A Better Fix To Snow Globe

[Onihikage]

(edit: I just realized this should probably instead go in the Warframes & Abilities section, could one of the mods move it there?)

 

It doesn't make sense to take an ability (which I fully admit was overpowered for the purpose it served) which formerly had unlimited protection for a limited duration, and make it an ability with limited protection -and- a limited duration. A tiny amount of protection at that, given its surface area. I think I have a few better ideas.

 

Solution 1 (The Fancy Fix)

 

Snow Globe can still be limited in its ability to protect without making it entirely useless at higher levels. A better change would be to make Snow Globe have various sections, each with their own health value which constantly regenerates at a rate dependent on how much health it still has. If a section is "broken" by being reduced to zero, it will still regenerate normally (slow at 0%, faster with more health) but that section's armor value will be doubled for the remaining duration of the Snow Globe. The doubling of the section's armor value occurs every time it is broken, so a Snow Globe is able to effectively scale with the enemy and strengthen itself as it takes fire.

 

Ideally, these sections would be more or less circular (the parts filling in between the circular areas will appear thicker and actually be invulnerable), and holes would start to appear when a section's health gets below 30%, completely shattering at 0% and leaving a jagged-edged hole. As it regenerates, the section would visually close from the edges inward, not filling in completely until reaching 100% health. This not only looks mega cool, but also helps make it so the part that's regenerating is less likely to be hit while it's regenerating at its slowest. Snow Globe now behaves like a sphere made of ice that's constantly being restored and strengthened by the flurry contained within it.

 

Strength mods would not increase the amount of health the Snow Globe's sections have (leveling up the mod will do that), but its initial armor rating will. Duration mods would increase the duration Snow Globe is active, but also increase the time it takes for a section's health to regenerate. Range mods would make the snow globe larger, but the number of sections remain the same.

 

In this way, Snow Globe becomes a consistent "buffer" against enemy fire, and must be accompanied by high-powered abilities or weaponry to prevent the enemy from keeping the snow globe overwhelmed. The ability for sections to scale their armor rating if broken keeps it a viable (even necessary) strategy for high-level defense missions without being an indestructible barrier.

 

Solution 2 (Two Tweaks)

 

Make Snow Globe invulnerable again, but impregnable to projectiles from the outside and the inside! Then also make it vulnerable to the punch-through mechanic. With those two changes in place, Tenno have to either leave the safety of Snow Globe in order to actually fight the enemy, or stay inside it and use punch-through weaponry. Staying inside it affects your accuracy, since your Warframe will actually be aiming at the spot on the Snow Globe rather than the enemy on the outside of it. Everything else works the same way Snow Globe always has - duration, range, etc.

 

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You guys be the judge. Which do you think most effectively solves the problem of "high level defense = camp inside snow globe and never take bullets" without utterly breaking Snow Globe's utility in high-level defense missions? The first one is more difficult to implement, while creating some level of tension for the Snow Globe being visibly worn down and exposing holes if players don't kill the enemy fast enough, while the second is super easy to implement and forces players to strategize how they're going to work with it.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Onihikage

[Satsuki]

Remove duration as a limiter, leaving only HP as the determinant for how long a Snow Globe will remain active. Similar to what was done to Iron Skin.

The current problem lies in the fact that running Blind Rage + Focus (for the HP bolstering) needs to be offset by Fleeting and Streamline to make multiple castings sustainable as previous globes go down. Problem is that running Fleeting for an ability that has a duration is tripe for obvious reasons. Coincidentally, with the U12 buff to Frost's offensive capabilities and running a pure Power Strength setup complimented by the Squall helmet, this pretty much permits unanimous benefit across his entire skill-set, including bolstering the durability of Snow Globe in the process rather than leaving it out in the cold (pun intended).

Is it necessarily the be-all-end-all solution? Probably not.

Is it a quick fix for having a somewhat better globe than the garbage excuse for an ability it is in its current state? Absolutely.

Edited February 7, 2014 by Renegade-CIX

[ArchPhaeton]

I would rather wait for the DevStream to understand better this move from DE.

 

As I always say, any suggestion from the community should meet the "simplicity" rule: explain the skill in two sentences.

 

If it takes a whole paragraph (or two) it is unlikely to be taken into account.