The Value Of Zephyr

[Potcat]

I'm sure many people have complained bitterly about the cost of the Zephyr, so I'm going to join the ranks.
 

The overall cost of the Zephyr is ridiculous. No other warframe (with the possible exception of Vauban) takes this long to build, and given that this is a free to play game, time is our currency. Here's some numbers for you to consider. (This does not include research time for the Zephyr or RNG luck for the Vauban)

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Vauban Systems: 1 Control Module, 1 Morphics, 500 Salvage, 220 Plastids.

Zephyr Systems: 1 Control Module, 200 Oxium, 500 Polymer Bunduru, 400 Plastids.

 

 

Average Collection Rates:

(these are the average rates between myself and 3 of my friends, assuming runs on places where these drops are most common, example: Polymer Bunduru is farmed more effectively on Uranus than on Venus, Kappa runs for oxium, etc)

Control Modules: 1 (void missions only).
Plastids: 80
Morphics: 0.9 (Nef Anyo)

Polymer Bundle: 250

Salvage: 650
Oxium: 20 (Kappa only)

Most people say that Kappa yields 40 per run, but this is simply not the case for my friends and I. If only the RNG was better. 


Now, let's assume it takes ~15 minutes per mission. 

Vauban systems will require: 15 + 15 + 30 + 45 = 105 minutes of farming
Zephyr systems will require: 15 + 150 + 30 + 75 = 270 minutes of farming

 

And that equates to ~157% more time required to build the Zephyr Systems than the Vauban Systems. This means that the Zephyr needs to be (for lack of better terminology) 157% better than the Vauban for it to be worth the time and effort it takes to build it.

 

 

Conclusion: 

This is ridiculous. Please change this DE. I have not seen anything of the Zephyr that justifies this difference in time and effort spent.



NOTES:

15 minutes per session is assumed, but the percentage difference between the warframes remains the same regardless of your average mission time.

Average farm rates determined over 1 week of gameplay.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Potcat

[BrotherIcarus]

Sure she is expensive to build but then again pretty much all clan tech is. I think she is more than worth the resources and the wait.

[K-chair]

Sure she is expensive to build but then again pretty much all clan tech is. I think she is more than worth the resources and the wait.

 

I agree,  This frame is disgustingly good.

[Potcat]

I agree,  This frame is disgustingly good.

What makes it so good compared to other frames? 

[RyanGo]

It's an incredibly strong solo frame, with above average health AND shields, and also very good mobility skills. Whirlwind(?) is also a very useful skill to get out of tight situations.

Personally though, I think crowd control is somewhat lacking, its ult can't always be relied on to clear out a crowded area in defense situations.

Overall: good solo frame, but not as useful for defense mission types.

[SquirmyBurrito]

What makes it so good compared to other frames? 

 

High shields, health, great mobility, good cc, and turbulence. 

 

IMO, she is more than worth the effort needed to get her the normal way. That said, I didn't have the patience and (despite having all her parts in the foundry waiting to be built) decided to just buy her. I do not regret doing so.

Edited March 13, 2014 by SquirmyBurrito

[BaronessBlacksilk]

I rather love using Turbulence as a pseudo Snow Globe for defense missions. Tack on some great mobility and a very fun (IMHO) ultimate and I'd have to agree she is well worth it. Also, having 1290 health and shields on her is pretty nice.

[WolfCounsel]

Honestly with the Grustrag stomping me into the ground every time I want to go hunting for the Brakk, I'd rather save my oxium to remove those bolts since I only receive miniscule amounts of the stuff.

[Potcat]

It's an incredibly strong solo frame, with above average health AND shields, and also very good mobility skills. Whirlwind(?) is also a very useful skill to get out of tight situations.

Personally though, I think crowd control is somewhat lacking, its ult can't always be relied on to clear out a crowded area in defense situations.

Overall: good solo frame, but not as useful for defense mission types.

Valkyr sounds better. Her crazy high armour makes her a lot better at solo runs, and arming her with something like an Ogris or the Dera makes her good enough at crowd control. Not so great for defense missions, but the same goes for the Zephyr it would seem. 

[SquirmyBurrito]

Valkyr sounds better. Her crazy high armour makes her a lot better at solo runs, and arming her with something like an Ogris or the Dera makes her good enough at crowd control. Not so great for defense missions, but the same goes for the Zephyr it would seem. 

 

No, Valkyr ends up relying too heavily on her ult to save her/balance out all the health damage she inevitably ends up taking. This reliance means she spends a good portion of the game with a DPS loss unless you modded for max damage (which then means you're probably going to be running out of energy constantly). Zephyr has pseudo invincibility (very little hits her while turbulence is up) and gets to retain the use of her weapons during this period. From what I've seen the only thing Zephyr lacks is a source of good damage, but I could totally be wrong on that since I have never actually bothered modding for damage on her (max duration is just too fun).

Edited March 13, 2014 by SquirmyBurrito

[AntLion]

Valkyr sounds better. Her crazy high armour makes her a lot better at solo runs, and arming her with something like an Ogris or the Dera makes her good enough at crowd control. Not so great for defense missions, but the same goes for the Zephyr it would seem. 

Valkyr sucks. And frames armor doesn't mean almost anything in this game. Also any frame can take Ogris. 

Zephyr is one of the strongest frames. Especially for Survival missions.

Edited March 13, 2014 by AntLion

[Orbister]

i consider zephyr as part of some kind of endgame, and with that perspective i can understand the cost, also... you can always buy some plat...

[Potcat]

i consider zephyr as part of some kind of endgame, and with that perspective i can understand the cost, also... you can always buy some plat...

 

I think I've given DE enough of my money. They've already made more out of me than most AAA games ever will. 

 

Valkyr sucks. And frames armor doesn't mean almost anything in this game. Also any frame can take Ogris. 

Zephyr is one of the strongest frames. Especially for Survival missions.

 

Valkyr does not suck. You can really get a feel for that armour if you go into a mission with her, then go into the exact same one with, say, Nyx. 

 

No, Valkyr ends up relying too heavily on her ult to save her/balance out all the health damage she inevitably ends up taking. This reliance means she spends a good portion of the game with a DPS loss unless you modded for max damage (which then means you're probably going to be running out of energy constantly). Zephyr has pseudo invincibility (very little hits her while turbulence is up) and gets to retain the use of her weapons during this period. From what I've seen the only thing Zephyr lacks is a source of good damage, but I could totally be wrong on that since I have never actually bothered modding for damage on her (max duration is just too fun).

 

I rarely ever need to use Hysteria. It's true that the Valkyr USED to be a squishframe, but since her armour was buffed to 600, she's become extremely resilient to incoming fire. I haven't needed to use Hysteria to save my &#! for a long time now. 

 

[SpilockT_T]

DE should probably consider increasing the number of drop of oxium per drone to 5-10 oxiums.

[Potcat]

DE should probably consider increasing the number of drop of oxium per drone to 5-10 oxiums.

That sounds reasonable to me. +1 good sir. 

[SquirmyBurrito]

I rarely ever need to use Hysteria. It's true that the Valkyr USED to be a squishframe, but since her armour was buffed to 600, she's become extremely resilient to incoming fire. I haven't needed to use Hysteria to save my &#! for a long time now. 

 

What level missions are you playing? And did you forma your aura to fit in a rejuvenation?

Edited March 13, 2014 by SquirmyBurrito

[Potcat]

What level missions are you playing? And did you forma your aura to fit in a rejuvenation?

 

Any level. And no, I did not. I use Steel Charge because melee is too weak, though I generally don't get too up close and personal in higher level missions (Ex: T3 void missions) because no amount of melee is good enough for that. 

Edited March 13, 2014 by Potcat

[SquirmyBurrito]

Any level. And no, I did not. I use Steel Charge because melee is to weak, though I generally don't get too up close and personal in higher level missions (Ex: T3 void missions) because no amount of melee is good enough for that. 

 

Hmm, lucky you I guess. Also, IIRC Valkyr can (while using max power strength hysteria) still reliably kill enemies with melee in T3s. I remember seeing a screenshot of Valkyr doing 2 mill while in hysteria.

[Potcat]

Hmm, lucky you I guess. Also, IIRC Valkyr can (while using max power strength hysteria) still reliably kill enemies with melee in T3s. I remember seeing a screenshot of Valkyr doing 2 mill while in hysteria.

 

Luck has little to do with it. The Valkyr is crazy strong these days. Mind you though, when I say melee I mean my actual weapon, not Hysteria. 

Honestly, Valkyr cops a harsh reputation because of how weak she used to be. It's true that back before the buff, she had to use Hysteria every 10 seconds in order to stay alive, but these days she's an ultra fast tank that devastates anyone who looks at her the wrong way. 

 

[SquirmyBurrito]

Luck has little to do with it. The Valkyr is crazy strong these days. Mind you though, when I say melee I mean my actual weapon, not Hysteria. 

Honestly, Valkyr cops a harsh reputation because of how weak she used to be. It's true that back before the buff, she had to use Hysteria every 10 seconds in order to stay alive, but these days she's an ultra fast tank that devastates anyone who looks at her the wrong way. 

 

I said lucky you because her low shields usually mean she is forced to tank with her health. Health doesn't normally regenerate. So Valkyr players are normally forced to use hysteria to recoup their lost health. Even with 3000+ effective health (the result of possibly bad math: max steel fiber+max power strength+warcry) she will eventually be running on e.

[Charismo]

but not as useful for defense mission types.

 

Dude, Turbulence is a mobile Snowglobe. Try sitting on a pod and using it.

[fatpig84]

The reason why Zephyr seem costly because there is a lack of tightly packed corpus mobile def and the fact she is an excellent war frame.

 

In kappa, people can get 600 in a day of farming.

For some it is hours, with my clan team i was getting 50 to 60 per Oxium run minimum.

Due to all those blind rage boosted aoes and Novas and that is like 10 mins work.

 

Again she is a very high tier frame and doesn't need extra power str to work.

Max duration and stretch makes her an extremely powerful bullet tank against range, without relying on globe. 

And it is mobile, so she can stand in for Frost.

 

Tornadoes are hilarious in packed room and her tailwind is just hilarious.

Sooo much fun :p

Edited March 13, 2014 by fatpig84

[NinJuju]

Yeah I did notice that the Oxium count per mission was reduced down to 20 where I used to get 40.  It seems like those oxium drone spawn a lot more in other corpus missions, now even at lower level, so if I were a newbie and went all the way to kappa.  I would probably have half of the oxium I need, but that's probably just an exaggeration.  I actually got 5 Oxium on the first extermination on venus when I was leveling up some weapons which would never happen when Zephyr first came out.  They would only start to spawn at like level 10 when update 12 came out.  I'm sure that the oxium cost would eventually be reduced anyways, maybe.