Ancient Disruptors, Not A Nerf, Maybe A Change.

[TheHeraldXII]

Ok, so many people think that the effect of Ancient Disruptors is frustrating as heck and would like it nerfed. I personally don't agree with nerfing them, I think they are as challenging and engaging to combat as they should be but I do think that they could be made challenging without the hair-tearing frustration of not being able to use your Warframe's cool tricks for a long time.

 

What I think would be preferable would be if Disruptors locked down your abilities and shield regeneration for somewhere between 10 and 25 seconds so that during that time you still have to be careful, you can't use your abilities you can't rely on your shields very much. Basically, Disruptors are still terrifying and you still need to be very careful not to get rapidly overwhelmed by the chargers along side them but on the other hand you won't get knocked to the ground and die before you can stand back up and you don't have to play through the next 3 or so rooms without any cool tricks.

 

Opinions, suggestions, etc. are always welcome.

[MetalGerbil]

you cant baby people.

 

its not too much to ask to keep an eye open for a particular enemy and shoot it down.

 

getting your shields and energy taken is not a world ending event. recover and solider on.

 

dont be a wimp.

[Probta16]

The game is already so easy ' -'

 

I agree, could work and make some players satisfied.

[DeadlyNerd]

That would actually make them true to their name as they'd disrupt your shields and abilities.

 

Currently I'd call em Depleters.

 

I don't really care much about their ability to deplete shields and energy, but about that annoying knockdown they do right before it and the inability to recharge energy via energy balls, while disrupted.

[TheHeraldXII]

you cant baby people.

 

its not too much to ask to keep an eye open for a particular enemy and shoot it down.

 

getting your shields and energy taken is not a world ending event. recover and solider on.

 

dont be a wimp.

I see you spotted the words "ancient disruptor" and assumed I wanted them nerfed because I'm having trouble, what I actually suggested was a change that I hope (with some tweaking from people who not what they're doing) keeps them just as challenging, but only in the short term. I want disruptors to be just as challenging as they are now, I want them to keep me on my toes, what I don't like is that they disadvantage me in the long term more than the short term. Currently I find disruptors have too much of a bearing on the next 3 rooms and not enough on the one they're in.

[Spriggs]

That would actually make them true to their name as they'd disrupt your shields and abilities.

 

Currently I'd call em Depleters.

 

I don't really care much about their ability to deplete shields and energy, but about that annoying knockdown they do right before it and the inability to recharge energy via energy balls, while disrupted.

 

Maybe they could rename the Disruptors to Depleters, and then remake the Disruptors to play closer to what the OP is suggesting.

 

And maybe the Depleters could have less health with shields. That way, if their shields go down, they can restore them by depleting yours.

[Shaemhameforash]

<p>10 seconds top. Any more than that would actually make them harder, especially on higher level defenses.</p>

[HomeyCDawg]

Personally, I think Disruptors need to be split into two enemies. They drain both shields and energy in one hit. How about one enemy that drains shields in one hit, and another that drains energy.

[Equil1]

Personally, I think Disruptors need to be split into two enemies. They drain both shields and energy in one hit. How about one enemy that drains shields in one hit, and another that drains energy.

Well.. there's already the Leech Osprey for shield draining, unless you mean two different infected enemies? Maybe buff Leech Ospreys and remove the shield drain from Distruptors? *shrug*

[Argoms]

Well.. there's already the Leech Osprey for shield draining, unless you mean two different infected enemies? Maybe buff Leech Ospreys and remove the shield drain from Distruptors? *shrug*

Well, why wouldn't he mean two infested enemies? The original enemy's infested after all.

[HomeyCDawg]

Well.. there's already the Leech Osprey for shield draining, unless you mean two different infected enemies? Maybe buff Leech Ospreys and remove the shield drain from Distruptors? *shrug*

I meant two different infested enemies. The Ancient disruptor's attack has two powerful effects. I'd suggest making it so disruptors only drained the players energy and some other enemy drained the players shields.

 

Maybe give the shield drain ability to the Ancient Healer or something, he needs some offensive love.

[Equil1]

I meant two different infested enemies. The Ancient disruptor's attack has two powerful effects. I'd suggest making it so disruptors only drained the players energy and some other enemy drained the players shields.

 

Maybe give the shield drain ability to the Ancient Healer or something, he needs some offensive love.

Well yeah, I just thought since we already have a unit dedicated to shield draining(Osprey) we should try to keep it unique and interesting by not having enemies sharing the same function.

[Argoms]

Well yeah, I just thought since we already have a unit dedicated to shield draining(Osprey) we should try to keep it unique and interesting by not having enemies sharing the same function.

It's not like they're in the same faction or anything, and shield draining isn't some sort of super-original concept. If it were something like an enemy that blends in/pretends to be dead, yeah I can see why we wouldn't want every faction to have one, but this is a very simple idea we're re-using. 

[Feldgrep]

I'm fine with what they do, just not when they knock you down, and suck it all up while you take your time to get up. I swear, my frames have some tea when they get knocked down

[MetalGerbil]

I see you spotted the words "ancient disruptor" and assumed I wanted them nerfed because I'm having trouble, what I actually suggested was a change that I hope (with some tweaking from people who not what they're doing) keeps them just as challenging, but only in the short term. I want disruptors to be just as challenging as they are now, I want them to keep me on my toes, what I don't like is that they disadvantage me in the long term more than the short term. Currently I find disruptors have too much of a bearing on the next 3 rooms and not enough on the one they're in.

 

you want to take a enemy with long term consequences and remove that from how they operate.

 

how is that not a nerf?

 

many elements of the game stress planning and dealing with bad choices. if you use energy in this game you have to think:

 

can i afford to blow off some extra?

 

will killing these enemies give me enough energy back to warrant using my ult?

 

at what point to i switch for offence to defense so i conserve the energy i have?

 

 

here is an interesting choice.

 

im on my excalibur. im fighting a disruptor. i get cornered by some runners i didnt see. i make a split second desicion. i use slash dash defensively to block the incoming hit and make distance, i end up not hitting anything.

 

i throw away energy and do no damage to conserve whatever energy i have left.

 

 

 

with your modified disruptors, who cares? if they hit you so what. come back around and try again. the importance of the fight last only as long as this debuff you want put in and how much health you lost. a commodity any decent tenno can maintain with ease.

 

big bad dudes that affect the rest of your mission depending on how attentive you are and how good you are at reaction to them. at times relying on your adaptability to recover from an unlucky hit or a miscalculation.

 

turned into a 10 second threat.

 

 

how is this not a nerf again?

 

edit: i am a happy dude that doesnt angry. i just type that way -_- i get to the points and i discuss the things. do not that this as my attacking you please thank you.

Edited May 16, 2013 by MetalGerbil

[Spriggs]

you want to take a enemy with long term consequences and remove that from how they operate.

 

how is that not a nerf?

 

many elements of the game stress planning and dealing with bad choices. if you use energy in this game you have to think:

 

can i afford to blow off some extra?

 

will killing these enemies give me enough energy back to warrant using my ult?

 

at what point to i switch for offence to defense so i conserve the energy i have?

 

 

here is an interesting choice.

 

im on my excalibur. im fighting a disruptor. i get cornered by some runners i didnt see. i make a split second desicion. i use slash dash defensively to block the incoming hit and make distance, i end up not hitting anything.

 

i throw away energy and do no damage to conserve whatever energy i have left.

 

 

 

with your modified disruptors, who cares? if they hit you so what. come back around and try again. the importance of the fight last only as long as this debuff you want put in and how much health you lost. a commodity any decent tenno can maintain with ease.

 

big bad dudes that affect the rest of your mission depending on how attentive you are and how good you are at reaction to them. at times relying on your adaptability to recover from an unlucky hit or a miscalculation.

 

turned into a 10 second threat.

 

 

how is this not a nerf again?

 

edit: i am a happy dude that doesnt angry. i just type that way -_- i get to the points and i discuss the things. do not that this as my attacking you please thank you.

 

You make a good point, but I also think you're ultimately missing the point by focusing solely on the OP. I like the idea of the Disruptors not draining your shields and energy, but locking your powers from use and preventing you from picking up energy; as well as the HUD disruption.

The Energy and shield draining can be given to another ancient, of which a poster has dubbed the Depleter. I simply suggested that the Depleter have less health, but have shields; of which can be restored via shield and energy draining.

 

To that point, Disruptors would be getting a nerf, but a nerf to make them more fitting to their namesake, but there would be an additional enemy type to make up for it. This would diversify the Infested more, and potentially make them more of a threat since you now have more to be aware of, and more at stake should you mess up.

 

Since you seem to be among the multitude of players that love a challenge, and I don't blame you, would this change be acceptable?

[TheHeraldXII]

-snip-

I actually very much agree with you here, the change would technically be a nerf to their abilities, and I must stress this, I really don't want them simply nerfed, I would like them to maintain their current level of challenge but I also feel like the long term consequences of not having energy don't really make infested missions more challenging. Infested are currently pitifully easy to defeat using the age-old strategy of shooting them while running rings around them so they can't hit you so making that your *only* option doesn't really add any sort of difficulty.

Also a 20-30 second (what I really think is the right sort of timeframe) lockdown would still provide the same challenge to players blindsided by disruptors. Take a defense mission for example, on the last wave before an exit, your Excalibur gets suckerpunched before he can clear the wave with his javelins. Generally, a 20-30 second window where you don't have the room clear ability available to you is going to cause a mission failure because you were unable to kill them fast enough. Same sort of deal if you get knocked down in the middle of a horde of chargers and can't use an escape ability once you stand back up. That 20-30 second window where all you have available to you is running away or getting stunlocked into oblivion would be the same for an ability lockdown as it would be for an energy depletion.

Having said all that, perhaps keeping the shield drain is a good idea, even if that means adding it to a new unit.

P.S- I really like the idea of depleters, it seems like it could be a cool addition to the game.

P.P.S- My apologies for my rude reply to begin with.

[Sollet]

you cant baby people.

 

its not too much to ask to keep an eye open for a particular enemy and shoot it down.

 

getting your shields and energy taken is not a world ending event. recover and solider on.

 

dont be a wimp.

 

I concur.

[BadAimbot]

I feel like Disruptors are far too binary. They punish you heavily if they do hit you, but can be rather easily avoided (especially with Frost damage). Healers and Toxics are nowhere near as deadly, yet you want to avoid all 3 of them, and use the same tactics to do so, but two just knock you down, and one drains you. If they were to, for example, drain you in an aura instead, they would feel far less binary than they do now, although that's essentially what Toxics do to you. I feel like they could be more threatening, but not just if they manage to hit you because you weren't paying attention or whatever, and bam everything is gone.

[Stupid_Idiot]

What I think would be preferable would be if Disruptors locked down your abilities and shield regeneration for somewhere between 10 and 25 seconds so that during that time you still have to be careful, you can't use your abilities you can't rely on your shields very much. 

I think they already do that. For the duration when the HUD is down energy pickup or energy regen has no effect.  Not sure if shield polarize or blessing from your teammates has any effect however.

 

But if you want to split the abilities to some other ancient... they have to be as much bullet sponge like Lech Kril to be of any good I would suppose

[Redward]

Disruptors can be annoying especially when they knock you down first, then strip you of all energy and shields. But they are big red mutants, you can't miss them. If you see one you can shoot on the left shoulder or the thin left leg as those spots are what damages them most. Sometimes they appear from nowhere, but hey that's your own fault for not being aware.

 

That's the role of Disruptors if you get within their ranged attack distance. But, making them a little weaker so they can be killed faster than usual would be enough. Either that or make them run slower so you can lure the rest of infested while the Disruptor is left behind.

 

Although when entering a mission you see enemy Difficulty before you proceed with that mission (1 is weak, 5 is strong). You can either wait for more members to join mission, or go in alone being careful.

 

What I do as a Mag when I spot one is Pull it so it falls over, even if there are other infested around it and just shoot that weak left leg before it gets up, or just run for the big crates and shoot from up there. You just need to plan ahead should you come across them and deal with them accordingly.

 

There are also times where even a team member can be liable of you being Disrupted. Yup, they got that /trollface on -_-

Edited May 17, 2013 by Redward

[Draeviel]

They are mostly fine, but their attack AI definitely needs to be changed, as it's cheap as hell.

Currently, they 'queue' up attacks, and once they do so, no cloaking of any sort can save you from them coming directly at you and hitting you with that fecking tentacle, even if you cloaked 4 seconds prior. Your only hope is to come at them completely out of the cold in cloak.

TLDR allow stealth to drop ancient aggro so that cells with stealth users can target them properly.

[elindred]

They are mostly fine, but their attack AI definitely needs to be changed, as it's cheap as hell.

Currently, they 'queue' up attacks, and once they do so, no cloaking of any sort can save you from them coming directly at you and hitting you with that fecking tentacle, even if you cloaked 4 seconds prior. Your only hope is to come at them completely out of the cold in cloak.

TLDR allow stealth to drop ancient aggro so that cells with stealth users can target them properly.

 

This.

 

The other day I was surrounded by chargers, so I dropped a smoke screen. Then a Disruptor walked in from around a corner, looked right at me and disrupted me. Now, I'm not saying they should be nerfed (not that I'm saying they shouldn't, either...), but at least invisibility should break their attack routine.

[elindred]

Along the same vein, it seems that knockdown also doesn't work properly against Disruptors when they're using their disruption attack. I frequently land knockdown jump attacks right next to them only to find they were in the middle of charging their disruptor attack, so they continue standing right where they are and complete their attack anyway. If they're going to continue doing what they do, at least we should have reliable ways of working around them.

[Emotitron]

I would suggest adding mods for resistances to stun, drain, and knockdown - and giving them a new polarity type.

 

I would also recommend giving the Rhino that polarity on a slot to return some of its tanking functionality.

 

Rather than nerfing things like roller balls and ancients - why not use them as opportunities to come up with some new mod types. Resistant mods don't all have to have unique artwork even, they could just color code them and have them implemented in no time.

Edited May 18, 2013 by Emotitron