[Warframe Concept] Warden (art)

[N0VAXIS]

_{|| Howdy, folks. A quick foreword before I get into the meat of the post: I'd like to mention that I am not a frequent forum user (in fact, it's been nearly a decade since I've even looked in this general direction) so I'm not versed in the current sea of ideas floating around here. Apologies if anything has already been suggested before or seems indirectly rehashed. This is just a small personal project I've been working on to keep my creative mojo from becoming stagnant. Any feedback is welcome.} ||

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                                  ^{OPENING NOTES:}
  I've always had a weakness for the knight aesthetic in media in general, and sci-fi/medieval hybrid work really scratches a particular itch. I also really love the concept of tank characters when it comes to the fundamental archetypes, especially in supporting roles, so the idea of a walking fortress that acts as a frontline defense is something I'm crazy about no matter what game I'm playing. Naturally, I wanted to incorporate castle motifs while staying firm to the knightly theme. Tower shields are also dope as hell (shoutout to Monty from R6) and big manes on giant suits of armor are perfection to me.

  I wanted to make sure he had a unique and easily recognizable silhouette, though I will concede that he is very... large. On the other hand, I feel like being excessively bulky makes him an easily identifiable point of refuge. As for abilities, from what I gather, overguard and shieldgating has been in and out of meta for a while, so I wanted to lean into that a bit. Of course, there would either need to be some hard caps on Warden's overguard generation, or implement a decaying aspect so that you would need some degree of resource management and strategizing to upkeep and maintain decent momentum to avoid his playstyle turning into something lazy or gimmicky. The main goal is for him to play the role of a frontline tank+buffer support.

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                                     ^{CONCEPT ART:}
_{This is a very rough draft and I may adjust or change some proportions, but at the moment, this is the foundation I'm building from. Click the image for a larger view.}

                                             ^ABILITIES:
✦ AEGIS BREAKER: Warden shield-bashes enemies in a line before him, knocking them prone and opening them up to finishers. Enemies killed with finishers in this way extend the duration of any Refuge banners currently placed down within 100m. 

+ While under the effects of Deliverance: Warden instead slams his shield to the ground, knocking enemies prone in a large radius.

✦ REFUGE: Warden places a rallying banner down, extending the reach of Deliverance and Stalwart Salvation. Up to two banners may stand at the same time. If two banners stand, recasting Refuge will collapse the first banner and replace it with one at your current location. Allies that become downed within the banner's aura bleed out slower and are revived faster.

+ While under the effects of Deliverance: Effect range of Refuge banners increases.
_{NOTE: These banners could be destructible by enemies or have a duration that decays if no ally has stepped within range for a set period of time.}

✦ STALWART SALVATION: Warden readies his shield before him, fortifying nearby allies with a radial aura. Allies within the aura's range receive increased weapon damage and decreased damage taken. Any kills made while under this effect build cumulative Overguard based on the amount of armor Warden has.

+ While under the effects of Deliverance: Weapon damage is further increased.

✦ DELIVERANCE: Stand as one, Tenno. Warden calls forth your strength, standing as an obelisk of power. Upon casting, allies within range can consume a percentage of their current Overguard and convert it into a temporary increase to damage and critical chance that lasts while Deliverance is active. This damage increase scales independently based on the current amount of Overguard his allies have. Warden does not receive this damage increase, instead generating a small persistent barrier around himself that absorbs a portion of incoming damage. When this barrier is depleted or when Deliverance ends, it explodes, dealing minor damage to nearby enemies and temporarily boosting the melee speed of nearby allies.

                                             ^{PASSIVE (WIP):}
_{Here are some of the current ideas I have for possible passives. I'd like to incentivize sticking together and encourage more comradery, but I'd also like to avoid inadvertently creating any cheese strats in the process; "tactical positioning" is the goal with harder content as the motive. I figure including anything that focuses heavily on CC reduction or Status resistance would be redundant since his kit is already so Overguard-focused, thus already providing innate durability.}

✦ FORTIFIED PRESENCE: Allies within range have a chance to reflect a portion of incoming damage back to attackers. This chance increases if Warden and nearby allies remain within the range of a Refuge banner.

-or-

✦ KNIGHT'S VALOR: Allies within range receive increased energy regeneration, and a percentage of energy spent by allies within this range will stack a temporary buff to their melee speed and range.
 

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                                     ^{WHAT'S NEXT:}
I'd like to maintain some semblance of upkeep on this project and not burn out before it's been fully realized, but here are a few additions on the current to-do list:
► >> 3D model is currently in the works <<
► Ability SFX are also on the way + ability icons
► Potential prime/deluxe concepts + alt helmets & armor
► Lore/background
► Base stats and passives
► Idle animations??

Edited September 6 by N0VAXIS

[Flannoit]

He looks hot but also looks like he could just be a Rhino skin - I'm interested to see where this will go! I love armor, and I think it's a missed opportunity to not include another spicy big boy.

[N0VAXIS]

2 hours ago, Flannoit said:

He looks hot but also looks like he could just be a Rhino skin - I'm interested to see where this will go! I love armor, and I think it's a missed opportunity to not include another spicy big boy.

I do love me some spicy big boys as well, and Rhino is certainly up there at the top. I definitely think it'd be nice to see some more true armor-like pieces in the future. More bulk, please!

[goonsesh]

cool concept, creative abilities, and goated art.

my only complaints are that it lacks a passive ability and the 1st and 4th abilities have the same name (and "deliverence" isn't a real word).

7/10

Edited July 25 by goonsesh

[N0VAXIS]

19 hours ago, goonsesh said:

cool concept, creative abilities, and goated art.

my only complaints are that it lacks a passive ability and the 1st and 4th abilities have the same name (and "deliverence" isn't a real word).

7/10

Whoops! Good catch, the double name must've slipped my proofread when I was deciding on the ability order. And adding a passive is on the to-do list, I just need to brainstorm some ideas that aren't terribly redundant and/or impractical.

[N0VAXIS]

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Here are some of the current ideas I have for possible passives. I'd like to incentivize sticking together and encourage more comradery, but I'd also like to avoid inadvertently creating any cheese strats in the process; "tactical positioning" is the goal with harder content as the motive. I figure including anything that involves CC reduction or Status resistance would be unnecessary since his kit is already so Overguard-focused, thus already providing innate durability.

✦ FORTIFIED PRESENCE: Allies within range have a chance to reflect a portion of incoming damage back to attackers. This chance increases if Warden and nearby allies remain within the range of a Refuge banner.

✦ KNIGHT'S VALOR: Allies within range receive increased energy regeneration, and a percentage of energy spent by allies within this range will stack a temporary buff to their melee speed and range.

✦ BASTION'S RESOLVE: Warden generates a small, persistent barrier around himself that absorbs a portion of incoming damage. When this barrier is depleted, it explodes, dealing minor damage to enemies and temporarily boosting the melee speed of nearby allies.

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[N0VAXIS]

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[09/06]: Updated abilities to include buffs provided by Deliverance.

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