Warframe Idea: Arma The Arsenal Frame

[Ether_SolRac]

Original post:

    So I had an idea for a warframe based entirely on weapons. but before I start I would just like to say a few things. first off I have to say that my idea is most likely not going to happen since it would require quite a bit of work that would only really benefit this single frame and it’d pretty much be breaking the standards the other frames follow. Also I’m uncertain if something similar has been posted here before, so forgive me if this is an overdone idea. for the most part I thought it would be better off being posted here than just bouncing around in my head, only to be forgotten a few days later.

Physical description:
    The frame is built with a large cannon mounted around the center of its chest. Its arms have mounted guns in the shape of gauntlets (think war-machine from iron man 2). On its right shoulder is a mounted sniper ( if look at metalgarurumon X as well as war-machine yet again you can get a feel of what I’m going for). On its left shoulder is a shoulder guard  with a lotus emblem on it. On its back near the top is a medium size power core and near the bottom left and right of the back are three small power cores on each side. Each of these smaller cores is attached to a cable that the reaches out to underneath the plate the hosts the chest cannon and follows a near ribcage like pattern. Along its spine is series of plates. The large blade is holstered dead center on the back and has a circular hole in its center the fit’s the medium sized power core on its back. The large blade can be split down the middle to form twin long swords. On the top of the blade hilt it is decorated as a lotus emblem split evenly between the blades and on the blade itself it is lined on both sides with Tenno writing much like Loki. The legs have it so that from foot to knee it’s a little more plated to give it a more boot and guard like appearance. The rest of the body is rather normal sized and rather slender with most of the bulk being attributed the weapons. And for its face its right eye is a large robotic eye that glows with the energy and the rest to have maybe either a smooth cobra commander like look to it or a diagonal strap like texture with slips of energy poking through and ending in a spike near the back of the head or like an asarri from mass effect.  I left the gender of this design out mostly because it could work either way and the female design (while I think it could actually work out very well) is a maybe since its hard to say if any community would be mature enough to see a frame with, well… a breast cannon (insert Austin powers fem-bot joke here), Although this wouldn’t be the first frame with a comically suggestive design (looks at rhino).

General abilities and direction:
    The first thing to note is that this frame has little to no true abilities to speak off, nor is this frame allowed to equip any weapons. It is meant to be designed with its own weapons that are actually fused with the frame itself. Arma has four weapons it has access to and each is attached to one of the four ability slots as its method of switching between them. They could also introduce mods that affect each of these modes or have It have so that they change firing modes when you activate the ability again.
Its modes are
1. Blast- this essentially enters a heavy firing mode that fires from a chest mounted cannon. The modes could determine whether this fires as a more high rate of fire shotgun or the more powerful cannon blast
2. Assault - this will activate its arm mounted guns. The modes then determine whether it is more precision burst fire or either a gatling gun or machinegun approach.
3. Precision - this activates its shoulder mounted sniper. The modes determine whether it’s a standard high power sniper or a constant beam weapon.
4. Melee - this pulls out its melee weapon and the modes will be either the heavy two handed Great sword or the split up twin long swords.

I think it could work on an energy clip based system where it has a natural energy recharge or the bar refills on reload. This could allow for systems like the last or first 25% of the energy bar give a % bonus to damage. This is essentially infinite ammo but I think it would be a fair trade off for no abilities or serious choice in weaponry.

Looking at the demos they’ve shown at the devstreams about the melee combo system they introduced made me think that they could incorporate that into the character and influence the way it attacks. For example when an energy clip finishes you could have a mod equipped called “heat vent” that could blast out the hot air in the system out of the cannon to push enemies away and to cool off as the energy recharges. And as it performs melee combos it could actually incorporate its own weapons since they would be a constant among all Arma, making it less difficult for the animators.

The frame should have a lower armor/health but pack more power and a decent speed to make it a glass cannon type frame.
 
Now as for how modding works I’m largely open to suggestion. One idea I have is that each weapon could have less mod slots to account for the fact it has an extra.

Lore:
    Arma is a long lost prototype developed during the early years of the Tenno order, before the development of the vast majority of elemental and ability based warframes. Discovered as Project “Glass Cannon,” it was developed to utilize the vast energy potential of the frames to maximize raw firepower. The result was a warframe that was unified in mind, weaponry, and body. Research suggests that Arma was intended to battle in unison with the Rhino frame (most likely also in development at the time) to create a shield and sword dynamic between the two. What originally caused the project data to go missing still remains a mystery.

    I think a good way to introduce it would be to have an old non-void Tenno station be discovered by the lotus and when we go to investigate we discover that it has long since been taken over by the infested. Making it a great point to introduce the infested maps they’ve been working on.


So I’d like to say thank you for reading it this far and I’d love to have your feedback. and if any artists out there are bored then I'd love to see how you interpret my design. :-)

 

Edits section:

this will be the section were i introduce the changes and suggestions made as i want to leave the original outline in place so anyone reading this can see how the concept has evolved over time. and ill let this be known that my weakest point is in terms of balance and stats so thats going to be were i need the communities help the most.

 

(7:07pm EST 3/13/2014)

     OK my first possible redesign (suggested by DalaiLlama) is the redesign of how the abilities and weapons would function. I'm probably going to over complicate things by setting things up this way but my idea is to remove the energy system entirely for a "heat system" in which the first three abilities activate the ultimate attack of each corresponding weapon. the sniper fires a shot that punctures through multiple enemies. the cannon fires a blast forward that causes a knock-back on enemies. And assault  I'm not entirely sure of but im considering an overdrive mode in which they deal a % more damage then normal or having the shots begin to deal blast damage. doing these special attacks generates heat that when it reaches max you have to activate the fourth ability which activates a heat-sink mode where your heat will go down but you are completely immobile. to compensate this when you enter heat sink mode your weapons deal more damage and you are given a bit of a defensive boost. if this system is to be used its probably for the best that the weapons use the normal rifle/shotgun/sniper ammo and that the way of switching between them would be that sniper becomes main, assault becomes secondary and cannon becomes the alt fire of secondary. Also with this system in place the alternate firing choices i originally suggested would almost definitely become mods. as for the melee its in limbo as well as Arma's role of either being a glass cannon or tank. ill leave that to further discussions.

 

(1:48am EST 3/14/2014)

     Here is a new rework that I made that could give the frame a more tank based role, while still keeping the heat system and the unique weapons.

Here are the new abilities:
1. Overload - Arma surges its energy to unleash the hidden power of the weapon in use.
(this functions as I have it in the first edit above. With the ability activating the effect based on the weapon you‘re using)
2. Divert Power - Arma temporarily gives up the use of one of its weapons to divert more power to shields and armor while creating a device to aid allies.
( depending on the weapon a different effect is achieved and a hidden armor plate takes the place of the missing weapon.
    -giving up assault will give an ally a prototype sentinel/drone to aid them. If no ally is selected the drone will enter repair mode offering a quick heal to Arma.
    - giving up the sniper will create a pillar that scans nearby enemies and exposes weak points.
    - giving up the cannon will create a thumper that will knock back enemies that enter its radius.)
3. ?
(I’m still not sure what ability 3 should be just yet but I wanted to get the rest down now. I know I want it to follow the tri effect system the first two abilities use)
4. Heat sink /turrent mode - Arma locks down onto the ground and releases the systems built up heat in a dramatically increased rate. While in this mode Arma gains a large bonus to defense and attack.

     Each of these skills minus the fourth causes a build up of heat (debating whether normal weapon use should have an effect on this system as well or not). Heat goes down slowly on its own but if it reaches 100% heat then Arma MUST activate Heat sink in order to perform further abilities. There is another twist to this heat system however, if the heat meter remains under 50% then Arma gains a bonus to defense but suffers a  penalty to attack and if its over then Arma receives a bonus to its attack but suffers a penalty to shields/armor.(still debating if a penalty system is too much) This means that players will have to be cautious of their meter if they want to retain the bonus that applies to their play style.

 

(11:51pm EDT 3/14/2014)

     Ok here is a possibility for ability 3

3) Upgrade-  Arma uses its adaptability to upgrade into one of its three experimental battle modes.
     (- Assault causes Arma to gain an increased rate of fire and movement speed but suffers a small penalty to both attack and defense
      -Sniper causes Arma to gain attack but suffer in defense and fire rate
      - Cannon causes Arma to gain defense but suffer in attack and movement speed.
      - activating the ability again on the same weapon will return Arma to a neutral state )

          I also have more concepts in terms of design and lore. I really want to push the whole “Prototype Frame” aspect of it. I feel like it should have a more detached/broken up aspect to it with more aspects of cable like extensions. What is there should be more bulky but of coarse the parts have to have enough flow so that the idea of movement and stunts isn’t so ridiculous. Essentially with the way I set up the second ability the weapons do fit naturally on the frame but since each is supposed to be removed there are alternate shield plates that appear. For example the assault gauntlets could become like the shield from Percy Jackson, when the cannon is removed you could have visible force field like aspect that spreads around the area, and for the sniper we could have it so the mount could be converted into a shoulder guard.
          The main idea is that although Arma is powerful, it was never completed do the loss of the project data when the infested overran its research station. As such Arma cannot perform many of its abilities without some form of a trade-off. This is meant to be explained through the key component of Arma’s design, which is its power cores. Arma was meant to have a never ending, but constant, power supply but suffered with large quantities of heat production. While Arma does show signs of a tank based design it does maintain a degree of versatility, but whether this was an intended effect or simply Arma’s ability to take advantage of its incomplete/upgradeable nature could only be answered by archives that may be ultimately lost to us.
    The last thing I’d like to mention now would be since Arma never reached a complete state, it would officially lack a prime variant. This means that it would become an excellent contender to introduce a series of Wraith/Vandal frames. This would then give Arma a more complete and full look.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Ether_SolRac

[Legion-Shields]

Really nice and fleshed out idea OP. While I think the physical description sounds a bit cheesy, the core concept (abilities) sound solid and fun. +1

Edited March 13, 2014 by Legion-Shields

[CampingSnake]

Wow, it seems you've put a lot of thought into this.

 

But all these offensive powers would be odd in tandem with weaponry. Unless the frame cannot use weapons, then you would have an energy issue.

 

It has huge potential but there are several kinks to be worked out. Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea. But no design is perfect, ever. No matter how long you try to make it that way.

[Ether_SolRac]

@Legion-Shields thank you. I fixed it. (context: i made a typo)

Edited March 14, 2014 by Ether_SolRac

[Ether_SolRac]

Wow, it seems you've put a lot of thought into this.

 

But all these offensive powers would be odd in tandem with weaponry. Unless the frame cannot use weapons, then you would have an energy issue.

 

It has huge potential but there are several kinks to be worked out. Don't get me wrong, it's a good idea. But no design is perfect, ever. No matter how long you try to make it that way.

essentially it cant use weapons at all. only the ones built into it. as for the energy its mostly an idea of turning it into a clip for the weapons were it either recharges overtime naturally or through a reload animation (which can probably be shown on the power cores on its back) brings the energy back to max.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Ether_SolRac

[CampingSnake]

essentially it cant use weapons at all. only the ones built into it. as for the energy it as mostly an idea of turning it into a clip for the weapons were it either recharges overtime naturally or through a reload animation( which can probably be put on the power core on its back) brings the energy back to max.

Energy regeneration would be a little over powered if used as ammo. As ammo doesn't regenerate, neither does energy (without and aura)

 

A large energy reserve might be a good idea. Also working in tandem with a trinity using energy vampire might help too.

 

Bottom line is that he/she would need some way to get energy back.

[Ether_SolRac]

Energy regeneration would be a little over powered if used as ammo. As ammo doesn't regenerate, neither does energy (without and aura)

 

A large energy reserve might be a good idea. Also working in tandem with a trinity using energy vampire might help too.

 

Bottom line is that he/she would need some way to get energy back.

 

this is were the breaking standards come into play. this frame would have a natural energy recharge without any mods equiped and each weapon would have a different amount of cost per shot. for example the sniper could take half or all your meter per shot but its more powerful or the cannon can take a third of the meter. and i thought that it could ethier work as a steady recharge or possibly a  full bar recharge after a reload animation. this is one of the reasons why i doubt the frame could be possible without considerable work. although i thought it was an ok idea i could share nonetheless.

Edited March 13, 2014 by Ether_SolRac

[DalaiLlama]

My cent, I feel as if a walking arsenal being played as a glass cannon is a simple disservice; not to mention such delicacy makes his melee weapon either unviable or as a purely tactical weapon with decreased utility.  In contrast, something like this sounds to me like the single most indestructible frame in the solar system, nigh resembling a hulking machine than an organic inside a suit.

 

This way he could more viably collect the energy orbs he needs to fuel his basic abilities while barreling through the enemies between and around said energy orbs; given the close proximity between him and the enemies in such a scenario, the melee weapon would then be given a more general use.  In response though I'd eliminate its minimum energy consumption in favor of a powered-high attack in tandem with a costless normal.

 

A regenerating energy per reload sounds too overpowered, as it would practically give the frame unlimited use of its four distinct weapons.  Though I fancifully imagine a sort of "hunker" resting mode in which actions are denied while increasing energy regeneration.  Haha, but that's just fantasy.

[CampingSnake]

My cent, I feel as if a walking arsenal being played as a glass cannon is a simple disservice; not to mention such delicacy makes his melee weapon either unviable or as a purely tactical weapon with decreased utility.  In contrast, something like this sounds to me like the single most indestructible frame in the solar system, nigh resembling a hulking machine than an organic inside a suit.

 

This way he could more viably collect the energy orbs he needs to fuel his basic abilities while barreling through the enemies between and around said energy orbs; given the cose proximity between him and the enemies in such a scenario, the melee weapon would then be given a more general use.  In response though I'd eliminate its minimum energy consumption in favor of a powered-high attack in tandem with a costless normal.

 

A regenerating energy per reload sounds too overpowered, as it would practically give the frame unlimited use of its four distinct weapons.  Though I fancifully imagine a sort of "hunker" resting mode in which actions are denied while increasing energy regeneration.  Haha, but that's just fantasy.

Something like the "hunker" ability you mentioned sounds viable. Remove the frames melee ability as glass cannons shouldn't get that close. Then make the ulti of the frame the hunker ability. So it could deal MASSIVE damage to enemies, but it's team mates would be required to protect it while it recharges.

[Ether_SolRac]

My cent, I feel as if a walking arsenal being played as a glass cannon is a simple disservice; not to mention such delicacy makes his melee weapon either unviable or as a purely tactical weapon with decreased utility.  In contrast, something like this sounds to me like the single most indestructible frame in the solar system, nigh resembling a hulking machine than an organic inside a suit.

 

This way he could more viably collect the energy orbs he needs to fuel his basic abilities while barreling through the enemies between and around said energy orbs; given the close proximity between him and the enemies in such a scenario, the melee weapon would then be given a more general use.  In response though I'd eliminate its minimum energy consumption in favor of a powered-high attack in tandem with a costless normal.

 

A regenerating energy per reload sounds too overpowered, as it would practically give the frame unlimited use of its four distinct weapons.  Though I fancifully imagine a sort of "hunker" resting mode in which actions are denied while increasing energy regeneration.  Haha, but that's just fantasy.

 

yeah i've never been too good when it came to balancing and stats so the galss cannon concept was just something i thought of that might balance out the more offensive nature of the frame. and i actually like the hunker down concept. i love seeing how a community can help actually make a concept work although i've probably guaranted it wont get through from the start. thank you for your feedback noetheless. :-)

Edited March 13, 2014 by Ether_SolRac

[DalaiLlama]

Something like the "hunker" ability you mentioned sounds viable. Remove the frames melee ability as glass cannons shouldn't get that close. Then make the ulti of the frame the hunker ability. So it could deal MASSIVE damage to enemies, but it's team mates would be required to protect it while it recharges.

 

Given how many glass cannon we already have, I think a super-tank melee is more of the original idea.

[CampingSnake]

Given how many glass cannon we already have, I think a super-tank melee is more of the original idea.

The way I saw it.

 

He would have very little health, becoming very shield reliant.

 

Like the opposite of rhino.

 

High damage output, but if he gets too close to a sneeze, he dies.

[Ether_SolRac]

loving the feedback Tenno. maybe when this thread gets bigger ill add an edited section to the original post so that everyone can see the evolution of the frame.

[CampingSnake]

loving the feedback Tenno. maybe when this thread gets bigger ill add an edited section to the original post so that everyone can see the evolution of the frame.

Main idea here. Actually have the frame evolve. Use the ideas the community is giving you, and refine the frame. If you put enough thought and time into it, it might make it into the game.

 

It just needs more ideas, and more publicity.

 

I'm going to start spreading this thread about the interwebs.

[VegetableBasket]

Arma was one of the suggested names in the design council for a new sentinel... did that have anything to do with this?

I always thought of Arma being a military shooter, not a name for a little pet robot.

[Ether_SolRac]

Main idea here. Actually have the frame evolve. Use the ideas the community is giving you, and refine the frame. If you put enough thought and time into it, it might make it into the game.

 

It just needs more ideas, and more publicity.

 

I'm going to start spreading this thread about the interwebs.

wow thank you. i honestly wasn't expecting my concept to go anywhere or if people would even receive it well. and to think this was just an idea i had this morning.

[Tulzscha]

Moved to the proper section.

[Ether_SolRac]

Arma was one of the suggested names in the design council for a new sentinel... did that have anything to do with this?

I always thought of Arma being a military shooter, not a name for a little pet robot.

Arma is Latin for weapon, i thought it was simple enough name that could be easily used in either gender and essentially captures what the frame is about.

[Ether_SolRac]

Moved to the proper section.

sorry about that. I wasn't aware I posted in the wrong place. I'll try to be more careful and aware next time.

[Ether_SolRac]

My cent, I feel as if a walking arsenal being played as a glass cannon is a simple disservice; not to mention such delicacy makes his melee weapon either unviable or as a purely tactical weapon with decreased utility.  In contrast, something like this sounds to me like the single most indestructible frame in the solar system, nigh resembling a hulking machine than an organic inside a suit.

 

This way he could more viably collect the energy orbs he needs to fuel his basic abilities while barreling through the enemies between and around said energy orbs; given the close proximity between him and the enemies in such a scenario, the melee weapon would then be given a more general use.  In response though I'd eliminate its minimum energy consumption in favor of a powered-high attack in tandem with a costless normal.

 

A regenerating energy per reload sounds too overpowered, as it would practically give the frame unlimited use of its four distinct weapons.  Though I fancifully imagine a sort of "hunker" resting mode in which actions are denied while increasing energy regeneration.  Haha, but that's just fantasy.

I incorporated some of your ideas into my first Edit and possible redesign.

[CampingSnake]

I really hope this thread picks up. I've been posting it around, trying to get people to read the design. Then post their thoughts, or ideas on improving it.

[Ether_SolRac]

I really hope this thread picks up. I've been posting it around, trying to get people to read the design. Then post their thoughts, or ideas on improving it.

 

Thank you for what you're doing. right now I'm trying to see how i can incorporate this as a more tanky type of character since DalaiLlama does have a point in that warframe is rather lacking in true tanks other than Rhino. but almost nothing is out of the question at this point.

[Ether_SolRac]

edit #2 is up. and i am off to bed...

[Ether_SolRac]

Ok here is a possibility for ability 3

3) Upgrade-  Arma uses its adaptability to upgrade into one of its three experimental battle modes.
     (- Assault causes Arma to gain an increased rate of fire and movement speed but suffers a small penalty to both attack and defense
      -Sniper causes Arma to gain attack but suffer in defense and fire rate
      - Cannon causes Arma to gain defense but suffer in attack and movement speed.
      - activating the ability again on the same weapon will return Arma to a neutral state )

          I also have more concepts in terms of design and lore. I really want to push the whole “Prototype Frame” aspect of it. I feel like it should have a more detached/broken up aspect to it with more aspects of cable like extensions. What is there should be more bulky but of coarse the parts have to have enough flow so that the idea of movement and stunts isn’t so ridiculous. Essentially with the way I set up the second ability the weapons do fit naturally on the frame but since each is supposed to be removed there are alternate shield plates that appear. For example the assault gauntlets could become like the shield from Percy Jackson, when the cannon is removed you could have visible force field like aspect that spreads around the area, and for the sniper we could have it so the mount could be converted into a shoulder guard.
          The main idea is that although Arma is powerful, it was never completed do the loss of the project data when the infested overran its research station. As such Arma cannot perform many of its abilities without some form of a trade-off. This is meant to be explained through the key component of Arma’s design, which is its power cores. Arma was meant to have a never ending, but constant, power supply but suffered with large quantities of heat production. While Arma does show signs of a tank based design it does maintain a degree of versatility, but whether this was an intended effect or simply Arma’s ability to take advantage of its incomplete/upgradeable nature could only be answered by archives that may be ultimately lost to us.
    The last thing I’d like to mention now would be since Arma never reached a complete state, it would officially lack a prime variant. This means that it would become an excellent contender to introduce a series of Wraith/Vandal frames. This would then give Arma a more complete and full look.
 

Edited March 15, 2014 by Ether_SolRac

[warthain]

i dont really think this has a setting in this game, everytime i read your idea, i can only think mecha or transformers... we are talking about warframes here, suits with a soul....

the character you seem to be proposing, seems to be way Op from the get go, theres no real progression for it, it begins with its own set of weapons and requires none other from the game, operates outside the logic behind the rest of the characters...

 

you talk about heat sinks, plates, power cells, cannons in the chest.... when you start reading it like this you have to notice that it doesnt sound like an warframe, but more and more like a mech, or some sort of walking tank...

 

i think you fleshed out a good idea, and i appreciate the effort you put into developing this awesome character, but me at least cannot support something that deviates so much from the core idea of what warframes are....