Screaming For Ice Cream; Frost And Us

[Calayne]

Due to the recent trends of topics mainly focusing on Frost, I've been unable to shield myself from the general feeling of negativity regarding the recent "Nerf", as so many put it. 

 

I'd first like to say, this is a suggestion thread for all of Frost's powers, and simply not another rant for Snow Globe, which, in a sense, I agree necessitated a nerf. However, I'd also like to point out this "Nerf" is not permanent. It's a changing of mechanic, and DE always starts with a huge nerf and slowly buffs it up until it is un-h4xx0rz. The logic is simply so that we won't be complaining even more if the skill was still too strong, and required further nerfing.

 

First and foremost, I'd like to point out that while an infinite defence mission may not be possible any longer with the change, this should not mean Defence missions suddenly become unchallenging, or as is common opinion, far too challenging.

 

Frost was unique in that he was the only one that is capable of performing such a feat: Nyx, while powerful, does not have the ability to spam Chaos, and the cryopod is still susceptible to damage; Trinity, while bestowing invincibility to your party members, does not do the same for the cryopod. Frost was the only frame capable of indefinitely holding off a horde of gunfire, even if melee can move in, and certain AOE  attacks penetrate the globe. Yet, all the same, Snow Globe was a great equalizer of the Tenno in that we could shoot outside perfectly fine, but the effective amount of opponents shooting inside was greatly reduced.

 

 That was his appeal, and only appeal.

 

But that was never supposed to be the case, as DE now points out with the recent change. Defences were never supposed to go so high that the game is broken and enemies become insanely threatening individually, much less a group. And it is mostly the last wave in a set of 5 that usually becomes the hardest. For a wise and skilled team, the moment you feel the pressure build up too much in that last wave, you are supposed to extract. 

 

Now, he is trying to be modified to still hold his current role as a defence master, but the focus has shifted: He cannot simply cast Snow Globe and keep shooting. Rather, his abilities should now focus on CC, complementing Snow Globe by slowing and incapacitating enemies, while the few remaining enemies will be impotent to destroy the shield. In this way, even with a limited capacity Snow Globe will still be viable.

 

Here's what I would recommend for his first three skills (As I think Avalanche is kind of nice right now):

 

Freeze:

 

Soon to be changed to Ice Blast (Or has it?), this skill should freeze a group of enemies, modified by range mods. The duration of the freeze should be the same as it is now, affected by duration mods. However, I believe the big change would be that instead of breaking out of the ice if they receive damage, they should only begin to move if either: 1.) The timer runs out, or 2.) A percentage of their health has been damaged, the percentage of which is modified by Strength mods.

 

A suggested blast radius of 5m, and maximum health damageable of 10%/15%/20%. Both modifiable by mods.

 

With this, a large swathe of foes may be stopped: Either a large group of Chargers, for example, or single high-value targets such as Napalms and Eviscerators. With corruption mods like Fleeting Expertise and Overextended, a Frost player can choose between freezing enemies for a short time, or freezing more enemies while being able to do less damage before they can unfreeze. 

 

Such a setup allows his skills to be synergized: Ice wave to slow his enemies into grouping together, as the back catches up to the front, and then freezing them all; Snow globe ahead of the pathway, and as the enemies are slowed inside and are slowly allowed to be compressed, you cast Freeze, whose AOE penetrates the Globe and freezes everyone inside. If you so wish, a quick Avalanche ends the combination.

 

Also, we may finally see this skill in action.

 

Ice Wave: 

 

I believe Ice-wave has received quite a nice buff in terms of scalability considering that it now slows (Or is supposed to). I would like to posit that the slowing effect should be affected by the Strength mods, for slowing percentage, Range mods, for breadth and length (As it is now), and Duration mods, for period of time enemies are slowed.

 

As an aside, it'd be nice if Ice Wave were a slight cone shape, instead of simply a line. This would certainly help his crowd controlling role, as well as give him more flexibility in the precision of his aim for distant or fast targets. 

 

Edit: Noamuth mentioned that Frost, being an ice frame, should have a longer slide than other frames, and that reminded me of Ice man from X-men. So, as an addition, I also recommend a temporary ice-strip that will speed up sliding on it, the duration of which is affected by duration mods. Stretch will then help make Frost a viable transport around the Defence maps. Sort of like a mini-Zerg tunnel.

 

Snow Globe: 

 

The heartache of many a Frost player, including myself. I would like to reassert that I applaud the nature of the change regarding Snow Globe. However, it's up to the community to provide relevant feedback to help bring Frost back up to speed, but in line with the desired outcome of the change: More tactical use, less cramming behind a semi-invincible wall of ice.

 

Here is my suggested change: Keep the HP as it is currently, but implement damage reduction: 10% / 25%/ 40%, as an example. This change has been suggested by many people, and I think it's a rather useful change as well. 

 

However, the main change I would suggest is this: Since Snow Globe is no longer indestructible, and often falls easily at the higher levels, what can we do to enhance its usefulness and still maintain Frost's desired defence role?

 

We make Snow Globe explode. In a hail of ice and snow, after the health of the Globe is depleted, the Globe explodes, knocking down everyone within its range of explosion down. This is modified by the stretch mod, and can affect enemies up to 10m away from the Globe's radius. This could also do some slight damage, perhaps with a chance to freeze.

 

This will allow Frost and his companions a brief respite while being overwhelmed while still effectively defending the cryopod for a short period of time. While it is true that this ability is very spammable, Energy constraints may force users to be conservative, especially since Snow Globe still has a timer. The Globe will not explode if the timer expires, and Fleeting Expertise will enable a Frost to be used in a crowd-control manner; Befitting the name of "Expertise".

 

Perhaps this particular aspect of it requires some tweaking, but I believe with this, Frost will have some manner of CC comparable to Mag while still being a defensive frame.

 

At high levels, the spamming of Snow Globe will cause wastage of energy, and will cause the Frost to eventually run out of Snow cones. However, with a skilled team, the periods where the Frost times his Snow Globes will allow them to use their CC powers, mop up, or quickly mount a defence around the objective.

 

Further, in conjunction with his other skills, he may take this opportunity while the enemies are down to target high priority targets with Freeze, further enabling him to selectively isolate and incapacitate dangerous enemies for a time and allowing his Snow Globe to stay up long enough for the Cryopod to recover.

 

 

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That ends my suggestions. With this, Frost becomes more of a team player, having enhanced, but not derivative, CC abilities as well as needing some coordination with his team. If Frost solos with defence, he will still be a manageable affair as compared to now, and the new mechanisms will perhaps make Frost a better frame than he was before.

 

With a combination of skill, timing and teamwork, a good team will still go far in Defence. However, perhaps it's a good thing that "Far" no longer means three or four hours in front of the computer, as exciting as it may be. In that case, it could be that to make even low levels exciting, a little change in the defence mission itself is called for. However, that is a topic for another day.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Calayne

[MagPrime]

Thank you for such a well thought out post. I don't have my Frost yet, but I look forward to testing this out!

[Calayne]

LoL, if only it is implemented! There's a lot of wonderful feedback regarding Frost, but at any rate, he's still pretty fun! Avalanche is a lot faster now, and at low-to-mid levels, he's still plenty viable.

 

I play Frost pretty frequently, because I'm always the support role in parties. So with my experience, I hope this is able to bring our love back, and exceed his previously-attained power. Hopefully, their use leans towards more skill, rather than just simply casting one power.

[Kyphe]

Being an ice frame you think he should be able to slide further than any other before slowing down.

 

As for the suggestions I have my own ideas which I have posted recently, but would be happy to see these changes.

[Calayne]

You know, maybe Ice Wave should leave a residue of ice that speeds up people's slide on it!

 

Another utility ability that I think would benefit Frost and his team as a whole. Nice one, dude. Thanks!

[Calayne]

Bump, because I need attention in a shameless manner, and also because I love Frost very, very much.

[Seasonsofclarity]

There's been mention that Snowglobe will continue to evolve till they reach the proper balance of intention vs use, so it's possible that the suggestion of damage reduction may take hold.

[Calayne]

I'm actually quite curious as to how it's being developed. I realise that they're going to modify it some way, but I just feel that without an additional mechanism and simply slapping on a damage reduction, it's just one lazy way of increasing effective health.

 

Sure, there's that armor-rating thing from Frost, and that's a good addition, but it can't be the ONLY addition. His Freeze may as well remain a snow-ball, because it's got hardly any AOE, and there's no AOE freeze as far as I know. Ice Wave is also a pretty weak skill at later levels, and is quickly abandoned in favour of other powers.

 

The only thing I think Frost has going for him is Avalanche, which is pretty good in a sense, because the Avalanche now has a large range, and has freeze as a utility. If Frost's other skills had some synergy in it, then perhaps he wouldn't have been called a one-trick-pony as often as he did. It's really quite sad.