 6 or lower bc at that point, players already have good weapons and are just using the crap at their mastery to farm mastery. Better yet mastery as a whole should be reworked to be more beginner friendly, IE remove one a day mastery test lock, shift more mastery to mission/quest completion, provide in-game information on the mastery and affinity systems in an approachable and accessible manner. What are your thoughts (on the current system, changes you'd like to see, on my solutions, alternative solutions, whatever)? I'll be a bit upsetti spaghetti if you post the reaction I respond to in my post without addressing my response.