Kubrow's Scavenger & Kubrow Class Mod Drops.

[Xarfrax]

(My pardon in advance if i'm repeating things already said, i've been away since Cicero so i've missed quite a bit of content/conversations. Also not sure where to post this. Is a Kubrow considered a Warframe, ability or a weapon?

Maybe Kubrows need their own forum spot?)

So i've been farming Kubrows for a while and testing out Scavenge and there's a few things that bug me/should improve in my opinion:

Scavenge:
1. Scavenge needs an animation or sound clip if it fails/is unable to open a locker. Like the Kubrow whimpering or hanging it's head low if he can't open it or even both.
2. Sometimes the Scavenge animation plays and the Kubrow get's xp, but the locker doesn't open despite the opening sound (is this how it should work?). And grinding up against a locker for 5 minutes just to see the Kubrow fail is a waste of time. Sad Kubrow? Move on to next locker!
3. Scavenge AI and secret area's /area's high up. The Kubrow doesn't always respawn in the secret areas thus making his scavenge less useful. 
4. Scavenge has more trouble with Grineer Lockers, lockers in cramped spaces and those that are partly submerged into the ground/wall.
5. The randomness of Scavenge activating. Sometimes it tries to open 2 in a row, sometimes it seems to have a huge internal cooldown and you're waiting for minutes before it activates again (Has something to do with enemies nearby i suppose, but even a wandering Feral Kubrow that's not aggro can).
6. Master Thief overrides Scavenge, so if your Master Thief fails to open a locker, Scavenge won't bother trying.
DON'T USE BOTH MODS AT THE SAME TIME!
7. A keybound command like for warframe skills that forces your Kubrow to activate his Scavenge or any other ability.
Edit: 8. More a question: Does Scavenge use Power or not? Could explain why he's derping/idling most of the time.

Kubrow class mods:
1. Kubrows shouldn't drop rare class specific mods. You already get both with each unique Kubrow you make.
Make the first set of class mods untradeable/unfusable and perhaps make the Dens drops Class mods Rarely. Now they're clogging the chance for a mandatory Bite to drop like crazy and believe me, farming the 3 Earth exterminate missions for hours a day for a mandatory mod while you hardly get any xp from the enemies is a big downer on the fun part if all you get is class specific mods you don't use or have already maxed. Especially after coming back from a sabbatical for having had a grinding breakdown.
2. Make Bite buyable in the shop, be it in special Kubrow mod packs, single purchase or some sort of Kubrow starting mod set that has all the non-class mods for a hundred plat or maybe more.

Greetings, Xarfrax

Edited September 2, 2014 by Xarfrax

[Xarfrax]

tldr: Scavenge still sucks, but you can increase your gain if time isn't a problem.

So i've done some "research" (read: farming) and noticed that every locker has a small patch of a few pixels which activates the Scavenge skill when the Kubrow walks over it and it seems that there isn't a cooldown on the skill, it's just damn hard to get 2 perfect in a row.
This spot seems to vary from locker to locker, however the spot per locker won't change within a specific tileset and thus are always the same once you know where it is.
You might have to climb on top of the locker or "slingshot" your Kubrow (running back and forth with your warframe) hoping his pathing derps which actually makes him able to reach certain spots otherwise not possible with normal walking.

Finally EVERY locker with a red light should be Scavengable, yes EVERY but in theory only.
The greyed-out ones can't be Scavenged (mostly seen in corpus tilesets).
The animation will always play regardless of fail or not and only determines AFTER the Scavenge animation if the locker will be opened or not.
The problem here is that a lot of those trigger spots are inside walls or impassible terrain which makes them unable to open and a very unproductive Kubrow. Also if the room the locker is in is in alert or an enemy is close by in the next room the Kubrow refuses to Scavenge, usually starts growling and go in some sort of alert mode (i use the cloaking kubrow btw)

Sadly the content from lockers has been very mediocre so in the end this skill isn't worth the time it takes to get the right spot. A full locker sweep of a big level would only deliver a few k creds and if lucky some rare materials. The only reason i still use it is when i do solo exterminate void missions to optimize loot/argon crystals per key used, yet in the end it's better to just Master Thief and do double if not triple the amount of missions in the same time if keys are not a problem. Alternatively take 4 Kubrows with maxed Scavenge and just run around lockers like mad with the 4 (technically 8) of you.

If only Scavenge would work as an aura emanating from the Kubrow (maybe like the Coolant Leak mod for sentinels, and the radius increases per level of the mod together with the chance to open as it has now) or from the player like Master Thief.
I'd still like to see the ability to actively order your Kubrow to Scavenge/use a skill by using "G" to mark your target be it an enemy, the ground, a locker etc. , but that would be a lot more work to implement i bet.

I do hope some of the devs read this or if anyone can tell me if there's any news from the livestreams i might have missed, please correct and/or inform me if you would.

Many thanks, Xarfrax

Edited September 8, 2014 by Xarfrax

[Nira]

I was about to make a post with very similar findings. Been doing Earth missions looking for neurodes in lockers and have found Scavenge's pathing and activation conditions quite irksome. You can be trying the same locker for several minutes, approaching different angles etc. to get the kubrow to activate it, just about to give up... then s/he unexpectedly breaks it open.

 

I like the suggestion of having a command-based system. Would eliminate the need for the running around or face-grinding into lockers trying to get the kubrow to open them.

[Varzy]

I'd be nice to have a button for Kubrows. Target the environment and the kubrow interacts accordingly - opening lockers with scavenge when out of battle, activating skills while in battle.

 

And as an added bonus, targeting the kubrow with this, and you pet your kubrow mid-mission! C'mon DE you know that'd be awesome!

[Xarfrax]

Still sad that about 75% of the secret areas with loads of lockers (and usually the sweet loot) are unreachable for the Kubrow, mostly because the Kubrow is either close enough to your warframe or simply won't spawn next to you because of either  bad pathing AI, deliberate programming or forgotten programming.
For example in the Void missions there is a secret in the room with the white tree in the middle. Down there is a hatch that leads to a few lockers and a waterspout that spews you back up. My Kubrow will never go to those lockers.
Come to think of it, most Void secrets have my Kubrow herp the derp.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Xarfrax