[Warframe Concept] Sol - Light Based Frame

[Tigersight]

The idea for Sol (Not too sure about the name) is a pure caster type frame using powers based on light. So basically, lots of light beams and stuff. I'd say male, since all our other casters are female.

 

My aim here is a frame more in line with Volt's description: "A potent alternative to gunplay."

Basically, a warframe that you can use powers in place of your weapons. As you'll see, all the power costs are 1/5 of the normal power costs (except the ultimate), with more energy than any current frame, for that purpose.

 

Stats

Health: 75(225)

Shields: 100(300)

Energy: 200(300)

Armor: 50

Sprint Speed: 1.1

 

Polarities:

Aura: Tactics (– )

4x ability (=)

1x attack (V)

1x tactics (–)

 

Notes:

-The idea with the stats is very low health (equal to Loki) with a medium amount of shields (like Excalibur and Oberon). Armor sits between where Nova and Ember are, with the same amount as Vauban. Sprint speed is a little higher than base, (same as Nyx and Banshee) for some increased mobility. Also, it's not a listed stat anywhere, but Sol would have 35 shield regen per second.

For polarities:

-One V and one – polarity would give players places for mods like Intensify or Blind Rage, as well as Streamline, Fleeting Expertise, or Flow, which are important for a caster frame. Though higher amounts of power strength and efficiency would require further polarization.

-The – aura slot would be needed for Energy Siphon, also important for a caster.

 

Powers

Power 1: Ray of Light (Light Cannon) Energy Cost: 5

-Fires a beam of light in a straight line, dealing 100/200/300/400 damage (50% heat, 50% radiation) to enemies hit, with 0.15/0.3/0.45/0.6 meter punch through.

-It has a 20% proc chance.

-The beam is hitscan with unlimited range. (It still stops after hitting something and exhausting punch through range, like a weapon does)

-It has an instant cast time (or something really low- just enough time for the animation to happen so the character doesn't twitch all over the place) with a 0.25 second recast time.(How long before it can be cast again.)

-If the ability is cast again before the recast time is up, it will activate as soon as it can. (So people can spam it without the game beeping them to death.)

-Alternatively, holding down the cast key will continuously recast the ability.(I'm not sure if that works though.)

-Damage and punch through are affected by power strength mods.

-Elemental proc chance is affected by power strength mods.

-Energy cost is affected by power efficiency mods.

-Recast time is affected by cast speed mods.

-This ability can be used at any time a gun can be used and can be used while moving.

 

Notes:

-With instant cast time and 0.25 second recast time, it can be cast 4 times per second without cast speed mods. (6 casts per second with maxed Natural Talent)

-The punch-through allows for effective use against clustered enemies.

-The idea here was a core spammable ability that could match a decent assault rifle's damage. For reference, a decent karak(with catalyst) does ~40% more dps than Ray of Light.

-This power would need 2 or 3 animations for firing continuously.

 

Power 2: Fan of Light (Solar Blunderbuss) Energy Cost: 10

-Fires 4/6/8/10 beams in a cone. Each beam deals 25/50/75/100 blast damage.

-The beams are actual projectiles and have travel time. Look and size of a lanka shot.

-Maximum range of the beams is 25 meters

-Each beam has a 50% blast proc chance.

-Has a 0.5 second cast time and 0.25 seconds before it can be cast again.

-Firing cone is 60 degrees.(Shots the farthest from the center would be up to 30 degrees away from your reticule.)

-Number and damage of beams is affected by power strength.

-Energy cost is affected by power efficiency mods.

-Range of the beams is affected by power range mods.

-Cast time is affected by cast speed mods.

-Blast proc chance is not affected by mods.

-This ability can be used at any time a gun can be used and can be used while moving.

-Does not interupt reloading weapons.

 

Notes:

-This power mimicks a shotgun, with high damage potential, at very short range. The blast proc chance provides cc for use against large groups of enemies, like a miniature version of banshee's sonic boom.

 

Power 3: Concentrated Assault Energy Cost 15

-Fires a continuous beam of light. Deals 125/250/375/500 damage initially on cast, then deals another 125/250/375/500 damage over 1 second.

-Initial damage is 25% heat, 25% blast, 50% radiation. Continuous damage is 50% heat, 50% radiation.

-Each second channeling continues, the beam deals another initial burst, plus continuous damage, which increases by 25/50/75/100 percent of the damage in the last second. (Meaning the initial and continuous damage would each deal 500, then 1000, then 2000, then 4000 at max rank) The energy cost increases by 12.5/25/37.5/50 percent per second.

-Maximum range is 10/13/16/20 meters.

-Beam is 0.5/0.67/0.83/1.0 meters wide.

-Beam has 0.5/1/1.5/2 meter punch through

-Has an initial cast time of 1.5 seconds.(Before beginning to deal damage)

-Cannot be cast while in the air, sliding, or wall running.

-Slows the user to a walk while channeling.

-The power begins casting when the key is pressed, and ends when the key is pressed again.

(After the end of the last 1 second channel time).

-Casting another power or being hit with stuns/knockdowns ends the power immediately.

-Initial and continuous damage are affected by power strength.

-Punch through is not affected by power strength mods.

-Energy cost is affected by power efficiency mods.

-Width of the beam is affected by power range mods.

-Maximum range is not affected by power range mods.

-Initial cast time is affected by cast speed mods.

 

Notes:

-This is Sol's big nuke attack and can deal huge amounts of damage. However, it also consumes massive amounts of energy if channeled for too long.

-While it has the highest damage potential of any of Sol's abilities, starts lower and takes time to reach higher dps than Ray of Light and Fan of Light, making Sol's other abilities more effective against weaker enemies.

-Its long initial cast time makes Concentrated Assault a poor choice against enemies within melee range. Casting Fan of Light first to land a blast proc on enemies would allow for more time to cast.

 

 

Power 4: Dispersion Lens Energy Cost 100

-Projects a lens which travels 10 meters(in 2 seconds) before slowing down to a very slow speed.

-The lens blocks all incoming fire for 5/7/9/10 seconds, up to 200/400/600/800 damage. When the damage limit is reached, the lens disappears after 0.5 seconds. (Or the end of its normal duration, whichever comes first.)

-When hit by allied fire that deals purely elemental damage, the attack is reflected out in the direction the lens is facing(the direction it was cast) in duplicated in 5/10/15/20 different directions, depending on where they hit the lens.

-All fire that hits the lens, including ally fire and elemental fire reflected through it, damages the lens.

-Cast time of 0.25 seconds

-The lens is solid, units cannot walk through it. It will stop moving if obstructed by a unit or an object in the environment. It can still 'slide' along walls if it hits them at an angle.(So it doesn't stop randomly from tapping into the walls of small corridors.)

-The lens is circular and has a radius of 1 meter. It is 0.2 meters thick

-Number of reflections is affected by power strength mods.

-Damage taken is affected by power strength mods.

-Duration lens lasts is affected by power duration mods.

-Radius of the lens is affected by power range mods.

-Thickness of the lens is not affected by power range mods.

-Can be cast any time a weapon can be fired and can be used while moving.

-Does not interrupt reloading weapons.

 

Notes:

-The lens works with all of Sol's powers because they are all elemental damage. It would

also work with the lanka, acrid, and other pure elemental damage weapons.

-I chose this as Sol's ultimate over Concentrated Assault partly because of the energy cost.

(It made more sense for the ultimate to be the exception to the 1/5 normal cost rule than

the third power.

-The other reason is that there are already a lot of 'hit 4 blow stuff up' ults. This one provides both a defensive measure to ward off attacks for a brief period, and a potent buff to Sol's abilities when cast through, in exchange for breaking the shield. The health of the lens is specifically enough that it will be able to reflect the first second, plus the initial damage from the second channel of Concentrated Assault, do to the 0.5 second time to break after reaching its damage threshhold.

-By moving ~10 meters, the lens is also at a good distance to reflect Fan of Light, extending its range to ~20 meters without any power range mods.

-The way this works looks something like this: http://youtu.be/sLcSzXLD2vU?t=2m27s

 

Well, that's my idea. Some of the mechanics are complicated, but actually playing with the frame, it would be pretty simple.

And looking at it, the damage of the powers might seem pretty high, especially compared to their costs, but when compared against any good, or even decent gun, they are still rather underpowered. Even so, I feel this frame would actually provide, "a potent alternative to gunplay."

 

Sound good? Bad? Any comments? Any recommendations for better ability names? I don't really like the names of 1 and 2 that much.

 

 

---

3/11/14 editted to include some feedback from MagiTwister - Thanks!

Edited March 11, 2014 by Tigersight

[autarchist]

Cool. Similar idea here: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/189768-helios-solarlightbringer-frame/

Seems like we're on the same track , but dif power ideas (stats similar in Magitwister's eval, I think)

Your ideas:

Light fan power is kinda neat & original effect zone- would be cool for a sustained power perhaps!

The Lens is creative too, but might be too situational & a pain to code/use

[Tigersight]

Cool. Similar idea here: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/189768-helios-solarlightbringer-frame/

Seems like we're on the same track , but dif power ideas (stats similar in Magitwister's eval, I think)

Your ideas:

Light fan power is kinda neat & original effect zone- would be cool for a sustained power perhaps!

The Lens is creative too, but might be too situational & a pain to code/use

 

Ah, I see the similarity, especially with their third powers.  Though, I was definitely aiming for a squishier frame- less health, shields, and armor- more focused on damaging powers, not quite as much utility as the frame you came up with.

 

As for the lens power, I was thinking that it would basically work like a reversed version of bullet magnet. Just redirect the stuff that hits it outward from a single point instead of in toward a single point. Edit: Oh, and I figured it would be useful in situations where you had to lay fire over a large area. And, it would look cooler than our other 'blow up stuff within X meters of this spot' powers while it did it. XD

Edited March 9, 2014 by Tigersight

[(PSN)GR13V4NC3]

I made suggestions to another post about a light/laser based frame. My ideas for you to play with are "think prismatic," being able to take white light and change the spectrum and vice versa (basically being able to concentrate light into lasers). A power idea I had was for him (Sol) to have a trap esk move like Vauban but it is a chain-link fence type wall of light/laser (similar to the laser walls/fields that cut things into pieces from the Resident Evil movies) that shoots forward (size/power of the wall/fence expandable by mods) but unlike Bastille, it doesn't hold enemies in it, but rather cuts the weaker ones into pieces and pushes the stronger ones back (like a wave) damaging them until it kills them or you do. for the move generation, I think it would be cool if the frame had an iron man-type chest cannon that shot this out.

 

Another idea would be to give him Solar panels (shoulders/Chest and back or something) that could recharge his powers and/or shields/energy and so on. So he could pull in all the light from whatever external sources are around (being outside in sunlight could be more infusing, but just an idea).

 

Idk. play with it and see what you come up with. Enjoy!

[DangerDaddy]

Alrighty, I might just get down to work helping here, if you don't mind...

 

Sol is a fun, light based name, Sol is actually the name of the sun Earth is moving around. 

 

Power 1 (Ray of Light) (Light Cannon)
Having a 5 energy for a 400 damage, 50m, .6 punch through, spam-able, proc-ing ability seems to be just a little bit to powerful

 

I suggest...

Make the energy cost the normal, rational 25. If you want it back to 5, use power efficiency. Take out that electric damage (50% heat, 50% radiation) because light coming from the sun isn't going to electrocute you, it'll cook you and radiate you.

 

Buff that status chance to 50% to make it a bit more viable, this'll make 1/4 enemies proc'd by Radiation, which is a good crowd control, but not strong enough to be built towards.

 

You can keep the damage, or the punch through, it's not high in either regard, so it's nice and makes the power good for its job.

 

The range HAS to go. 50 meters is the hard cap on all abilities, regardless of mods or stats. and 50 meters is a LARGE distance in this game. 10-13-16-19  meter radius is quite good (almost the size of Rhino's Stomp) and will work through the punch throw fully.

 

.25 second cast animation, and a .5 second recast time is what you'd want for this ability. 2 casts every  3 seconds is still fast, but it'll make it not so strong you still need your weapon in low ranked missions.

 

Power mods would work normally

 

Power 2 (Fan of Light) (Solar Blunderbuss) 

a lot of beams makes it hard to see, and makes it hard to balance, at max rank you're having 2000 damage at close range for 10 energy.

 

I suggest...

Lower either the shots to 10, or lower the damage to 50 from 100. By halving the damage it's still strong (1000 damage will kill most mobs below level 20, and the ones that won't die shouldn't).

 

the range is a little low, the shotguns in this game (sans-detron which is unique) are set to a range cap of 25, and after that they lower in damage, if this ability is a shotgun, make it follow the same rules. (I don't suggest changing the cone, it's golden).

 

The same issue with the first power for cast timing, make it .25 second cast time, and a .5 second recast time. A small animation wouldn't look all that bad, and lets a frame continue moving fast, and with lower health, armor, and shields, Sol needs to move very fast.

 

Power strength mods would increase damage, but not amount of pellets. Otherwise the power mods work normally

 

Power 3 (Concentrated Assault) (Assaulting Lens)
For the duration of the ability, is Sol cast-locked, similar to Banshee's ultimate or are you thinking of having Sol able to either move, or twirl to the side to hit everyone around him?

 

I suggest...

Just get rid of the channeling part completely, it sounds nice, but if it's able to swivel it's to strong, and if he can't, then he's wasting energy every second (potentially unlimited damage with maxed flow, and power efficiency). Instead Sol could drop a "lens" that'll do a similar thing. 

 

This "Lens" would take 50 energy per second (50 on cast) and deal 400-600-800-1000 per second damage in a beam. Sol may cancel the lens by pressing the ability a second time. No accumulation of damage over time or cast-lock involved, this'll make it easier to use, and give Sol more power. (This ability would be amazing for defending a corridor for example, or covering Sol's back when he's running). 

 

The beam could travel 20 meters across the board, increased by power range. Long enough to hit and kill where people normally can, but not long enough that it can be used to snipe opponents.

 

Power strength/range/efficiency mods wok as normal. Power Duration mods would decrease the time between the beam.

 

I'll be honest, I don't know what to do with the last power

 

I don't fully understand the concept of it, and it seems to be extremely niche (it's useless against infested, and 90% of the grineer/corpus) (it moving would make it extremely hard for people to use it as cover against solid fire) (being solid might accidentally crush enemies into walls/off the edge) (by hitting it and splitting some attacks, wouldn't that be EXTREMELY counter effective, as a bombard's fire damage would become 1-shot killer with 5 different hits at once?). If you could explain it to me, I might be able to help a bit there, otherwise I'll just leave this as is

Edited March 9, 2014 by MagiTwister

[Tigersight]

--

Thanks for the comments. I'm not really sure about the name of the frame, Sol was kind of the only thing that came to mind.

As for the powers:

Power 1:

I figured it wouldn't be an issue to ignore the 50 meter hard cap because Valkyr already does that. Besides, if there's a range limitation, then there will be times when people try to shoot an enemy with it and it just doesn't hit because they're too far away- something that doesn't happen with a gun. Since Sol's kit is designed around being able to use powers in place of weapons, that would be a problem.

Also, I realize the damage looks really high, especially for the tiny energy cost. Because frankly, damaging powers are pretty crappy right now. We have Ash's shuriken that deals 1000 damage, which no one really uses, and Nyx's Psychic bolts that deal 1200 damage (though it costs 50, so it's only 600 per 25 energy) - no on uses it either. The only damage powers that see a lot of use are the ones that have a secondary effect, (CC mostly) or ones that have huge aoes so their mediocre damage can be balanced out by hitting 40 enemies at once.

Since strictly damaging powers are in a bad place, that's why I balanced the numbers against guns. To my knowledge, the karak is a pretty middle of the road assault rifle. Using mine as a point of comparison, with a rank 8 serration and split chamber(and nothing else), the karak still deals more damage per second than Sol's first power. (1486 damage compared to 1200) Basically, I made it so that it sits between where damage powers and guns are right now. (Because actually giving it damage like a gun would result in the numbers not even looking serious anymore.)

Also, without any energy or efficiency mods, it could be used 60 times from a maxed energy pool. That's 24000 possible damage. The karak holds 570 rounds, worth 72390 damage. And assault rifle ammo drops are a lot more common than energy orbs.

Also, I gave it a low proc chance because the proc wasn't the point of the power, just a small chance that it does a little extra, like many guns.

And I agree about the elements, heat and radiation make more sense.

Power 2:

I balanced the power vs the range against #1, so that both would be viable to use depending on the situation. Although, I did make a mistake with it now that I think about it. I balanced it for 2000 max damage when I was thinking of a 0.75 second cast time (#1 could deal 1200 damage in that time). It would offer a higher max dps, but you would have to get close enough to have at least 60% of the projectiles hit (Which is really close). Since changing it to a 0.5 second cast time, it would make more sense to adjust it to 4/6/8/10 projectiles, for a maximum of 1000 damage, 200 more than #1 in the same time, to account for the extra CC effect it has.

I agree with increasing the range, 25 meters seems a bit far, but with the way it spreads, only a few lasers at the center of the spread would hit near where you're aiming at 25 meters anyway.

I disagree with the 0.25 cast/ 0.5 recast time, mostly because of the aesthetics I have in mind. I was thinking something like, holding up a hand, kind of holding for a moment like charging up, then firing. With that and the high blast proc chance, it would give the power a kind of 'kick' that I feel would be cool.

 

Edit: Also, I chose for power strength to increase the number of lasers so it also benefits the utility instead of just the damage. (More lasers = more chance to stun stuff)

Power 3:

Channeling the power would slow Sol to a walk for the duration, like using a heavy weapon does. Yes it would be aimable, but that wouldn't be any more OP than any continuous fire weapon- you have to keep firing it at an enemy to deal the full damage.

I think you missed the part about it having an exponentially increasing energy cost. Even with max flow and max power efficiency, it could only be kept up for 10 seconds max. (~5 seconds without) The amount of damage it could do in that time would be huge, but if you're using it for that long it one go, you're probably doing it wrong.

Looking back at it now though, I feel the range and width of the beam is too large. I'm going to cut them down some.

Power 4:

The idea here is that it provides a small shield you could use to block some incoming fire, but it's not a big wall like Volt's shield (unless you mod it for that).

The main purpose of the lens is to be able to fire Sol's powers through to duplicate them and offer aoe potential that's not a big spherical bubble of damage like many other powers. (AM drop for instance.) It wouldn't be entirely niche, but there would be a lot of times *not* to use it, unlike a lot of frames who can spam 4 all day without any thought.

Also, I considered the whole pushing people off edges/through walls- that's why it stops on contact with units or the environment.

I'm not sure about bombards, I don't know if their shots explode on contact or what with the way they fly, but it certainly would be a bad idea to use against a napalm. Their fire attacks would get multiplied and blow up everything. I guess it would make more sense for it to only duplicate allied fire...

Umm, to give a little more explanation on its use, all the fire it duplicates through would be aimed in the direction the lens is facing (The direction it was originally cast). This would give the ability to shoot around corners if used correctly. Edit: Or it could be cast while jumping so it fires downward at enemies, giving a better shot over cover.

I hope that clears up some of my thinking on how the frame would work.

 

Edit: put in spoiler boxes.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Tigersight

[autarchist]

I like Magitwister's reworks here too.

* I do agree that damage for powers could be higher (in general)since guns already far outstrip any damage powers - and powers use scarcer resources and should be special.

* would like to see more variety with a light frame & less Volt+ parallels though. Power 1 & 3 could be either or I think & I like the 'solar blunderbuss' but feels like just dif shaped damage (again, guns will excel more there)

* cool on the Lens descrip! Sounds potent and physics heavy but unique

Edited March 10, 2014 by autarchist

[Tigersight]

I like Magitwister's reworks here too.

* I do agree that damage for powers could be higher (in general)since guns already far outstrip any damage powers - and powers use scarcer resources and should be special.

* would like to see more variety with a light frame & less Volt+ parallels though. Power 1 & 3 could be either or I think & I like the 'solar blunderbuss' but feels like just dif shaped damage (again, guns will excel more there)

* cool on the Lens descrip! Sounds potent and physics heavy but unique

 

Yeah, it seems like #1 and #3 are a bit similar. Even if their effects are very different, they both fire a beam of light. I think #3 is more of a cool move, so if I changed one it would be #1. Not sure what I'd change it to though. Any suggestions?

 

I was a bit worried about the lens being physics heavy. It could use a very 'fast' random number generator, but it seemed that if it got hit with tons and tons of stuff all at once, it could be hard on framerates. The biggest offender I had in mind was #2 with 20 shots X 20. That's why I chose reducing the number of shots it puts out instead of halving the damage of each shot.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Tigersight