Devstream 30 Overview Part 1, Infested

[0zryel]

Anyone who has tuned into our Devstream 30 will know all about some of the new additions we have coming to Warframe’s enemy repertoire, designed to both expand our current roster of enemies while at the same time revisit and update our classic bosses as well.  Loads of new information on the J3 Golem’s design progress, an expansive look newly evolved Infested and details to the improved Tyl Regor were just some of the exciting changes we have in store for you, and it’s really just the tip of the iceberg.

 

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our latest Devstream, or are just looking to get a quick review of what was revealed for the Infested without all that fancy video-watching, here’s a look at what’s new baddies we have in store:

 

 

Our first Infested reveal came in the form of the J3 Golem, who has made a dramatic leap in design since we initially teased the changes (the first teaser can be seen above).  A massively hulking Infested that has merged with part of a Corpus ship, the J3 Golem is the (one of the) larger enemies in game with the average Tenno standing at only a third of his size.  The new artistic development for the J3 Golem makes him far more warped an intimidating, a trait it was lacking with its old Infested concept.

 

 

 

Though no details were given as to what the fight against him would specifically entail, we do know that another new Infested will likely be making an appearance during the encounter...

 

 

 

Part of the infested ship, the Devourer will take up residence inside the ventilation system, snapping out to grab unsuspecting Tenno to drag them to...well, anywhere!  Players grabbed by the tentacle whip will have a brief opportunity to shoot their way free of its grasp before being sucked into its maw and spit out somewhere else within the spacecraft.

 

The details are still rough, but one possibility for the Devourer would be to make an appearance during the boss fight itself, forcing Tenno to watch not only the deadly attacks of the J3 Golem but to keep an eye out for a Devourer ambush that could not only take their attention away from the boss but possibly separate them from their team; forcing players to either fight on with divided numbers or fall back to make a strategic regroup.

 

 

Of course boss fights and disgusting traps are not the only thing on our mind.  A lot of attention these past few months has gone into the expansion of the Infested faction as a whole, expanding on the melee-oriented faction in more ways than filling the gap with ranged units.  Concepts and prototypes like the Infested Drone (placeholder name) exist to fill in these weaknesses, spewing out crawlers as it flies overhead while leaving a toxic cloud in its wake. 

 

 

Another complementary unit are the bipedal Infested MOAs’ who are a twisted reflection of the loyal Corpus proxies in design and purpose.  Lumbering forward with unbalanced limbs these enemies spit a corrosive toxin from a distance, damaging their enemies both on contact and through a lingering ground puddle.  Contrary to their appearance the MOA is also surprisingly agile, able to leap great distances with little effort despite their uneasy staggered walk.

 

 

MOA concepts also include the Nanite MOA, a living hive of nanotechnology able to send black swarms of nanomachines that latch onto players to reduce armor and impair vision.  Those same nanomachines can also latch onto enemies, increasing their armor to make them more difficult to kill.  Another work in progress is a MOA with the ability to spit out an adhesive goo that dramatically reduces player speed, avoidable with a quick jump or dispatched with a well placed shot.

 

Taking existing Corpus units and twisting them into familiar but altogether different creations is the goal of our design time, and though all of these concepts may see further changes we’re certain the final release will radically change the way players interact with Infested across all gametypes.

 

 

 

Bolstering the ranks of hard-hitting Infested are two new Ancients in development, both with their own unique ways to force players to quickly adapt their play style.  The Puss Ancient is a moving breeding ground for Infested, spitting out globs of rapidly evolving material as it takes fire from Tenno weaponry.  Simply shooting it at range will cause more enemies to spawn, though there’s an opportunity for players to destroy the cocoons before they hatch into new enemies. 

 

 

Similar to the Nanite MOA the Diseased Ancient tries to hinder players, setting loose small but quick moving critters that will latch on and slow players down.  Just like other enemies it’s not a particularly large threat by itself, but in tandem this broad new range of opponents it’s our hope that the Infested are not only able to weather the most aggressive Tenno assaults but alter the battlefield in a way that suits their need to get up close and personal with any Warframe.

 

Keep in mind that any (and all) of these enemies may be subject to further change, and nothing has been firmly decided when it comes to the range, damage, or scaling of any ability. 

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our preview of Devstream 30 where we take a look at some of the changes coming for the rest of the factions; including a closer look at some of the updates to Corpus and Grineer bosses.

Im so happy thank you DE for all your hard work I love everything...

[Morec0]

What I had meant by the question of my you addressed in the Stream, I didn't mean "why are there no other proxy types besides Moas and Ospreys at all" - because that's clearly not the case with things like Zanuka and Jakcal and Hyena - I meant was "why are there no other proxy types besides Moas and Ospreys that appear as regular units - ala Cremen or Shockwave Moas"

 

If there's any chance of getting this addressed again in post... but I was honored to be recognized for the Stream all the same.

Edited June 12, 2014 by Morec0

[Keltik0ne]

There was some genuinely terrible ideas on display on the dev stream: passive damage clouds ? More aoe poison ?

 

I think if they want to namedrop Notionphil, they could at least read what he posted.

[CY13ERPUNK]

What I had meant by the question of my you addressed in the Stream, I didn't mean "why are there no other proxy types besides Moas and Ospreys at all" - because that's clearly not the case with things like Zanuka and Jakcal and Hyena - I meant was "why are there no other proxy types besides Moas and Ospreys that appear as regular units - ala Cremen or Shockwave Moas"

 

If there's any chance of getting this addressed again in post... but I was honored to be recognized for the Stream all the same.

 

exactly

 

when u fight the Jackal, the Lotus talks about 'tenno in the field' encountering similar units, but we NEVER encounter the production models of the Jackal, we ONLY ever find the 'protoype' on Venus (or the semi-dismantled one in the grineer tile)

 

i would like the Jackal boss to get a rework/upgrade and at the same time, pump out old-hyena style mini-jackals as regular corpus heavy units

[SoulEchelon]

There was some genuinely terrible ideas on display on the dev stream: passive damage clouds ? More aoe poison ?

 

I think if they want to namedrop Notionphil, they could at least read what he posted.

 

Nothing wrong with poison clouds. They force you to move around and not stand in one position. What, the players are the only ones that can control the map and have crowd control? You must've absolutely hated it when toxic ancients spewed out poison clouds upon death, eh?

 

 

While I like more enemy variety I can't help but feel adding versions of already existing enemies like the shield moa, infested drone is a bit lazy, we already have 3 kinds of moa not counting the corrupted one, it's getting kinda tricky to figure out which you're facing, drone is a bit less agregius because while we already have a ton of them none of them are infested.

 

Gist of what I'm trying to say: variety isn't just what they do, it's how they look and behave, doesn't corpus and grineer still share most of their animations? which is pretty weird considering how different they are physically and how their tactics/training differ.

 

See those pictures that are accompanying all of the words? Those are the actual models and creatures we'll be fighting. All Infested are supposed to be morphs of other enemies...That's why they're called -Infested-. I mean you're saying you're going to have a hard time figuring out an Infested drone/Moa from a normal Corpus one? Did you SEE the pictures?

[PsiWarp]

The Infested Drone looks like it can spit poison darts with that tail, which would be more fun to dodge than a giant fart cloud IMO :P

[Archistopheles]

Great stuff.

 

Infested are looking to reclaim their place as my favorite faction.

[notionphil]

I'm glad Daniel and Tom (enemy code/design) are thinking about mechanics! And I'm impressed with the creative concepts.

 

However, I'm not a fan of these particular mechanics, why? Because enemies don't exist in a vacuum.

 

Think about how it feels to fight infested. It's a twitch based battle to avoid disruption and quickly strike down an unstoppable hoarde....Now, add:

 

-armor ignoring poison clouds dropped off from flying infested drones

-armor ignoring poison AoE's shot from the Juggernaut

-slowing patches on the ground shot from some ranged infested

-infested moas shooting poison(?) globs at you

-infested nanite clouds that black your screen out if they touch you

-diseased ancient spawning fast moving crawlers that slow you down

 

Most of these would require tremendous situational awareness to avoid, and would be great mechanics out in the open, or in small groups. However, against the "hoarde" faction? Welcome to lockdown city, population, you.

 

Since they're in prototype stage, I think a lot of work can be done on the telegraphing of these abilities, or ensuring there are appropriate Tenno counters (that hopefully don't include the numbers 1,2,3 and 4).

[notionphil]

Nothing wrong with poison clouds. They force you to move around and not stand in one position. What, the players are the only ones that can control the map and have crowd control? You must've absolutely hated it when toxic ancients spewed out poison clouds upon death, eh?

 

It depends on when and where they spawn.

 

If you're standing on a crate, mindlessly Penta-ing the hoarde, and an infested drone bombs your location? AWESOME.

 

If you're meleeing 20 crawlers and ancients, thick in the twitch-based fog of war with your screen covered in body parts....and an infested drone that you can't see bombs your location? NOT AWESOME.

 

This would promote even more "stand on a crate and nuke stuff" strategy.

 

Toxic ancients "telegraphed" their cloud. Their cloud spawned where you killed them. You could even "choose" where to put it, by killing it at a certain place. Juggernauts and drones? Not so much, currently. Hopefully feedback will get us some way to avoid these attacks based on skill, not luck.

Edited June 12, 2014 by notionphil

[Cpt_Atroxium]

This is life. Im excited.

[Darkfreack]

Is it bad if i say I have a video recapping this stream as well. :/

Edited June 12, 2014 by Darkfreack

[SilverBones]

Looking forward to burning all these disgusting thingies!!  >=D

*locks and loads*

 

*high5*

[IAmTheWar]

With the addition of new ancients, will this potentially mean the current ancients will get an aesthetic change in the distant future?

[SoulEchelon]

It depends on when and where they spawn.

 

If you're standing on a crate, mindlessly Penta-ing the hoarde, and an infested drone bombs your location? AWESOME.

 

If you're meleeing 20 crawlers and ancients, thick in the twitch-based fog of war with your screen covered in body parts....and an infested drone that you can't see bombs your location? NOT AWESOME.

 

This would promote even more "stand on a crate and nuke stuff" strategy.

 

Toxic ancients "telegraphed" their cloud. Their cloud spawned where you killed them. You could even "choose" where to put it, by killing it at a certain place. Juggernauts and drones? Not so much, currently. Hopefully feedback will get us some way to avoid these attacks based on skill, not luck.

 

You just stated a player Penta-ing on a box getting hit by these poison clouds is great, but that it'll still promote people Penta-ing on boxes.

 

See that's the thing: These new abilities and monsters force the player to change tactics and move around, as stated. If your screen is full of infested sinew, then it's probably in your best interest to either keep an eye on your hp/shields, or get the hell out of there and find a better spot. We can't sit there and fault our screens being crowded for our deaths. Infested are known to charge and get up in the players' grills. Lobbing poison and creating poison rain is now another thing we all should get ready to handle. Unless you get knocked down, what stops you from saying "Oh my HP is going down. Looks like DoT; I better move."? I mean if you're getting dangerously close to dying, you're going to move regardless, aren't you? Even if you can't see your character at that point in time?

 

Edit: and, more than likely, there will be some sort of telegraphed noise or animation stating when they're going to do their attack. I doubt it'll just be out of nowhere. The main grab for the infested, other than their disgusting looks, is their animations.

Edited June 12, 2014 by SoulEchelon

[notionphil]

You just stated a player Penta-ing on a box getting hit by these poison clouds is great, but that it'll still promote people Penta-ing on boxes.

 

See that's the thing: These new abilities and monsters force the player to change tactics and move around, as stated. If your screen is full of infested sinew, then it's probably in your best interest to either keep an eye on your hp/shields, or get the hell out of there and find a better spot. We can't sit there and fault our screens being crowded for our deaths. Infested are known to charge and get up in the players' grills. Lobbing poison and creating poison rain is now another thing we all should get ready to handle. Unless you get knocked down, what stops you from saying "Oh my HP is going down. Looks like DoT; I better move."? I mean if you're getting dangerously close to dying, you're going to move regardless, aren't you? Even if you can't see your character at that point in time?

 

I stated two different scenarios....

 

If the drones/clouds/etc are attacking ppl pentaing on a box...that's good bc,

-its avoidable...they can see the drone/cloud/rain and try to shoot it/avoid

-it makes them change up their tactics...as you said

 

if the drones/clouds/etc are attacking ppl who are in crowded melee...thats bad bc

-its not avoidable as currently implemented

-unavoidable health loss is BAD. Always. Every time..

-it makes you change up your tactics to something without unavoidable HP loss. Which is getting on a crate and penta-ing or nuking which is boring and exploitative.

[SoulEchelon]

 

I stated two different scenarios....

 

If the drones/clouds/etc are attacking ppl pentaing on a box...that's good bc,

-its avoidable...they can see the drone/cloud/rain and try to shoot it/avoid

-it makes them change up their tactics...as you said

 

if the drones/clouds/etc are attacking ppl who are in crowded melee...thats bad bc

-its not avoidable as currently implemented

-unavoidable health loss is BAD. Always. Every time..

-it makes you change up your tactics to something without unavoidable HP loss. Which is getting on a crate and penta-ing or nuking which is boring and exploitative.

 

Both incredibly hypothetical. You're stating two situations that have far too many variables to even be a viable rebuttal to this argument. Everything needs to "click" for you to get "unavoidable damage". This situation needs to be like this and that and this over here and that thing needs to be there and this enemy over here and that wall has to be on this side of the thing and BAM, UNAVOIDABLE DAMAGE. 0/10 would not bang.

 

The inherent issues you're pointing out is that if you're close ranged and meleeing, you're in more danger from being damaged by attacks you cannot see. Really? That kind of goes for....every other faction in the game that has ranged threats. Bombards will happily shoot rockets at you from afar while you're fighting. They don't give two S#&$s about you not being able to see them. Those railgun moas will happily snipe your face off and stagger you from afar. They don't give two S#&$s about you not being able to see them either. If you're going to go melee, expect to be in more danger. This is coming from someone who actually seriously melees as Ember, against all factions.

 

You worried about getting hit with poison while meleeing? Then look around. Hop on a box and survey your surroundings with a glance before going into battle. You'll be able to see if there are any poison spitting enemies nearby. If there are, take them out first. I mean this is the basics of tactics here.

[Nkomo-Sama]

*Drool....*

[grillv20]

I think instead of poison clouded enemies you could have them be nanite damage clouds sorta like how you showed off in the dev stream. Just hoping that damage type eats away at shields rather than your health. ~_~ Poison clouds sometimes don't like to show up, talking about how toxic ancients used to die and sometimes you'd just be running around during a fire fight and walk into one and have to sit down and wait for a team mate to come pick you up. Other than that I can't find anything really substantial to complain about. 

[xShadowsaur]

We need more things like these! not everyone wants to watch Devstreams (I do though) and even for us who do watch this is a nice overall summary to refer to when our memory fades.

[Archeyef]

 

I just feel like pointing out that this Pus Ancient totally has what seems to be Frost Prime's helmet gold bits.

[Morec0]

exactly

 

when u fight the Jackal, the Lotus talks about 'tenno in the field' encountering similar units, but we NEVER encounter the production models of the Jackal, we ONLY ever find the 'protoype' on Venus (or the semi-dismantled one in the grineer tile)

 

i would like the Jackal boss to get a rework/upgrade and at the same time, pump out old-hyena style mini-jackals as regular corpus heavy units

 

I'd rather see new heavy proxies, lave the Jackal and Hyena alone as they are. There were some REALLY good non-Moa/Osprey ideas in the contest, but they got sidelined for more of what we've already got.

[The_Sharp_Demonologist]

Another things for the Infested, please give em sound. I want to heard them squeal, scream and yell when they detect you. Making them feel they are alive

[PsiWarp]

These are looking like great additions to the Infested swarms. But, don't forget to take a look at the current units as well (Volatile Runner...)

[Dexaldem]

But you have to remember, that room he showcased those enemies in is purely for testing their behavior and abilities.  It is by no means representative of the final product.  He wanted to show off what happens when it dies, not how hard it is to kill.

 

edit: if you're looking to play with people who don't just one-shot everything, I personally enjoy taking what would be considered a sub-par weapon into a match for the fun and enjoyment of it, even if it means more of a challenge and sub-optimal match in terms of how many waves of defense or how many minutes in survival I can last.  I play for fun, not to faceroll everything and anything in a match.

*BUMP*

Undead_Zeratul. your name is full of win sauce. I don't know if any Tenno here have seen the Protoss, but we've got their leader walking about the forums right now. :D

 

Also, i have to agree with what you've said. that holds true. i'm REALLY hoping these infested can lay down a tougher wall against the Tenno. it'd be nice to have SOME challenging enemies.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Dexaldem

[Undead_Zeratul]

*BUMP*

Undead_Zeratul. your name is full of win sauce. I don't know if any Tenno here have seen the Protoss, but we've got their leader walking about the forums right now. :D

 

Also, i have to agree with what you've said. that holds true. i'm REALLY hoping these infested can lay down a tougher wall against the Tenno. it'd be nice to have SOME challenging enemies.

 

Haha, thanks!  I just hope I can retrieve my warp blade soon, been too long since I last had it on Aiur.