My Ideas To Improve Excalibro

[Beas7ie]

I love Excalibur, he was my first Warframe, and I even bought Founder's package so I can get Excalibro Prime.

 

Even though he can be fun to play as, he needs some love, after all he is not only a beginner frame but he is also the "mascot" and poster boy.  He's in forums off to the side, he's on the main site where you download the game standing front and center, in the devstream 32 link he's once again standing front and center with loki and ember off to the sides.

 

Hell there's even a large statue of him in the background of every devstream.  Whenever you need them, he's always there to kick @$$, look cool, and stand proudly.  Now it's time to thank him for that with some much needed improvments.

 

Nothing too extreme just some slight tweaks.

 

First of all, he is supposed to be "The Swordsman, yet he's not really tanky enough to get in close at high levels to effectively use melee, unlike other frames such as Rhino, Valkyr, and Ash.  As "The Swordsman" he needs the tankiness to get in the bad guys faces and hit them with his sword without being CCed or instagibbed in higher levels.  I know he has Radial Blind and it's a great skill but I don't want to have to basically rely on it all the time and turn what can be a very fun frame into a one trick pony.

 

First his base stats.

 

Health 100 to 120.  Not a huge buff, just something to help his tankiness

 

Shields   These can stay the same.   A slight increase wouldn't be out of the question but it's probably not necessary

 

Speed - Slight speed increase.  Maybe 1.1 or 1.2.  Let him run fast so he can run up and hit the bad guys with his sword.

 

Stamina - Stamina drains melee FAST, so increase to 130 so after he runs up to the bad guys, he can hit them more times with his sword and block more shots coming at him

 

Power - This is good as is for now.

 

Armor - Definitely needs an improvement.  Change from 65 to 150 or so.  Give him some much needed durability to get in the thick and cut people into little pieces.

 

Now for his skills

 

Slash Dash - It needs some tweaks.  First other than an armor ignore, it is outclassed by Rhino's Charge in every way shape and form.  It has a windup time, it's slower, does less damage, and has no CC for the enemies that aren't killed.  I really enjoyed using this skill back when I was a newbie and remember getting all giddy when I was able to get in a position where enemies were lined up perfectly to hit 3 or more at a time.  It's time to bring that back.

 

Mainly, remove or at least decrease the cast delay.  Make him move faster, after all he is trying to cut people up as quick as possible,  and let it scale with your melee weapon.  

 

This will give it some good buffs without directly increasing the damage and will make it fun without making it mega OP.

 

Radial Blind-  It works great as is, though perhaps let it leave enemies open for finishers like Valkyr's Warcry and Ash's teleport.  

 

 

 

Super Jump - Ok, so you can jump high.  YYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!! /end sarcasm

 

I see how this skill has some useful utility in some limited instances but it is honestly really lame compared to most other skills and in many cases can be rendered obsolete with good parkouring, coptering, etc.

 

What this needs is to be made similar to Zephyrs ground slam skill, though on a smaller scale.  First you activate it and jump like always, that remains unchanged.  But then you can activate it again and bring you weapon slamming down hard.  This will be much stronger than a regular air attack slam, and has a few extra bonuses.  First of all if you directly hit a nonboss enemy, they get split in half vertically.  If you played LoL then it's a lot like a Darius ult.  

 

Secondly, regardless of whether an enemy is hit and split a shockwave is split out in a close proximity and all enemies nearby, take damage and are stunned.  It may also be nice to make them open to those fancy finishers though having both this and RB have that effect might be too much.

 

 

 

Now for his ultimate Radial Javelin

 

Simple changes.  First of all, give the javelins their own unique models, instead of skanas mashed together.   Increase the number of javelins launched and increase the range.  This will give it better use and once again you won't need to just straight up buff the damage.  

 

Also make the dead enemies pinned to walls last longer so I can pull out an arm chair, have a drink, read the paper and declare the area my new big game hunter den.

 

 

These are some simple changes that can give him much needed improvements and make him more fun to play as, but will still not make him "ZOMG OP EAZYMODE".

 

What do you guys think?  If you like and agree with these ideas then awesome, it would be great to see your support.

 

If there's something you disagree with then that's fine also.  But then please post why you disagree, and what you think should be done.  Don't just post something like "Oh he's fine as is" or "This all sucks, you're stupid"  Give actual reasons.

 

Now let's get some love for Excalibro!

Edited July 16, 2014 by Beas7ie

[OneBulletCurse]

i dielike your excal prime *goes and cries in the corner* :'(

[Hrodgrim]

If Excalibutt got an armor upgrade, Frost and Rhino would need a boost as well. Their armor rating is already 150.

I dig most of what you said, except for the super jump power. It doesn't need to do all that stuff does it? Maybe something that could compliment the Heavy Impact mod.

 

All in all, a sack of good ideas.

[NeyoWargear]

I don't think Excalibur needs any stats changed, he's the first Warframe and the base for all others, change his stats, and everything get's weird. An armor increase would be nice, heck Loki (Prime) has more armor, BUT with his lower shields and health, Loki (Prime) needs it. I don't think Excalibur needs to be more tanky, I view him as an offensive utility 'Frame. I still get giddy when I'm in a narrow hallway or a large room with a large group of enemies in a line, Slash Dash is a great way to clear. Radial Blind is fine as is, I don't think it should cause enemies to fall to the ground, maybe make melee hits be critical? That'd make it more useful and not too OP. Super Jump is highly useful, combine it with Slash Dash, cover a ton of ground quickly and hit flying targets midair. Combine Super Jump with Radial Javelin, and you increase the chance of Radial Javelin hitting, making it ignore cover and whatnot. I only wish that Super Jump was like Zephyr's Dive Bomb or had the effect of Heavy Impact. What I want most of all for Super Jump, is to decrease the time I have to wait to hit my melee key to do a ground slam and activate Radial Javelin, I lose a bit of air due to this delay. Radial Javelin is fine, but maybe have it proc bleed? I don't know, I'm fine with Excalibur (Prime) as is. 

[OneBulletCurse]

i play quite aggressive with him, i seem fine without stat boosts 

[Nantlais]

I don't think he needs the health boost or the armour boost but sprint and stamina speed boosts would definitely make sense. He's meant to be the 'swordsman' frame but is out classed in this by ash, Loki and Valkyr .

Ash and Loki have invisibility powers which crank up the damage melee weapons do while ash is tanker and has teleport to get into the action.

Valkyr gets a power to buff her melee attack speed and debuff enemy armour and speed.

I think maybe replace super jump (Even with heavy impact it's still incredibly situational) with an AoE buff to melee damage and attack speed with and increase to Tenno sprint speed, maybe materialising an energy sword of some sort in the process in a way similar to Valkyr's claws?

I also don't really see how radial blind and radial javelin make him a master swordsman, they're neat but don't exactly fit the theme of a swordsman

[(PSN)Tyrantrumm]

i play quite aggressive with him, i seem fine without stat boosts

I agree, I'm always in the thick of battle and very rarely go down.

[EverythingNagato]

If Excalibutt got an armor upgrade, Frost and Rhino would need a boost as well. Their armor rating is already 150.

 

Isn't it 190?

I actually really like your idea, Beas7ie. It seems a bit more rational than what other people throw out there.

Maybe it'll happen!

[RedPrimed]

Excalibro is like the plainest of the plain he is ment to be vanilla with stats and stuff but that stamina idea isnt bad

[NeyoWargear]

I rarely go down with Excalibur (Prime), I go down most in specialized Warframes. Everyone, but Excalibur (Prime). Excalibur (Prime) is my most used 'Frame and my favorite, Trinity a close second. The only Warframe I can think of that I am on par with downs with Excalibur (Prime) is Rhino (Prime).

[Beas7ie]

If Excalibutt got an armor upgrade, Frost and Rhino would need a boost as well. Their armor rating is already 150.

I dig most of what you said, except for the super jump power. It doesn't need to do all that stuff does it? Maybe something that could compliment the Heavy Impact mod.

 

All in all, a sack of good ideas.

 

I also play as both Frost and Rhino and wouldn't be against them getting armor buffs as well. And maybe buffing from 65 to 150 is a tad high.  I'd be happy with 120 or even 100 armor.  I just want to get him to have as much armor and tankiness as Ash who is supposed to be a stealthy ninja assassin frame.  It would be like a real life sneaky ninja having more armor and tankiness than a knight.  Quite silly when you think about.   

 

The Super Jump doesn't "need" to do all that, it's just an idea I'm throwing out that I thought would be pretty cool and also add to Excals position as "The Swordsman".  Sure it has it's uses but at the same time there many times when you can do what it can do, if not more by just being good at parkour and coptering.

 

 

I don't think Excalibur needs any stats changed, he's the first Warframe and the base for all others, change his stats, and everything get's weird. An armor increase would be nice, heck Loki (Prime) has more armor, BUT with his lower shields and health, Loki (Prime) needs it. I don't think Excalibur needs to be more tanky, I view him as an offensive utility 'Frame. I still get giddy when I'm in a narrow hallway or a large room with a large group of enemies in a line, Slash Dash is a great way to clear. Radial Blind is fine as is, I don't think it should cause enemies to fall to the ground, maybe make melee hits be critical? That'd make it more useful and not too OP. Super Jump is highly useful, combine it with Slash Dash, cover a ton of ground quickly and hit flying targets midair. Combine Super Jump with Radial Javelin, and you increase the chance of Radial Javelin hitting, making it ignore cover and whatnot. I only wish that Super Jump was like Zephyr's Dive Bomb or had the effect of Heavy Impact. What I want most of all for Super Jump, is to decrease the time I have to wait to hit my melee key to do a ground slam and activate Radial Javelin, I lose a bit of air due to this delay. Radial Javelin is fine, but maybe have it proc bleed? I don't know, I'm fine with Excalibur (Prime) as is. 

 

I never said for radial blind to make enemies fall to the ground, just possible leave them open to finishers like what Valkyr's Warcry does.

 

Super jump is useful to combine with Slash Dash to cover ground or get to bad guys up high, but like I said before, there are many times you can do all that with just plain ol wall running and coptering.  And the addition I propose will add an effect like Zephyr's dive bomb. If you want to jump up high, you can just jump up high.  Or you can press whatever key you have for SJ and then come back down again hard in a manner similar to Zephyrs dive bomb only this time with a chance of cleaving someone vertically in half.  And heavy impact would synergize well with it.

 

It does have it's uses, but honestly more often than not I use Super Jump for messing around to do some "Ogris Dunking"

 

 

The bleed proc on RJ would be a welcome addition, but I still think it would be better simply by increasing the number of javelins and giving them punch through so they can hit through light cover and through shield lancers' shields.

 

i play quite aggressive with him, i seem fine without stat boosts 

 

 

Exactly how aggressive are you?  What missions do you usually play?   Do you play in higher level void missions with him and if so then how do you do?  

 

I'm not saying you're wrong or that he's a bad frame, just that he's getting a bit outdated and honestly doesn't bring as much to the table to make him stand out as some of the other frames.

 

Not all the stat boots need to be implemented, I just want him to get SOMETHING that can really help him get up close to the powerful enemies in the upper levels and cut them up with melee.   

[NeyoWargear]

Does Excalibur (Prime) still have that melee damage boost, or are those days long gone? Possibly have Slash Dash have bleed proc when enemies are hit, but not killed? Sure, Radial Javelin with punch through would be nice, but I'm fine as is. I use Super Jump often to combine with his other powers, but that's just me. Some powers are just meant to be used together, such as Excalibur's Radial Javelin and Mag's Bullet Attractor.

Edited July 10, 2014 by NeyoWargear

[SIDESTRE4M]

Everytime when I see those threads, I expect a suggestion to replace superjump with some stupid badscaling damage utility.

This one surprised me with changes I could agree too, if Superjump wouldn't get more expensive to use.

The argument, Excal should be the base for all other frames, is a valid one... or maybe was a valid one.

Because as the game grows and changes, Frames like him who are THE warframe, the mascot, should be adjusted.

I like playing him too. I would always pick him over Rhino.

However: Closing gap with pure facetanking is a Rhino thing in midlevel. Your suggestions won't change enough to do that.

[Beas7ie]

Does Excalibur (Prime) still have that melee damage boost, or are those days long gone? Possibly have Slash Dash have bleed proc when enemies are hit, but not killed? Sure, Radial Javelin with punch through would be nice, but I'm fine as is. I use Super Jump often to combine with his other powers, but that's just me. Some powers are just meant to be used together, such as Excalibur's Radial Javelin and Mag's Bullet Attractor.

 

Excalibur Prime just has slightly faster shield recharge speed.  No other differences between him and normie Excal and if you use the immortal skin or change certain colors you can't even tell the difference between him and normiel Excal.

 

The only melee damage boost they get is from Radial Blind.  Blinded enemies take X4 melee damage, which is why many people consider it to be his "best" skill and why a lot of Excal builds are based almost completely around Radial Blind.

 

 

 

Everytime when I see those threads, I expect a suggestion to replace superjump with some stupid badscaling damage utility.

This one surprised me with changes I could agree too, if Superjump wouldn't get more expensive to use.

The argument, Excal should be the base for all other frames, is a valid one... or maybe was a valid one.

Because as the game grows and changes, Frames like him who are THE warframe, the mascot, should be adjusted.

I like playing him too. I would always pick him over Rhino.

However: Closing gap with pure facetanking is a Rhino thing in midlevel. Your suggestions won't change enough to do that.

 

 

With the Super Jump Changes the cost would stay the same for the normal jump, but possibly add a new slight cost if you want to attack back down.

 

Right now at max level and now efficiency mods, super jump costs 9 energy to cast.  With what I propose it would keep the 9 energy jump cast and if you want to do the special attack to slam back down it would probably also cost another 9 energy.  The values may need to be adjusted slightly, but I want to add more use of the this skill without punishing those who just want to get a plain ol super jump in.

 

 

I don't want him to be a facetank like Rhino.  Rhino is supposed to be "The Tank" with his high defenses and honey badger mode that allows him to not give a F*** about CC, Environmental Hazards, and other effects.

 

I just think that Excalibro should get some slight buffs to his defense to help out with being in the thick of battle as "The Swordsman".   Or at least give him some special buffs if he's in melee mode, like a much lower stamina cost for melee attacks and deflecting bullets.  At least make him about as tanky as Ash because once again it's quite silly to have a frame that's meant to be "The Assassin" be tougher then the frame that's supposed to be "The Swordsman".

 

It's like an RPG making an assassin or rogue character in the party having more HP and Resistances then the Warrior.  It's silly and doesn't make sense.

[SIDESTRE4M]

In my opinion they could easily give Excal 150 shields/health like Zephyr without much thinking or making him op or something. I mean, he has virtually no real trade-off except blinding his enemies and mobility.

 

Zephyr for example has better mobility, even damage reducing utility and an ultimate which scales well, because of the CC-nature (even if it's annoying).

 

It would help newer players as well and I don't think suddenly Excal would be No1 choice for T4 def because of that.

Edited July 10, 2014 by SIDESTRE4M

[(PSN)Shadow_Of_Hunhow]

I love Excalibur, he was my first Warframe, and I even bought Founder's package so I can get Excalibro Prime.

 

Even though he can be fun to play as, he needs some love, after all he is not only a beginner frame but he is also the "mascot" and poster boy.  He's in forums off to the side, he's on the main site where you download the game standing front and center, in the devstream 32 link he's once again standing front and center with loki and ember off to the sides.

 

Hell there's even a large statue of him in the background of every devstream.  Whenever you need them, he's always there to kick @$$, look cool, and stand proudly.  Now it's time to thank him for that with some much needed improvments.

 

Nothing too extreme just some slight tweaks.

 

First of all, he is supposed to be "The Swordsman, yet he's not really tanky enough to get in close at high levels to effectively use melee, unlike other frames such as Rhino, Valkyr, and Ash.  As "The Swordsman" he needs the tankiness to get in the bad guys faces and hit them with his sword without being CCed or instagibbed in higher levels.  I know he has Radial Blind and it's a great skill but I don't want to have to basically rely on it all the time and turn what can be a very fun frame into a one trick pony.

 

First his base stats.

 

Health 100 to 120.  Not a huge buff, just something to help his tankiness

 

Shields   These can stay the same.   A slight increase wouldn't be out of the question but it's probably not necessary

 

Speed - Slight speed increase.  Maybe 1.1 or 1.2.  Let him run fast so he can run up and hit the bad guys with his sword.

 

Stamina - Stamina drains melee FAST, so increase to 100 so after he runs up to the bad guys, he can hit them more times with his sword and block more shots coming at him

 

Power - This is good as is for now.

 

Armor - Definitely needs an improvement.  Change from 65 to 150 or so.  Give him some much needed durability to get in the thick and cut people into little pieces.

 

Now for his skills

 

Slash Dash - It needs some tweaks.  First other than an armor ignore, it is outclassed by Rhino's Charge in every way shape and form.  It has a windup time, it's slower, does less damage, and has no CC for the enemies that aren't killed.  I really enjoyed using this skill back when I was a newbie and remember getting all giddy when I was able to get in a position where enemies were lined up perfectly to hit 3 or more at a time.  It's time to bring that back.

 

Mainly, remove or at least decrease the cast delay.  Make him move faster, after all he is trying to cut people up as quick as possible,  and let it scale with your melee weapon.  

 

This will give it some good buffs without directly increasing the damage and will make it fun without making it mega OP.

 

Radial Blind-  It works great as is, though perhaps let it leave enemies open for finishers like Valkyr's Warcry and Ash's teleport.  

 

 

 

Super Jump - Ok, so you can jump high.  YYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!! /end sarcasm

 

I see how this skill has some useful utility in some limited instances but it is honestly really lame compared to most other skills and in many cases can be rendered obsolete with good parkouring, coptering, etc.

 

What this needs is to be made similar to Zephyrs ground slam skill, though on a smaller scale.  First you activate it and jump like always, that remains unchanged.  But then you can activate it again and bring you weapon slamming down hard.  This will be much stronger than a regular air attack slam, and has a few extra bonuses.  First of all if you directly hit a nonboss enemy, they get split in half vertically.  If you played LoL then it's a lot like a Darius ult.  

 

Secondly, regardless of whether an enemy is hit and split a shockwave is split out in a close proximity and all enemies nearby, take damage and are stunned.  It may also be nice to make them open to those fancy finishers though having both this and RB have that effect might be too much.

 

 

 

Now for his ultimate Radial Javelin

 

Simple changes.  First of all, give the javelins their own unique models, instead of skanas mashed together.   Increase the number of javelins launched and increase the range.  This will give it better use and once again you won't need to just straight up buff the damage.  

 

Also make the dead enemies pinned to walls last longer so I can pull out an arm chair, have a drink, read the paper and declare the area my new big game hunter den.

 

 

These are some simple changes that can give him much needed improvements and make him more fun to play as, but will still not make him "ZOMG OP EAZYMODE".

 

What do you guys think?  If you like and agree with these ideas then awesome, it would be great to see your support.

 

If there's something you disagree with then that's fine also.  But then please post why you disagree, and what you think should be done.  Don't just post something like "Oh he's fine as is" or "This all sucks, you're stupid"  Give actual reasons.

 

Now let's get some love for Excalibro!

All of the above are prefect solutions, although honestly, I think javelins should either ignore cover, or should go high into the air before seeking out their targets, this way you don't lose half of them because they hit a piece of rail or a box or even a rock.

[(PSN)RocketPunch1221]

I main a SD/RB excal, It think the frame as is, statwise, is pretty balanced. If anything else a bit of speed/stemina boost would be great. 

[Arabaxus]

The most important buff for Excalibur is that ingame he needs to be renamed Excalibro. You would either start with Excalibro or farm of Excalibro Helmet, Excalibro Chassis, and Excalibro Systems off of Ambulas, and then you would buy an Excalibro Blueprint, craft Excalibro, and then he would come with a pair of sunglasses so he doesn't blind himself with radial blind. Then you have to give him a gun with Heavy Calibro.

[(PSN)RocketPunch1221]

The most important buff for Excalibur is that ingame he needs to be renamed Excalibro. You would either start with Excalibro or farm of Excalibro Helmet, Excalibro Chassis, and Excalibro Systems off of Ambulas, and then you would buy an Excalibro Blueprint, craft Excalibro, and then he would come with a pair of sunglasses so he doesn't blind himself with radial blind. Then you have to give him a gun with Heavy Calibro.

 

I think you are on to something, Arabaxusbro. but I would add Radial Blind should be changed to Brodial Blind.

[Beas7ie]

All of the above are prefect solutions, although honestly, I think javelins should either ignore cover, or should go high into the air before seeking out their targets, this way you don't lose half of them because they hit a piece of rail or a box or even a rock.

 

Rising into the air and seeking targets would be cool but then then would just be pinned to the ground and not to the walls.  The punch through is what would really be a big improvement just so they can get through cover and deal dat damage.

[Beas7ie]

bumping so it gets unburied

[Sev7n]

Honestly the only thing i think excalibur needs is an increase in stamina or an increase in sprint speed.

The rest of his stats are fine imo.

And as for his powers i think they all work well and compliment him as being a melee frame

 

Slash dash obviously fits with the melee frame outlook even though its weak in late game it is very useful early game and while leveling excalibur up

Radial blind works like invisibility and smokescreen where it gives a damage increase once used. [ 4x melee damage multiplier on blind enemies ;) ]

Super Jump works as a mobility skill (obviously :x) but can also be paired with explosive weapons allowing you to jump up and shoot below you without taking any friendly fire which imo is why it should be left alone since this can be pretty op

Radial javelin does good damage and the skill / animation itself really seems like a melee frame type skill

 

 

Edit: Just realized how old this post is o_o

Edited July 11, 2014 by Sev7n

[Beas7ie]

Honestly the only thing i think excalibur needs is an increase in stamina or an increase in sprint speed.

The rest of his stats are fine imo.

And as for his powers i think they all work well and compliment him as being a melee frame

 

Slash dash obviously fits with the melee frame outlook even though its weak in late game it is very useful early game and while leveling excalibur up

Radial blind works like invisibility and smokescreen where it gives a damage increase once used. [ 4x melee damage multiplier on blind enemies ;) ]

Super Jump works as a mobility skill (obviously :x) but can also be paired with explosive weapons allowing you to jump up and shoot below you without taking any friendly fire which imo is why it should be left alone since this can be pretty op

Radial javelin does good damage and the skill / animation itself really seems like a melee frame type skill

 

 

Edit: Just realized how old this post is o_o

 

The super jump thing can be fun, as I do enjoy jumping up and dunking enemies with my Ogris, but really it's kind of dull and limited in it's use.  Sure it can come in handy but in many of the instances where you would use it, you can do just as well if not better with smart wall running and coptering.

 

Slash dash is fine early game but it really lacks the oomph to kill enemies later on.  Plus it is outperformed by Rhino charge in every single way, shape, and form.  It does less damage, has a cast delay, moves slower, and has no CC.  It needs a lower cast delay at the very least and add something like bonuses from your melee weapon and/or a bleed proc to get it up to par without having to flat out increase the damage it deals.

 

Blind is a great skill, but it's at the point where his other skills bring little to the table in the way they are set up that most people just use Excal blind builds and he basically becomes a one trick pony.   Bind, spam melee, blind, spam melee, blind, spam melee, oops everyone is ahead of me, slash dash at nothing just to keep up, blind, spam melee.  

 

He's not bad like a lot of people says he is, but he does need some kind of updates to really make him fun and unique.

[SIDESTRE4M]

Slash dash would really be cool if it had CC like Rhino. Personally, I don't care about this overlap.

[Beas7ie]

Slash dash would really be cool if it had CC like Rhino. Personally, I don't care about this overlap.

Slash dash shouldn't be used for CC. The best way to improve it IMO is to let it scale with the melee weapon and proc status effects while decreasing cast delay and increasing the speed.