Valkyr: Minor Rework

[Joezone619]

1:  Ravage (New): Valkyr dashes toward an enemy and performs a finisher on them with her claws.
-Has increased finisher damage based on power strength.
-Can be used on enemies with overguard but does reduced damage.

Augment (Eviscerate): Every enemy killed by ravage increases melee damage by 10% up to 100% for 10 seconds.
-Both the damage buff and damage cap are affected by power strength.
-Timer resets upon killing enemies.
-Only increases melee damage. This includes hysteria's damage.

I decided to get rid of ripline entirely because it no longer serves a purpose. It was made at a time when bullet jumping didn't exist and we had stamina, made to give valkyr some extra needed mobility. But now? We have bullet jumping, rolling, air sliding, aim gliding, we don't need this anymore.

I can think of nothing more fitting for valkyr's 1st then an ability for that straight up performs a finisher on an enemy using her claws. The augment was made/changed to give players more reason to use and even focus on the ability. A minor melee damage boost, but one that adds up stacks with a timer that keeps resetting so long as you have the energy to keep casting the ability.

 

 

 

2: Warcry (No Changes): Valkyr buffs melees speed and armor.

Augment (Eternal War): Extends the duration of warcry by killing enemies.

This ability is perfectly fine as is. The only thing I might've done was make an AoE slowness field around valkyr, but we have gloom for that. The way i see it, warcry is a perfect ability for what its supposed to do.

 

 

 

3: Paralysis (No Changes): Valkyr uses her shields to open nearby enemies to finishers.

Augment (Prolonged Paralysis): Drags enemies in range toward valkyr. Increases stun duration by 200%.

This is another ability that is fine as is. Its not supposed to be a damage ability, its supposed to open them up to finishers and make them easier to kill. The only thing i'd do is change the augment to also open up enemies to finishers, as if you add the augment it stops doing that, but its not too bad because it also knocks down enemeis entirely, just in slow motion. The augment really makes this ability shine. The new 1st ability uses this one as inspiration, only instead of having to manually assassinate people, valkyr just jumps at them and immediately performs the finisher all automatically, and only 1 enemy at a time.

 

 

 

4: Hysteria (Tweaks): Valkyr is imbued with energy and becomes a ball of vicious rage, capable of unleashing a torrent of deadly claw attacks on unsuspecting foes.
-Needs a new melee stance, something akin to vermilion storm. Current one is too focused and short ranged.
-Increase valkyr talon range from 1.7m to 2.0m.

Augment (Hysterical Assault): Leap forward toward a target via aim+melee.
Augment (Enraged): Changes hysteria from a constantly active ability to timed ability with a matching cooldown. Also increases its damage and critical chance by 200%.

Hysteria is pretty good, amazing even, the only problem is the melee stance, and melee range. The only good attack on it is the slide melee. It lacks a gap closer, its attacks are all close range, and don't hit many enemies unless they're directly infront of you, barring the slide attack. Its only redeemable quality is that it has built in finishers, however most of them take way too long, and by the time they've actually used them, you could've cleared the entire room with slide melee alone.

New Stance Preferences (The theme here should be valkyr against the world. She's gone hysterical, she should be trying to take out everyone around her.)
IMO, the standing melee (E,E,E,E) needs to be something that holds the player still but strikes enemies in a cone radius forward, not going all the way around valkyr but focused on hitting a large number of enemies from a single spot. The blocking melee (Block+E) needs to be close range and frenzied, while also holding the player relatively still, something focused on attacking directly infront of you. The forward melee (Forward+E) needs to be something that strikes enemies in a wider range while on the move, something that covers a 360 degree range. Maybe something that has her twirling with her claws extended outward, similar to vermilion storm. Finally, the forward blocking melee (Forward+Block+E) needs to be a proper gap closer, im thinking something that has the player flip sideways and spin wildly like a razorblade while jumping forward a medium-long distance, slashing all enemies along the way.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Joezone619

[Tzolkat]

Dedicated Valkyr main here. I'd prefer to keep Ripline with the following changes:

• Lower base energy cost.
• Tap for a quick pull or to violently yank enemies. Hold to use the line to swing, or pull enemies more slowly.
• Augment: Swing Line should remain as-is, making subsequent casts cost no energy while in midair.
• New Augment: <unnamed>. Rip line chains to multiple enemies in a short radius.

I'd personally like to see a change to Paralysis that allows holding the ability key to choose how much shields to release beyond the base amount, increasing the damage and stagger duration. Hysteria is also mostly fine, though I agree Forward+Block+E should perform some sort of distance-closing leap attack.

 

[CrownOfShadows]

On 2023-09-20 at 2:07 PM, Tzolkat said:

Dedicated Valkyr main here. I'd prefer to keep Ripline with the following changes:

• Lower base energy cost.
• Tap for a quick pull or to violently yank enemies. Hold to use the line to swing, or pull enemies more slowly.
• Augment: Swing Line should remain as-is, making subsequent casts cost no energy while in midair.
• New Augment: <unnamed>. Rip line chains to multiple enemies in a short radius.

I'd personally like to see a change to Paralysis that allows holding the ability key to choose how much shields to release beyond the base amount, increasing the damage and stagger duration. Hysteria is also mostly fine, though I agree Forward+Block+E should perform some sort of distance-closing leap attack.

 

I don't play much Valkyr, but when I do Ripline is my favorite part about her, mostly for mobility, I'd keep it too. Ironically, I'd completely change ALL of her other abilities, but maybe that's just because I haven't sat with her for long enough. I don't like paralysis, don't like hysteria, don't really like warcry that much either. The only time I actually like hysteria is when an acolyte shows up, otherwise it just feels clumsy and worse than regular melee.

As a melee-dedicated frame she is just SO lackluster, especially when you compare her to Kullervo, who is melee in god form like what Valkyr should be, with combo bonuses and heavy attack built in. Unironically I want to put wrathful advance on Valkyr, because she deserves it more.

I adore your new augment idea for Ripline 10/10