Some Chroma Considerations

[Mentally_Mechanical]

Yes I'll probably be using the same type of name for my posts, if I can get away with it, I like having consistency.

So, Chroma, a sore point for many, be it his nerfs or generally poor kit, is one I've toiled over for awhile. While I absolutely adore his aesthetic, specifically that of his prime, his abilities alone prevent me from enjoying him. That's why, similar to what I did with Equinox last week, I want to propose a couple small things I think could be made better for Chroma, and I do mean small, you won't see any total ability reworks from me. Without any further ado, here's what I've pondered on for our favourite lizard man.

1) Passive

Contrary to popular opinion, I actually really like his new passive, having a triple jump and double bullet jump is nauseatingly addicting for me, and I think fits wonderfully for a dragon frame, it's not full flight, but it's close. At most, I'd probably give him some extra aim glide time, because a longer glide makes sense for somebody with wings.

2) The Colours

Being able to swap between elements on the fly is easily the best part of his "rework," but the Spectral Scream ability itself isn't the best. Simple fix, just increase the ticks of the scream. It already does surprisingly decent damage per tick, but the infrequency of the ticks holds it back, but if its tickrate was jacked up to buggery, it'd feel more like an Ignis on steroids - which I think makes sense for what it's supposed to be. Also please let the colours change when you cycle elements I beg you.

3) Vexing, isn't it

To most, the cornerstone of Chroma's kit; to me, an annoyance that I rarely use. I don't min-max anything in this game, least of all frames, so the duration ends up low enough that I have to frequently recast, which chomps energy like nothing. The stat buffs are nice though, which is why I want to keep them but propose an alternative: pause or slow the timer when taking damage. Outside of combat it can still tick down, but if you're getting shot from all directions to fuel your own strength, last thing you want to do is lock yourself into a brief animation every now and then.

4) Da Drgn

Finally, Effigy. I actually like this ability, but it needs some love too. The energy drain is a little excessive, which could be turned down just a little bit, but my other suggestion is a tap/hold function: tap to leave Effigy where it is, hold to make it follow you like a souped-up Sentinel.

That's all I've really managed to come up with, at least in terms of simple things. Thoughts are as always appreciated, so share some things you'd want to change about the lizard or what you think of my ideas. Next time, I'll be talkin about an even more contentious frame, our Sentient laddie Caliban.

[(XBOX)GodMasterTP]

10 hours ago, soiyourboi said:

Contrary to popular opinion, I actually really like his new passive, having a triple jump and double bullet jump is nauseatingly addicting for me, and I think fits wonderfully for a dragon frame, it's not full flight, but it's close. At most, I'd probably give him some extra aim glide time, because a longer glide makes sense for somebody with wings.

My real problem with the passive is just that it could be better. I wish he regenerated energy or something when in the air, or got a lil damage boost in the air maybe. Idk maybe it's just me. 

10 hours ago, soiyourboi said:

Being able to swap between elements on the fly is easily the best part of his "rework," but the Spectral Scream ability itself isn't the best. Simple fix, just increase the ticks of the scream. It already does surprisingly decent damage per tick, but the infrequency of the ticks holds it back, but if its tickrate was jacked up to buggery, it'd feel more like an Ignis on steroids - which I think makes sense for what it's supposed to be. Also please let the colours change when you cycle elements I beg you.

It would be very bad even if it was like that, weapons have dozens of multipliers on top of each other. Spectral Scream only has 2: power str and vex armor. 

Also, the range and AoE is terrible, it could cause infinite damage and I would still prefer Ignis Wraith. 

The animation is also trash, it looks like a fart idk.

11 hours ago, soiyourboi said:

To most, the cornerstone of Chroma's kit; to me, an annoyance that I rarely use. I don't min-max anything in this game, least of all frames, so the duration ends up low enough that I have to frequently recast, which chomps energy like nothing. The stat buffs are nice though, which is why I want to keep them but propose an alternative: pause or slow the timer when taking damage. Outside of combat it can still tick down, but if you're getting shot from all directions to fuel your own strength, last thing you want to do is lock yourself into a brief animation every now and then.

I've been calling out on Vex Armor for years, for real it should just be a passive. Ffs it is unbearable to recast it constantly, specially on endurance runs. 

Or implement some kind of mechanic were it refreshes duration in some conditions, like: killing enemies affected by heat/toxin/cold/electric procs will refresh 1-2s of duration. Anything other than having to spend nearly 150 energy every 30s.

 

[Mentally_Mechanical]

12 hours ago, (XBOX)GodMasterTP said:

My real problem with the passive is just that it could be better. I wish he regenerated energy or something when in the air, or got a lil damage boost in the air maybe. Idk maybe it's just me. 

It would be very bad even if it was like that, weapons have dozens of multipliers on top of each other. Spectral Scream only has 2: power str and vex armor. 

Also, the range and AoE is terrible, it could cause infinite damage and I would still prefer Ignis Wraith. 

The animation is also trash, it looks like a fart idk.

I've been calling out on Vex Armor for years, for real it should just be a passive. Ffs it is unbearable to recast it constantly, specially on endurance runs. 

Or implement some kind of mechanic were it refreshes duration in some conditions, like: killing enemies affected by heat/toxin/cold/electric procs will refresh 1-2s of duration. Anything other than having to spend nearly 150 energy every 30s.

 

Sorry I'm late, had stuff to do today and trying to type on mobile is agony.

All very good ideas, especially the passive and Vex! Having some type of energy recovery would do wonders on this frame with how hungry his abilities are. I do disagree on Scream however, because it could be so much better with only minor tweaks. Maybe, on top of a much better tick rate, enemies killed can drop different resources depending on the element? Heat drops health orbs, electricity drops energy, stuff like that. It'd go a long way in making the ability not only useful, but something you'd actually want to use.

[WeaverReaver]

14 hours ago, (XBOX)GodMasterTP said:

My real problem with the passive is just that it could be better. I wish he regenerated energy or something when in the air, or got a lil damage boost in the air maybe. Idk maybe it's just me. 

It would be very bad even if it was like that, weapons have dozens of multipliers on top of each other. Spectral Scream only has 2: power str and vex armor. 

Also, the range and AoE is terrible, it could cause infinite damage and I would still prefer Ignis Wraith. 

The animation is also trash, it looks like a fart idk.

I've been calling out on Vex Armor for years, for real it should just be a passive. Ffs it is unbearable to recast it constantly, specially on endurance runs. 

Or implement some kind of mechanic were it refreshes duration in some conditions, like: killing enemies affected by heat/toxin/cold/electric procs will refresh 1-2s of duration. Anything other than having to spend nearly 150 energy every 30s.

 

Instead of a passive, I think the channeled ability should just drain energy like oberon's heal. Have a lower initial cost but the ability stops energy regen as it drains your reserves while you are using it, all while you only need to cast it once to get it going and stay effective. This could go with a new additional passive (not replacing the current one, I agree that it's fun and actually goes well with my idea) where chroma's aerial kills grants a flat 5 energy while he has a channeled ability active (which would be any of his abilities based on my idea). You could be as energy hungry with your build as you like, you just gotta keep the kills rolling in.

[Frendh]

On 2023-05-22 at 2:03 AM, soiyourboi said:

last thing you want to do is lock yourself into a brief animation every now and then.

Pretty sure vex armor is a free cast ability. Does not interrupt if I am going full auto on a boss for instance. Duration is fine given how large the buff is and that you can refresh it.

[AkHannar]

On 2023-05-22 at 1:07 PM, (XBOX)GodMasterTP said:

It would be very bad even if it was like that, weapons have dozens of multipliers on top of each other. Spectral Scream only has 2: power str and vex armor. 

Vex Armor does not buff Spectral Scream in any way. It used to, but DE decided to remove that with Choma's last not-rework. Apparently they said that it would make Spectral Scream OP. And no, I am not making this nonsense up.

Call me paranoid, but I am starting to believe that the folks at DE actually hate Chroma for some reason. They removed self-damage, but back then they had a good explanation, and it was in fact for the good of the game. Some time later they do his not-rework, and give him an actual passive (good), added element rotation to Spectral Scream (also good), but disconnected the damage buff from Vex Armor for Spectral Scream... and then, in Lua's Prey, they stealth-nerfed Hema, to prevent the reload self-damage from procking Vex Armor... I still don't get what possible reason could there be for that.

As for spectral Scream itself, I strongly believe that this ability will SUCK as long as it is forced to compete against guns. It needs to either stop blocking guns or to be a quick burst of damage and status procs in a cone area. Like 1 sec animation and done. Otherwise guns will always be the preffered choice (because, you know... mods and stuff).

On 2023-05-23 at 4:13 AM, WeaverReaver said:

Instead of a passive, I think the channeled ability should just drain energy like oberon's heal. 

Back in the day, I would hate for that to bew the case, but since Citrine's Fractured Blast is in Helminth now, I would actually welcome that change. However there is still one problem - that would make Chroma have 3 channeled abilities (spectral Scream, Effigy, and now Vex Armor). Kind of an overkill. Unless my idea for Spectral Scream is introduced as well...

[Mentally_Mechanical]

@AkHannar

Actually, through my own testing, the damage buff from Vex does increase Scream damage, quite substantially so in fact, to the point just a couple ticks would melt most enemies. You can try it out for yourself, just let Vex stack its damage a bit.

[AkHannar]

7 hours ago, soiyourboi said:

@AkHannar

Actually, through my own testing, the damage buff from Vex does increase Scream damage, quite substantially so in fact, to the point just a couple ticks would melt most enemies. You can try it out for yourself, just let Vex stack its damage a bit.

Just tested it myself, and it seems you are correct. They must have changed that some time ago. I remember testing this about a year ago and discovering to my confusion that it wasn't working, and was informed on the forums somewhere that it was deliberate on the side of DE.

[Nazuud]

7 hours ago, AkHannar said:

Just tested it myself, and it seems you are correct. They must have changed that some time ago. I remember testing this about a year ago and discovering to my confusion that it wasn't working, and was informed on the forums somewhere that it was deliberate on the side of DE.

Its from Hotfix 32.3.6

[Mr.Holyroller]

Chroma is still pretty goated. Having a 1000% weapon damage and armor buff is hard to beat.

You can pair that with pillage or breach surge for an amazing frame.

I would like to see changes to the dragon mode tho. It's pretty useless