Is Ash Bad? No. Would Some Changes Be Welcome? You Bet They Would.

[PseudoExis]

Ash's "Shuriken" is one of the better 1 ability s but since its just a damage skill it does not scale that well.So i propose a new skill that will work with his other skills "Needle Bomb"(names a place holder until i think of a better one).

1."Needle Bomb"

- Ash throws a needle bomb at his enemy's.At first, it appears to be a silver sphere but when the outer shell splits, it is shown to be lined with small needles. A small explosion occurs in the center of the bomb, just enough to propel the needles outward.Although not inherently lethal, the variant used by Ash seems to be filled with the some type poison(he refuses to disclose what it is or how he makes it), causing those struck with the needle to become sluggish and susceptible to melee attacks(think cold status effect).

Details:

Damage(per needle;20 in total): 2/3/4/5(combined damage of all the needles 40/60/80/100)
Target: The sphere will be thrown like the Shuriken(same speed,range but not homing)

Range(of the needles after it explodes):8/10/12/14 m
Effect: Staggers all targets hit by the needles for 1s, 0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0 meters of puncture.

Status effect: 50/100/150/200% damage on all melee attacks(optional;with the exception of blade-storm being the only none melee attack to benefit from this bonus)
Cast time: 0.25s
Cooldown: 0s
In-Air: Yes, and on wallrun

Notes:

- Yes the damage is laughable but the status effect is what you would use this skill for; to set up for some major melee mayhem or blade-storm.

- inspired from the "Needle Bomb" from Resident evil.

- would look like this

 

2."Smoke Screen"

- "Smoke Screen" works as it should and its IMO Ash's most useful skill so there is no changes needed for its mechanics but i would request a change to how it looks more specifically the "milky" effect on Ash's body when it is in use

Aesthetic Tweaks/Changes:

- Ash will be completely invisible like he used to be for the old smoke screen.And rather then the "milky" effect he has now to give us a sense of his form,there will be glowing markings/tattoos (reminiscent of the ones on his immortal skin) that cover his body.

- The color of the glow will be determined by your energy color.

- Think the guy below but replace the clothes,mask,bandages etc with said glowing markings.

 

 

3."Teleport"

With melee 2.0 coming "Teleport" could now actually be useful because now getting to the enemy fast is something you you need to do to keep those combos going; however this is only true provided some tweaks/changes are made.

Tweaks/Changes;

- Firstly the flip has to go,it waste time(potentially ruining your combo) and allows your foes to introduce the barrel of their gun to your face.Instead revert it back to the old "Teleport" that did not interrupt what you where doing and was fast(newer players think of the teleport the grineer flameblades).

- Instead of appearing directly in front of your target,you would appear behind them.

- When you teleport to an enemy Ash creates a smoke screen cloud that would stagger enemys for 1/2/2.5 s and you would have 2/2.5/3/3.5 s of invisibility(reason for longer stagger in "Notes" section).

Notes:

- The enemys that are staggered as a result of this ability are also susceptible to a "finisher" attack they showed in devstream 26(the longer stagger i decided to add gives you some breathing room to execute them).

 

 

4."Blade Storm"

Like teleport, blade storm also benefits from melee 2.0 if what i have heard is true(the attacks you do in blade storm count to your combo). This however does not address the main issue people have with the skill; the time it takes to execute.

To remedy this i have three proposals:

1. Ash teleports and attacks the selected targets so fast that the enemys do not even register the hits and after images of Ash are left behind. After slight delay(sat 0.5 to 1 s) the enemy will register said attacks and the after images will go through the animation, making it seem like the after images are the ones who are doing the damage. While the after images are doing their thing the real Ash is free to move and wipe out any stragglers left behind that were not targeted by blade storm(with a boost to his combo to boot).

Notes:

- The damage is dealt to all targeted enemy s on activation;the after images attacks are just there for aesthetic reasons(this way the energy you spent using it wont go to waste if your teammate decides to just shot them).

 

2.Ash creates a huge cloud of smoke that persist.Inside this huge smokescreen Ash and his allies are hidden from his enemys and said enemys are also highlighted(to make it easier to find them in the thick smoke).While in this cloud Ash can maually do pick an enemy and do a mini blade storm on the individual enemy.He can do this up to 6/8/10/12 times but he only has 10/12/14/16 s to do so(that is how long the smoke screen last)

Notes:

- When he used all his allocated mini blade storms the mist will lift even if the skill still has a few more seconds.

- Ash can choose to not use all his mini blade storms so the mist last its full duration(if he needs to get his health/shields back or help a teammate up)

- Each mini blade storm is only 0.5-0.8 seconds long.

 

3.The simplest of the three; increase the speed at which he executes his attacks.

-Think of the video below; quick but still visually pleasing(skip to 42 seconds mark or watch it all;Hyun's work is awesome).

 

 

Any feed back you could give would be welcome, just try to be constructive about it please.

Also i'm writing this at two in the morning so if there are any spelling mistakes i apologies and i will tidy it up when i am not half dead.

Edited April 7, 2014 by PseudoExis

[Hyrath]

I really like the first Bladestorm proposed change, I could see that as something that could be done for Ash.

[AldehydeBackhand]

Would also be cool if Teleport synergized with the new Channeling function coming in Melee 2.0; if used during channeling, it could immediately launch a powerful attack upon arrival.

[PseudoExis]

Would also be cool if Teleport synergized with the new Channeling function coming in Melee 2.0; if used during channeling, it could immediately launch a powerful attack upon arrival.

Interesting idea.And thinking about it in terms of melee 2.0, the 1 second stagger i proposed for teleport could also prompt the "finishers" they showed in devstream 26 so if your quick enough you could do just that i suppose.

 

I decided to length the stagger so a "finisher" attack could be easier to execute(1 second is not a lot of time)

Edited April 6, 2014 by PseudoExis

[Prodromata]

I would love to see some changes for Ash's abilities. The rework for Shuriken sounds great in theory, but it would be obnoxiously abusable. Max efficiency brings the cost to nothing, you can still get great range as it is thrown and not radial. The melee buff would most likely apply to the entire team. Saryn would have a field day with stun locked Dual Ichor, Contagion, Miasma meat. Blade Storm is extremely nifty. You can stay in a relatively 'safe' location and 'snipe' entire crowds of enemies, only to return to that safe location after Blade Storm has finished. To top it off, you are invulnerable for the duration of Blade Storm. The only downside is the speed of execution. Your targets are killed by other players, often times unintentionally. Targets marked for death are still a threat to them. The last time I used Teleport, the target I teleported to was momentarily staggered. This was some time ago. Lastly: No ability can, should, or ever will be able to activate during a wall-run (to my knowledge). Unless you want to count sentinel abilities. When running on a wall, one hand grips the wall and the other holds either the Tenno's Primary or Secondary weapon. Simply put: you have no free hand with which to cast said ability. The best you can do is leap a small distance and then activate the ability before grabbing onto the wall again. Or do the same thing during the transition between two parallel walls. I do this quite a bit in Void with Anti-Matter Drop and the Lanka, as I often play with a Disarm spamming Loki. Staying on the walls keeps you out of range of Ancients and Prova.

Edit: Deleted a word typed twice.

Second Edit: On second thought, "Needle Bomb" sounds like an excellent idea. It's really no different than Accelerant followed by every Ember ability and then the entire team using Ignis. Warframe needs more abilities like this. Shuriken seems like something that gets added to a game when creativity is running low. Needle Bomb would add some balance and utility to Ash. I approve. Modding for efficiency would make spamming it under lengthy smokescreens difficult. It's not a lack of available mods or available power to slot them. It's how many slots you would use just trying to combo those two abilities. Not worth it. Pretty balanced.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Prodromata

[Vengola]

Teleport and powers that target enemies in general need some help. Many times I clearly have a lock on enemy yet cannot use power. It would be better to have teleport not require target but have that extra stun attack when target is selected.

[Prodromata]

Teleport and powers that target enemies in general need some help. Many times I clearly have a lock on enemy yet cannot use power. It would be better to have teleport not require target but have that extra stun attack when target is selected.

Are you using the number keys for abilities? If so, that would explain your difficulty using non auto-targeting abilities. Use the mouse wheel to scroll through the abilities, use E to activate, use Q for melee, use mouse 3 for block. Block DOES have serious uses. It blocks Bombard missiles. Blocks Ancients. Flashy way to cancel a Lanka charge if you have Glaive Prime...

With this method of ability selection and activation, non auto-targeting abilities become just as quick and accurate as aiming and firing your guns. AND, it won't interrupt your movement. Your fingers will never 'accidentally' shift over one key to the left or right. It's simply superior. The number keys are reserved for Gear. No more half-assed BF3 style Comm Rose for using Gear that pauses gameplay without pausing enemies. No more reaching over to the Num Pad.

Edit: By the way, Teleport is the LEAST glitchy of the teleport abilities. Switch Teleport has its issues. I use Wormhole constantly. 75% of the time, when used in Void and Derelict, it won't let you through. When this happens, you just run straight through it and the Wormhole stays there. This happens 35% of the time outside of Void and Derelict. Only way to make it work is to turn around, sprint at it, go into a slide then do a roll jump into it. Going through the Wormhole this way doesn't even look the same. It's not instant. You actually see yourself 'pulled' across the wormhole. Wormhole can teleport you outside of the map to your death. INSIDE of the map so escape is impossible without extensive knowledge of HOW you got there in the first place. Tiny places that mobs pass and will stop to shoot at you while you are struggling to crawl out (this crap happens on those reintroduced Earth tilesets). I have played a lot of Ash. Teleport is not glitchy. You just didn't cast Teleport inside of a hitbox. It takes practice.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Prodromata

[theammostore]

Personally, I would love these changes. I love Ash and I love his potential, but he does need some stuff.

[PseudoExis]

Personally, I would love these changes. I love Ash and I love his potential, but he does need some stuff.

This train of thought was what made me post this topic, its very annoying when people(some not all) refer to him as just a inferior Loki.