Two Ability Changes To Excalibur That Would Make Him More Viable In The Eyes Of The Community.

[Eyeless]

As we all know, Excalibur is seen by many players as lackluster when compared to the more popular frames such as Rhino, Nova, Vauban, Trinity, etc due to his lack of proper Power Scaling while having only one ability that counts as a true utility skill. 

 

His two weakest abilities are by far Slash Dash and Radial Javelin.

 

Slash Dash deals a measly 500 Slash damage yet allows you to travel through rows of enemies. A fantastic get outta jail free skill that also does wonders for his ground-based mobility. 

 

Radial Javelin at max rank fires out 15 sword-like projectiles at any enemies within the vicinity, yet often misses even immobile targets, doesn't go through shields or armor, and has some pretty harsh fall-off once the enemies hit lvl 35 and higher when it's better used as a suicide button than a useful ult. 

 

I have ideas for both abilities that I feel would fix Excalibur.

 

We all know he's DE's poster boy and that he's advertised as a Melee oriented frame, yet he despite that he has no true synergy with Melee 2.0 beyond the mobility and hard stun granted by his abilities, but I feel if any frame was going to take what melee weapon and mods you have into consideration with his/her powers, I figure it should be Excalibur, which is where my two ideas come into play.

 

Slash Dash Changes:

 

Rather than dealing 500 Slash, Slash Dash uses your melee weapon as the slashing tool, dealing your weapons Slide Damage on top of whatever damage/channeling mods you have equipped. You can also channel while using this ability, allowing a potent melee weapon to lay waste to rows of enemies even at higher levels with all the perks that come from various channeling mods. 

 

My perspective:

 

The reason I have this as my main idea is from the start it always felt like DE wanted to make Excalibur the melee master. The Swordsman. His powers /kind/ of exemplified that by keeping him mobile and giving him the means to close distances either vertically or horizontally. 

 

As the game kept chugging on in development though, a lot of straight damage abilities have experienced some pretty harsh fall off and feel out of place with the way the game currently plays. 

 

Excalibur lunges forward using a sword to deal the damage, so why can't it be your sword dealing the damage your sword deals with all the new benefits Melee 2.0 has given it? 

 

Radial Javelin Changes:

 

Remove this ability entirely in favor of a new Ultimate. This Ultimate puts Excalibur into a sort of Focus Mode. 

 

This Focus Mode puts Excalibur in a channeling state that offers 3x the damage of standard melee channeling with the added benefit of an extended combo timer. A possible added bonus would maybe add infinite Stamina until the ultimate wears off after 20 seconds. 

 

Excalibur is not Invulnerable nor is he immune to knockdowns, channeling costs are reduced to 2 energy per strike yet will still consume his energy bar. 

 

My Perspective:

 

Radial Javelin has always struck me as out of place on Excalibur. A slow ult with an unforgiving casting speed that leaves you highly vulnerable while at later levels utterly failing to do its job and take care of surrounding enemies. 

 

The only reason it fits the Swordsman theme is because it shoots inaccurate swords at your enemies that can impale them into surfaces. It's cool but really impractical once enemies begin to scale higher and just doesn't do anything for his mobility or his supposed melee theme. 

 

I feel my idea for changing it really fits the bill. While it may seem over-powered keep in mind that I put it out there the way it is because it's a flat damage skill and I don't want it to fall into the same pit every other flat damage skill does when Survivals and Defenses stretch on.

 

What these solely damage skills do, is experience some pretty harsh fall-off. The boosts on this ultimate not only keep Excalibur within his 'master swordsman' theme DE seemed to be going for yet also ensures he doesn't lost steam at higher level play against the infinitely scaling hordes to ensure he can keep slugging it out against the lvl 70's and higher. 

 

In the end that's all I'm wanting here with my ideas. To ensure Excalibur remains viable with his damaging abilities against scaling enemies, rather than being used just for the cheap stun that is Radial Blind, while ensuring his abilities fit better with his theme. 

 

Go on ahead and post your thoughts below. 

 

EDIT: Changed the Damage multiplier on the new Ultimate as well as its bonuses.

 

I'd like to add that these changes take only your melee weapon and its mods into account and the damage multiplier is not effected by Power Strength mods, as the Combo system takes care of that so it can scale.

 

EDIT 2: Added a paragraph or two that better explains my reasoning behind these changes so if people disagree, they at least see where I'm coming from. Not sure why I didn't put something like this in there originally. Was probably tired.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Hastur609

[Axterix13]

Sure, those changes don't sound at all like they would make Excalibur the least bit overpowered.  *rolls eyes*

[FeedingWolves]

...10x damage? Are you joking? Wat

[Anunymau5]

first idea is pretty cool. Second idea is wayyyyyy too overpowered. Like all the plz nerf nova threads would instantly delete themselves in response.

[1lusion]

his ultimate sounds like something like Hysteria

 

like the ideas tho.

[Kaokasalis]

I do agree that Radial Javelin could do with some changes but the ones you have suggested is WAY TO OP and also puts him further ahead in melee power that any frame should be. Besides that ultimate would make Valkyr worthless.

[notionphil]

While in 'Rage' mode, Excalibur loses no energy from channeling or stamina while sprinting/swinging, while his melee inherits a 10x Channeling Damage multiplier as well as a dramatically increased combo timer. 

 

On top of that, effective melee range while channeling is tripled if not quadrupled (aesthetically this looks like waves of channeling energy) and has a punch-through equivalent to 2.5 meters, allowing him to cut through crowds and those obnoxious Shield Lancers. 

 

So essentially, Excalibur would do 10,000-20,000 damage per strike to all enemies in say...a 7M or so range?

 

And this would easily stack to 1.5x, 2x etc with the slowed combo meter?

 

This of course would interact with Life Strike, healing him fully with each hit.

 

uh...

 

Probably not the most thought-through idea :P

[Hixlysss]

Sure, those changes don't sound at all like they would make Excalibur the least bit overpowered.  *rolls eyes*

I'm sorry...But these are somewhat on line with Valkyr. At least the ultimate. The idea of Excalibur, the warframe named after a freaking sword, would be able to specialize in using Channeling is a great idea.

 

But the numbers the OP is putting out are...silly. 10x, really? REALLY!?!

 

But seriously though, replacing Excalibur's ultimate with some form of channeling buff I.E. Perma Channeling + Speed/Range increase would be a wonderful idea.

[(PSN)STARSIDE_DESTINY]

The Slash Dash change sounds good, but the replacement Ult is ridiculous. It sounds like Valkyr's Hysteria, except a million times more powerful. Radial Javelin is actually a cool concept, it just needs to be more powerful or bypass shields/armor.

[Noblesse_0blige]

...10x damage? Are you joking? Wat

It doesn't look like 10x damage, but a free 10 hits on his combo meter. So it starts him off at 11 hits instead of 1 hit

[egregiousRac]

Slash Dash is a fantastic mobility skill. It is one of the strongest in the game.

All Radial Javelin needs is improved aiming. It is currently the strongest straight damage skill in the game because it scales exponentially instead of linearly. If you maximise damage it can take you very far.

Edited April 17, 2014 by egregiousRac

[Nagisawa]

I like the Slash Dash idea.  Not so sure on Radial Javelin.

 

However, I would propose a few more additions.

 

We all know that the Excalibur suit is supposed to be the Melee Expert, right?  It even says so in the tool tip.  How about we make him so.

 

Give him an innate discount to stamina when parrying and channeling?  Something like 30-50% or whatever is more in line with Melee 2.0.

[Axterix13]

I'm sorry...But these are somewhat on line with Valkyr. At least the ultimate. The idea of Excalibur, the warframe named after a freaking sword, would be able to specialize in using Channeling is a great idea.

 

But the numbers the OP is putting out are...silly. 10x, really? REALLY!?!

 

But seriously though, replacing Excalibur's ultimate with some form of channeling buff I.E. Perma Channeling + Speed/Range increase would be a wonderful idea.

Exactly.  Those numbers are absolutely nuts.  Beyond nuts.  So yeah, you should be apologizing for trying to disagree while actually agreeing ;)

 

 

The Slash Dash change sounds good, but the replacement Ult is ridiculous. It sounds like Valkyr's Hysteria, except a million times more powerful. Radial Javelin is actually a cool concept, it just needs to be more powerful or bypass shields/armor.

The Slash Dash would also be overpowered.  My Dragon Nikana, for example, does a 2127 spin attack.  Being able to do that for a long distance, while channeling (oh, hey, let's break 3k... or 4k with Killing Blow)... again, just nuts.  Way out of line with every other #1.  It'd most likely have to cost 75 then, if not 100.  And that would suck for anyone that doesn't have a good weapon.  Oh, and that doesn't even begin to consider if it also took Power Strength into account.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Axterix13

[Eyeless]

Sure, those changes don't sound at all like they would make Excalibur the least bit overpowered.  *rolls eyes*

 

 

...10x damage? Are you joking? Wat

 

 

first idea is pretty cool. Second idea is wayyyyyy too overpowered. Like all the plz nerf nova threads would instantly delete themselves in response.

 

 

I do agree that Radial Javelin could do with some changes but the ones you have suggested is WAY TO OP and also puts him further ahead in melee power that any frame should be. Besides that ultimate would make Valkyr worthless.

 

 

So essentially, Excalibur would do 10,000-20,000 damage per strike to all enemies in say...a 7M or so range?

 

And this would easily stack to 1.5x, 2x etc with the slowed combo meter?

 

This of course would interact with Life Strike, healing him fully with each hit.

 

uh...

 

Probably not the most thought-through idea :P

 

I would like to point out that all I need to do to fix this is edit my original post so it's less ridiculous right off the bat. So why don't you all get with it and stop derailing the thread over an easily fixable detail and give some different ideas for me eh? Not trying to be rude here. 

 

It doesn't look like 10x damage, but a free 10 hits on his combo meter. So it starts him off at 11 hits instead of 1 hit

 

This guy gets it, as it's what I'd intended this to be more like, so the Ult takes better advantage of the Combos and the way they add on damage.

 

Slash Dash is a fantastic mobility skill. It is one of the strongest in the game.

All Radial Javelin needs is improved aiming. It is currently the strongest straight damage skill in the game because it scales exponentially instead of linearly. If you maximise damage it can take you very far.

 

Er...does Nova ring a bell? Have you not tried using Radial Javelin late-game? It's an entirely useless ult at later levels even with Blind Rage, which only prolongs the inevitable and hard damage fall-off.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Hastur609

[Eyeless]

Exactly.  Those numbers are absolutely nuts.  Beyond nuts.  So yeah, you should be apologizing for trying to disagree while actually agreeing ;)

 

 

The Slash Dash would also be overpowered.  My Dragon Nikana, for example, does a 2127 spin attack.  Being able to do that for a long distance, while channeling (oh, hey, let's break 3k... or 4k with Killing Blow)... again, just nuts.  Way out of line with every other #1.  It'd most likely have to cost 75 then, if not 100.  And that would suck for anyone that doesn't have a good weapon.  Oh, and that doesn't even begin to consider if it also took Power Strength into account.

 

Again, I can change the OP so the values are less intense. 

 

Overpowered for early to mid-game maybe, but as it is, the only damage abilities that properly scale are Ash and Loki's invisibility multipliers and Nova's Antimatter Drop / Molecular Prime. Rhino's Roar too if we count that as a direct damage skill. 

 

These changes I had in mind are geared towards higher levels, not the piece of cake for veterans that is most nodes on the starmap. 

 

These two changes are intended for 30 minute Survivals and 25+ wave Defenses, not lvl 20 enemies. 

 

The abilities wouldn't take power strength into account, they'd take your melee weapon into account. That 4K damage seems excessive, but have you tried that when surrounded by Grineer 50 minutes in? Not to mention weapons like the Latron Prime, Dread, Paris Prime, and Vectis can double that with a single shot while reaping the benefits of punch through to down rows of enemies with half the effort from a safe distance away from all the knockdowns the Grineer faction will throw at you. 

Edited April 17, 2014 by Hastur609

[Axterix13]

I would like to point out that all I need to do to fix this is edit my original post so it's less ridiculous right off the bat. So why don't you all get with it and stop derailing the thread over an easily fixable detail and give some different ideas for me eh? Not trying to be rude here.

Drop the melee range thing entirely. 

 

Provide a movement speed boost and possibly a resistance to knockdowns or a boost to how quickly you get back on your feet.

 

Change the free Channeling to +100% Channeling Efficiency.  Alternately, a cost adjustment of -5 after all other calculations are made.  If your base cost goes up to 7, this would bring it down to 2.  If it is 3 to start with, 0 (no actually gaining energy from it, hehe).

 

You channel by default while the power is active, even if you have 0 energy.  Alternately, power might end if you run out of energy.

 

Reduce the damage bonus to 3x channeling damage at the most.  Considering with Killing Blow you're already at 2x normally damage, that's still 6x base damage, or enough to one shot level 50 Ancients.  It'd probably need to be just 2x for balance reasons.

 

Drop the increased combo timer.  Faster movement speed will help you maintain it and the power already has a damage boost, with the channel change.

 

Drop the punch-through.  Many melee weapons are already AoE, which only leaves the shields, and you can move around them.

 

And even with all that, it feels more like this should be a new Hysteria, rather than for Excalibur.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Axterix13

[notionphil]

I would like to point out that all I need to do to fix this is edit my original post so it's less ridiculous right off the bat. So why don't you all get with it and stop derailing the thread over an easily fixable detail and give some different ideas for me eh? Not trying to be rude here. 

 

 

 

 

Er...does Nova ring a bell? Have you not tried using Radial Javelin late-game? It's an entirely useless ult at later levels even with Blind Rage, which only prolongs the inevitable and hard damage fall-off.

 

Giving feedback on what you asked is not derailing your thread. The numeric detail is far from the only issue.

 

Your (still OP at 5x) Rage ult is incredibly similar to Valkyr's, except with better bonuses and less drawbacks. Tweaking numbers won't change that.

 

How about you think about what you want his ult to be?

 

If the answer is, "a melee focused state where he dominates his enemies with powerful attacks"...that is Valkyrs ult.

 

How about "Fatal Kata" - Excalibur enters a trance like state where his blades hunger for the lifeblood of his enemies.

 

-For 30 seconds, Excalibur has a chance to kill an enemy outright with every melee strike, equal to the number of hits in his current combo.

-When an enemy is killed by a Fatal Kata proc, his body explodes in a shower of gore, dealing damage equal to his HP to all enemies in 5M

-During Fatal Kata, Excalibur's Combo meter takes 3x as long to reset and his slide distance is doubled.

[Axterix13]

Again, I can change the OP so the values are less intense. 

 

Overpowered for early to mid-game maybe, but as it is, the only damage abilities that properly scale are Ash and Loki's invisibility multipliers and Nova's Antimatter Drop / Molecular Prime. Rhino's Roar too if we count that as a direct damage skill. 

 

These changes I had in mind are geared towards higher levels, not the piece of cake for veterans that is most nodes on the starmap. 

 

These two changes are intended for 30 minute Survivals and 25+ wave Defenses, not lvl 20 enemies. 

 

The abilities wouldn't take power strength into account, they'd take your melee weapon into account. That 4K damage seems excessive, but have you tried that when surrounded by Grineer 50 minutes in? Not to mention weapons like the Latron Prime, Dread, Paris Prime, and Vectis can double that with a single shot while reaping the benefits of punch through to down rows of enemies with half the effort from a safe distance away from all the knockdowns the Grineer faction will throw at you. 

I expect that invis will see its multiplier reduced.  Really, it should have happened as part of 2.0.  Never bring up Nova as a reason for why another frame should be more powerful.  Nova will get nerfed, unless their designers are utterly clueless/incompetent.  Never bring up long term endless modes.  The game isn't balanced for that.  The only reason we can do that stuff as easily as we do it is due to a mix of obviously overpowered abilities, the silliness of 75% efficiency, and overpowered weapon mods.

 

But if you do want to bring up endless modes, overpowered for that as well.  I carve through level 40 ancients without any trouble, no channeling, no stance mod, just using basic melee.  With free channeling and as little as 3x normal channeling damage on that, I'd one shot them.  No ultimate does that.

 

And while many #1s drop off due to poorly thought out game mechanics, that doesn't change that that is the system they've decided on.  Unless they overhaul the entire system, making all powers run off weapons, they can't change one as if it were in a vacuum.  Slash Dash has to be balanced relative to other #1s.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Axterix13

[CreedOfGod]

Slash Dash change seems like it would be cool. But to be honest I would be perfectly content with them just lowering/ removing the cast time on radial javelin. 

[Eyeless]

Drop the melee range thing entirely. 

 

Provide a movement speed boost and possibly a resistance to knockdowns or a boost to how quickly you get back on your feet.

 

Change the free Channeling to +100% Channeling Efficiency.  Alternately, a cost adjustment of -5 after all other calculations are made.  If your base cost goes up to 7, this would bring it down to 2.  If it is 3 to start with, 0 (no actually gaining energy from it, hehe).

 

You channel by default while the power is active, even if you have 0 energy.  Alternately, power might end if you run out of energy.

 

Reduce the damage bonus to 3x channeling damage at the most.  Considering with Killing Blow you're already at 2x normally damage, that's still 6x base damage, or enough to one shot level 50 Ancients.  It'd probably need to be just 2x for balance reasons.

 

Drop the increased combo timer.  Faster movement speed will help you maintain it and the power already has a damage boost, with the channel change.

 

Drop the punch-through.  Many melee weapons are already AoE, which only leaves the shields, and you can move around them.

 

A movement increase would be nice, the range bonus was only my first thought to compensate for when enemies are just out of range, due to how fast the combo timer counts down. Main reason I wanted the Ultimate to increase its duration, because unless you're surrounded and always on your feet, all it takes to do away with all your hard-earned combo multipliers is a Bombard or Shield Lancer bashing you to the ground.

 

Energy consumption until you're out of energy doesn't seem like a bad idea, combine that with channeling cost, whadya think would be a fair base-drain number? 

 

3x sounds a bit more reasonable than 5x, I'm considering it. 

 

Thanks for the constructive ideas. 

 

Giving feedback on what you asked is not derailing your thread. The numeric detail is far from the only issue.

 

Your (still OP at 5x) Rage ult is incredibly similar to Valkyr's, except with better bonuses and less drawbacks. Tweaking numbers won't change that.

 

How about you think about what you want his ult to be?

 

If the answer is, "a melee focused state where he dominates his enemies with powerful attacks"...that is Valkyrs ult.

 

How about "Fatal Kata" - Excalibur enters a trance like state where his blades hunger for the lifeblood of his enemies.

 

-For 30 seconds, Excalibur has a chance to kill an enemy outright with every melee strike, equal to the number of hits in his current combo.

-When an enemy is killed by a Fatal Kata proc, his body explodes in a shower of gore, dealing damage equal to his HP to all enemies in 5M

-During Fatal Kata, Excalibur's Combo meter takes 3x as long to reset and his slide distance is doubled.

 

It is derailing it in my opinion if it's all everybody focuses on for the entire first page. I want people's ideas and genera feedback overall, preferably in the same post so they can talk with me over what they see as unreasonable while helping me bring my ideas more in line to something generally acceptable. 

 

It's hardly constructive feedback if all the posters below the OP decide to sit there and wail on one detail of the idea I can easily change, when not one suggestion is given. At the time of posting this I have of course gotten better feedback and ideas, which I am grateful for taking into heavy consideration.

 

As it is, I do know what I want Excalibur's ult to be. I understand it's like Valkyr's ult, and while saying Excalibur came first is a poor excuse, it is different in enough ways to differentiate it from Valkyr's.

 

Excalibur is not invulnerable during his ult and can take damage while remaining susceptible to knockdowns. Excalibur's ult would also allow you to use your preferred melee weapons over Valkyr's floaty, punchy claws. 

 

Onto your own idea:

 

I do like the concept overall, but it doesn't give him the damage boost I feel he'd need to let him dominate with the player's preferential melee. RNG is not a kind mistress in this game and Warframe already relies on it too heavily for most everything else, I'd rather not have a 4th skill be chance based unless that chance was so high even the unluckiest players would still have a fair shot at gibbing numerous enemies. 

 

The health = damage bit I do like, the only problem is ensuring you can kill the enemy, which you covered with using combo-count as a factor. 

 

Maybe double or triple the points per hit for the combo multiplier so there's more a chance to trigger the explosion? 

 

This is a good idea, but on paper it sounds like a less practical iteration of Molecular Prime. 

[Eyeless]

I expect that invis will see its multiplier reduced.  Really, it should have happened as part of 2.0.  Never bring up Nova as a reason for why another frame should be more powerful.  Nova will get nerfed.  Never bring up long term endless modes.  The game isn't balanced for that.  The only reason we can do that stuff as easily as we do it is due to a mix of obviously overpowered abilities, the silliness of 75% efficiency, and overpowered weapon mods.

 

But if you do want to bring up endless modes, overpowered for that as well.  I carve through level 40 ancients without any trouble, no channeling, no stance mod, just using basic melee.  With free channeling and as little as 3x normal channeling damage on that, I'd one shot them.  No ultimate does that.

 

And while many #1s drop off due to poorly thought out game mechanics, that doesn't change that that is the system they've decided on.  Unless they overhaul the entire system, making all powers run off weapons, they can't change one as if it were in a vacuum.  Slash Dash has to be balanced relative to other #1s.

 

I will so long as she remains in her current state because like it or not she's still part of the game and either needs to be brought in line with more balanced concepts like Rhino or other damage oriented frames need to be able to deal damage just as effectively, if not in as a blatantly and stupidly easy method as Nova can. 

 

The game isn't balanced for it yet plenty of weapons and abilities completely trivialize what DE supposedly balances our damage around. Balancing for lvl 40 mobs is simply too low. I WILL bring up endless nodes because it's all many of us have for a proper end-game right now and it's the only area weapons and frames like Nova balance out at all until you can't damage a thing. 

 

I'd also like to point out that one shotting an Ancient is cake for a good long while in Survivals with a Dragon Nikana simply because all Infested lack armor. They're also the easiest faction to trivialize from the start in too many ways due to their flawed design. 

 

You can: Stand on crates or higher elevations so they can't target you. Use Vauban. Use an AoE weapon like the Ogris and Penta for over 50 waves of an ODD without needing a Nova or Rhino to boost your damage because fleshy enemies melt so easily to most of the more powerful weapons and abilities. 

 

Please do not try to bring Infested into the equation as a balancing factor. 

 

I also fail to see why one Warframe's power needs to suck because others do. Hydroid is a shining example. All 4 of his abilities have great utility in the form of chaotic CC. DE didn't make his 1 lackluster just because everyone else's first ability is mostly lackluster. Instead they gave him something that has a scaling utility against any level of enemies with or without them being tightly packed together. 

 

Valkyr and Zephyr get some honorable mentions due to the useful mobility both offer. 

 

I know DE makes a lot of questionable design choices, there's a lot of unbalanced content and the direction this game is going is questionable. That doesn't mean we can't try to make suggestions that'd make it better. 

[ArchonReach]

Guys, guys, everyone here needs to caaaaaaaalm down, and listen to some nice nature sounds or something. Do what you need to do and take a chill pill. But really, you all are going about this the wrong way.

 

Now, I'm not going to lie, Mr. Hastur here did bring up some strong numbers, he definitely did, and I'll get to that, but first I'd like to point out that instead of saying "OMG EXCALIBUR ULT OP NERF PLS", we should be saying "Hey, Hastur, your numbers are a little off, we think ______, and maybe change ____ to ______." Forgive me, because I've only been skimming this thread, but I've not heard many constructive posts. 90% of what I read was "Dude, that's WAY too OP, just don't." But here are my thoughts.

 

1) Slash Dash. This is a good idea, I think. I have little to no argument on this. Because what is Slash Dash in the first place? Is it really the "dash" doing the damage? I don't think we're hurting anyone by sliding/running really fast. I think it's the blade ("slash") that's doing the damage. A number of things should happen, all of which based on our melee weapon. My thoughts listed below.

1a) Scaling of damage based on melee weapon, which was suggested in the original post.

1b) Scaling of "dash" distance depending on "weight" of melee weapon. A Galatine, or a Fragor, would produce more "drag" than something like a Skana or an Ether Dagger.

1c) (Maybe) Energy Cost would also vary based on the weight of the weapon? I want feedback on that idea. Heavier weapons = More energy cost, and the opposite.

-- Those above three changes will produce a Speed VS. Strength sort of power. If you prefer hitting like a truck, but only hitting things in close range, bring a Galatine! But if you like the mobility and speed (at the cost of actual "oomph"), a Fang might suit you more. And if the heavier weapons deal a ton of damage, it'd make sense that they cost 50 energy instead of 25.

 

2) Radial Javelin. This is the one everyone's getting worked up about, correct? Well, here are my thoughts. Hastur, the numbers you initially provided were a little much, and I see that you'd edited your original post to tone it down a little, which I appreciate. And honestly, I like the concept of it. A melee based frame should have some sort of melee-based power. The ability to infinitely channel, block, and parry without costing anything? I'll take it! Increased damage, speed, and other attributes? Even better. But here's my thoughts.

2a) Instead of the 10x or 5x damage increase, I think 3x is a good idea. Double damage carrying a good melee weapon is already amazing, triple it and you've got an Ult.

2b) Increase melee attack speed by 2x. Tripling the damage of something like a Heat Dagger still isn't a lot of damage. We need to make it so this Ult helps more for the players that favor speed as well.

2c) Infinite channeling energy and blocking/running stamina. Again, helping out for making it a melee frame.

2d) Increased run speed and jump height. If you want to run melee, you need to be able to close the gap! This shouldn't be a power you only use when surrounded by Shield Lancers, it should be able to clear a room as well as any other Ult.

2e) List is getting pretty long. Damage RESISTANCE. Not immunity. We don't want this to be just a better version of Hysteria. I'm suggesting a 15%/25%/40% damage resistance amplifier. Like we're literally dodging bullets.

 

I also dunno about the name for the ult. 'Rage' is too Valkyr-like. *shrug*

 

This is what I can think of off the top of my head, so don't yell at me if it's a little too strong/weak, I'm tired. But with those changes, I'm all in favor of making Excalibur a more melee-based frame. Doesn't make sense that Valkyr or Loki make a better swordman than him.

 

(As a side note, switch the stamina stats of Hydroid and Excalibur. Why does a water frame have amazing stamina count and regen, but the blade-user doesn't?)

Edited April 17, 2014 by SentinelRevenant

[notionphil]

A movement increase would be nice, the range bonus was only my first thought to compensate for when enemies are just out of range, due to how fast the combo timer counts down. Main reason I wanted the Ultimate to increase its duration, because unless you're surrounded and always on your feet, all it takes to do away with all your hard-earned combo multipliers is a Bombard or Shield Lancer bashing you to the ground.

 

Energy consumption until you're out of energy doesn't seem like a bad idea, combine that with channeling cost, whadya think would be a fair base-drain number? 

 

3x sounds a bit more reasonable than 5x, I'm considering it. 

 

Thanks for the constructive ideas. 

 

 

It is derailing it in my opinion if it's all everybody focuses on for the entire first page. I want people's ideas and genera feedback overall, preferably in the same post so they can talk with me over what they see as unreasonable while helping me bring my ideas more in line to something generally acceptable. 

 

It's hardly constructive feedback if all the posters below the OP decide to sit there and wail on one detail of the idea I can easily change, when not one suggestion is given. At the time of posting this I have of course gotten better feedback and ideas, which I am grateful for taking into heavy consideration.

 

As it is, I do know what I want Excalibur's ult to be. I understand it's like Valkyr's ult, and while saying Excalibur came first is a poor excuse, it is different in enough ways to differentiate it from Valkyr's.

 

Excalibur is not invulnerable during his ult and can take damage while remaining susceptible to knockdowns. Excalibur's ult would also allow you to use your preferred melee weapons over Valkyr's floaty, punchy claws. 

 

Onto your own idea:

 

I do like the concept overall, but it doesn't give him the damage boost I feel he'd need to let him dominate with the player's preferential melee. RNG is not a kind mistress in this game and Warframe already relies on it too heavily for most everything else, I'd rather not have a 4th skill be chance based unless that chance was so high even the unluckiest players would still have a fair shot at gibbing numerous enemies. 

 

The health = damage bit I do like, the only problem is ensuring you can kill the enemy, which you covered with using combo-count as a factor. 

 

Maybe double or triple the points per hit for the combo multiplier so there's more a chance to trigger the explosion? 

 

This is a good idea, but on paper it sounds like a less practical iteration of Molecular Prime. 

 

When a thread is new, people enter and type their post before seeing other replies. You end up with a first page like that if your OP has a glaring issue. I've had it happen to me many a time.

 

With lifestrike, which you can assume would become a 'required' part of an excal build if 'Rage' existed, excal would also be invulnerable during 'rage'. Also, you are nearly invulnerable to knockdown when melee is equipped, if you're swinging.

 

So functionally, this is still basically a much better, less hokey/slow version of Valkyrs ult. Everyone would rather use a melee weap than her claws.

 

I agree that leaving things to chance can be an issue. If there were an effective way of making it based on skill, it would be better. # hits kind of does that, but not really.

 

Also, this abilities duration should not be able to be extended by duration mods. No running around blowing everyone up with your sword forever.

[Eyeless]

When a thread is new, people enter and type their post before seeing other replies. You end up with a first page like that if your OP has a glaring issue. I've had it happen to me many a time.

 

With lifestrike, which you can assume would become a 'required' part of an excal build if 'Rage' existed, excal would also be invulnerable during 'rage'. Also, you are nearly invulnerable to knockdown when melee is equipped, if you're swinging.

 

So functionally, this is still basically a much better, less hokey/slow version of Valkyrs ult. Everyone would rather use a melee weap than her claws.

 

I agree that leaving things to chance can be an issue. If there were an effective way of making it based on skill, it would be better. # hits kind of does that, but not really.

 

Also, this abilities duration should not be able to be extended by duration mods. No running around blowing everyone up with your sword forever.

 

I have a better perspective now thanks to your opening sentence, does make me feel a bit less aggravated about the initial reception this post got, even though I foresaw some heavy resistance to numbers I didn't plan on keeping anyway. 

 

You make a good point about invulnerability, but I have to disagree on the knockdowns, because even an hour ago when I was helping a lower ranked friend through Cassini, despite my swings, there've been plenty of instances where a Napalm or Shield Lancer has slapped me on my &#! mid-swing or combo and ultimately led me to my demise because I couldn't keep channeling strikes to keep my HP up. 

 

I also understand the concerns about this being a better Valkyr ult, believe me I do. As it is now, there really has to be enough to differentiate my idea from Valkyr's ult so her and Excalibur aren't stepping on eachother's feet. 

 

I wouldn't mind taking the idea of your Ultimate further at all. If you and I can develop it a bit more, I'll even add it to the OP as an alternative for newcomers to the Thread to review with my own idea as both get tweaked.  

 

(Why didn't I pop Blind in the middle of the swings when I noticed the increasing odds you ask? Hell if I know, I reply...)

[egregiousRac]

Er...does Nova ring a bell? Have you not tried using Radial Javelin late-game? It's an entirely useless ult at later levels even with Blind Rage, which only prolongs the inevitable and hard damage fall-off.

 

Nova's ults damage falls off harder than Radial Javelin. It stays useful because of the 100% damage buff, which is way outside the norm. When compared to any straight damage ult, Radial Javelin is really strong. It could use punch through and better targeting though, because it is not as good in practice as it is on paper.