Warframe Ability Changes: Nova

[Landwalrus]

I like how parts of the ability is affected by Duration and Strength. The two were previously unimportant in the cookiecutter build for it. It would allow for ACTUAL min maxing. 

 

But, as DTexas stated, it seemed like a bit extra work for something that could be fixed by simply removing one of the many things Mprime did.

Extra work is good. Higher chance of quality mechanics.

[Eremes]

it is not clear if she lost her 2x damage marker to enemies affected by MP.

 

does she still has that extra damage debuff?

[(PSN)StoneRevolver]

Can you fix the frame? Somewhat. Can you fix all the Nova players who use nothing except M Prime? No.

 

Even with this, I will continue to exit lobbies with Novas until I see someone use something other than M prime.

[(PSN)ShadowDancing-]

what about the kills? people mainly cry about MP kill hogging...why not take away her 1/2 credit per kill and instead only credit her for what SHE kills??? after all. Banshees sonar affects everything, but she dont get the kills, same concept please!

Sonar doesn't kill things. Miasma and World on Fire will steal all your ego precious but otherwise entirely meaningless kill counts.

[PsycloneM]

Once again these proposed changes sound very interesting, and I have a few questions/concerns I'd like to address.

 

- Is power duration going to affect the antimatter shock similar to how power duration affects skills like Slash Dash, Rhino Charge, Tidal Surge, and Tail Wind? That is to say, is power duration going to affect the speed of the shock, the duration of time the shock expands, or both?

 

- Has the base damage of each explosion been modified, and will primed enemies still take 2x damage?

 

- Is the movement slow going to be multiplied by power strength, or divided? To clarify, Molecular Prime will reduce a primed enemy's movement speed to 75% of the original value at rank 0. To calculate the new speed after power strength, say +30% from Intensify, will the target's movement/attack speed be 1 - ( 1 - 0.75 ) x 1.3 = 67.5%, or 0.75 / 1.3 = 57.7% of the original value?

 

- What's the cap on the movement slow?

 

 

My concern is that a strong slow may be unnecessary considering the number of other debuffs Molecular Prime provides. I think more warframe ultimates could use their own unique form of reliable late-game utility, but Nova already has enough debuffs in her arsenal: she primes enemies for detonation, primed enemies take double damage, and primed enemies suffer a movement/attack speed slow.

 

My suggestion is to tone down the movement/attack speed slow, considering it is to be affected by power strength and hard capped at an even lower percentage. How much the slow could be toned down depends highly on how power strength affects it, and the value of the cap. If the double damage was removed to balance out the proposed slow, then my suggestion can be disregarded; although, I'm more in favor of keeping the damage multiplier and the proposed changes to the chain reaction effect with a moderate slow.

 

 

Other than that, Null Star and Antimatter Drop could receive another look as compensation for this proposal.

 

Null Star was once capable of inflicting armor-ignoring serrated blade damage, and staggered on every hit. With Damage 2.0, both of these mechanics have been removed; although, it's still possible to inflict bleed DoTs with a very low status chance. One suggestion I'd make is to change the damage type from slash to blast with a 100% status chance. While the damage will no longer be able to bypass armor with bleed procs, each particle will have the capability to knock down enemies in a small AoE with the forced blast proc.

 

Another suggestion to Null Star is to consider increasing the particle count while proportionately decreasing the base damage: something like 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 blast damage per particle with 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 particles. Now that increasing power duration will positively affect Molecular Prime, this suggested change to Null Star will allow power duration to have a greater effect on the number of particles.

 

Finally, my last suggestion is to consider adding a new mechanic that allows the player to release all currently orbiting particles by hitting the ability key again. Should the player get surrounded and require a cheap panic button, or should the player want to provide immediate crowd control, hitting the "1" key while Null Star is activated would cause all available particles to seek out random targets at once. With a higher base number of particles, increasing power duration will potentially increase the number of targets that can be crowd controlled.

 

Null Star's utility would be restored and improved, the benefits from power duration will synchronize well with Molecular Prime, and I think exploding particles with the damage type change and forced blast proc would be fitting considering Nova's theme (matter/antimatter annihilation).

 

 

As for Antimatter Drop, the ability to slow the particle by zooming in has been very inconsistent. If this was not an intended feature, I would ask to consider making it one. Otherwise, the intended mechanic could use further review in order to allow the player to have better control of the particle's speed.

 

Another issue is the particle inflicting minimum damage should the particle achieve a certain velocity, or if too much damage is absorbed. I think it would be beneficial to Antimatter Drop if this could be reviewed to improve the consistency of its damage.

 

The only other concern that I have is that Antimatter Drop's damage calculation goes haywire when weapons with innate punch through are used (such as charged shots from bows, and the Lanka). Personally, I think the actual damage expression ( 100 + 4 x weapon damage ) is fine considering the amount of time and weapon modding that's required to get the most out of the power. However, I should not be able to take my forma-less Lanka with a few elemental mods, shoot the particle once, and proceed to inflict 200k radiation damage in a respectable area. I ask to consider giving this another look.

Edited May 18, 2014 by PsycloneM

[Pizzarugi]

What about null star? She needs that ability tweaked a bit so that she has 4 skills worth taking with her.

 

All it needs is an improved range and to stagger enemies it hits, so it works like a mini shield against enemies that get too close... staggering them.

Almost every frame has at least 1 ability that sucks barring a few like Trinity, Nova isn't special. Just about all frames in this game need at least one ability re-examined to make them more in line with everything else.

That's why I made this thread (self promotion, ho!), to make these worthless abilities more useful.

[magalor]

should have added a cap to number of unit effected like you did to vauban's bastile

[Archwizard]

Almost every frame has at least 1 ability that sucks barring a few like Trinity, Nova isn't special. Just about all frames in this game need at least one ability re-examined to make them more in line with everything else.

 

Oddly, I keep seeing this come up. "Everyone has one" is not a justification for a poorly-designed ability, especially when it makes up a quarter of a frame's unique skillset.

[(PSN)draven_ev]

Can't wait to try it honestly.. I hated frost's change at first-- now he is more fun to play.. I can't wait to play trinity either-- invulnerability was a bit OP in my opinion.  The only problem I have with the current MP is it gives all the kills to nova.. and thats not even really that much of a problem-- as we still get xp for it.... alot of xp lol

 

All that xp is why nova was really just a "level my buddies up" frame for me... but I also run a maxed explosion damage nova, not maxed range (which everyone hates for taking all the kills).  

[(PSN)draven_ev]

Just please don't touch her portal ability, as I am a treasure pot room junkie.

[LukeAura]

If the delay on explosions works the way I think it will, At last, I can finally sync Molecular Prime to the overture. 
 

[(PSN)draven_ev]

remove the slow entirely? I disagree, guys. It is very usefull. I agree that it doesn't match her overall character, but it's saved me on numerous occasions, especially with higher level enemies... Nova being such a glass cannon and all.  

 

Or don't nerf her, and instead make all the other frames op. 

Edited May 17, 2014 by (PS4)draven_ev

[Pizzarugi]

Oddly, I keep seeing this come up. "Everyone has one" is not a justification for a poorly-designed ability, especially when it makes up a quarter of a frame's unique skillset.

I never implied it was justification, I was implying that all of these lame abilities need to be remade or tweaked to be much better.

[KeepOnFlowing]

I for one welcome these changes.

[sanj66]

ROAR

roar is a separate skill smarty, they were talking about in a single skill.

[taiiat]

proposed changes sound good. i can live with those. 

 

a 30 Second Debuff time is a bit long still, but atleast it's Duration modifiable now. 

 

 

liking all of the different playstyles MPrime has inside of it with these changes. more thinking and really gunning for what sort of effects you want out of your Powers the most is always great.

 

 

What do you mean by offsetting explosions?

in other words, not having all of the Enemies ragdoll in the same frame. spreading it out over more frames so that the load spike doesn't kill low end machines.

 

in gameplay terms, i doubt you'll notice. they won't all go in the same frame, but they'll all explode within a second, i'd imagine.

[PHOBIE]

- I can see a better Null Star with stagger, adjustable range (hold skill button), variable impulses (double-tap skill button?), better scaling on the amount of Null Stars aesthetically and functionally being nice. I can also see ponies being nice.

 

- Null Stars exploding Molecular Prime would be great. Skills interacting with one another is generally awesome, but hard to design. I think the overall goal should not be to create an autokill machine, but an agility speed tank that can go unpunished if it moves fast and places skills correctly.

 

- This is why stopping in mid-air when Priming was great before it was taken out because people abused it. Better tactical point of view and chance for one additional melee move. Also a satisfying roleplay mechanic, where NOVA defies the laws of physics by stopping time on account of her supernatural move. Felt so immersive. Please bring it back?

 

- I agree with the points brought forward where NOVA slows far away enemies, effectively reducing killspeed with her Molecular Prime. Hence why I proposed a slow that is strongest at the source. Not sure about very high level missions where every bit of slow might count. Several Primes in different places might work there though. Funneling even more enemies quicker into explosion range might also be debateable, although I think it is better than the alternative.

 

- Analyzing the NOVA feedback since her creation I come to this conclusion: NOVA being the carry who got only warframe XP while giving lots and lots of shared XP to her team members was never much appreciated. She didn't get much out of the deal herself. People would probably prefer the Kill-XP going to the weapon that caused explosion of the first enemy. Maybe with Headshots or Kill-Assists going to NOVAs account to show she helped.

 

- In general: more responsive and interacting skills on this high-speed/high-risk warframe will make many players happy. She can change. She just wants to be loved.

[(PSN)STARSIDE_DESTINY]

I actually like the hitch caused by large Molecular Prime explosions, as it tells me when to stop worrying about nearby enemies and get ready to Desecrate. I won't miss it though, anything that increases performance is fine by me.

[Arsonide]

Antimatter Drop is never shot at by teammates, at least in public games, but making it any larger would look stupid and make it harder for the ball to path in tight spaces.

 

Also, now that you are nerfing Molecular Prime, it would be nice if her other skills were worth something.

 

The solution is to leave the size of the Antimatter Drop Ball the same as it is, but give it an effect similar to bullet attractor with a decent radius. It should absorb some team fire then, even accidental shots, but still be able to path around in tight hallways, since the bullet attractor clips through walls.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Arsonide

[(PSN)ShadowDancing-]

Can you fix the frame? Somewhat. Can you fix all the Nova players who use nothing except M Prime? No.

 

Even with this, I will continue to exit lobbies with Novas until I see someone use something other than M prime.

Sounds like you're doing all those Novas a favor

[Loswaith]

Sounds ok, will need to be tried to see if it has any real change of effect.

[xkillo32]

That only happens after it's been shot at. AD has a potential, not an immediate effect.

for future reference it's AMD

and it can do way more than 100k lol

[Squiintts]

I can't believe how many people here want the Speed Debuff completely removed.  It seems to be common knowledge that Nova's are most useful in very long defense and survival missions, where the speed debuff and damage multiplier are all that matters.  I suppose if I had it my way we could get rid of the explosions completely:  No more kill stealing and still have the ability to provide the same team utility that we did before.

 

I think the speed debuff is also pretty necessary to getting an AMD off without dying in the process (again, once the enemies are high enough). 

 

So maybe the better solution would be removing the explosions from Molecular Prime and a (slight) reduction to the AMD multiplier.

[Genxun]

Honestly I'd prefer if the slow effect was removed completely. One of the most annoying things of having a Nova in a defence  is the mobs that survive the primed explosion chain and then we have to go hunt down if we want the next wave to spawn because they're moving at a snails pace and take 3 business days to reach visual range of the pod.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Genxun

[Squiintts]

Honestly I'd prefer if the slow effect was removed completely. One of the most annoying things of having a Nova in a defence  is the mobs that survive the primed explosion chain and then we have to go hunt down if we want the next wave to spawn because they're moving at a snails pace and take 3 business days to reach visual range of the pod.

 

Sounds like ODD to me.  I assure you, you would not think that at 50+ waves in a T3D.