Chroma Rework Idea

[Godlysparta]

My friend says that Chroma isn't dragon enough. Here's a dragon enough rework (hopefully).

 

Passive

Kills made by Chroma makes enemies drop more credits.

Simple and easy, he's a dragon and he deserves more money.

 

1st Ability -> Elemental Ward

Chroma creates a ward around him, inflicting statuses to enemies inside the ward. Tap this ability to switch elements. Allies in the ward also receive a buff based on the element selected. Heat grants health regeneration, Cold grants allies increased armor, Electricity grants allies overshield, Toxin grants allies speed. Buff persist until this ability's duration wears off.

Makes Chroma's Elemental Ward far more simple while also making it his first ability. I think the duration would be significantly shorter but the buffs are definitely more significant. He can also heal himself now.

 

2nd Ability -> Dragon's Breath

Chroma unleashes his powerful breath attack to enemies in front of him. Enemies in front are inflicted statuses based on his choses element. Enemies also become more vulnerable to that type of damage after. Hold the ability to channel.

This makes Chroma's Spectral Scream more consistent and deal more damage without making him actually deal more damage. It also has synergy with his ward's damage over time and his new Vex Armor buffs.

 

3rd Ability -> Vex Armor

Chroma enchants his weapons with his chosen element and grants himself protection. Enemies dealing damage to him will grant him Scorn. Enemies dealing damage to his allies will grant him Fury. Scorn increases his damage reduction. Fury increases his damage.

Now I know what you may be thinking, now he has to be in a team to actually deal damage? Well, allies means any ally and that includes his Effigy. This basically allows him to gain damage without having to die and it allows him to get the buff even in high level content.

 

4th Ability -> Effigy

Chroma unleashes his Effigy into the air, launching it forward while it does a devastating breath attack to enemies below. Upon finishing the attack, the breath lingers for a moment and so does the effigy before returning to Chroma. During this time, Chroma takes more damage but also moves faster and gain Fury for all damage he or his effigy takes if Vex Armor is active. 

Now this ability creates a large (but static) status field. It also gives him an ally so he can gain Fury. It also makes him only gain Fury during this time so it's something you want to use after getting Scorn maxed. I think it's all good synergy with this reworked kit. It also forces you to choose between getting more damage or safety if you don't have Scorn maxed. 

 

I think this kinda addresses a lot of concerns about Chroma not being dragon enough. It makes his overall kit less punishing and doesn't force him to die to get his buffs going. It also adds nice synergy to his kit that makes him more versatile. Chroma should be a dragon and I think this makes him more of a dragon that he will ever be. Chroma rules.

[DarkBlueSeaDragon]

On 2024-04-04 at 7:27 AM, Godlysparta said:

Passive

Kills made by Chroma makes enemies drop more credits.

Simple and easy, he's a dragon and he deserves more money.

There is a reason that they put so many barriers to getting to credit boost on effigy

1. scans each item on the ground to roll doubling not when you pick it up
2. its a fixed 60% per pickup module
3. fixed 20m range
4. doesn't work on slopes

Simply giving him more credits for no additional effort is very powerful, even though it only applies kills made by Chroma not everything nearby; profit-taker falling within those bounds still makes it super duper strong depending on how much the drop is boosted

On 2024-04-04 at 7:27 AM, Godlysparta said:

1st Ability -> Elemental Ward

Chroma creates a ward around him, inflicting statuses to enemies inside the ward. Tap this ability to switch elements. Allies in the ward also receive a buff based on the element selected. Heat grants health regeneration, Cold grants allies increased armor, Electricity grants allies overshield, Toxin grants allies speed. Buff persist until this ability's duration wears off.

Makes Chroma's Elemental Ward far more simple while also making it his first ability. I think the duration would be significantly shorter but the buffs are definitely more significant. He can also heal himself now.

Switching Elemental Ward to his first fixes a number of problems and gives the tank some tankyness right off the bat with ability selection. Eternal Ward is folded into the main ability, nice! So Chroma is still only able to use 1 ward at a time from what I can gather from your wording and is it recast-able?

On 2024-04-04 at 7:27 AM, Godlysparta said:

2nd Ability -> Dragon's Breath

Chroma unleashes his powerful breath attack to enemies in front of him. Enemies in front are inflicted statuses based on his choses element. Enemies also become more vulnerable to that type of damage after. Hold the ability to channel.

This makes Chroma's Spectral Scream more consistent and deal more damage without making him actually deal more damage. It also has synergy with his ward's damage over time and his new Vex Armor buffs.

Enemies becoming more vulnerable to followup blasts would be very nice for its versatility; what would channeling do? A constant AOE cone Sprouting from is face?

On 2024-04-04 at 7:27 AM, Godlysparta said:

3rd Ability -> Vex Armor

Chroma enchants his weapons with his chosen element and grants himself protection. Enemies dealing damage to him will grant him Scorn. Enemies dealing damage to his allies will grant him Fury. Scorn increases his damage reduction. Fury increases his damage.

Now I know what you may be thinking, now he has to be in a team to actually deal damage? Well, allies means any ally and that includes his Effigy. This basically allows him to gain damage without having to die and it allows him to get the buff even in high level content.

Vex Armor as is and with the changes that have been confirmed to be coming, makes this change sounds to be in the wrong direction and a backwards step in how fun it is; I do see that you count effigy as an ally, but then the changes you've made to effigy make it so you have to baby a tank, that does not sound like a fun tank to play. Now, the idea to shift the damage granted from raw to elemental is very cool as we are getting arcanes that proc with the base status'; especially if the added damage doesn't merge with the already present elements

On 2024-04-04 at 7:27 AM, Godlysparta said:

4th Ability -> Effigy

Chroma unleashes his Effigy into the air, launching it forward while it does a devastating breath attack to enemies below. Upon finishing the attack, the breath lingers for a moment and so does the effigy before returning to Chroma. During this time, Chroma takes more damage but also moves faster and gain Fury for all damage he or his effigy takes if Vex Armor is active. 

Now this ability creates a large (but static) status field. It also gives him an ally so he can gain Fury. It also makes him only gain Fury during this time so it's something you want to use after getting Scorn maxed. I think it's all good synergy with this reworked kit. It also forces you to choose between getting more damage or safety if you don't have Scorn maxed. 

BE-52 bomber Dragon lol, great Idea but the increase in damage taken is a problem on his base kit, I don't think we should be wanting to keep it as such a harsh punishment for simply using his 4th ability. does the energy drain/cost remain the same? And does the AOE status field scale with range? Chroma is a tank, he should not have to choose to be squishy.

On 2024-04-04 at 7:27 AM, Godlysparta said:

I think this kinda addresses a lot of concerns about Chroma not being dragon enough. It makes his overall kit less punishing and doesn't force him to die to get his buffs going. It also adds nice synergy to his kit that makes him more versatile. Chroma should be a dragon and I think this makes him more of a dragon that he will ever be. Chroma rules.

Honestly you have some pretty good suggestions in here, I however don't think that this kit makes him less punishing it just moves the pain to different parts of his kit.

[Godlysparta]

12 hours ago, DarkBlueSeaDragon said:

Enemies becoming more vulnerable to followup blasts would be very nice for its versatility; what would channeling do? A constant AOE cone Sprouting from is face?

I was thinking that the channel would stack of the stacks of invulnerability while the tap would do it all at once but might need a few casts to get the max damage vulnerability.

12 hours ago, DarkBlueSeaDragon said:

I don't think we should be wanting to keep it as such a harsh punishment for simply using his 4th ability. does the energy drain/cost remain the same? And does the AOE status field scale with range? Chroma is a tank, he should not have to choose to be squishy.

I was thinking more about the sacrifice tankiness for power type of scenario. While I do think it would be cool if he didn't get a debuff, I do believe that it would be cool to have this sacrifice thing going on. Also, I would think the width of the field would be scaling with range while the distance is a set amount. Also, I wanted his Effigy to have a duration since the cost of keeping it up is so high. It would last a good while and be there basically to tank on your behalf while you dish out a ton of damage. It would also not drain energy as much and allows you to recast it for the initial bomber thing more often. IDK, I just want Chroma to feel like a dragon. 

[xvDaemonxv]

"This is Chroma, an ancient legend, master of the elements.
When all the land is in ruins, Tenno, only Chroma will remain."
- Lotus

This description, not only points to show the capabilities, but potential of Chroma as a warframe. He is inspired by the legends of Dragons, master of elements, and is described as basically being the last survivor of a fight....

Let be me begin by saying this: I will start by giving my thoughts on the subject/situation, followed by my mock up of a rework. So if you want meat and potatoes of it, its down south.

I am a new player who came upon Chroma, a fan of dragons in most media, and as someone interested in taking the game to the final ends (MR 18 and SP in a month) I felt there was issue with Chroma since I started... He isn't a master of elements or a Dragon and as far as surviving, I mean I know of a geek with a book (Dante) that can provide more protection to his entire team than this sad excuse for a whelping can give to himself...

Lets address the first major issue with the frame.... He is a Dragon... that can't fly.... Now I get it, many frames have "flight" mechanics or can travel pretty freely in the air, but only one has true flight, and that is Titania. I feel If any other frame should have access to true flight, it should be the dragon warframe. Now I don't believe he should perform the same task as Titania in her flight "Fast pinpoint damage", and maybe focus on the dragon theme of flying across spreading flame and destruction widely.

The next major issue is his survivability, his current defensive line is broken into two parts Vex Armor and Elemental Ward... Armor on Vex Armor and... well Elemental Ward, even though Ward is in the name, not all of its abilities even provide warding (Toxin)... Now, its a bit weird two skills both give an armor bonus (Vex Armor and Cold Elemental Ward) and from what I have seen with diminishing returns on armor in this game seems like odd overlap as well, and not playing into his adaptability as master of elements. I think first step is separating the defense from Vex Armor and moving it to only elemental ward, and spice up elemental ward to just be defensive options players can swap to, adapting their defense type to the situation.

Tying into the previous point, is his "master of elements".... Lets be honest here... his Spectral Breath feels like a lesser Ignis, its short length, lacking visuals, costly for the damage, and I find myself rather using that energy to maintain my buffs from Vex Armor, or a subsumed ability that plays into the rest of his kit. Then you have the Vex Armor which... is armor? But most people use it as a Damage buff? Cause yeah, lets be honest, we don't often here players complain "Oh I lost my armor buff from Vex armor" no, its I lost my damage. Then there is Effigy, which, besides trying to get credits feels like the weakest part of his kit, the Damage feels lacking, the oomph from it feels lackluster, and if armor is the point of a lot of my kit, why would I get rid of it with Effigy? For a small AoE dps that gives a bit more credits? So in all of this... where is the "Master of Elements".

Then to the final point... Effigy.. I am sorry, I don't remember the last time a Dragon ripped off its own scales and made them go fight a war for them... Okay, so this last one is really me just kinda memeing a bit, but it is kind of a weird ability for a dragon... Maybe a crab frame...

Okay, now to the meat and potatoes, let me turn my thoughts into a mock up, this will be devoid of alot of math, and numbers, but more conceptualization and mechanics. Yes I know augments exists already for these skills, and honestly I don't care, improvements shouldn't be held up my silly things like that.

Dragon Breath - Same as it is now, Just maybe adjust its baseline range/dps a bit, it feels kinda short for how much it costs, and I find myself having to chase targets down, and the AI is positioning themselves just short, and its a game of chase. I get the affects can spread a bit, but it can feel.... Off. Since the spread isn't something a player can as easily visually see or feel, while a sustained larger breath that targets more enemies is. So maybe reduce spread affect and amp up base range, so the player is just controlling where the big cone of brimstone is aimed and hitting the targets in the area, instead of guesstimating on spread. Also maybe a slight adjustment to visuals it feels a bit lacking on some elements and it feels more like a draconic drizzle than a Dragon Breath. Also, maybe a slight increase to mobility while channeling it, not by much to where it is, I understand the reduction, but I feel its slightly too much.

Adaptable Scales - Similar to Elemental Ward, but without the lies (Elemental Ward doesn't actually give you Warding against Elements aka Elemental resistances, and Toxic again doesn't even provide any type of warding). How Adaptable Scales would work is each element represents a different type of Defense in the game. Health/healing, Shield/over-shield, Overguard, Armor. (Yes, there is also Immunity, as a major defense tactic in this game and a few others, but Chroma doesn't need everything). How it would work is depending on which element, you pick the type of defense you want to invest into. Now, each value, shouldn't be knocking on the doors of Frames who master these defensive techniques, but it also shouldn't feel lack luster and a decent contender for each. This also plays into his adaptability as an elemental master and being the last survivor, cause he can adapt to always survive, plus this gives a lot of fun team compositions... Friend bringing a frame that supports a defensive type (Nidus, Hyldryn)? Your ready to adapt. No one bringing Dante or defensive support and you need to fill a gap? Your ready to adapt. Also if each version of the Defensive types are equal in scaling and gains, it then its up to player on what to chose, playing once again into his many types but not better than the rest theme.

Draconic Rage - Same as Vex armor, but remove armor buff side of things, and just make it a pure Damage bonus buff, but... Change damage type based on element chosen.... On Heat? It adds x% heat damage. That way you can also change elemental damage types on the fly, you know... Master of Elements. Also, keep the increase buff based on killing and getting hit... Many mythology tells of dragons decimating whole kingdoms/towns because they were mad about something, even look at many books/movies. This is that, Dragon just going wild overtime across the battlefield. And if people want a bit more flair, you could also reduce the total damage bonus and add an additional benefit to each elemental type, electricity increases attackspeed/castspeed, cold adds maybe a CC affect, Heat adds Crit/status chance, and Toxin adds a leech or vulnerability buff. Again none of them becoming meta, but each enough to feel equal to gain/scaling. But honestly the elemental swap side could be enough as a baseline and the second addition could be used in another way ill describe later.

4th ability - For this one, if the other changes above are made you could really do alot with this ability and it not feel too bad of a kit to use still... But if you really want to aim high...
 Dragon Soul - Chroma releases the constraints of his frame and releases his dragon spirit (effigy skin) into the air, while in this form you move faster and can fly (Controlled real flight like Titania, it constantly drains your energy, but all your other skills have reduced energy drain and you absorb up to 50% of all allies in range, in return for charging up your dragon soul, increasing the power of your first 3 abilities, increase range and damage of 1, increasing caps of defensive bonus/range of 2, increasing damage bonus of 3. All within reason for bonus vs taking the 50% of allies damage to them, in exchange for the form to drain more... bigger flame, faster it burns out kinda deal... And if there are no allies to get that bonus, then its still a mobile flight skill that allows you to reposition, maintain support/use skills in air. Plus.... Its a dragon, it should be able to fly around raining brimstone down. That and you can still use the effigy skin as the dragon soul form if you wanted.... And as far as the energy drain of form + reduced cost of other abilities while in that form should feel like "I want to fly around and burn stuff" is just a bit more costly to do it while flying, with baseline usage time being near titania with her flight...where as if your receiving the damage bonus from the absorb affect, you might want to control the output of breath and buffs or youll burn up too quick. Because one could also instead just use flying for increase range of support skills and buff and leave dps out of it, or just use allies to boost their own dps for a fast "burn it all down flyby" again... playing into the theme of adaptable play.

As far as Augments Chroma currently has, I think a fresh slate would be fine and if they need to replace the old augments with some that feel worth while, then the damage bonus for Dragon Rage (crit/status chance on heat, CC on cold, etc) if you don't bake it until baseline kit, another fun augment I thought would be combining element damage type augment, when you cycle through, the 4 are replaced with their combinations with one of the other 4, even make it random if you want, add a bit of chaos to a build that would essentially allow one to add any element to their damage roster... So like, when you select heat, it will visually show the icon, but when activated it will combine it with another of the 4, so if its cold, it becomes blast. If you select cold, and it gets toxin, it becomes viral. This would only affect damage types of boost and dragon breath, but it could be a fun augment to play with. The augment that lets buff stay away from Chroma from Ward can be changed to work with Adaptable scales, and the others... eh. some could be reintergrated, others feel like they would be a bit lack luster with this new kit.

And if you did add flight to his kit, his passive could easily be changed to a smaller buff to kills dropping more credits... Its all math on that one, and I am sure a few people could sit down and math out the right bonus for that.

So that is the concept to how I, a brand new player, dragon fan think Chroma could go. Honestly, the 4th skill is the one I am most open to other ideas for, but I do feel flight needs to be added to the dragon frame.