My Initial Feedback For Hydroid

[Fundance]

As someone who fell in love with Hydroid the moment I set eyes on him, I want to post my thoughts on this frame in a constructive manner, keeping in mind DE's intention to release him with update 13.

 

VISUAL

 

I absolutely love the way Hydroid looks. Initially my thoughts were 'cthulhu' or even just 'sea creature' but as it turns out, he's more of a Davey Jones inspired frame (which is ok, considering that Davey Jones from Pirates of the Carribean does have lovecraftian influences mixed into his design.)

 

I think DE really nailed this look in creating a very interesting, mysterious looking warframe. The tentacles dangling from his face are excellent, and the placement of the eye-dots give the impression of a face while still remaining vague and featureless. This warframe looks masculine and tanky without the awkward 'body too big, arms to small' problem that Oberon suffers from. The lower body of the frame, though, threw me for a bit of a loop when I saw them. I understand that the idea is to mimic large pants or pouches worn by classic pirates, but the 'lumpy' design of the armor makes Hydroid look 'fat' until you see him in motion and realise that those lumps are all plated on.

 

Personally, I would have preferred a very slightly more sleek look. I love the idea of giving him armored thighs, it sort of enhances the cthulian aspect of the frame too, but the lumpiness simply isn't aesthetically pleasing and will take some getting used to. I understand that it's way too late in development to edit the Warframe's model, so I don't think it's realistic to change these things, but if it is possible then I'd strongly advise DE to take a closer look at the frame's lower-body aesthetics and consider smoothing out some of those lumps or at least making them appear more segmented, like compartments or something.

 

His colours are good, appropriately briney while still being distinctively dark enough to separate him from the other blue/gray frame out there (Volt). No complaints there.

 

** Suggested Changes **

 

Probably not realistic to achieve on time, but maybe consider smoothing the 'fat' out of those pants a little.

 

ABILITIES

 

--Ability 1: 'pirate barrage'--

 

1 abilities typically don't end up being very useful endgame for most warframes, with a few key exceptions (Saryn, Volt, Nekros, etc) and exist primarily as a cheap, quick offensive option for leveling up warframes early on. This skill looks like it could potentially do a lot of damage if all the hits land, which is nice, but starts up extremily slow and doesn't look like it offers any effective crowd control. Then again, we haven't exactly seen it HIT anyone yet. If this skill could come out a tiny bit faster and offer a small slow effect on anything it hits, it could continue to be very useful for certain strategies that involve grouping enemies. (which Hydroid seems to be very capable of)

 

** Suggested Changes **

 

- slight decrease in startup time

- bullets deal splash damage/can hit multiple targets if grouped together

- innate IMPACT type damage proc (always staggers)

 

--Ability 2: 'Tidal Wave'--

 

A very exciting ability in theory. The power to gather up an infinate number of enemies along a linear path and then deposit them in a ragdolled, helpless state right in front of Hydroid opens up all sorts of fun melee/aoe weapon combo possibilities and interplays well with his third and first abilities. Providing that the hitbox is sufficiently wide and the cost not too phrohibitive, I can see it becoming a very important tool in his watery arsenal. That said, animation-wise it feels like it lacks a bit of 'oomph'. The gelatinous water transformation is great, but I feel like it could be a bit more fierce. When Hydroid exits the wave, there's a distinct lack of a heavy splash effect. Perhaps think about jacking up the particles a bit more, or creating a more visual 'burst' of water when he transforms to make the skill feel more satisfying to execute.

 

** Suggested Changes**

- minor particle tweak to make it feel more satisfying

 

--Ability 3: 'The Puddle--

 

Another interesting ability. When I first saw this, I thought to myself 'oh no, it's not another Silence is it?' but upon seeing how it effected enemies, I immediately began to see the utility. This power is basically a stationary version of the Tidal wave, but also seems designed to interplay with Tidal Wave. You gather up a group of enemies with Tidal Wave, throw a damage-over-time effect onto them such as Torid's cloud or a gas proc, then sink them into a puddle and watch the damage tick while you remain safe from harm. It could also be set up in choke points to gather a large amount of charging enemies (very useful for infested!) or as a 'panic button' for enemies rushing in at you. The key is realizing that enemies caught in the puddle get ragdolled and take some time to get back up again, making this an effective small-range radial disable. I would, however, like to see this skill reward players for using it well. Therefore I suggest giving it some effect based on how many enemies you've managed to sink into the puddle at once.

 

**Suggested Changes**

 

- leaving the puddle deals an additional burst of damage to all enemies released, increased by the number of enemies caught in the puddle prior. More enemies in your puddle = a bigger finale.

 

-- 4th Ability 'Summon the Kraken' --

 

A hilariously amusing ult in theory, but we didn't really get to see a good demonstration of its expected utility in the stream. I'm going to keep this one brief, because I know this skill isn't done yet, but perhaps consider adding Nekros's 'fear' effect to enemies standing near the tentacles when they spawn. This would increase its utility and would add extra hilarity as enemies run from the tentacles and end up getting thrown about by other tentacles, keeping them crowd controlled for a good long while and rewarding your teammates with fun moving targets to shoot at.

 

**Suggested Changes**

 

- add an AoE 'fear' effect near spawned tentacles that causes enemies to run and lowers their defense.

 

WEAPON SYNERGY AND TACTICS

 

Given what we know of Hydroid's abilities, I already have a few ideas as to what kind of weapons he'll synergise well with.

 

D.O.T. weapons - Due to the control oriented nature of Hydroid's skills, I could see him having fun interplay with guns such as Torid, Tysis, Embolist, and gas/electricity modded Grakata. You could gather up many targets with your Tidal wave, cover them in poison, then sink them into a puddle and watch the numbers fly. They key here would be to use puddle defensively to avoid damage and fire completely while the dots do their thing.

 

AOE weapons - similar to the dot dealing weapons, anything that has some form of area of effect will make good use of Hydroid's abilities. Ignis, Ogris, Penta, Castanas, Stug. With a bit of care not to get blown up by the collatoral, these are going to be great for dealing with grouped enemies, similar to tactics employed by Vauban users. Weapons with puncture or flying bodies may be useful here too.

 

Multitarget Melee - I believe Hydroid is going to be great when it comes to building up combo-oriented melee bonuses. Gather enemies together with tidal wave, drop a bombard on the mob, then lay into them with your multi-striking Orthos or Galatine and send that combo counter skyrocketing while the enemies are getting to their feet. Once that mob is dead, he has a quick gap closer in Tidal wave to get over to the next group of enemies to continue his combo, and if he gets swarmed by too many melee targets at once, he can use his puddle to give himself some breathing room.

 

Overall I feel like this frame is going to be more of a Nekros than a Vauban. He doesn't really bring anything game changing to the table, but his utility to reposition and gather enemies with more flexibility will be key to his usefulness on a team. I'll update this with more detail after I've had a chance to play him myself.

[Scandroid]

its not yet out how can you even give feedback without playing it

[Magicfingers]

i'll never understand how people can give their thoughts on a warframe and suggest changes for him when he hasn't even been released yet and they haven't played as him...he's still a work in progress

[Fundance]

i'll never understand how people can give their thoughts on a warframe and suggest changes for him when he hasn't even been released yet and they haven't played as him...he's still a work in progress

Did you actually read it though? This is entirely based on what we've seen and the intended function of the moves as expressed by the devs. You don't always have to play something in order to have a vague idea of how it's meant to work. There is such a thing as observational analysis.

Edited April 5, 2014 by Fundance

[MoyuTheTrinity]

Did you actually read it though? This is entirely based on what we've seen and the intended function of the moves as expressed by the devs. You don't always have to play something in order to have a vague idea of how it's meant to work. There is such a thing as observational analysis.

these people dont understand that they showed off the basics and you are clearly just trying to help with feedback of what you saw and are offering eccelent suggestions

I am seeing alot of people shut down others jsut offering help to the developers

Edited April 5, 2014 by MoyuTheMedic