More Archwing Feedback/suggestions

[Marauder.exe]

I'd like to start off by saying I really do like archwing. The concept is great, the potential for growth is great, and it looks great. A whole new set of enemies, weapons, and mods is great to see, but like all things archwing does not come without it's flaws.

 

I'll try and section off my feedback into catagories so as to keep things organized, but there is a lot to go through.

 

Mods

 

Firstly, they are painfully hard to get as with most useful mods, but it is only amplified in archwing because of how new, and how low the drop rates are. I understand that this being a free game (which requires some monetization to keep itself afloat) requires some input of time to acquire things, but some mods require an unreasonable amount of luck and time to get.

 

Secondly, Archwing Interception rewards still reward standard warframe mods. Why was this implemented? It only serves to rarify the new mod pool, and require even more time to mod your new tools to useable levels.

 

Thirdly, the mods themselves for the most part are extremely weak, with the exception of the elemental mods (120% extra elemental? Yes, please), the ability-affecting mods for the archwings have little to no effect. I am particularly frustrated with the basic power range mod. which only nets a +6% boost at max rank. This is awful, and hardly even worth slotting. Having such a core mod be so inconsequential is simply a bad design. At the very least the equivalent of continuity for archwings maintained its +30% boost.

 

Abilites

 

Archwing abilites for the most part have limited offensive utility because of their range. The Odanta's missile barrage is absolutely crippled by the lack of proper range, and it's repulsion ability limited to near melee range. At maximum rank with a full range boost (+6%), seeking fire has a max range of about 100 meters, and repulsion, a radius (at least i think that's how they've measured it) of roughly 37 meters. At these ranges I would have an easier time simply meleeing.

 

I do however find their defensive utility fairly effective even if at higher levels, when they become less useful (and sometimes unreliable).

 

Enemies/AI

 

I understand that higher level enemies are meant to be challenging, but there is a point where something goes from being just challenging to being unreasonably or even artificially difficult. I think the Uranus Interception is the prime example of this. I've seen Dregs and Dragyns of all kinds cap towers as far off as 250 meters from the point and zip around while maintaining the capture. Meanwhile, I have to close below 100 meters and stay within that range to maintain capture. This is simply wrong. If the enemy can tap and go, why can't I? If I have to stay in range, so should the enemy.

 

Secondly, enemy missiles: they are simply too difficult to track/defend from. Yes, I have flares that work most of the time, but i recieve no warning when there is a lock on me, or even when the missiles are launched, there's hardly an indicator to tell me where the missiles came from after being hit. On missions like Uranus, this information is vital to surviving and effectively killing the enemy.

 

 

Mechanics/Gunplay

 

First thing is first: Corvas damage fall off. Why this was implemented i can somewhat guess, and even empathize with, but considering the actual effective combat ranges in archwing this is just a hard hit to what could have been a great weapon. I could go on and rant about how projectile weapons in space should have no issues with damage fall off, but that won't change a thing. There are other means to balance such a potentially great gun. The Imperator serves as an excellent DPS weapon that can wittle down point targets with relative ease, the Corvas should have filled the AoE burst DPS niche perfectly, but instead we have something akin to the Drakgoon. It truly does disappoint me that there is no AoE weapon in archwing, something that is desperately needed.

 

Flight mechanics themselves are decent, and keep pace with the rest of the game. Although precision maneuvering kind of takes a little time to learn (zooming past a downed teamate with 5 seconds left on the clock is kind of frustrating).

 

FOV, and camera work is okay, but can always be polished up. Getting a sense of depth with the current system can be misleading, which again, is essential for a mode like this.

 

Suggestions

 

1. Remove regular mods from the Archwing Intercept drop tables, there is no reason for them to be there

 

2. Give some of those core mods a buff or two, they should serve to really give you a base to work off of.

 

3. Either make the range buffs for the mods big enough, or give the offensive abilities themselves a good buff to their base range.

 

4. Consistent capture ranges for enemies and friendlies alike

 

5. Add a missile warning system of sorts along with a proper minimap (could even keep the current one, just go the Armored Core way and use varying symbols to indicate relative elevation tot he player)

 

6. Remove damage drop off, and charge trigger for Corvas. Make it something akin to the boar prime; small magazine, high RoF, decent spread with high pellet count. The descprition even lists it as great at taking out fast interceptors, lets make it do just that. Worried about abusing spread and range? Even adding a hard stop at something like 350 m is reasonable, but with appropiate spread this should be a non-issue. This thing could become a great hit and run gun.

 

7. Add some visual feedback in relation to speed. yes the speed lines are there when you "sprint", but nothing really gives a clear indication of how much momentum you're really carrying.

 

Additions

 

I'd like to discuss a few additions i'd like to see in archwing, maybe some of you will enjoy them.

 

- Ship to Ship Combat/ Archwing Invasion Missions: I don't think much needs to be said here, and i'm sure there are a few threads dedicated to this topic already, but i feel the need to mention it anyway. It would be amazing to be contracted by the Corpus or Grineer to help destroy an enemy capital ship/fleet (something the size of those Grineer Galleons comes to mind). You would methodically destroy key external systems until an opening into their reactor/power core becomes available to destroy the ship. All this while fending off interceptors.

 

- Bigger Enemies: Maybe not captial ship sized, but something small like a corvette or frigate in a regualr interception/exterminate mission would be nice. Something that requires a little coordination to take down every once in a while is nice, and really leaves a sense of accomplishment in a player.

 

- Multi-Stage Missions: This could really give rise to a whole new way to prepare for a mission. Have a mission start off on foot and switch to archwing to complete an objective or vice versa.

 

 

All in all, i think what we got out of archwing was more of a proof of concept than a finished product, which is a bit disappointing considering how long this was supposed to be in development. I still like what I'm seeing, and I'm glad we got to see the framework of something new and rather fun, but it needs some meat on the bones, and hopefully we'll be getting more of that soon.

 

[futurelink8]

i would love to see an archwing prime that looks like majestic angel wing that are described in mag primes codex entry 

[Tyson127]

Nice suggestions

+1

[Knife70]

I played this mode a bit, and I noted that:

 

- the map is quite useless since it's flat, ie it gives the direction, but you don't know if the target is up or down.

A standard space shooter nav-globe (straight, left, right, up, down) should work quite better.

 

- getting mods into interception mission is quite difficult if players don't mark them.

They are far, out of sight and generally not marked at all.

 

 

- weapon aim is quite useless since if the target is near, it falls out the screen, and if it is far, it's usually out of range. When using it, an aiming helper may push the usage of this mode.

Edited October 29, 2014 by Knife70