Hover Mode For Zephyr

[Alighierian]

First off: this has been suggested here and there in other topics, but I could not find a dedicated topic for this idea.

 

 

In a nutshell (what also has been suggested by other people, like I said before):

 

Zephyr should have a hover mode, like the grineer Helions

 

Right now she's just a frame with above average mobility thanks to her reduced gravity and tailwind, but she cannot truly 'fly and rain death from above'.

 

The ideas I've read about it can be summed up as following:

 

Tailwind and dive bomb would be affected / replaced, with one skill for Hover mode (de)activate, and the other for faster horizontal movement, or divebombing down on targets (when aimed towards the ground).

Whilst in the hover mode you should be able to slowly move back / forward / sideways (maybe with 'sprint' as speed boost, at the cost of increased energy / stamina consumption rate).

 

edit / addition:

Most effective would be replacing dive bomb with 'Hover', and having the dive bombing incorporated in tailwind, when aiming downwards. When in Hover mode tailwind should launch you forward / sidewards / upwards the same distance it would when using it outside hover mode. When tailwind ends Hover should not automatically reactivated, but you should be able to manually activate it again before you start to drop too much.

 

Whilst in hover mode, either energy or stamina would be consumed to give a limit to max flight time.

(this would also allow for a dedicated mod like Aviator, with a use comparable to the wallrun mod: 'Less stamina / energy consumption whilst hovering')

 

 

As for the art / animation:

One option would be to go for the 'jetpack' route, like the Helions have, but then with 2 thrust sources (with them moving as well when turning / going forward/backward / etc just for that extra immersion)

 

(Yes I am aware this is a water jetpack, but what it shows fits better with Zephyr, since we can see the wind she uses to propel her. The main idea behind a normal jetpack and a water jetpack are 100% the same: a thrust source lifts up a person by countering gravity.)

 

The totally fancy option would be to 'ditch' the jetpack, and give zephyr energy wings when she uses a flight skill. (Personally I think this isn't a very lore friendly way to do it, because Zephyr 'controls the wind', and creating energy wings to fly with doesn't really fit that too well)

 

Option 3 would be to combine the other 2 options, but not with energy wings, but deployable wings, somewhat like these, for example (But in Zephyr's art style, obviously):

 

 

But whatever option is used, the point remains the same:

 

Zephyr is currently not the agile 'flight' frame DE announced her as.

 

This is because she can only choose to fall slowly or slightly faster, and when trying to stay up with tailwind aimed upwards, the gravity keeps increasing, forcing you down after just a few tailwinds (3, 4 at most if I recall correctly)

Edited May 19, 2014 by Alighierian

[Spikey844]

I like this idea, it would be really cool to be able to truly rain death from above

[StinkyPygmy]

This would be pretty awesome. I love Zephyr and she is a tonne of fun to play but It would be nice to not have to spam tail wind in order to simulate flight. Makes it hard to tailwind over to a group of enemies and time divebomb just right to land close enough to them. Another option would be to slow tailwinds speed a tiny bit and make it a continuous, togglable ability that drains energy/stamina over time? Allowing you to change direction while its in use. I would go a step further and say you could even combine the two. When tailwind is activated on the ground it launches Zephyr up into the air putting you in hover mode, and when activated in the air it shifts you into flight mode? Not entriely sure how easy that would be to implement though.

[bejuizb]

Or set it up so that a double tap of the space bar will send her up into the air and make her hover and expend a little energy per second, then when the death dealing is done, drop her back down with a single tap of the spacebar. The only issue is that she would become very powerful against the Infested, since they can't reach her. 

[Alighierian]

Or set it up so that a double tap of the space bar will send her up into the air and make her hover and expend a little energy per second, then when the death dealing is done, drop her back down with a single tap of the spacebar. The only issue is that she would become very powerful against the Infested, since they can't reach her. 

 

that is already the case on quite a few tiles, you simply tailwind up to certain parts and voilá.

even better, there are quite a few spots you can just wallrun / jump on where the infested can't reach you

[Cybernetix]

1. Make this a thing

2. Cosmetic Hellion jetpack for Zeph as a Grineer faction reward in the proxy wars.

[Shadow-Blades]

This would actually give the Aviator mod some use

[Gabry_96]

+11111111111111111111111

I love this idea, I actually thought about that some time ago...

About the wings, Zephyr already has small wings on her arms, so maybe when she flies they could become bigger

[Toom1275]

This would work well with the Aviator mod, giving her more survivability while hovering to help counteract the lack of cover up there.

 

As she is now, Zephyr does not spend enough time in the air to make the mod worth its slot.

[Feynt]

I do like the way Tailwind and Dive Bomb work right now, but I agree hovering needs to be a thing with her.  I was thinking, if she used Tailwind on the ground, maybe it can make her hover/noclip fly for 5-10 seconds (power duration enhanceable) before doing her slow descent.  5 seconds is plenty of time to line up a Dive Bomb, and also plenty of time to rain death on your enemies.

 

The other thing, Tailwind needs to be fixed.  Each use of Tailwind exponentially increases gravity's hold on her to the point where aiming straight up on the third use barely gains you any altitude and you plummet like a stone.

[Toom1275]

I do like the way Tailwind and Dive Bomb work right now, but I agree hovering needs to be a thing with her.  I was thinking, if she used Tailwind on the ground, maybe it can make her hover/noclip fly for 5-10 seconds (power duration enhanceable) before doing her slow descent.  5 seconds is plenty of time to line up a Dive Bomb, and also plenty of time to rain death on your enemies.

 

The other thing, Tailwind needs to be fixed.  Each use of Tailwind exponentially increases gravity's hold on her to the point where aiming straight up on the third use barely gains you any altitude and you plummet like a stone.

 

Maybe have it this way:

using Tailwind on the ground: engage hover mode.

Using Tailwind in the air: normal operation (look up to go up)

 

Dive Bomb would be the same as normal.

 

And, of course, having Tailwind use remove downward momentum like it should have been doing since it came out.

[Agent-KI7KO]

The Aviator mod is garbage, but would be made useful if this were to happen.

 

I suggest combining divebomb with tailwind, where if you hit a surface you create a shockwave, and then have Hover mode take that spot.

 

I am also willing to accept several nerfs if: for a brief few seconds, Zephyr is able to steer during tail wind.

[Cwierz]

I agree, she could do with hovering. Welcome buffs are welcome.

However I disagree with jetpacks or energy wings for visuals, I would prefer her to be standing on a miniature tornado as it would fit the theme better.

[Guest]

With the addition of toggle-able abilities, this could be implemented rather well, +1 from me. Also, i like option 3 out of your choices, deployable wings would look really cool with zephyr.