Some Stuff That I Thought Of To Improve Valkyr

[PrincessFreaddy]

WARNING: This post, in my opinion, is pretty long

 

I'm still relatively new to Warframe (in fact this is my first forum post, lol), and Valkyr was one of the first warframes I made. To be honest initially I just made her because I really liked how she looked, but she soon became one of my favorite warframes to play.

 

Now I will admit, she is one of the weaker frames. She has the lowest base shield, and shes the only warframe to have crystal clear penalties in her abilities.

 

However, I can accept these as characteristics. Just because you have a character with some disadvantages doesn't mean that character is a 'bad' character. If the advantages can cover up the disadvantages I think that can become a strong character. Unfortunately, Valkyr is a character whose having hard time covering up her disadvantages.

 

I don't want to suggest buffing shields, or make her able to use guns during Hysteria. I think this will simply standardize her making her a Rhino, which we already have. These are just tweaks and ideas I thought of that might be able to make Valkyr a more enjoyable warframe to play.

 

 

1. Stats

 

She has the worst shield in the game, and I'd say "Keep it that way". I hear a lot of people asking to buff her shield up, but that would only bland out her characteristic. What I think she needs is a better base health. I kinda want her to be a warframe that would benefit for having more health than shield for a few reasons.

 

First of all, Valkyr has the highest base armor in the game. Similar to Saryn, Valkyr is supposedly designed to take damage. Probably even more so than Saryn since Valkyr is heavily specialized in melee combat. However Valkyr doesn't have a high base health, so the super high armor doesn't really help much late game where your using high rank vitality mods. With a maxed out vitality mod, Saryn has 1110 health, where Valkyr only gets 740, and Saryn doesn't have a low base shield to begin with.

 

Another reason is that the revamp I thought of is designed to use health as a resource. I'll explain on the specific abilities, but I feel like a berserker should use health to increase their offense. Which means more health = more resource to use on damage. Of course even with all the health mods in the world Valkyr will use it all up if she constantly damages herself, but if we can balance out the health use by adding a reliable way for her to recover, I feel like it will make Valkyr a lot more interesting. It would also probably make her a lot less squishy since she'd be working with very high base armor with a high health pool that has a method of regeneration, instead of having moderate health with super low shield.

 

I know Warframe is a 3rd person shooter, and that heavy character differences can tip the balance scale, but if that's the case we wouldn't have warframes with special abilities to begin with. It's a risky thing to do, but at least from what I think if your gonna have specific characters you might as well try hard to make them unique.

 

 

2. Warcry

 

First of all, Warcry's casting animation is pretty long. Warcry has the longest casting animation from Valkyr's abilities, which is very weird in my opinion. This is the kind of ability that says "Hey I'm going to start carving up dudes with my new giant sword", not only because it buffs you and your teammates up with increased melee attack speed and armor, but it also significantly slows surrounding enemies. Yet to use this without making Valkyr insta-die you have to use this under cover, and this usually results in less enemies slowed. A warcry shouldn't be shouted in the corner if you know what I'm saying.

 

Warcry is also meant to synergize with Hysteria with the attack speed boost, but it is awkward to use after Hysteria because of the long cast animation, wasting your Hysteria timer. You don't lose much of your timer if you do Warcry to Hysteria because Hysteria activates pretty quickly. So why not make it the same the other way around?

 

Another odd thing about Warcry is that even though Valkyr is supposed to be a full on melee Warframe, Warcry does not improve charge attacks in any way, making Warcry rather useless with a charge up weapons such as the Galatine. It would definitely be nice if Warcry benefits melee weapons all around.

 

In short, I think it would be great for Warcry to have a shorter cast time, and the buff should also provide improved charge up speed or damage.

 

 

3. Paralysis

 

This ability already starts up with contradictions. Because Valkyr is a warframe with the lowest base shield, many players including myself put vitality and steel fiber for defensive options. However, Paralysis suggests to have a higher shields to make Paralysis do more damage. Putting contradicting factors in a character can be interesting, but its a factor that most players have difficulty to take advantage of. Do I have to put redirection despite Valkyr's super low base shield? or do I ignore Paralysis' damage capabilities? or do I just ignore Paralysis all together?

 

Paralysis is a somewhat awkward ability because it pretty much does no damage due to Valkyr's low shield, but it is super cheap with the energy use of only 5 (3 with a maxed out streamline).

 

I feel like Paralysis was put in just to go with the Berserker theme of Valkyr. Often berserker characters in games use their defense to increase their offense; either being defense into damage, or health into damage. However berserker characters should also be a bit more straight forward. The reason berserkers exist in fictions is kinda because berserkers initially lack offensive capabilites, so they sacrafice defense for more offense.

 

This is a very personal opinion, but I feel like Paralysis should use health instead of shield. Now, I know this would be crazy since Valkyr already feels squishy, but if, IF Valkyr had a reliable way to replenish health on her own, and without mods such as rejuvenation, I feel like this could make Valkyr a lot easier to build, and more interesting. Of course, using 1/3 of health for each Paralysis is a bit extreme, so it might need to be toned down, but if combined with the buffed up health stats I was mentioning earlier (say the standard high 150 base). Paralysis would become a spammable, but risky AOE damage ability which follows the berserker theme a bit better, making it favorable for players who are willing to take risks. It also makes modding Valkyr somewhat easier, since you don't have to waste precious points and mod slots for a maxed out redirection that will only give you 370 shield.

 

 

4. Hysteria

 

Hysteria is a mixed bag in my opinion. I feel like it gives too much penalty, but also too much power.

 

The main issue I have with this ability is the claws; if you can call them that. For the duration of Hysteria you are stuck with a weapon with short range that cannot be modded with melee weapon mods. This becomes a problem late game, where base damage does not over power utility and multipliers. I suppose this is the case with most warframe abilities that do a set amount of damage, but they usually cover that up with different aspects such as range, AOE, utility and burst damage. Hysteria feels like it justifies having a long invulnerability time by letting you have a weapons with clear limits; or the other way around.

 

To be honest, I don't mind having the claws, as long as it,

 

A. Benefits from your melee weapon's mods

B. Actually acts and works like claws

 

They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but I feel like special abilities should also look cool; especially ultimate abilities. The Hysteria claws don't really act like claws. I mean, have you ever seen an animal with claws punch with its claws? At least from what I know they usually use them with a swiping, and this is one thing that pains me to look at Hysteria. Currently in Warframe, there are no claw weapons, so Hysteria could have been the first time we could have see how claw weapons would work in Warframe. Matter of fact, it could have been the only way to see a claw in function, which would add to the unique characteristic of Valkyr. Some people actually care of having unique visual effects, such as Ash's Bladestorm with the teleporting massacre, or Nova with the biggest explosions you would ever see, or even Rhino's stomp that creates an earthquake that bends time. Hysteria could have been an awesome ability where you can have Valkyr swiping through your enemies with giant laser claws, but instead you get knuckles with laser spikes attached to it.

 

I'd say if you can have the best unique weapon that can be modded with your current holding weapon for a set amount of time, I would almost say it would be okay to take off the invulnerability, since she will be life stealing much more effectively compared to the current short ranged, un-moddable punching claws right now. Personally I think long duration Invulnerability can be a problem in future content. Sure, right now it feels needed since Valkyr is on the weak side, but when Valkyr becomes an okay frame even without the current benefits of Hysteria, it can take out the thrill of a fight since you are guaranteed to survive for the given time.

 

 

5. In Conclusion..

 

Higher base health with a method of self recovery

Shorter casting time on Warcry with benefits on charge weapons

Health based Paralysis

Make Hysteria unique, epic and moddable, in exchange of invulnerability

 

I'll be honest, I'm no game designer. I'm just some geek who played different games and wrote down what I kinda expected and wanted from Valkyr, and I'm pretty sure there are going to be people that disagree, and I'm fine with that; I'll be glad to hear feedback. I just thought that I could take my time to write down some ideas and opinions, so that the designers of Warframe might apply these ideas into future content.

Edited January 26, 2014 by PrincessFreaddy

[-CM-Syein]

Making health regeneration to be put on hysteria is what make valkyr players depend too much on hysteria.

Hysteria is a double edge blade, it can carry you pretty far in survival, but at the same time, nuking your damage. 

I suggest the health regeneration to be put on either warcry or paralysis.

When Valkyr's shield got destroyed, she can use health regen without activate hysteria, so she will still be able to use gun at late game and had decent survibility. 

 

Another option (like you stated), have her melee weapon's mod and dps to stack with hysteria's damage. It's will make valkyr more fun to play, since each melee had different fight styles. At the same time, it will also increase hysteria's damage + range (depend on what melee weapon you equipped) 

 

Here's how I wanted health regeneration work. 

So Valkyr cast health regeneration (warcry or paralysis). When she damage the enemy, she will get the same amount of health back (just like how she did in hysteria) but she won't be in hysteria form. 

[Vandoore]

interesting read,

 

Firstly welcome to the forums, and i'm glad someone else finds valkyr enjoyable to play.

For reference my valkyr build includes max level abilities, max level focus, stretch, streamline, redirection, continuity and masterthief(only cause opening things is fun)

 

This gives me 370 shields, 300 health and while not very tanky in general I am able to spot tank if required. If i threw on flow I would have a large energy pool to boot, but I prefer the longer hysteria time.

 

As for abilities I often do a 3, 2, 4 combo whilst jumping, running or riplining towards the enemy. 3 will give a good stun, allowing you to use your 2 without taking much damage, and then any damage you do take doesn't matter because you're now invincible and have health regen while in hysteria.

 

 

As for your suggestions,

 

If she was using health as a resource, then yes I'd agree that increasing it would be warranted. However, she doesn't so its not really needed.

 

Warcry has such a long cast time because it gives so many team buffs, and enemy debuffs. Adding charge speed/damage would make it a little op, and then specific weapons may need to be rebalanced else they become OP. I think it is fine as is.

 

 Paraylsis is a nice fork in the road when building valkyr, giving you an actual choice on how you want her to perform. If you want to use paralysis for damage then go ahead and put redirection on. If you don't end up using it for damage and only the stun don't bother, go tank building. its that simple. Added bonuses for using redirection is that you have a rechargeable shield for dashing around combat. Added bonus for not using redirection and maybe vitality is more health, and while that wont recharge normally, you can always go hysteria and beat things to regain lost health.

 

Utilising mod would be beneficial with hysteria, but at 300 damage normally with a 50% critical and 200% crit damage. Seems decent already, adding weapon mods would make it OP,

 

That my opinion.

[VentiGlondi]

Making health regeneration to be put on hysteria is what make valkyr players depend too much on hysteria.

People wanted health leech/regen so they didn't have to rely on Hysteria all the time. Then they put life leech on Hysteria.

 

It's like they really want Valkyr to be in constant gunless invulnerability mode.

[PrincessFreaddy]

interesting read,

 

Firstly welcome to the forums, and i'm glad someone else finds valkyr enjoyable to play.

For reference my valkyr build includes max level abilities, max level focus, stretch, streamline, redirection, continuity and masterthief(only cause opening things is fun)

 

This gives me 370 shields, 300 health and while not very tanky in general I am able to spot tank if required. If i threw on flow I would have a large energy pool to boot, but I prefer the longer hysteria time.

 

As for abilities I often do a 3, 2, 4 combo whilst jumping, running or riplining towards the enemy. 3 will give a good stun, allowing you to use your 2 without taking much damage, and then any damage you do take doesn't matter because you're now invincible and have health regen while in hysteria.

 

 

As for your suggestions,

 

If she was using health as a resource, then yes I'd agree that increasing it would be warranted. However, she doesn't so its not really needed.

 

Warcry has such a long cast time because it gives so many team buffs, and enemy debuffs. Adding charge speed/damage would make it a little op, and then specific weapons may need to be rebalanced else they become OP. I think it is fine as is.

 

 Paraylsis is a nice fork in the road when building valkyr, giving you an actual choice on how you want her to perform. If you want to use paralysis for damage then go ahead and put redirection on. If you don't end up using it for damage and only the stun don't bother, go tank building. its that simple. Added bonuses for using redirection is that you have a rechargeable shield for dashing around combat. Added bonus for not using redirection and maybe vitality is more health, and while that wont recharge normally, you can always go hysteria and beat things to regain lost health.

 

Utilising mod would be beneficial with hysteria, but at 300 damage normally with a 50% critical and 200% crit damage. Seems decent already, adding weapon mods would make it OP,

 

That my opinion.

 

Forgive me if I sound bitter, but I think you are relying too much on Hysteria's invulnerability, which I really wish to avoid.

 

First of all, putting a full ranked redirection on Valkyr, at least my opinion, is pretty pathetic. If you put the same mod on high base shield warframes, you get over 1k shield, which is way more than Valkyr's health + full ranked redirection shield put together.

 

Second, Warcry is not going to be OP simply by reducing cast time and providing charge up speed. Rhino, who has a similar buff ability, buffs up overall damage, not just melee, but projectile weapons too. It has the same range, same duration time, and uses the same amount of energy. Yes, Valkyr's Warcry provides armor, but this amount is not flat; which means the armor buff isn't even that useful on low armored warframes. I don't think doing some quality of life tweaks will tip the power balance, especially when Valkyr is even being called 'trash tier'.

 

Third, technically right now, you can't really build Valkyr 'tanky'. Her armor doesn't help that much since there is no reliable way to regenerate health, other than health orbs, and despite the high numbers on her armor the affects are pretty underwhelming right now. Putting a high rank redirection can help, but as I said earlier, whats the point if higher base shield warframes can triple that out with the same mod?

 

Last, Hysteria's invulnerability is the only good thing late game. Your overall DPS is just shattered the moment you use this late game. Sure, you are punching for hundreds of damage with a high crit chance, but that really is it. Your left with no other option but to punch with short ranged gauntlets. You can have a better result with Loki or Ashe using their invisibility with a good melee weapon. They might not be completely invulnerable during the time, and they aren't resistant to knockdowns, but their invisibility is cheaper in energy, gives guaranteed crits, can hit multiple enemies depending on the weapon, can speed up using mods, and most of all, can use guns if they need to. Valkyr on the other hand, is stuck. Just because she is completely invulnerable. I'll have to say they might have to work with the base damage once her Hysteria claws can benefit from her melee weapon's mods, but that is much more preferable, simply because it gives options to the player.

 

Let me repeat, you're relying on Hysteria too much, and I can't blame you for that. I am also dependent on Hysteria when I play Valkyr, and I believe many other Valkyr players are too. I just think that relying on one ability, one factor of that ability is nowhere healthy for a game character. Especially if that one factor is invulnerability. That would be like playing super mario bros with having a button that activates star power, but you can't use any other power ups while star power's duration was up. To me, that is just not fun. Which is the reason I would rather have Hysteria's invulnerability deleted, in exchange of making her other aspects better and polished.

Edited January 29, 2014 by PrincessFreaddy