Hypothetically, if you had to choose between Stalker or the Acolytes?

[Zahnrad]

So, we finally have playable Stalker in Warframe and while we don't officially own him in the same sense as our other Warframes we have gotten a taste of how he works from a player standpoint and it got me thinking about his Acolytes.

Obviously this is just a fun hypothetical and not intended to be too serious.

If you had to make a choice between Stalker as he is in Duviri (or reworked) to own personally in your Arsenal

or, owning each of his Acolytes as personal Warframes in your arsenal, which would you choose? This is assuming they have their own similar but different style of kit.

 

Personally I feel it'd be cool to play as the Acolytes even if they were just alternate versions of pre-existing frames (though I hope they'd be more than that)

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

Uhhh probably Stalker with some slight reworks, though, I have only played them 3 or 4 times so far, so there may be more to their kit than I realise or understand. Plus the ability to actually Mod them and with Arcanes, could make a difference, also I definitely feel like there should be some special system or buff or passive witj Stalker if you use them with their full load out of weapons. 

Mostly the issue I would see with Acolytes, personally, is that the way I see them, even if they are reworked, they would still feel too similar, and they would make each other feel redundant. Then even if they get great reworks to make them more interesting or unique... thats also time and resources that could be spent on newer Warframes... A lot of Acolytes existing skills, aesthetics, tools, etc is just derivative of other Warframes/weapons, just given the red and black edge aesthetic (hey, I use that aesthetic now and then too, no judgment). 

Basically I think they are already fine in the context they serve. 

[Zahnrad]

1 minute ago, (PSN)slightconfuzzled said:

thats also time and resources that could be spent on newer Warframes...

That's fair.

[trst]

Stalker if he was given a proper unique kit. Since they're all just combinations of existing abilities they're really no different from just subsuming a random ability onto a random frame. And even Stalker's one unique ability is just an upgraded Absorb.

Also Stalker is long overdue for a proper lore exploration. And I'd imagine that whatever process resulted in him (or their frame) entering our arsenal for good would be more interesting than exploring just his followers.

[AntifreezeUnder0]

Give us a lore based quest exploring stalker and his acolytes, give us stalker as frame, stalkers own landcraft with option to summon the 4 accolytes via air support.

[Pakaku]

I have no interest in frames that are just offense, so I guess I'll take quantity over quality.

[Pizzarugi]

Misery.

Why play one acolyte when you can raise a spectral army of acolytes?

[Zahnrad]

11 minutes ago, Pizzarugi said:

Misery.

Why play one acolyte when you can raise a spectral army of acolytes?

Always felt sad that version of Misery never came back.

[Pizzarugi]

16 minutes ago, Zahnny said:

Always felt sad that version of Misery never came back.

They're still in the game. I was doing an endurance run with a rando a few days ago and they killed us twice after summoning Violence who shut off our abilities.

[taiiat]

is my Warframe an acceptable secret option 3?

[Pizzarugi]

4 minutes ago, taiiat said:

is my Warframe an acceptable secret option 3?

Also, this.

Stalker's cool and all, but I still prefer Revenant and his thralls.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Pizzarugi

[Circle_of_Psi]

6 hours ago, Zahnny said:

Personally I feel it'd be cool to play as the Acolytes even if they were just alternate versions of pre-existing frames (though I hope they'd be more than that)

I get that but I don't want yet "another set" of frames that have slight power changes, if we do get alt frames they'll be Umbras, however, I won't mind if we have the Helmets that can be added onto Frames, as a reward. Anyhow this is how I'll revamp Stalker.

Stalker:

First and foremost, I'll completely rewrite/rework his entire kit to closely match the Shadow Stalker, so this is how I'll do it. Also, his appearance will be the unique variant of the Excalibur Umbra body.

Passive (Shadow):

Stalker gains damage resistance to damage types received recently stacking up to 90%. While also gaining 300% Critical Chance against enemies who do not see him, whether unalerted to his presence or Invisible.

 

1. Marked For Death: Stun an enemy; a portion of the next damage you deal to it will be dealt to all enemies around it, each target affected by MDF will be Dispelled rendering all special abilities useless. (Note: This is pretty much MFD added onto the Stalkers' first kit but the Helminth version and his Dispell Power were added on top)

2. Umbral Shroud: Umbral shroud renders Stalker with invisibility and accelerates his speed, during this time melee attacks have increased Critical Damage and inflict Slash Porcs. Melee kills during this time will extend the buff longer, when stalker casts near allies they too will gain the invisibility effect. (Note: This Smoke Bomb & Shroud of Dynar combined into one power)

3. Omni Beams: Cast to release a blue orb that unleashes omnidirectional laser beams that deal  100 / 125 / 300 / 350  Tau damage, dangerous explosions will occur around the point of contact with the lasers and the ground. Additionally, Omni Beams gains a constantly stacking and additive damage bonus of up to +200% (Note: This power is pretty much the same power Stalker can cast that acts similarly to Prism) 

4. Ethereal Punishment: Levitate and rapidly generate a tempest of lacerating energy waves that deal 100 / 300 / 400 / 500 Slash & Tau Damage per hit of the Wave, during this mode stalker will become invulnerable for 1.5 / 2 / 3 / 3 seconds upon the first cast. (Note: Stalker gains vertical and horizontal flight capabilities but can teleport to a spot he choices to at any time, similar to the power he used in the Second Dream)     

 

This might be stupidly OP, but I'm not a Dev, so numbers and such will be obv addressed

 

-Psi

 

[(NSW)fonglis]

Why choose between the stalker and the acolyte?

Rework the stalker and give him a skill allowing him to summon his acolyte like caliban summon sentient . And you have both :)

Edited July 20, 2023 by (NSW)fonglis

[SneakyErvin]

Not sure honestly. Kullervo kinda turned into a wonderful frame that could have been a playable Stalker instead. 

But if I had to choose, Stalker. Not really feeling the urge to play the posers.

[Zahnrad]

44 minutes ago, (NSW)fonglis said:

Why choose between the stalker and the acolyte?

Rework the stalker and give him a skill allowing him to summon his acolyte like caliban summon sentient . And you have both :)

...

Deal.

[TheGodofWiFi]

10 hours ago, AntifreezeUnder0 said:

Give us a lore based quest exploring stalker and his acolytes,

We already have a pretty good idea what the Stalker is based on what we've learned about the Tenno and Warframe over the years; he's likely to be another Sentient Warframe, like Umbra.

Same goes for his Acolytes. Considering they have lines of dialogue where they appear to be talking to our Warframes, such as; "I see you are still their servants", it's more evidence that they are all independent Warframes who hate the Tenno. Basically they're all the last remnants of Orokin loyalists.

[(PSN)robotwars7]

in terms of playability, I'm fine with current Stalker: sure his kit's not top tier, but I find assassin-type frames very enjoyable and easy to work with. the acolytes would just have one set of weapons and powers to work with, and while it might be fun at first, I think it would get stale after a few runs as each Acolyte. 

11 hours ago, (PSN)slightconfuzzled said:

Basically I think they are already fine in the context they serve. 

I agree, and when it comes to playing stalker, one of my favourite strats is "Brimon nuking";

step 1: pick up the Brimon's Nerve Decree if it appears at any point (gives large Power Strength boost to your next cast after a finisher)

step 2: use teleport to do a finisher on a random mob.

step 3: find/make a group of enemies 

step 4: cast your 4 (punishment)

step 5: GROFIT.

add in Twofold Torment and Close Contagion if you can and the slash damage just keeps pouring in, it's beautiful!.

 

[Mieo_Mio]

Malice for my choice. The only one that remotely caps me in SP.

[nslay]

I've heard Duviri Stalker described as a "one trick pony"... but he otherwise works very well even in SP Circuit. No surprise due to his invisibility.

His ult contradicts his invisibility. You're not supposed to take any hits!

I'd also like to play pre-Sentient-nerf Shadow Stalker. That guy was a real tank in SP! No invisibility needed!

[nslay]

BTW, because Stalker is a choice in the randomizer seems to imply he is a proper Warframe of some kind... I mean Duviri is letting Drifter access gear from our reality... Stalker is therefore probably "gear".

I've seen it said before, but some other evil Tenno we've never met in the Star Chart probably uses Stalker.

[Voltage]

Being able to play as Stalker in the role of a protagonist just feels like it degrades his whole character and what's cool about him. The same goes for Acolytes.

The only version I liked of Stalker mode was as a PvP mode that let you play as the Stalker that invades other players. They really had potential with that, especially since the Steel Path was added and could have opened the doors to playable Acolytes too in this same regard. They could have had a massive special modding system and all sorts of Helminth tie-ins and other rewards and stuff, and this could have been a way to tie in PvP and PvE while adding some challenge to the game. And before people say "I don't want to play PvP", they could have easily made it an opt-in where defeating the Acolyte that was player controlled would net more Steel Essence or some other alternate reward for the "Stalker Syndicate" type system. The easiest way to prevent abuse too is just force the party selection to be random so that players cannot boost.

I just want to be clear too, I'm not a big PvP person, but it's not impossible for it to be made interesting. General Conclave could be good and is just left to rot, and Lunaro was actually really fun when it wasn't entirely bugged and also left to rot.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Voltage