Faction-Based Warframe Upgrade (A La Proxy War)

[WondahBoah]

A thread parallel to this one. I recommend reading it first as I will reference some things in here that may not be understood otherwise:

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/153422-voidderelictsrewards-re-vamp-updated-15/?p=1805373

 

BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, I need you to enter the mindset that we have a thriving, sustainable, FUN endgame, one chock full of crazy challenges, and rewards to match those challenges. Not only that, but every boss has been revamped to DE's ideal state, and are also fun and challenging, namely the late-game bosses. Anyone with a regular frame can excel at these challenges (see: if forma'd well enough)... but having an upgraded frame--in one of the 3 ways I am about to propose--will allow you meet these challenges more head-on. They won't help you faceroll them, per se, but they'll definitely help.

 

In short, keep an open mind. Instead of negations/complaints/rebuttals, think of tweaks/alterations. This is an idea, not a definite game addition. Note that the proper environment/mechanics a necessary for something like this to work; the game as is probably could not sustain "Upgrades Vs. Whole new frames". Be prepared to not see things we've already gotten used to. If you must, pretend that you're reading this in the future, as opposed to now.

 

Intro

 

This link: http://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/1wxhe6/de_steve_gives_us_an_overview_of_some_of_his/

takes you to the reddit version of Steve's ideas for endgame. "The Proxy War" reinforces faction based gameplay with reputation and faction specific quests and rewards. Besides the Grineer and Corpus, groups called the Red Veil Assassins and the Oracles of Saturn exist--potentially as bounty hunters and Orokin historians/Orokin-item hoarders, respectively, but the for reputation's sake we'll center on the Grineer and Corpus. I will also briefly highlight how reputation would tie in, as well as give details on how/where to upgrade and what happens afterwards.

 

What Do You Mean, 'Upgrade'?

Well, in this ideal endgame world, s***'s hard. This is because everything is smarter/faster/beefier than before, and can match us blow for blow, and, if we aren't careful, overpower us. Making your frame more powerful may be almost necessary to maximize your killing potential.

 

In this thread there are two kinds of upgrades covered: General (Prime, Corrupt), and Faction (Vandal, Wraith).

You may have one General and one Faction upgrade on a frame. These upgrades will increase certain stats, amongst other things, and they will give you a skin based on the upgrade. The stats are permanent, as per the upgrade (see next section), but you can freely switch between skins.

 

How Do We Do Obtain the Upgrade? Which One Does What?

Firstly, I must say that it in no way will be an easy feat to upgrade. There will be a cost, rank, or reputation requirement, depending on the upgrade/faction. This is because they are meant to outline the elite players from the rest, and stand as a goal for the rest.

 

<>(General)

To obtain a General upgrade, you must hit Mastery rank 5 and have a rank 30 Warframe, which will receive the upgrade. At this point you will receive two messages, each containing a quest message from either Darvo or a J-900 Golem. You may only pick one to accept initially, but you may begin the other one after completing

 

Darvo (Prime)

If you choose Darvo, a special node will appear on the map: "Darvo's Hideout." Darvo's Hideout is a tech'd out cave in an asteroid that orbits a remote Orokin Tower. Darvo is inside, behind what appears to be a store counter. Next to him is an upright Orokin Cryopod, retrofitted with Corpus gizmos. Darvo gives you his sales pitch:

 

"That mass-produced thing you call a Warframe you've got on is a little dinky, don'tcha think? Tell you what, I'll run it through my Orokintransmogrification thingy, and it'll come out like one of the originals. You Tenno like vintage, right? Before I can do that, though... you gotta do something for me. You know my old man, Frohd Bek? Well he's getting real naggy about me "not serving the Board" and "not making progress" and "profit," and I need something to get him off my back. I need you to go into to Void and do two things: First, get me 40 Orokin thingies. Hit the baddies in there hard enough and one might pop off. Second, I need 30 scans of anything Orokin in that place. Finally, I need you to hack and disable the central security system via this control panel.The thingies are for me, and the scans are to be submitted to my father for analysis. Gotta look like I'm doing something, right? The disabled security system? Erm... Don't worry about it."

 

Once the quest is finished, you will have access to 'Darvo's Machine', with which he will give you a 'Prime' upgrade. This includes: Prime Skin, Extra polarity (you choose what & where), Boosted shield recharge, zero aggro from void turrets, stun chance on melee-range enemies, shorter Focus activation time.

 

J-900 (Corrupt)

If you choose J-900, a special node will appear on the map: "Fall from Grace." Fall from Grace is a Corrupted throne room inside the Derelicts. J-900 is in the center, watching your every move. Connected to it is an Orokin Cryopod, worn down with age and covered in glowing, pulsating, crimson growths. You hear a voice in your head:

 

We have been watching you, Tenno. You tirelessly cut down more and more of us, only to find that our numbers only grow. Why do you try to destroy what cannot be destroyed? Do you not see that it is futile to stand against us? We are your flesh; to try to harm us will only cause pain within yourself. Have no fear, for we can rid you of that pain. We can give you immortality. Join us. Abandon your flesh. Be reborn.... To show us your disdain for flesh, destroy as much of it as possible! Destroy 2,000 beings of flesh. Bring us their hearts.... We await your return.... brother.

 

Once the quest is finished, you will have access to 'the Corrupt Chamber,' with which J-900 will give you a 'Corrupt' upgrade. This includes: Corrupt Skin, Extra polarity (you choose what & where), Decreased Health, Vampire Health drain from targets, reduced chance of disruption from Ancients, shorter Focus activation time.

 

If you decide to change what upgrade you would like after completing both quests, you may pay Darvo in Orokin thingies to get a Prime, or kill more people for J-900 to be Corrupted. Switching upgrades forfeits the effects and skin of the current upgrade for the new one.

 

 

<>(Faction)

The only way to receive a Faction upgrade is to maximize your reputation with either the Grineer or the Corpus, at which point they will invite you to permanently join their ranks. Committing to one of the two gets you maximum perks/rewards from that side, but also forces you to fight for them in Invasions. Refusing the offer will set you back some points as you may have offended the faction, but that'll allow you to play the field for a while longer, or take some time to actually think through what committing might mean for your experience in the game.

 

 

After you've committed, the option to upgrade becomes available, and you get a special shoulder badge that goes onto the clan badge side: "Queen's Wrath"- Grineer, "Honorable Board Intern"-Corpus

 

You must complete a quest that is the same for both sides. Collect 5 of the enemy's clan material (Fieldron v Detonite), kill 1200 more of the enemy, and scan 3 of their leaders/bosses.

 

Again you'll need a rank 30 Warframe that'll receive the upgrade. After you do the quest, a simpler repeat version replaces it for subsequent frames: 1 enemy clan material, kill 500 of the enemy, X amount of credits.

 

Grineer (Wraith)

Wraith Upgrade includes: Wraith Skin, Howling Wraith Syandana, Armor boost, Health boost, Corpus Apocalypse mod*

 

Corpus (Vandal)

Vandal Upgrade includes: Vandal Skin, Cunning Vandal Syandana, Power boost, Power Efficiency boost, Grineer Apocalypse mod*

 

*Apocalypse mods boost Warframe power damage against the faction in the title.

 

 

I conclude (for now) with a guide as to how things will be named with various upgrades:

 

General upgrades: Prime (titling example: Oberon Prime), Corrupt (Corrupt Oberon)

Grineer side upgrade: Wraith (titling example: Volt, W-class)

Corpus side upgrade: Vandal (titling example: Ember, V-class)

Mixed upgrade title example: (Ember Prime, V-class)

 

 

Edited February 12, 2014 by WondahBoah

[TheStag]

There should only be frames, and the prime version. No need to upgrade a frame with Tenno or Grineer tech when the frame is so much more advanced.

[WondahBoah]

There should only be frames, and the prime version. No need to upgrade a frame with Tenno or Grineer tech when the frame is so much more advanced.

actually read something other than the title.

[RavenousPartyLibrarian]

But really, you can't upgrade warframes with any other tech than orokin. Prime warframes are built separately, and we have yet to discover why they exist... warframes are already orokin products.

 

You want upgrades for you "endgame" (which by the way technically doesn't exist at the moment), but lorewise that can't be done by degrading your warframe with less advanced tech from people who don't actually know how warframes work entirely.

 

There might just be some potential in corrupted frames, though. I don't really know.

 

But yeah, your ideas are limited by the lore of this game.

[spysweeper242]

had an idea like this.

[WondahBoah]

Bump for exposure and debate