Excalibur; Again. Another Idea On The Sword's Abilities.

[WolvenEdge]

We all know the issue... at least I'm pretty sure we all do. Excalibur has been on the table for a while, with only one arguably useful ability that isn't overshadowed by other in-game mechanics, and we, the players, asked to see him given a boost. DE has decided to do exactly that, and the feedback as a result has been... mixed.

 

Many have been quite happy to see Excal pulled out of obscurity and given something he can truly call his own. I mean, every other frame has some quirk or good thing... an excellence and a weakness to counter, or multiple of these dimensions, while Excalibur has been left with baseline stats and no real advantage to cover for him getting left behind.

 

Many have also been critical of the direction that the new change is going, bringing up that same lack of specialty, and saying that it makes him a generalist... or bringing up an admittedly antiquated video on the subject for the Warframe profile of Excalibur.

 

My personal feelings lie more with the former. Every frame can generalize, using their personal specialty in ways that are less then obvious to counter for their weaknesses. Volt can tank using his shields, for example, even if he's nowhere near meant to be a tank frame. Chroma can be turned into a speed-based trap frame with a little work.

 

Excalibur can do pretty much nothing well, and relies entirely upon his loadout to keep him alive, rather than allowing his abilities and his loadout to play different roles.

 

This is the part where someone starts yelling that 'but super jump/slash dash has kept me alive for--' blah, blah, blah. Enemy accuracy was changed to be negatively effected by Tenno movement; the faster you go, the harder you are to hit. Upward directional melee, and the new charge jump system when implimented, have eclipsed Super Jump entirely, and the enemy can hit you about as much as the stealth he now gets thanks to the accuracy changes. And Slash Dash is stopped dead when he collides with an enemy that doesn't die! My excalibur needs to have a large dent in his face that's about the same rough shape and size of a Grineer chestplate, I've been stopped so often in my attempted escape route.

 

So shush, you, and actually read what I'm trying to say before posting.

 

However, all frames deserve a bit of utility, whether that be extra movement (ripline, not really current slash dash, Speed) or crowd control (most of Volt's abilities, Nova's molecular Prime, etc.), or maybe something defensive (Iron Skin, Vex Armor, Snow Globe...)

Overall though, what you need from any utility skill is realiability... something that was taken from Excalibur, and hasn't been given back. You can't really tell what enemies will and won't be effected, as the system is a bit quirky as of yet.

 

Since his abilities are getting a bit of an overhaul anyway, I figured I'd do a bit of thinking and brainstorming through several forums, and ended up finding this one;

https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/439404-excalibur-an-alternate-take-and-proposal-on-his-upcoming-rework/

Page four is where I started actively putting my ideas forward, and Ronyn was a big help in pointing things out... even though our viewpoints are a little different on the matter.

 

We do agree on one big thing; Excalibur's new offensive set should not take away from many playstyles, but should add to them, and should not force players into one or two playstyles only based around one or two abilities. Each one should be useful on its own, and cater to several playstyles while still keeping with the theme of the Sword.

 

So, without further ado, here's my personal hope for the direction his abilities go;

 

     1; Rending Rush.

Excalibur's Slash Dash doesn't have to get a new name, and I like the effect... but to be fully useful it needs to maintain its mobility uses as well as giving him the damaging lunge of its original idea... and keeping that samurai-esque feel.

 

Excalibur in Rending Rush hurls himself forward, snaping to and slashing enemies on a set width from his path as he hurls himself toward his objective. I would suggest a reverse cone, starting with wide deviations and narrowing down as he gets to the end of the dash's objective location. Damage is enhanced by melee counter.

 

Optional; really, really high status proc chance for bleed. Maybe part of an augment?

 

This way he maintains and even enhances the mobility uses of Slash Dash, by having a set target location. He doesn't even have to have enemy/ies in the way for him to use it. And it makes its way around enemies in his way regardless of whether he kills them or not, unlike our current more limited Dash. Similar to the idea DE came up with, hopefully more clear.

 

     2; Radiant Burst.

Radial Blind doesn't need much of a change, but I hope to clarify on what DE already said, and put forward the direction I'd like it to go.

 

Excalibur imbues himself with blinding light for 0.5/1/2/3(?) seconds, causing all who look at him while he's in this state to be blinded. Does not stop movement.

 

This allows a way around the currently rather buggy line of sight system, and even around the system when it's fully implimented. It allows him to counter his weakness, but only if he works for it. A blinding light can be stopped easily enough...

https://youtu.be/PHCGcVWst3E?t=2m37s

The only real solution would be shining for a while longer, and allowing you to move around to maximize the exposure.

 

     3; Blade Barrage

Here's where things get interesting, as I can't let Radial Javelin be a more expensive and less effective version of Blind... like it currently is. As Jump is out, the logical position for it is here, while Excal gets a new ult.

I've seen similar ideas around, so I thought I'd give it a bit of a quirk to make it more than Immolate by a different name.

 

Excalibur calls forth from his energy several blades that spin rapidly around him, tearing at all who get close, making his guard action cover his flanks, as well as opening those foolish enough to attack him with melee weapons up for finishers (auto melee counter when blocking). Note that attacks from directly behind him WILL STILL HIT, it's just a lot harder to get a good angle to actually hit him.

 

While in this state, melee charge attacks, or pressing 3 again, will cause the blades around him to rush away in much the same manner as the original Radial Javelin, while melee charge attacks will throw them in an arc in front of you instead. If you let the ability run out, nothing happens, but throwing the blades away deals damage based on how much duration the ability had left, so you have to think about what you want to do.

 

     4; Seventh Sword.

This one is almost purely my own invention. Almost. Ronyn helped refine it a lot more than he probably realizes. The way that DE originally suggested is wonderful, but many are pointing out that it's a bit too similar to Hysteria... and while that's not really a problem, it's suggested that it strongly limits your choice in playstyle if you wish to use it to much potential.

 

If we have any soul eater fans in here, you'll know exactly how Mifune fights. For those that don't;

He boosts his attacks by using more than one blade, chaining them into one another, and does it in different ways by CHUCKING them with pinpoint accuracy. What else could anyone WANT from the Swordsman 'frame? It works up close, it works at a range... all we have to do is make it its own thing.

 

Excalibur calls into being seven of his energy swords, six behind him floating near his back in the rough shape of wings. While in this state, his movement speed and jump height are enhanced, but not by too much, and blocking does not cost stamina.

This is where the options start.

He can;

     A; wield the seventh energy sword. Charge attacks throw one of the 'feather swords', impaling enemies or just sticking in terrain, while normal attacks have a very, very high status chance for bleed. It has a very basic stance, nothing particularly special; two diagonal attacks top left to bottom right, then top right to bottom left, one slash sideways, then bottom right to top left, and finally bottom left to top right. Repeat in cycle. Nothing particularly special.

However, when you aim at the swords you've thrown, they glow. When aiming at a sword, the channel attack takes on a different function; you dash to the sword and pick it up. Not just that sword, but all the swords you threw out, in chronological order from the one you targetted... slashing at any who get in your way a la original slash-dash, just traveling through opponents rather than being blocked by them. This enables you to tack on six swords to a single target, then hit them seven times total as you dash in and rip the swords out, or spread the swords around and dash between them dealing less damage over a larger area. Using it as a mobility tool is possible as well, by sticking the swords along various points in the room, and then dashing to them.

 

     B; by using the 'switch weapons' command from the energy sword (default) you can switch to your equipped melee weapon. However, this gains a few boosts as well; your weapon reach is increased by the length of one of his energy swords (though it doesn't show except in the graphics, where the extension is the color of your warframe's energy rather than the weapon's), and your status chance goes through the roof; add 50%... no, not in the conventional way. Normally if you had 20% status and added 50%, you'd just end up with 30%, but this is ADDING a direct 50% status chance. 20 becomes 70, 10 becomes 60, 3 becomes 53... etc. The extra movement speed and jump height will enhance the rest of the way.

 

     C; switch to your guns. By using the equip/dequip melee button, you can pull out your guns if you wish. Your quick melee will now pull curl your sword-wings around you as an attack, temporarily(attack duration) warding off incoming fire and slashing anything right in front of you, while allowing you to shoot through it. speed and jump height bonus is increased by another 15%, and shots fired have a 10% increase in chance to inflict bleed.

 

Both B and C stick the seventh energy sword to the front of his head, so that it looks like a horn for his helmet.

Yes, the bonus to guns is lower, as the primary and secondary weapons already have massive advantages over melee in the base game, particularly range and mods that increase elemental damage, fire rate, and multishot.

 

Ronyn proposed a simpler variation himself;

Seventh Sword: Excalibur creates an energy sword in his hand and will wield it like a melee weapon. This will last for X seconds. It has it's own unique stance and animations. This weapon strikes with the various damage types and elemental effects based on Excalibur regular melee weapon but with an enhanced chance to trigger any potential procs. While active Excalibur does not loose Stamina from blocking.

 

Additionally six phantom swords appear and float (roughly in the shape of a pair of wings) behind Excalibur. These phantom swords also take on the various damage types and elemental effects based on Excalibur regular melee weapon. Every swing of Excalibur's energy sword will send out one of these phantom swords to the cross hairs. If the phantom sword connect with an enemy it will impale them, remaining in them for X seconds leaving them stunned and causing a Y damage. 

And while not quite as flashy as what I had in mind, it does still mostly fit with what I had in mind... but it's not an ultimate. I would have this version of Seventh Sword be a 3 instead of a 4.

 

Any thoughts/ideas on how to better balance or improve would be quite welcome, and of course the names are up for change as needed. Thanks for reading the wall o' text. ;w; I don't know how to put things in spoilers yet.

[TheSimplist]

i approve! although im only a simple man with a boring old title i say this is a fairly well thought out plan of action and that DE should at least take this set up into consideration.

[--.B.--HARDCOREDAVE-]

Good suggestion for the ULTI change

[WolvenEdge]

Thanks. It still feels like I need to refine it somehow, part of why I'm asking for balancing advice as well.

[(XBOX)SkinnyANOINTED1]

I like the blind ability idea most. I posted an idea similar myself a while back. It takes care of this whole awareness issue. Just make it LOS and give it a 10-15m radius.