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Rip Line In A Melee Build


Zorex
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So I've been using a Valkyr built purely for melee (without Hysteria) for a couple of months now. The build is what you'd expect to see alongside a melee weapon with Life Strike:

 

* Vitality, Steel Fiber, and Rage for sustained melee channeling and health.

* Warcry, Intensify, Blind Rage, and Narrow Minded for a huge long-duration armor buff.

* Streamline and Fleeting Expertise to attempt to mitigate the massive cost of Warcry.

 

Finally, I have Quick Rest on as a sort of nice-to-have. Since it's by no means essential, I decided today that I wanted to try swapping it for Rip Line. I reasoned that it would be nice to be able to pull a heavy unit close without having to run into their face and risk a knockdown. This is especially risky if several heavy units are sticking to each other in a group.

 

So what I found after playing with Rip Line for a couple of 30-minute Cassini runs is that It's absolutely horrendous to use in the heat of combat.

 

You have to be dead-on accurate when aiming the ability. There is no mercy. Miss by a millimeter and you're screwed. This is not awesome when you're running around at the speed of really-god-damn-fast trying to avoid napalm fire and rockets. You cannot afford to stand still to aim it either. To make matters worse, if you do miss your target (which is very easy to do), you end up pulling yourself near their location. This goes 100% counter to the point of using the ability. Yes, I get that that's a 'feature' of the ability, but it severely limits its usefulness in combat to the point where I'm just not going to use it.

 

I don't know what the solution to this might be. Abilities that function on a single target have always been kind of wonky in Warframe. And removing the ability to pull across terrain is clearly undesirable. I guess I might just have to come to terms with the fact that this ability isn't worth slotting into a serious build.

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Fleeting doesnt do much for your build

 

Warcry is just as efficient with or without it but you have to use it more often

 

Though you can debuff enemies more often id prefer to avoid having to stop and recast

 

Id suggest replacing it with Marathon or Quick thinking

 

Maybe rush if youre into that

 

Hysteria too as a panic button

 

As much as i try to reason ripline out of my build i end up keeping it so i can rush to high places faster

 

Rush would probably b e better but eh...

Edited by Azawarau
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Without Fleeting Expertise, Warcry's cost goes to nearly 100 power. This wouldn't be a problem if you weren't melee channeling, but when you're spending power on Life Strike a lot of the time, you're going to struggle to have enough power to actually cast the ability. You could take out Blind Rage to solve that problem, but then the armor buff becomes very weak. That buff is the main point of the ability when you're doing long survival/defense missions. So yes, you have to cast it more often, but on the other hand, you actually can cast it. ;)

 

Quick Thinking is a bad idea for a Life Strike build. Since it drains your energy, you're not going to have much to spend on Life Strike. And frankly, Life Strike is better these days: One hit from a good melee weapon is enough to regenerate most (if not all) of your health. With Quick Thinking, it's pretty easy to die because it drains your (very limited) power pool quickly and then Rage will stop functioning, and you die. Quick Thinking also prevents you from casting Warcry most of the time, especially if you run without Fleeting Expertise.

 

I've intentionally left out Hysteria. I hate it. IMO, it completely ruins the point of Melee 2.0 and doesn't bring that much to the table. If you cast Warcry often and use Life Strike prolifically, you can do just fine. In fact, I can't remember the last time I actually died with this build...

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Am I the only one that would like to be able to spiderman with ripline ?

Y'know, like, to be able not just to go in that direction but to swing yourself in the said direction...

Anyone ?

 

Definitely agree. Rip Line leaves a lot to be desired in terms of travel mechanics.

Edited by Zorex
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Without Fleeting Expertise, Warcry's cost goes to nearly 100 power. This wouldn't be a problem if you weren't melee channeling, but when you're spending power on Life Strike a lot of the time, you're going to struggle to have enough power to actually cast the ability. You could take out Blind Rage to solve that problem, but then the armor buff becomes very weak. That buff is the main point of the ability when you're doing long survival/defense missions. So yes, you have to cast it more often, but on the other hand, you actually can cast it. ;)

 

Quick Thinking is a bad idea for a Life Strike build. Since it drains your energy, you're not going to have much to spend on Life Strike. And frankly, Life Strike is better these days: One hit from a good melee weapon is enough to regenerate most (if not all) of your health. With Quick Thinking, it's pretty easy to die because it drains your (very limited) power pool quickly and then Rage will stop functioning, and you die. Quick Thinking also prevents you from casting Warcry most of the time, especially if you run without Fleeting Expertise.

 

I've intentionally left out Hysteria. I hate it. IMO, it completely ruins the point of Melee 2.0 and doesn't bring that much to the table. If you cast Warcry often and use Life Strike prolifically, you can do just fine. In fact, I can't remember the last time I actually died with this build...

Its something like 110 with blind rage alone

 

If you use streamline alone it should be sustainable even through channeling

 

I dont use streamline and recently dropped flow and am having no issue sustaining channeling while using warcry

 

With life strike you lose a little energy to gain health. Rage makes you gain energy when you lose health

 

QT uses energy as health and is affected by armor including Valkyrs armor buff

 

As a last stand mod its extremely useful and actually functions perfectly with life strike

 

Dont use it if you dont like it but saying its bad for life strike is like saying adding duration is bad for novas ult

 

I dont use Hysteria either but a panic button is a panic button

 

Still waiting for the invi to go away

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Its something like 110 with blind rage alone

 

If you use streamline alone it should be sustainable even through channeling

 

I dont use streamline and recently dropped flow and am having no issue sustaining channeling while using warcry

 

Yes, this can work just fine, up to a certain point. But if you're normally playing survivals to at least 50 minutes, you can't sustain it. You're going to be channeling almost constantly, so every bit of power you can cut off Warcry's cost means you can afford to use it that much longer into the game. It's really that simple: You get further into a survival game. You take more and more damage. You use Life Strike more often (and at some point, all the time, in order to stay alive). You spend more and more energy. It won't take long before the ~94 power cost of Warcry easily becomes too much.

 

Of course, with my build, I'm going to eventually become unable to sustain Warcry, too. I just find it works for much longer this way.

 
With life strike you lose a little energy to gain health. Rage makes you gain energy when you lose health
 
QT uses energy as health and is affected by armor including Valkyrs armor buff
 
As a last stand mod its extremely useful and actually functions perfectly with life strike
 
Dont use it if you dont like it but saying its bad for life strike is like saying adding duration is bad for novas ult
 

 

I actually remembered incorrectly how Quick Thinking works, so I stand corrected there. After trying it in the first wave of Xini, I still don't find it particularly helpful, however.

 

It only kept me alive for ~3 seconds with Warcry up. Without Warcry, it's ~1.5 seconds. If you happen to have Warcry up when Quick Thinking procs, you might be lucky enough that there's an enemy close by that you can Life Strike. If there's not, or the only nearby enemies are heavies, you're pretty much screwed because you can't proc Life Strike fast/hard enough, or you might get knocked down (which is a death sentence then and there). If you don't have Warcry up when Quick Thinking procs, I find there's very little you can do. Maybe try to get out of range or something, though that's not easy in a defense mission. The problem is that you barely even have enough time to get close to any enemies, and even if you do, it's a complete gamble whether you'll manage to proc Life Strike before you die. You can't exactly cast Warcry by the time Quick Thinking has procced, either, since you either don't have enough energy to cast it, don't have enough time to cast it, or won't have enough energy by the time you've cast it to actually proc a Life Strike.

 

I suppose I can see the appeal now that I'm up to date on how it works, but it still seems very situational. I'd rather try to avoid getting into a situation where I need Quick Thinking in the first place. I.e. if I can see I'm about to be in a sticky situation, copter or slide jump out of there immediately.

 

(For context, I did the testing with a Dragon Nikana modded for attack speed and crit damage.)

 

I dont use Hysteria either but a panic button is a panic button

 

Sure, I get that. But if I'm in a position where I can cast an ability, I find it's just as easy to just copter or slide jump out of there.

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Yes, this can work just fine, up to a certain point. But if you're normally playing survivals to at least 50 minutes, you can't sustain it. You're going to be channeling almost constantly, so every bit of power you can cut off Warcry's cost means you can afford to use it that much longer into the game. It's really that simple: You get further into a survival game. You take more and more damage. You use Life Strike more often (and at some point, all the time, in order to stay alive). You spend more and more energy. It won't take long before the ~94 power cost of Warcry easily becomes too much.

 

Of course, with my build, I'm going to eventually become unable to sustain Warcry, too. I just find it works for much longer this way.

 
 

 

I actually remembered incorrectly how Quick Thinking works, so I stand corrected there. After trying it in the first wave of Xini, I still don't find it particularly helpful, however.

 

It only kept me alive for ~3 seconds with Warcry up. Without Warcry, it's ~1.5 seconds. If you happen to have Warcry up when Quick Thinking procs, you might be lucky enough that there's an enemy close by that you can Life Strike. If there's not, or the only nearby enemies are heavies, you're pretty much screwed because you can't proc Life Strike fast/hard enough, or you might get knocked down (which is a death sentence then and there). If you don't have Warcry up when Quick Thinking procs, I find there's very little you can do. Maybe try to get out of range or something, though that's not easy in a defense mission. The problem is that you barely even have enough time to get close to any enemies, and even if you do, it's a complete gamble whether you'll manage to proc Life Strike before you die. You can't exactly cast Warcry by the time Quick Thinking has procced, either, since you either don't have enough energy to cast it, don't have enough time to cast it, or won't have enough energy by the time you've cast it to actually proc a Life Strike.

 

I suppose I can see the appeal now that I'm up to date on how it works, but it still seems very situational. I'd rather try to avoid getting into a situation where I need Quick Thinking in the first place. I.e. if I can see I'm about to be in a sticky situation, copter or slide jump out of there immediately.

 

(For context, I did the testing with a Dragon Nikana modded for attack speed and crit damage.)

 

 

 

Sure, I get that. But if I'm in a position where I can cast an ability, I find it's just as easy to just copter or slide jump out of there.

Block 1

 

You could always use flow

 

Its sustainable for me without but eh

 

Block 2

 

Whether or not quick thinking would save you from death is irrelevant when you consider youd be dead without it

 

QT almost requires you to use flow but with that and Warcry youll be alot tankier than you might expect

 

Energy efficiency is extremely high with it so youll have no trouble life striking for that next bit of HP

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You could always use flow

 

Its sustainable for me without but eh

 

How far into e.g. a Grineer survival? My experience is that it doesn't take long before you can't even fill up that power pool anyway.

 

Whether or not quick thinking would save you from death is irrelevant when you consider youd be dead without it

 

QT almost requires you to use flow but with that and Warcry youll be alot tankier than you might expect

 

Energy efficiency is extremely high with it so youll have no trouble life striking for that next bit of HP

 

 

It's not irrelevant. My point is that you can escape most sticky situations just fine without Quick Thinking; it would only save you in situations where you (for some reason) have decided to stay in combat even though it's clear as day that you're about to die, or when you're so surrounded that you literally can't escape. In the latter case, Quick Thinking may well have the potential to save you. This is why I'm saying I find it very situational. I rarely find myself in such a situation. As such, I think I can spend the two mod slots for Quick Thinking and Flow better.

 

Could you post your actual build for context, btw? It might help me to understand your preferences.

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How far into e.g. a Grineer survival? My experience is that it doesn't take long before you can't even fill up that power pool anyway.

 
 

 

It's not irrelevant. My point is that you can escape most sticky situations just fine without Quick Thinking; it would only save you in situations where you (for some reason) have decided to stay in combat even though it's clear as day that you're about to die, or when you're so surrounded that you literally can't escape. In the latter case, Quick Thinking may well have the potential to save you. This is why I'm saying I find it very situational. I rarely find myself in such a situation. As such, I think I can spend the two mod slots for Quick Thinking and Flow better.

 

Could you post your actual build for context, btw? It might help me to understand your preferences.

Considering grineer have the lowest damage next to infested its not hard to say that Valkyr can stand on her own easily against them even after 50 minutes

 

Corpus are the only faction that start to give me trouble at that line with their ridiculous DPS and eating through stam mods with all the fire they shoot out

 

The build im currently playing with and planning to work on

 

AymU6oh.jpg

 

The old build that ive used more than any on my valkyr

 

da2SR5y.jpg

 

Weapon of choice

 

FGmrElM.jpg

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