Warframe Concept: Vulcan, A Highly Offensive Kinetic Energy Frame

[ImperialUnit9]

Vulcan is a highly mobile and offensive frame, his abilities specialize in hitting things hard and fast (giggity).

 

Abilities:

 

Beat-down: Vulcan dashes toward an enemy and punches them in the face (the animation depends, small enemies or ones that are close to the ground will be kicked) dealing 400/500/600/700 damage. Immediately after the first blow connects, the player can re-cast this ability which will make Vulcan hit his target again without stopping the animation. This process can be repeated indefinitely, however, the subsequent blows will do 30% less damage after each hit.

Cost: 25 energy

 

Ram: This ability propels Vulcan forward 10/15/20/25 meters 3 times (basically like spamming rhino charge 3 times). The difference between this and other dashing abilities is that it's much faster, it doesn't have the delay at the end of the animation, and since it consists of 3 smaller dashes, it can be aimed in between charges. For example: I activate the ability, the  first dash moves me forward, then I aim to the left and the second dash moves me to where i was aiming, and then I look up and the final dash propels me upwards. This ability deals 40 damage in a 3m radius.

Cost: 50 energy

 

Punish: This ability has 2 stages. The first stage (which is activated by pressing the button once) is passive and grants the player 40%/50%/60%/70% damage reduction which goes away once the player has taken a certain amount of damage. In the second stage (which is activated by pressing the button again after activating the first stage), Vulcan takes all the energy absorbed from the attacks in the first stage and ejects it in the form of a jet of thermal energy 5m wide and 9m long (this deals 50% heat, 50% impact damage). The damage this ability deals depends on how much was taken in the first stage while it was active. The difference between this and Nix's absorb is that Vulcan is completely mobile in the first stage and the energy can be ejected at any time, even when the first stage is still active.

The initial cast costs 35 energy and ejecting will cost an additional 35 energy.

 

Hypocenter: Vulcan slams his fist into the ground. Sending a wave of seismic energy that ragdolls enemies in a 25m radius and sends them flying, causing them to bounce off surfaces repeatedly. The initial wave deals 700 damage but enemies receive an additional 50 damage whenever they bounce off something (other enemies, walls, roofs, floors, etc.)

cost: 100 energy

 

Stats:

 

Shield: 80

 

Health: 80

 

Armour: 10

 

Speed: 1.3

 

Energy: 125

 

If you liked this one,check out my other concepts and let me know what you think.

[Axeroix]

1.25 at most

[Archwizard]

Wait... what's the difference between Beat Down and Ram precisely? They're BOTH Dash attacks.

[ImperialUnit9]

Wait... what's the difference between Beat Down and Ram precisely? They're BOTH Dash attacks.

beat down isnt a dash ability, what i meant by "vulcan dashes toward an enemy" was that he sort of "teleports" to his target like how ash does in his ultimate.

Edited February 22, 2014 by ImperialUnit9

[Siubijeni]

Stats:

Shield: 80

Health: 80

Armour: 10

Speed: 1.3

Energy: 125

No. Loki is only 1.25 sprint, being faster than him will not do--mobility based frame, or not. A frame's final energy level is 1.5x it's base level, so an odd-numbered base energy doesn't work at all. Standard low-armored frames have 15 armor now, too--changing it to 10 doesn't make enough of a difference to be anything but an arbitrary "but it's different, so that means it's worse and it balances my frame out" attempt. I'm not sure why you picked 80 as a health and shields value, but combined with the low armor the frame is far too fragile. Even Loki, the only frame that is anywhere near as glassy, has the standard 65 armor.

 

Abilities:

Beat-down: Vulcan dashes toward an enemy and punches them in the face (the animation depends, small enemies or ones that are close to the ground will be kicked) dealing 400/500/600/700 damage. Immediately after the first blow connects, the player can re-cast this ability which will make Vulcan hit his target again without stopping the animation. This process can be repeated indefinitely, however, the subsequent blows will do 30% less damage after each hit.

Cost: 25 energy

Ram: This ability propels Vulcan forward 10/15/20/25 meters 3 times (basically like spamming rhino charge 3 times). The difference between this and other dashing abilities is that it's much faster, it doesn't have the delay at the end of the animation, and since it consists of 3 smaller dashes, it can be aimed in between charges. For example: I activate the ability, the  first dash moves me forward, then I aim to the left and the second dash moves me to where i was aiming, and then I look up and the final dash propels me upwards. This ability deals 40 damage in a 3m radius.

Cost: 50 energy

Punish: This ability has 2 stages. The first stage (which is activated by pressing the button once) is passive and grants the player 40%/50%/60%/70% damage reduction which goes away once the player has taken a certain amount of damage. In the second stage (which is activated by pressing the button again after activating the first stage), Vulcan takes all the energy absorbed from the attacks in the first stage and ejects it in the form of a jet of thermal energy 5m wide and 9m long (this deals 50% heat, 50% impact damage). The damage this ability deals depends on how much was taken in the first stage while it was active. The difference between this and Nix's absorb is that Vulcan is completely mobile in the first stage and the energy can be ejected at any time, even when the first stage is still active.

The initial cast costs 35 energy and ejecting will cost an additional 35 energy.

Hypocenter: Vulcan slams his fist into the ground. Sending a wave of seismic energy that ragdolls enemies in a 25m radius and sends them flying, causing them to bounce off surfaces repeatedly. The initial wave deals 700 damage but enemies receive an additional 50 damage whenever they bounce off something (other enemies, walls, roofs, floors, etc.)

cost: 100 energy

Beatdown is an interesting idea. But it's really not good enough to actually use repeatedly. And since that new gimmick is the main interesting point, that means the ability would never be used--it would be like Silence.

 

So Ram can propel you upward, too? That's not ok. Aerial mobility is really the main unique point of Zephyr's tailwind. More, Excalibur's Slash Dash maxes out at 10 meters, and Rhino Charge is about the same (although it actually works based on a speed increase mechanic, not a distance traveled one). You have Vulcan going over twice that distance three times.

 

Punish is interesting but iffy. Am I correct in thinking that you can't return any damage if you let the ability wear off? If so, good. If not, that's way too powerful. Either way, 70% damage reduction is probably too high. Also, I thought this was a kinetic warframe... why is he suddenly breathing fire? Why doesn't the release of the absorbed energy take the form of a radial shockwave? Air can move, and such a shockwave could be quite deadly, so it's not unrealistic.

 

Hypocenter is another nope. Radial Javelin is the only ultimate with a 25 meter range... every other ult is shorter. A direct comparison of Radial Javelin and Hypocenter doesn't look good. Javelin only hits 15 enemies (at most), and does 1000 damage per javelin. Hypo is a radial that hits all enemies in that same oversized range, and they only have to bounce 6 times before it matches Jav's damage. The way you describe it, I don't think six bounces will be a problem.

[ImperialUnit9]

No. Loki is only 1.25 sprint, being faster than him will not do--mobility based frame, or not. A frame's final energy level is 1.5x it's base level, so an odd-numbered base energy doesn't work at all. Standard low-armored frames have 15 armor now, too--changing it to 10 doesn't make enough of a difference to be anything but an arbitrary "but it's different, so that means it's worse and it balances my frame out" attempt. I'm not sure why you picked 80 as a health and shields value, but combined with the low armor the frame is far too fragile. Even Loki, the only frame that is anywhere near as glassy, has the standard 65 armor.

 

Beatdown is an interesting idea. But it's really not good enough to actually use repeatedly. And since that new gimmick is the main interesting point, that means the ability would never be used--it would be like Silence.

 

So Ram can propel you upward, too? That's not ok. Aerial mobility is really the main unique point of Zephyr's tailwind. More, Excalibur's Slash Dash maxes out at 10 meters, and Rhino Charge is about the same (although it actually works based on a speed increase mechanic, not a distance traveled one). You have Vulcan going over twice that distance three times.

 

Punish is interesting but iffy. Am I correct in thinking that you can't return any damage if you let the ability wear off? If so, good. If not, that's way too powerful. Either way, 70% damage reduction is probably too high. Also, I thought this was a kinetic warframe... why is he suddenly breathing fire? Why doesn't the release of the absorbed energy take the form of a radial shockwave? Air can move, and such a shockwave could be quite deadly, so it's not unrealistic.

 

Hypocenter is another nope. Radial Javelin is the only ultimate with a 25 meter range... every other ult is shorter. A direct comparison of Radial Javelin and Hypocenter doesn't look good. Javelin only hits 15 enemies (at most), and does 1000 damage per javelin. Hypo is a radial that hits all enemies in that same oversized range, and they only have to bounce 6 times before it matches Jav's damage. The way you describe it, I don't think six bounces will be a problem.

80 shields and heath isn't that bad, loki has 75, and armor, in its current state, doesn't have much of an effect on how much damage is taken. Also, I don't think 0.05 speed makes much of a difference. But you're right about having an odd-numbered base energy.

 

I couldn't find how far the existing dash abilities went so I didn't have any references to work with.But you're right, Ram could have turned out better.

Punish is a pretty complex ability so it was a bit hard to describe. It's supposed to work similar to Royal guard from Devil May Cry 4. Also, air can cause friction when it moves. And about hypocenter, there are other ultimates that have a 25m radius besides radial javelin, like rhino stomp which deals 800 damage. The damage that hypo lacks in the first wave, it makes up for in the damage that enemies will take bouncing around and its utility.

 

You sound like you know what you're talking about, you raise some good points, I like how much detail you put into your opinion. I'd really like it if you told me what you think of my other frame concept, Crimzon.

[Siubijeni]

Hmmm, you're right on the Rhino Stomp. I wonder how I overlooked that. Still, two abilities (one with a focus other than damage) isn't much of a precedent. Most of them are 20, with a few 15s. Mag is an 18, and Nyx + Saryn are even at 10. I guess technically Nova is a 25, but I've never considered it as such because the actual damage component of the ability is considerably smaller--and everyone agrees that Nova is overpowered, anyway. Zephyr is new, so it makes sense that I overlooked her--but hers is also selectively targeted, like Javelin, and only reinforces my point.

You say that the damage hypo lacks in the first wave, it makes up for with the bouncing around and utility. My point is that it probably more than makes up for it. To be balanced, I think you need to either lessen the initial damage or remove the damage from the ragdoll effect. Or seriously nerf the utility aspect, because the way you have it described right now it is not a minor effect.

 

Armor doesn't have all that much of an effect yet, it's true, but DE has recognized that and said they plan to fix/update it. The implication is that they won't change all the numbers, just change the system so the numbers make more of a difference. In that case, I suppose, the difference between 10 and 15 might be significant enough... but I seriously doubt it. It's just not enough of a difference for any formula that takes the gap between 65 and 190 into reasonable consideration.

Regardless, as it stands Loki has an effective health pool of approximately 274. Vulcan has barely 248. He gains a mere 8 EHP from his armor, while Loki gains more like 50. Armor makes more of a difference than you might think, and means your frame is ridiculously fragile.

 

Air can cause friction when it moves, sure. But to cause that on a moment's notice, enough to spontaneously ignite the air? It strikes me as just a little ridiculous. A kinetic shockwave just really seems to fit the theme better, but it's your frame.

 

For Punish, I've never played any Devil May Cry game, so that doesn't help me at all. What I mean to ask is this: in order to utilize the damage aspect of it, do you have to activate and fire the ability while the DR is still in effect? Do you have to end the DR early to take advantage of that part of the ability? That would be a good mechanic. But if you can let the ability run it's entire course, and lose the DR, and then still fire off the damage aspect... that's just overpowered, unless the duration is miniscule and the damage modest. Otherwise, what is to stop you from taking advantage of the full length of your partial invulnerability, and then fire off the resulting massive blast? It would be two too powerful abilities in one.

 

As for speed, you might be surprised there. Nova is, after all, only .05 slower than Loki, but you'll find he is significantly faster. When you add percentage-based mods like Maglev and Rush, the difference becomes even more pronounced. It makes a difference, and it is simply unacceptable for a frame to outpace Loki--he's marketed as the fast and agile one!

 

I'll look at Crimzon in a second, when I get the chance.