Andry's Suggestions Bucket - Enemy Skills/abilities

[AndryB94]

tl;dr
Why add new enemies when the current ones could be modified or improved, making them unique and possibly opening up new techniques?"
Of course, some new enemies are -always- good and can make more difference, but as of now a lot of standard enemies are actually very... standard fare, very similar, nothing special.
I'll go through all the enemies and a few ideas I've had for them, so if you don't want to read a lot.... Don't.
NOTE: This is not to modify current units, their behaviour or their functionality,  but mostly to add to them for the sake of diversification. I will not discuss nerfs or controversial topics (such as rollers or disruptors).

If you do feel like reading, check my other suggestion bucket: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/38649-andrys-suggestions-bucket-missions/

Note: All of these abilities will either have an energy cost (so they can only use it a set number of times) or a cooldown (so that they cannot be spammed, but are technically infinite).
The abilities will be listen (-[ability]: yadda yadda) and they are all suggestions. They may be debated, discussed or changed/removed.

GRINEER

Overall, Grineer soldiers are very similar, and just small variations of eachother. This is understandeable lore-wise (they are clones of clones of clones) but they are quite boring game-wise. Their AI is okay, but strange in some cases (sniping troopers? Lancers staying in the open?).

Lancer: They -are- your standard guys. They're annoying in groups, they pelt you with pellets, they're easy to kill.
- They could be left as they are. OR
- Focus: If they're at long range, they will reduce their fire rate in exchange of improved accuracy, so that they can support their allies even from far away instead of just covering and missing all shots.
Trooper: Right now they're basically lancers with a fancy helmet and a shotgun.
- In general, AI should be more aggressive. Some troopers just try and snipe you with their shotguns with no effect whatsoever.
- Dash: If at close-medium range to an enemy, they will execute a forward dash towards them to close in the distance and put their shotgun to a better use. AND/OR
- Reinforce: If at close or medium range, they may reinforce their armour to take less (~30%?) damage from enemy hits. This can allow them to get closer to the enemies and buy time for other Grineer to do so.
Seekers: They have a Kraken and they can release Latchers, that's already a bit.
- Mine: The seeker takes a second or two to set up a mine in front of him. It will trigger when an enemy gets close, exploding over a medium radius, dealing damage and pushing back people.
Sawmen: All they do is run to you and usually get cut to pieces extremly easily in the process.
- Sprint: The sawman charges at an enemy, increasing his speed by ~50%. This also slightly increases the attack rate.
Powerfists: Similar to sawmen. Their attack is painfully slow, but silent - they can sneak up on you.
- Berzerk: At closer ranges, they will trade off some of their speed to gain greater attack speed and slight damage increase. (They may go "Grrrr" during berzerk, but still silent compared to Sawblades).
Flameblades: Their teleport is good enough.
Shield Lancers: Same as above. Mobile cover, increased health and shield charge.
Ballista: I feel like they are basically failed snipers that forgot how to melee.
- Snipe: The ballista focuses on a single enemy, in her line of sight, for three seconds. After three seconds she will shoot, the bullet cannot miss (unless it hits a barrier, like Volt's, or unless the person turned invulnerable) and will deal a huge amount of damage. This ability has a very long range.
While this won't outright kill people, it should make them either prioritise a Ballista or hide to cover. They will also be "notified" (red dot/line?) if they are being sniped.
Heavy gunner: Entering the domain of heavy units. You'll be ripped apart by this unit if you just stand in front of it.
- Suppressive fire: The heavy gunner will increase (double?) its rate of fire and focuses on a single target. However, it will not be able to move, and it cannot use its shockwave while in this mode. It will last for a certain amount of time (~10 seconds?) or until the target is dead.
Note that the suppressed unit can sit in cover for the remained of the duration but.. after all that's the purpose of suppressive fire.
Napalm: One of my personal hates. Very large damage radius and leaves a burning area on impact.
- Fiery Armour: Whenever the napalm is struck by melee, there is a chance for the attacker to be engulfed in flames and receive moderate damage. This could also stagger them.
Bombard: Also very annoying.... And ugh. Tracking missiles.
- Split: The next shot will fire two missiles in a rapid succession instead of one. They will track different targets unless there is only one target.
Commander: Annoying enough as it is, I don't think he needs further help.
Latchers and rollers: Latchers are okay. I will not discuss Rollers here, since they are a source of huge controversy. See my petition (thread) for discussion.

CORPUS

I've been swarmed by Corpus Moas more often than by Infested, which is strange. They have some more variation compared to the Grineer but, overall, less units.

Crewman: Your basic guy. He'll die easily but he'll be a bit of an issue in large numbers and covered by some Moas.
- Repair: The Crewman will focus on a nearby Moa or Osprey (has to be in melee or very close range) and will slowly repair it, regenerating its health. If the health is full, the shield will be recharged. This lasts until the moa/osprey is out of range, dead or fully recharged, or until the Crewman is dead. While repairing, however, it cannot move or perform any other actions. Unit that are being repaired will tend to stand still, but may prioritise other things (a shield osprey may prefer to protect a group of moas and crewmen instead.) NOTE: This does not work on fellow Crewmen. [Possibility: Units being repaired could have a small decrease in damage and/or fire rate.]
* Repair could also slowly regenerate killed cameras and turrets if near them.
Prod Crewman: A little bit tougher than your Grineer Sawman... just a bit.
- Shock: The first melee strike from a prod crewman will briefly electrocute the enemy for 1-1.5 seconds.
Sniper Crewman: Basically Crewmen with laser Latrons.
- Burst: The sniper will quickly fire three aimed shots at a target. They will have a good accuracy (perhaps as good as standard shots) and be fired in quick successions. They also deal slightly higher damage if they all hit.
Moa: Stupid and quite easy to kill, they only become painful when a group of them constantly fires at you. They should be left as it is.
Shockwave Moa: Similar as above. Their shockwave is enough, really.
Railgun Moa: Very precise, and they stagger you. However their first shot takes forever.
- Magnetic Accuracy: All units near the Railgun Moa will benefit from its light magnetic field and have a slight gain in accuracy. This also counts for Crewmen's weapons. This applies to the Moa itself and does not stack - two railgun moas will not give two buffs to the same person.
Shield Osprey: Good enough as it is.
Leech Osprey: See above.
Mine Osprey:  - Throw: The osprey will throw the next mine forward, aimed at an enemy. This mine will stick to the enemy if it hits him/her.
Cameras and turrets: Turrets should just have a faster deployement. That's all.

INFESTED

In general, they are the ones with the least units but the most variation. Every unit got a role of sorts. As such, I believe they should be left like this and not modified further.




If you got this far, then thanks a lot. I hope you enjoyed the read and have something to add to this below!

Edited May 6, 2013 by AndryB94