[New Enemy] Aoe Soaker Tank

[NikolaiLev]

One thing that Warframe suffers from is an excessive emphasis on AoE damage.  Weapons like the Ogris and Penta, and frames like Nova are exceedingly useful because they can deal with swarms so well.  While this is part of the appeal for some people, I have an idea that would preserve this aspect while adding a layer of depth to the game.

 

A rare enemy, almost like a miniboss, that would change how players must deal with a wave of enemies.  An enemy that "soaks" AoE damage that hits it and nearby enemies.  If a source of AoE damage hits other enemies and the Soaker, then it takes all of the damage, with the other enemies taking greatly reduced or even no damage.

 

The Soaker has huge survivability, with a large amount of proto shields and/or regenerating HP.  It has fairly threatening single-target damage, but not quite on par with a Bombard or Napalm.  It has decent mobility, being able to keep up with the swarm.

 

This is a kind of enemy I'd like to see with all factions, since the AoE problem doesn't just apply to Infested.  The Infested variant would likely be another Ancient, perhaps called the "Bulwark Ancient."  The Corpus variant could be a tech, or possibly a beefy moa, with something like the title of "Bastion Tech/Moa."  A grineer equivilant could be as simple as a heavy shield gunner, or perhaps a reverse-engineered moa made with grineer technology.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that this enemy would only soak damage that hit it.  So a skilled player could, say, land a fireball just next to the Soaker, making the enemies take full AoE damage.  A skilled Saryn could use Miasma without hitting the Soaker if she knew her precise radius or was willing to play it safe and hit fewer enemies.

 

It also gives more value to single-target focused frames; powers like Ash's shuriken are suddenly more valuable, and single-target focused weapons (like Gauntlets and sniper rifles) are given a little more emphasis.  To further emphasize weapons like sniper rifles, a precise weak point would be suitable; perhaps with the added benefit of temporarily disabling their soaking capacity.

 

It'd also give far more use to repositions like Rip Line and Switch Teleport, though AI should be implemented so swarms and the Soaker try to stay close to each other.

 

The weak point would vary with each Soaker, and it would need to be hit with a sufficient amount of damage (perhaps a % of their max hp, to scale with level) to disable the soaking ability; this would prevent lucky shots with automatic weapons from working just as well.

 

As a last note; because this enemy adds [much needed] depth and complexity, it should only spawn at higher levels; perhaps only level 20 and above, so new players aren't overwhelmed by its power.

Edited January 9, 2014 by NikolaiLev

[Mayflower]

Infested could have some ancient that simply disrupts abilities in an area by its very existence (similar to stalker's more active dispel/denial), Grineer could have deployable shield/disruptor that reduces effects (like 60% reduction or something) of abilities inside its effective radius by sapping whatever energy into themselves, Corpus could have.. uhh... quite literal shield bubble that does not let abilities pass its perimeter?

 

I do not find the idea of a character inexplicably just transferring damage/effects to itself, though we have precedent for that with Trinity.

[Barda1]

I'd like this :)

Enemies need some way to counter the massive overkill abilities and debuffs that we have in abundance. Perhaps the weakpoint that you suggested is closed if hit continiously? So that damage that comes from many small hits is less effective than one big hit?

On the other hand, another enemy could deploy "hard shields" that only lets tiny bits of damage in. (like Starcraft 2s immortals).

Medics could be another nice class for at least Grineer to have, they could cleanse DoT, heal health damage and possibly revive recently fallen units.

Corpus could use deflector-shields that activated when to much damage was recieved (richocets X% back/all around). Some other unit could have reactive armor and tractor beam (meaning as you would have to fight it close range damage would be returned - tactics would have to be used).

 

As someone mentioned earlier, cc-abilities are only as effective as they are because there is no way for the enemy to counter them.

An enemy that isn't affected by for example Rhinos stomp or Novas MP can't do anything about its friends being permaf*cked.

 

Enemy "skills" is needed, challanges and tacticts needs to find their way into warframe.

 

sidenote: if there were more things we could interact with ingame, perhaps some would even require the use of our precious warframe energy?

[NikolaiLev]

Infested could have some ancient that simply disrupts abilities in an area by its very existence (similar to stalker's more active dispel/denial), Grineer could have deployable shield/disruptor that reduces effects (like 60% reduction or something) of abilities inside its effective radius by sapping whatever energy into themselves, Corpus could have.. uhh... quite literal shield bubble that does not let abilities pass its perimeter?

 

I do not find the idea of a character inexplicably just transferring damage/effects to itself, though we have precedent for that with Trinity.

 

A CC disruption ability is something I've suggested be linked to the Ancient Healer's pulse.  I'd still like to see it, though unfortunately it seems like DE wants the game to be more and more shallow, given they've removed much of the Toxin Ancient's lethality.

[Lorane_Airwing]

This idea can probably be built into making the game have more variety instead of just pumping up the level of enemies as you go along. Meaning the higher level areas have more enemy variety, slowly introducing new things such as these aoe blocking enemies, or buffing enemies like the regulators.

[NikolaiLev]

This idea can probably be built into making the game have more variety instead of just pumping up the level of enemies as you go along. Meaning the higher level areas have more enemy variety, slowly introducing new things such as these aoe blocking enemies, or buffing enemies like the regulators.

 

Yes please!