Incarnon melee, and specifically the Incarnon Skana

[Traumtulpe]

I think we're all aware how melee weapons fell out of favour, hard, after losing the only advantage they ever had over guns: Damage. Now guns just deal more damage, have more variety, longer range and bigger radii, and don't lock you into those terrible animations that feel like your Warframe has been stapled to the ground.

But it doesn't stop there, melee continues to get the short end of the stick even with the Incarnon upgrades. I've heard lot's of disappointment from people regretting that they chose a melee over one of the awesome guns. And I feel the exact same.

I got the Incarnon Skana, and boy does it disappoint (even disregarding the uncalled for nerf). .6 follow through means this thing just doesn't do AoE. It's a single target weapon. And for some silly reason I expected a special effect, I thought it might shoot waves like an Exalted Blade or something - nothing of the sort. Until recently I didn't even know it has an effect at all.

So what does the Incarnon Skana do? Well... after getting into Incarnon mode, and performing a finisher, and only if the target dies from the finisher, it causes a small AoE blind that can't be refreshed (so no chain-finishing). Basically it does jack all.

Finishers aren't worth doing in the first place, and even if they were they don't build combo for the transformation, and the effect is lousy anyhow.

What I'm saying is, the Incarnon Skana is a boring, average melee weapon (actually below average after the nerf), and getting it was a complete waste of time. I'm never gonna use this thing.

[CrownOfShadows]

Amen, incarnon melee is a major let down, was hoping they learned something from the Innodem and Praedos but I guess not.

Surely there are ways of making melee awesome - especially weak melee - without venturing into OP territory. TBH I seriously question if even the old power melee could contest with the current power of guns.

[quxier]

3 hours ago, CrownOfShadows said:

Amen, incarnon melee is a major let down, was hoping they learned something from the Innodem and Praedos but I guess not.

All of new melees are let down. Maybe 1 or 2 if you don't have similar already. Slow, clunky, send projectile little to the right or it's copy paste weapon. I cannot run Duviri (well, in comfortable, let's say, 20 fps) so I was going to buy some weapons. I've checked yt and... I won't bother. I would probably buy some incarnon adapters but they are probably not buyable (or require Duviri).

 

10 hours ago, Traumtulpe said:

So what does the Incarnon Skana do? Well... after getting into Incarnon mode, and performing a finisher, and only if the target dies from the finisher, it causes a small AoE blind that can't be refreshed (so no chain-finishing). Basically it does jack all.

Finishers aren't worth doing in the first place, and even if they were they don't build combo for the transformation, and the effect is lousy anyhow.

Have you tried it with Naramon? It has abilities or feautures that make enemies vulnerable to finishers (so you can start your Skana journey), increase damage (50%, but I'm not sure). Then there is some other perks.

It may work.

[Traumtulpe]

1 minute ago, quxier said:

Have you tried it with Naramon? It has abilities or feautures that make enemies vulnerable to finishers (so you can start your Skana journey)

There is no "Skana journey" as it cannot chain finishers - enemies that already are blinded cannot be affected. And that the Skana itself cannot access finishers without outside help, when it's entire gimmick is based on finisher kills is baffling.

But more than that, I think you're completely missing the point. I can use my Kuva Tonkor or Incarnon Latron to make anything I point at (and then some) disappear in a puff of smoke. 1 enemy, 10 enemies, 30 enemies - doesn't matter, they all just disappear. Why would I attack pointlessly to reach 6 combo, heavy attack, walk into melee, use an outside source to enable finishers, then use a slow and ineffective method of killing one enemy at a time to get a tiny 3 second radial blind?

[quxier]

3 minutes ago, Traumtulpe said:

11 minutes ago, quxier said:

Have you tried it with Naramon? It has abilities or feautures that make enemies vulnerable to finishers (so you can start your Skana journey)

There is no "Skana journey" as it cannot chain finishers - enemies that already are blinded cannot be affected.

Oh, so blind doesn't make enemies vulnerable to finishers?

12 minutes ago, Traumtulpe said:

And that the Skana itself cannot access finishers without outside help, when it's entire gimmick is based on finisher kills is baffling.

Umbra's melee don't have finisher "build in" too. There are still ways to "finish" enemies.

4 minutes ago, Traumtulpe said:

But more than that, I think you're completely missing the point. I can use my Kuva Tonkor or Incarnon Latron to make anything I point at (and then some) disappear in a puff of smoke. 1 enemy, 10 enemies, 30 enemies - doesn't matter, they all just disappear.

You can cheese game but if you are looking for little bit fun or challenge then you need to look for slower options. It may be not for you.

14 minutes ago, Traumtulpe said:

Why would I attack pointlessly to reach 6 combo, heavy attack, walk into melee, use an outside source to enable finishers, then use a slow and ineffective method of killing one enemy at a time to get a tiny 3 second radial blind?

As for 6x combo & heavy attack you can use e.g. Naramon with 2x combo, decaying combo. As for Heavy -> heavy efficiency (but that's not must).

It honestly depend on how big that "radial blind" is. However what I've seen from previous incarnon melees they don't like go overboard and strike low (0.5 range, effect on finisher etc).

[Traumtulpe]

8 hours ago, quxier said:

Oh, so blind doesn't make enemies vulnerable to finishers? [...] Umbra's melee don't have finisher "build in" too. [...] You can cheese game but if you are looking for little bit fun or challenge then you need to look for slower options.

It does, but it goes like this: You use an ability (say Naramon dash) to open an enemy to finishers -> finish with evolved Skana causing a blind -> finish a second target that was blinded -> no more finishers since everyone was immune to further blinds.

The Skiajati did have build in finishers (from the stance). DE just deleted all finishers from stances in a later patch. A shame too, was really fun to jump at a target and use a finisher from the combo, then go invisible.

I don't see how it's fun to do something very slowly and very ineffectively, with very high prerequisites and zero payoff.