Steel Path is empty

[Void2258]

I have reached Steel Path, and I am extremely frustrated. There are no players on almost any map, which makes opening the starchart a major chore (20+ for some missions to solo). I have spoken to people and the consensus is that this is happening because the rewards for SP are not with the extra difficulty, excluding incursions, which have thus far been the only way to open up nodes for me in any reasonable time. It's not great to have worked hard to open up a mode only to find it abandoned. There needs to be a reason to do Steel Path, to ensure that the ode has a population above 0.

[Pakaku]

Every content island gets abandoned at some point, when most players are done with it. The good news is steel path incursions count for star chart node clearing, and are more active since it's always a daily refresh, if you don't mind the randomness of which nodes get selected that day

[Hexerin]

I'm in a similar boat, currently progression blocked. Need to do an Interception, but that mission type is literally impossible to complete solo. SP ensures that there is always a squad of enemies on all four capture points. In other words, the moment you move away from the point you just captured, the enemy is already recapturing it. Which since the enemy captures aren't time based, and they don't actually have to physically interact with the console (CC can't stop them), that point you literally just moved away from is now immediately back under their control. You obviously can't win with only a single point, so you just lose.

[CephalonCarnage]

Do it all solo. I did it that way, except for a couple of interception nodes I got the clan to help out with. recruiting chat will always find help for SP defence or interception, often because others are looking for help doing them too.

If you can't do it solo, then there is no point for it. Sure you get some steel essence and a little planet decoration, but ultimately, if you're runnign steel path itrs because you want the challenge of hard mode, not to play the same missions with someone to carry you or make it all easier.

I think the only node that has players is the kuva fortress survival, and they're mostly youtubers.

[Ace-Bounty-Hunter]

A lot of Steel Path missions are one and done affairs. The only ones I end up replaying are Incursions, Kuva/Lua Survival and Void fissures. 

I did actually manage to solo all of them with Loki using his Irradiating Disarm augment. It made missions like Defense, Mobile Defense and Interception much easier since enemies are too focused on fighting each other instead of the target. Just make sure you use Inaros for Hijack missions.

[Silligoose]

12 minutes ago, Void2258 said:

I have reached Steel Path, and I am extremely frustrated. There are no players on almost any map, which makes opening the starchart a major chore (20+ for some missions to solo). I have spoken to people and the consensus is that this is happening because the rewards for SP are not with the extra difficulty, excluding incursions, which have thus far been the only way to open up nodes for me in any reasonable time. It's not great to have worked hard to open up a mode only to find it abandoned. There needs to be a reason to do Steel Path, to ensure that the ode has a population above 0.

DE isn't good with balancing. Even though I prefer SP above Star Chart, the way DE went about balancing this hard mode was extremely disappointing. As you gain more power, enemies will be like paper and endgame will feel rather unsatisfying.

[(PSN)Madurai-Prime]

We solo because we can.

Otherwise try recruit chat.

[trst]

Lol, no, the rewards in SP are not the problem here. The problem is that a lot, if not most, nodes on the base star chart are already empty/unpopular and that's just made worse in SP.

And those nodes are empty because their base rewards are either finite or not enough to be worth running over another node. And buffing SP rewards doesn't solve that as players would still prefer to run the missions that grant them the most. Which is why you'll pretty much always find players in Fissures, unique nodes that're the only source of specific resources, and the meta farming locations. But not in some random Spy missions, mid-level anything, or endless missions without good drop pools.

[(PSN)robotwars7]

39 minutes ago, Void2258 said:

There are no players on almost any map

this applies to a lot of older game content, not just Steel path. it's why I feel a bit sorry for people who are running things like Jordas Golem or Rathuum: finding random squads is basically impossible and recruit chat people don't wanna know 99% of the time, so the only people they can get are people in the same spot as them, which means no chance of them being helped/carried by a more experienced player.

with the right gear, it's a path easily walked, but one you must walk alone, outside of Incursions and the like. 

[Hexerin]

Honestly, what we need is some kind of "help a player" queue. You could bring it up, toggle various things on or off (such as mission types, SP or not, etc) and it would search for any open squads in any mission node to put you in to help the player(s) there. Could even have it set up so that for every toggle you leave enabled (thus widening the search), you get a multiplier to the mission rewards. Could go even further than that, and have this system grant bonus rewards for going out of your way to help your fellow players, such as a guaranteed bundle of rare resources, forma/potatos, etc.

[Els236]

il y a 36 minutes, Silligoose a dit :

DE isn't good with balancing. Even though I prefer SP above Star Chart, the way DE went about balancing this hard mode was extremely disappointing. As you gain more power, enemies will be like paper and endgame will feel rather unsatisfying.

Balancing isn't the issue, it's the rewards.

SP nodes don't have any benefit over the typical nodes whatsoever. You get 3K credit cache on a level 5 mission - you get 3K credit cache on level 105 mission. What's the point in doing the harder version?

Maybe some steel Essence used to buy 5K of Kuva? wooooow.... /s

[Silligoose]

2 minutes ago, Els236 said:

Balancing isn't the issue, it's the rewards.

SP nodes don't have any benefit over the typical nodes whatsoever. You get 3K credit cache on a level 5 mission - you get 3K credit cache on level 105 mission. What's the point in doing the harder version?

Maybe some steel Essence used to buy 5K of Kuva? wooooow.... /s

The point of doing the harder version: For the challenge of it. For the fun of it.

SP nodes grant more resources. I can see an argument being made that the balance regarding effort vs rewards is still not great in some players' opinions, though it is fine for me. I'd have liked to see the option for SP Void Fissures to allow one to crack two relics per run/rotation instead of one though.

[(XBOX)RaeOvSunshyn]

3 minutes ago, Els236 said:

What's the point in doing the harder version?

It provides some type of resistance, therefore funner perhaps? I did almost all of mine solo, because, like OP mentioned, there's nobody to be found.

And now when given the choice between Steel Path or Every Enemy Dies When My Kavat Sneezes mode, I always pick the former. Nora wants me to do 3 Mobile Defense? How 'bout a 30 minute Survival? Oh, I need Cryotic? Steel Path. Steel Path. Steel Path.

I also watch for people in recruit looking for help with SP Interceptions -- did 2 separate ones today -- because they aren't a walk in the park for players who are just trying to clear them. Same with Disruptions. Also bosses -- which admittedly are sadly nothing more than time sinks at higher levels.

It'd be wicked if more folks enjoyed "hard mode." For certain, it'd be a whole lot less lonely. 😂

[trst]

33 minutes ago, Els236 said:

Balancing isn't the issue, it's the rewards.

SP nodes don't have any benefit over the typical nodes whatsoever. You get 3K credit cache on a level 5 mission - you get 3K credit cache on level 105 mission. What's the point in doing the harder version?

Maybe some steel Essence used to buy 5K of Kuva? wooooow.... /s

Steel Essence is the benefit and is the primary reason players are running it at all. As it's a source of Relics, Kuva, Rivens, Adaptors, and Umbra Forma.

As well it's the fastest way to amass Kuva and saving up enough to empty the Relics out in one go is part of how players get all the new Relics for a new Prime on release day.

Also the regular mission drops lose value to the point of nothing to anyone who has played long enough. Make that 3k Credit Cache into 300k and it'd be just as worthless. The only things like that which retain some value are the really drawn out farms and/or the ones that can result in Plat trades like anything that's a source of Arcanes or new Relics.

[Hexerin]

9 minutes ago, trst said:

Umbra Forma

This being the absolute primary reason, as it's the only actual method of acquisition. It's also only available once every 2 months, and you can only get a single one.

DE really needs to add other methods to acquire umbra forma, or alter the SP shop's 8 rotational purchases to be monthly resetting instead.

[(PSN)jaggerwanderer]

For one thing, most players have not clear the star chart to do Steel Path yet. Arbitration is already limiting and that require players to clear the star chart. The further outward a person goes away from Earth, the less likely said person will find other players to match make with. The drop off seems to be Ceres. It's like no one wants to repeat the same exact missions they already clear as a grind.

[Nekomian]

1 hour ago, trst said:

Lol, no, the rewards in SP are not the problem here. The problem is that a lot, if not most, nodes on the base star chart are already empty/unpopular and that's just made worse in SP.

It's 100% this. A lot of missions even in normal star chart playthrough are abandoned, because why would anyone play some random Interception or Capture mission on Neptune or Ceres unless it's popular? Steel Path is nice, but further divides the matchmaking pool with a completion gate, and the sheer number of missions means that only a select few are generally run unless you're trying to do node completion.

1 hour ago, Void2258 said:

There needs to be a reason to do Steel Path, to ensure that the ode has a population above 0.

Like above - there is, but just not for 50+ missions. Players tend to do the same ones for Steel Essence farming, kuva farming, endo (arena), etc. Players do interact with this mode, it's just in limited fashion because why do some random mission in regular star chart or steel path unless it's for completion? There's no way they can incentivize every single mission independently without creating some very fragmented drop system, where only one mission drops something that's needed so it always has players engaging with it, and that sounds like a pain.

I'd recommend either doing it solo (what I did for the entire SP chart) or finding a squad in recruiting chat that is also going through the same thing you're doing, so you can run all the missions together.

[Pizzarugi]

2 hours ago, Void2258 said:

There needs to be a reason to do Steel Path

There used to be one, until DE nerfed the weekly limit of relics and kuva you can purchase with steel essence.

(In fairness, it's because of AFKers exploiting the game for near infinite essence)

[Tiltskillet]

2 hours ago, Void2258 said:

I have reached Steel Path, and I am extremely frustrated. There are no players on almost any map, which makes opening the starchart a major chore (20+ for some missions to solo). I have spoken to people and the consensus is that this is happening because the rewards for SP are not with the extra difficulty, excluding incursions, 

Have you tried recruit chat?   

I don't agree that SP rewards are the issue.  Maybe rewards in general.  Like there is basically zero material reason for most people to repeat any Mobile Defense, Hijack, Intercept, etc, whether it's SP or not. 

[Els236]

il y a 42 minutes, Pizzarugi a dit :

There used to be one, until DE nerfed the weekly limit of relics and kuva you can purchase with steel essence.

(In fairness, it's because of AFKers exploiting the game for near infinite essence)

To be honest, that was a thing ever since SP was released.

I remember teaming up with a guy in pubs and we spent 4 hours in a survival, him as Khora and me as Nekros or something - we came out with like 1,000 Essence or something stupid. 

I've never had to run SP since because I still have some of that 1,000 left x)

[Voltage]

2 hours ago, Silligoose said:

DE isn't good with balancing. Even though I prefer SP above Star Chart, the way DE went about balancing this hard mode was extremely disappointing. As you gain more power, enemies will be like paper and endgame will feel rather unsatisfying.

It's a symbiotic relationship between DE and players. Steel Path launch was met with negative feedback that resulted in Galvanized Mods and weapon Arcanes that started a new level of powercreep as a trend for weapons.

[Joezone619]

Most who play steel path go solo because of how the acolytes work. Acolytes take roughly 5 mins of active combat to spawn, more players = less time, less time = no acolyte.

DE should look into reducing spawn times for them depending on player count and mission type. The current system heavily discourages public matches with most mission types, encouraging solo play

[ReddyDisco]

It used to be worth it farming steel essence, but then DE restricted teshin store for all players instead of dealing with the select few abusing the system. i just do the dalies and call it a day.

[(PSN)slightconfuzzled]

I mean, outside of certain specific nodes popular for certain reasons (farming certain resources, good for enemy flow and Acolyte spawning, or potentially certain Relics drop rates), this has always been the case. Why would you want to do a random Steel Path interception on a random planet more than once? 

Incursions, usually get much more traffic, certain nodes can also be popular, certain Survival or Disruption nodes, either great for farming Acolytes, or certain Relics. 

Also, Steel Path Relics exist now. They tend to be tougher, for those looking for a challenge, you also get to crack open more Relics, which is potentially Plat, on top of getting the Steel Path advantages. So I also usually experience those having a more populated playerbase as well. 

If you are clearing your own Steel Path starchart, unfortunately its probably going to be pretty lonely. Best to probably hit up recruiting chat, looking for a clan with friendly players, asking around etc. I did most of my Steel Path starchart solo, but then I also ended up helping a few clan mates and strangers work there way through as well. Usually would focus on some of the more harder nodes (Interception, Disruption etc can be tough for some solo players). 

Not sure there is much DE can do, Warframes player base isn't that huge as to potentially support most nodes being filled. If you try and incentivise it with rewards... that won't really work, people will still gravitate towards very select specific nodes, like Exterminate, Capture and Survival, if they can, probably on certain select planets, so a lot of the star charts nodes will remain sparse still. If you try to create new rewards that a more node specific, that may just create resentment because players will have to invest more time and effort to get less, and some mission types aren't as popular as others (I say as someone who actually likes Defection). 

[Circle_of_Psi]

9 hours ago, (PSN)robotwars7 said:

this applies to a lot of older game content, not just Steel path. it's why I feel a bit sorry for people who are running things like Jordas Golem or Rathuum: finding random squads is basically impossible and recruit chat people don't wanna know 99% of the time, so the only people they can get are people in the same spot as them, which means no chance of them being helped/carried by a more experienced player.

The Irony here is that this is what DE is trying to Avoid, all this love for New Players and yet once they get to reach a certain point, it's almost a progress stop due to Vets don't want to hold their hand and only care for themselves so to speak.

Hell, even I don't help new players, unless I happen to run into them, since all chats are disabled for me, due to they are a mess.