[Warframe Concept] Argus - The Observer

[Santiak]

Heyho folks.
Unfortunately, art is not my strong suit, so this is purely a lore-based concept, as I'm not looking to make anyones toes curl by trying my hand at drawing the frame. I mainly wrote this as a result of finding myself expending quite a bit of energy thinking up various lores - including for other concepts - so I thought I might try to expend some of it into my own concept.

So, without further ado, here's a block of te... eh.. I mean, the concept:
 

Argus (Named after Argus Panoptes, or "Argus the All-seeing", a mythological giant in greek mythology with a thousand eyes - alternate names might be Panoptes or Oculus but went with Argus from this point on, due to personal preference)

The Observer. His keen sight and acumen renders his foes helpless in opposition. He will seek out their greatest downfall, and lead them to it.

 

Frame specific lore:
Argus was created with the specific purpose of serving the Tenno forces as an advance guard and intelligence officer.

As research into this Techoncyte strain began, it was found that not only did the oculatory enhancements lead to an unprecedented level of sight, it also lead to a hitherto unachieved increase in mental acuity.
There were, however, severe drawbacks to both of these advancements. While the Technocyte virus has always been adept at increasing the physiological performance and maintenance of the wearer, the same could not be said in terms of the neurological requirements.

As such, while the Argus strain itself was more than capable of maintaining genetic cohesion reliably, the increase in biological energy required by the wearer to maintain the enhanced brain-function, meant that without sufficient support, the brain would – effectively – starve to death within moments.

 

The solution was as simple as it was hazardous. Building on the already extensive alterations to the neurological structure, the Orokin researchers went one step further, designing one final component that ultimately gave birth to a viable Argus strain: the brain stem was altered in such a way, that it became capable of converting the non-thermal plasma of the shield capacitor into energy suitable for biological purposes.

Part of the energy required to maintain both shield integrity and shield reformation was diverted to the brainstem of the wearer, effetively acting as an additional output of biological energy. While this allowed the wearer to achieve survivability, the repercussions were clear: The Warframes inherent survivability was severely limited as a result.

 

At this point, the very nature of the Argus strain revealed itself as much in function as in inception: the abilities these enhancements brought with it, were of such a nature, that the need for high shield capacity or physical strength was mitigated.

In other words, every change – however minute – always had unforseen repercussions, but the changes were ultimately shaped in Argus' favour.

 

Argus was on of the last frames to enter exile; his vigilance saved many of his Tenno siblings from entrapment, as his sight – and insight – guided their paths.

 

Recently, both the Grineer and Corpus have shown a disturbingly rapid technological development; the introduction of which has left the Tenno forces without sufficient means to adapt to these rapid changes.

As the proverbial noose tightens, the Lotus has set out to awaken The Observer, in the hopes that his sight and acumen will pierce whatever obstacle her Tenno sons and daughters may face.

 

Proposed Argus stats, abilities, as well as ability related lore:

 

Shield: 80

Health: 80

Armor: 100

Energy: 120

Sprint: 1.0

Stamina: 100

 

Gleen (lore): Argus' ocular faculties allows him, when provided with sufficient Void Energy, to momentarily both filter and percieve all possible spectrums of light. With this enhancement comes the added benefit of not only increased quantity of perception, but increased quality. In turn, this information is rapidly fed to his nearby siblings, effectively granting them the same beneficial effect.

Gleen (effect): Enemies are highlighted through any object(s) in a given radius around Argus, according to their primary component. Grineer targets appear as green hues, Corpus as blue, Infected as red, and Tenno as white.

In addition, the accuracy rating of all Tenno are increased – in case the weapon has a cut-off range, this is extended.

Gleen (stats): Base: 20ft radius, x1.25 Accuracy/Range.

Level 1: 30ft, x1.35

Level 2: 40ft, x1.45

Level 3: 50ft, x1.55

 

Apperception (lore): Argus momentarily supercharges the acuity of both eye and mind, percieving the most minute detail about foe and friend alike. This information is then used to reactively reinforce the shields of himself and those around him – not only identifying weakneses, but in an almost prophetic fashion, percieving the probability and result of the most minute of changes.

Apperception (effect): The recharge rate of Argus' shield – as well as those of nearby Tenno – is increased, as the provided information allows the shields to pre-emptively begin the recharge process.

Apperception (stats): Base: 10ft radius, x1.2 recharge rate, x0.9 recharge delay

Level 1: 15ft, x1.3, x0.8

Level 2: 20ft, x1.4, x0.7

Level 3: 25ft, x1.5, x0.6

 

Amaurosis (lore): Utilizing many of the same principles as that of his Gleen ability, Argus creates a feedback loop of the visual information, focuses it, and telepathically assaults any mind with sufficient sentience to comprehend it. While this information is only transmitted to a single entity, the burst of energy itself manifests as a blinding flash.

Amaurosis (effect): Argus stuns and deals damage to a single target, while also stunning any subsequent foes outside of cover in the same direction – akin to a shotguns cone of fire.

Amaurosis (stats): Base: 300 damage, 10ft range.

Level 1: 450 damage, 12ft.

Level 2: 550 damage, 15ft.

Level 3: 700 damage, 17ft.

 

Last Light (lore): The greatest curse of Argus has been the atrocities he's witnessed as an advanced scout; countless friends perishing before his keen sight, every detail of agony portrayed and stored in minute and pristine detail. As has been his birthright, he has turned this in his own favour.

He barrages foes around him with their own personal nightmares made manifest in their minds. So numerous and so intense that what was once his fate, becomes theirs; their mental faculties begin to shut down one by one as their bodies fail to provide the energy to sustain them.

At the same time, he shows his Tenno siblings images of the great victories he's witnessed, emboldening them regardless of vicinity, thanks to the pre-existing telepathic communication network all Tenno share.

Last Light (effect): A damage over time effect is applied to enemies within range, slowing them as well. Increases armour resistance of fellow Tenno.

Last Light (stats): Base: 200 damage/second, 12ft radius, 3 second duration – x1.1 resistance, 10 second duration (no range).

Level 1: 250 dmg/s, 15ft radius, 3 second duration – x1.15 res, 13 sec.

Level 2: 300 dmg/s, 17ft radius, 4 second duration – x1.2 res, 17 sec.

Level 3: 350 dmg/s, 20ft radius, 4 second duration – x1.25 res, 20 sec.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Santiak

[Xhos]

Yup

[Santiak]

Yup

I'm.. not entirely sure how to interpret that, but fair enough. :)

Thoughts and suggestions are more than welcome; is the lore non-sensical, some places that needs rewriting, are the stats fair, do they align with what you imagine a warframe based on the concept of sight to have, same in regards to the abilities; do they make sense, do they sound fun, and so on and so forth.

Also, I'd love to hear what people might imagine him looking like. I'm not entirely without a visual interpretation of him, but as I mentioned, I can't really share it save for through writing, and I haven't really fleshed out his appearence in my minds eye enough to be able to adequately explain it.

[Ddublu]

Well, when I think of this guy; and he is rather interesting to be honest, I envision his head having like a black visor kind of thing with a circlular glowing orb showing through, perhaps scanning side to side. I'd also think he'd sort of have either an acrobatic, meaning on the slenderer side than bulky, and maybe an angelic look to him; sort of fitting into his 'Guardian' persona. Really really rough thoughts here btw as I've no idea what the exact theme DE goes for in creating their Warframes; visually that is.

 

Onto his abilities; he does have quite unique ones; and they do fit his proposed play style of being like an all-seeing warden of sorts.

[Santiak]

Thanks for the feedback.

Actually quite odd, now that I think about it, I hadn't really thought of your proposition for his helmet - but it does make sense. Might be fitting as either the standard version, or using it as an alternate helmet under the name "Oculus", given its aesthetic. :)
Contemplating your idea, I must admit that I imagine it (the orb you mention) darting at random, scanning the environment - until the player takes aim, in which case it would decrease in circumference, and intensify in brightness while focusing down the sight.
The helmet I had initially imagined, was a smooth surfaced faceplate covering his entire facial area, with a ridge running down the center, ending in just barely pointed edges - more or less in the shape of a vertical eye, actually.
The plate itself would have a myriad of smaller indentations, each with a glowing spec of energy - somewhat akin to the eye-structure of arachnids

I certainly agree with him being on the slender end of the scale. As mentioned in the lore, his physiology is already hampered, so him being bulky would be somewhat contradictive, I feel. On top of that, the notion of an angelic appearence is intriguing.

The only other part I had somewhat formulated in my minds eye, was his energy feeding into the base of his skull.
Very basic still, but I imagined a semi-circular pertrusion running across the back of his skull, starting just below the point where his ears might have been. The pertrusion would then have small slivers of energy feeding into the base of his skull - i.e. his shield core feeding energy to his brain-stem for conversion.
I reckon it could be made somewhat differently, to fit it in with an angelic appearence: two curved vertical structures starting just below the his shoulder blades - imagine cutting the letter "U" . Each curve would go up at a slight ~20 degree angle, leaving room for a syandana. Viewing him from behind, the right structure would curve around its own axis counter-clockwise, and the left one clockwise - so the "inside" of both are constantly aimed at his spine. From each, much like the pertrusion I proposed earlier, slivers of energy feed into his spine, but instead of the energy simply emenating from the structures themselves - like the pertrusion - they could have the energy feed into them from the formed shield itself; becoming more and more intense in colour as the energy coalesced before feeding into an indented intake on the back of each structure.

In any case, once again, thanks for the great feedback/suggestions, it's much appreciated! :)

Edited March 10, 2014 by Santiak

[autarchist]

Firstly: Really like your writing, Santiak. Hope you get to apply it in your work. Games industry needs more good writers! Creative concept and epic level vocabulary power names ;)

Design ideas :

- Oculus helm above seems cool, esp with eye saccadic scanning motions!

- I pictured: many-'eyed' helm, with glowing 'eye' designs all around its circumference (Tenno don't have actual eyes I know -but Argus theme!)

- Body should also have eye motifs & draw from peacock feathers (classic mythology) & insects with false-eye patterns. I am not up to the task of sketching something as wild as that could look, but I hope a deviantartist will someday!

- Oddly perhaps, I could also see this as a broader bodied frame, but still light in speed and movement, to give more surface area for enhancing the all-seeing aspects of the above motif.

- Energy conduit running into base of skull (visual cortex) as a glowing pipeline (picturing attached version of Valkyr cords with glowy bits) is a must, I agree. I like the lore support :)

Power feedback

doz namez!

Gleen

- really cool conceptually, but I think it needs more to make it appealing mechanically & distinguish from Banshee

* Simple boost: Increases Accuracy AND Crit chance of all Tenno weapons against gleaned targets (fits lore and helps already accurate wpn too)

- 1 slot low cost implies short duration as well. Could also move this to 2 slot (utility lives there often) & replace 1 with single tgt Amaurosis...but I like as is

Aperception (alt name suggest: Foresight)

- name change also works for lore and gives some 1st letter variety (might be easier to grok for some too)?

- shield recharge rate ++ is good! but pales dramatically v. Mag's Shield Polarize goodness

* Boost: Tricky...no great ideas here yet...

--Could do AOE brief invisibility (like Shade sentinel but to all) + shield recharge w/lore adjustments

-- Could create a static zone (Snowglobe size but dif graphic) where Enemy hit chance is drastically reduced to simulate prediction/dodging (would be a bit like Turbulence though- but stuck in place rather than on frame)

-- Could effect a single enemy target (move to 1 slot) and make it have X% miss chance + recharge player shields when it takes damage? OR

---enemy takes 50%++ of damage it deals (like a fate-link, again slightly dif lore though)

Amaurosis

Telepathic stun cone is awesome! (The mind-flayers would be proud)

Last Light

Super cool thematic power!

-Seems pretty good as is

--Fate-link idea might work thematically here, where Enemies take 50% ++ of damage they deal- victims of their own sins' repercussion (guilt/visions becomes a psychic weapon, if looking for something unique). Allies could also recharge shields based on damage they deal as well- shielded by visions of their ancestral valor (in place of or addition to armor boost)

In summary: awesome, creative ideas. I hope the community supports and helps polish em!

[autarchist]

Pics for possible helm art inspiration (ala Oberon's goat/deer/ibex or Ash's ant/locust/xenomorph-predator-hybrid) ;)

http://www.wallpaperup.com/uploads/wallpapers/2013/10/20/162814/d920b2ee971c504491df8d2ef2479280.jpg

Check out how their eyes go all the way 'round their head too:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Salticidae_sp._AF_2.jpg

Edited March 10, 2014 by autarchist

[Santiak]

Cheers for the valuable input as always, autarchist. :)

Design:

In regards to your aesthetic proposals; I like them. Especially in regards to the peacock-esque notions, as it also fits with the mythology of his name, Seeing as Hera honoured Argus for his service, by implanting a hundred of his eyes on the tail of peacocks.

As for your proposals in terms of the "Many-eyed" helmet (just going to refer to it as Argus helmet for now), I hadn't really contemplated the possibility of his eyes enveloping the entirety of the helmets circumference, but I do like it. It would mean that my own "idea" might not be all that feasible - which isn't a problem, just means I have to try and come up with a visual representation for it.

In terms of him being a more broad, I can see the feasibility - considering "broad" doesn't necessarily have to translate into "bulky". That is to say, it would be feasible that he had a good amount of surface area, without appearing bulky.

While I personally would like to try and avoid him becoming a "Beholder turned Warframe", by having his entire body covered in something that would be actual "eyes" - i.e. not "false eyes" as per the peacock iteration - a broad frame would still be fitting, cosidering that his theme is sight, and that, as we all know; "appearences(sight) can be deceiving".

Abilities:

Gleen: Aye, it was part of my own concerns that it would be a bit too reminiscent of Banshee. The addition of crit change is good, I feel. My initial response was "might as well add Status chance", but after some contemplation, it would - perhaps - make it too overpowered, and it would be somewhat harder to explain via the lore of the ability.
Crit chance could somewhat feasibly be explained, not only as a byproduct of enhanced critical flicker fusion frequency (tongue twister, hurray!) - the point where flashes seem to blur together; think of the blades of a helicopter on video - but also as a result of his heightened metabolic rate, that is, the additional energy requirements of his brain specifically, seeing as this is part of the explanation why flies percieve the world "slower" than we do.
In other words, while light - and thereby time - still travels at the fixed rate, the increased rate in perception and metabolic rate (specifically during the time the skill is active), translates to Argus - and Tenno around him - perceive things as moving slower, thereby increasing reaction time (time to aim, and in relation to your suggestion, to aim at vital areas).

Apperception:
Good thoughts on the name change - was worried if I got a little over-zealous with using less known words for the abilities - if I use "Apperception" from this point, please do not see it as a dismissal of your proposal; it'll merely be a brain-fart on my part. Either is fine with me, so it's up to the community and DE to decide. Either way, cheers for the proposal - I actually had trouble coming up with something fitting, but - as you point out - "Foresight" hits the mark perfectly! ^^

As for boosting it; the difference between Mags "Shield Polarize" and this, is duration. While the "alpha heal" is greater with Mag, the prolonged effect is greater in the case of Argus - if used under the right circumstances, of course - taking continous fire dramatically reduces the on-the-spot efficiency of the ability, but with enough balancing, a very brief pause in damage should recharge a good bit.

Going off of the previous discussion in regards to Gleen, how does this sound:
Because of Argus' ability to nigh-prophecise the outcome of a chain of events, however minute and isolated the catalyst may be - thanks to astounding level of visual and mental acuity this skill grants him - this skill not only works defensively by allowing Argus and his siblings to preemptively start the recharging process of their shields; it also allows them to target the areas that are most susceptible to whatever type of damage their weapons are capable of inflicting.

So while the skill maintains the boost to shield recharge rate, and decrease in recharge delay, it also gains an offensive components, by mirroring Gleen's "Critical Chance" aspect; namely by increasing the "Status Chance" of their weapons.

Amaurosis:
Hehe, I purposefully tried to steer away from mimicking either Beholder or Mindflayer abilites, but it's been a while since my last D&D session. Either way, I hope it's not too reminiscent of them, as that wasn't my intention.
Considering the possible alterations of Gleen and Apperception/Foresight, I agree that two skills with a duration shouldn't be relegated to slot 1 and 2, but 2 and 3, respectively. The question I'm struggling with is, however, how  to maintain Amaurosis, but at the same time making it feasible for slot 1.
We could, of course, remove the stun, but the good ol' direct-damage only skill is a bit too common, I feel.

What could be done, is maintain the single-target damage, but alter the lore just a tad, and through that explain a different component than "stun":

Amaurosis lore alteration:
Utilizing many of the same principles as that of his Gleen ability, Argus creates a feedback loop of the visual information, focuses it, and telepathically assaults any mind with sufficient sentience to comprehend it. Due to the nature of this telepathic assault, however, not only visual information is transferred; audiotorial, semiotical and cognital information is also part of the assault - although only a fraction compared to the visual information. This means that the entirety of the telepathic assault manifests itself by effectively reverberating throughout the brain-structure of the victim, diffusing the strain applied to any one area, ultimately resulting in less damage than had it been purely centralized in one specific region.
Yet again, Argus' birthright manifests itself: While the targeted energy requirements of a single section within the brain of the victim is decreased, the overall energy requirements across the entirety of their brain structure is increased, feeding the telepathic assault with sufficient energy, to effectively "bounce" to other nearby target - albeit in a much weaker iteration.
This residual telepathic energy "merely" manifests itself by a sudden increase in taxation on the cognitive faculties of the collateral victims.

Amaurosis ability alteration:
The single-target damage is lowered compared to the previous iteration (slightly less than usual slot 1 level damage), but by way of the residual telepathic energy, nearby targets are slowed for a set duration.

Last Light:
Good suggestion, would require the ability to be a channeled one, though. My initial idea was that the ability would be "fire and forget", but the added benefit of return damage could very well make up for the channeling aspect. I like it. :)
In regards to the change to armor resistance, I'm worried it might make him too shield focused, while my intention was to have him support various aspects instead of primarily just a single stat - which might also translate to either Apperception/Foresights shield boost or Last Lights shield boost being overshadowed by the other. But then again, players rarely dive into health long enough for armour resistance to play a major role - I actually first wrote the skill with shield resistance in mind, but then remembered there's no such thing. :(

Can't think of anything at the moment, but will edit something in when I do. :)

Again, thanks for the feedback!

And sorry about yet another block of text ;o

Edited March 11, 2014 by Santiak

[autarchist]

Cheers for the valuable input as always, autarchist. :)

Design:

In regards to your aesthetic proposals; I like them. Especially in regards to the peacock-esque notions, as it also fits with the mythology of his name, Seeing as Hera honoured Argus for his service, by implanting a hundred of his eyes on the tail of peacocks.

...++..

block of text ;o

 

 

Thanks & more super cool idea polish there!

 

Design concepts:

Yeah, I don't think it should be covered in real 'eyes' either- should be suggestive & not look like a goofy D&D beast for sure. DE (and some artists here) do a great job of suggesting concepts without totally riffing on it. Patterns in the skin like eye-spots would be neat, or little energy glows that suggest visual(&beyond) sensors in various areas. 

- Oh & I am used to design, so you can dismiss any ideas freely- I am thick skinned and the creative process is subjective & always needs grow and cull  :) Would be great to see what an artist came up with! Lots of fun possibilities

 

Power updates:

- really like both original and reworked ideas for Amaurosis ! No one has a patent on psychic stun attacks either, so don't worry about similarities. Your ideas are pretty unique!

 

Hopefully more fellow Tenno will view and consider this very original 'frame concept. 

[Edits failed to fix bizarre formatting] ^_^

Edited March 11, 2014 by autarchist

[Santiak]

Hehe, cheers.

Just on a side-note to anyone coming across this post (thank you, first of all <3). Everyone is of course welcome to come with whatever input they'd like. In addition, seeing as I've announced my inability to draw, if the concept intrigues you, and you feel like drawing something in relation to it - not necessarily any concept already discussed, just your own take on it, please feel free to do so. :)

Edited March 11, 2014 by Santiak

[Santiak]

Right-o, I tried to draw up something for the concept, but it ended up being something I couldn't in good conscience subject others to, so I'm going to try and describe in more detail. This unfortunately means more text, so for those still reading my blocks of text; much appreciated.
for the rest; look behind you!

Argus/Panoptes("All-seeing/many-eyed") helmet: As I first outlined, I had imagined a smooth faceplate being involved in some fashion, but I wanted to add the propositions made by autarchist, and add "eyes" around most of the circumference of the helmet.

The "faceplate" is basically made up of two merged elliptical shapes; one standing vertical, and the other horizontal. Across each elipse runs a slight ridge, which meet at the center of the two plates. The 4 "edges" taper into a very slight point - more or less like the shape of an eye - 3 of which transition into bars, that extend out from the helmet itself and run around to the back of it. To try and ease the process of envisioning it, using absolute directions, the north, east and west "edges" transition into these semi-spherical bars, that then meet at the back of the helmet. Along the inside of each of these, strands of energy can be seen feeding into a single point on the back of the head, near the base of the skull. For a more visual reference, look at Banshees "Chorus" helmet, and imagine the "wings" of it, running along-side the helmet instead of flaring out.
The "south" edge of the plate is slightly longer than the other 3, covering the esophagus down to where one might imagine the frames collarbones to be.

The plate itself is dotted with slightly squared convex indentations, each with a minute point of energy at the center. These indentations are mirrored on the 4 surfaces (the entire plate being divided into 4 by the two ridges), but while each of the four surfaces are identical in terms of the placement of these, looking at only one of these four surfaces, the dots are not aligned in an ordered fashion. They are not, for example, placed near the corners of each surface, but rather "scattered" across the surface, but this scattered distributtion is mirrored on the other 3 surfaces.
On each of the bars, 1 or 2 dots can be seen, but these are not nested in any sort of indentation.

The back of the helmet primarily consists of a receptacle near the base of the skull with a focused dot of energy at the center, where the aforementioned strands feed into. From both the north, east and west edges, a single row of plates identical in shape to the narrowed ends of the elipse are stacked layer on layer towards this point, slightly flared out from the helmet itself. Again, to ease visualisation, imagine the layered plating of a Samurai's armour, but in the shape of stylized scale mail (i.e. akin to fish or "dragon" scales in shape) - but as mentioned, only a single row of larger scales, as if you had multiple faceplates stacked on top of each other - more or less.

From the nape of the neck, two tubes run around each side of the neck and up under the front lower edge of the faceplate. In turn, two other tubes run from each side of his "jawline", and into the aforementioned receptacle at the back of the helmet. While the sides of the neck are slightly exposed, a 4th row of the layered scales, as described above, but pointing upward, cover the area from the shoulders and up to the receptacle.

To make the scales more interesting to look at, one could place dots of energy on some of these as well; again not placing them in an orderly fashion (i.e. not necessarily at the tip of the scales), but mirroring the 3 sides (north, east and west), with the south row of scales having a slightly different distribution, but one that is mirrored along the y-axis.

As for the "lore" of the helmet, there's not all that much, really, but:
The tubes feed some of the shields energy (as per lore) into the skull of Argus, namely reinforcing the frontal shield, in the case of the two connecting from the nape of his neck to his jaw. Meanwhile, the two additional tubes act as pressure-releases, balancing the power feed to and from the receptacle. In essence, it ensures that there's constantly an available energy source, without wasting energy in case it's not needed then and there.
Meanwhile, the semi-spherical bars are specifically there to maintain brain-function (again, as per lore), the receptacle feeding this gathered energy directly to the brain-stem.

The scales running across the back of the helmet act as both additional protection, as well as ventilation; the increase in energy demand invariably means an increase in exothermic output. This is especially true when Argus makes use of his abilities, in which case the scales flare out momentarily, to release the majority of the thermic build-up.

On a sidenote, this could very well be used for a specific animation whenever the player casts an ability, having the scales momentarily "flare out" as an ability is used.

Anywho, that's more or less my art-inept brains visualization - hope it made sense. :)

As always, feel free to add your own ideas or give feedback; do you imagine the helmet in another way? Is the above design out of line with the conceptual idea of the frame? And so on. :)

Edited March 12, 2014 by Santiak