Equinox Is Weak

[Sieg]

While posting a reply to another on an Equinox thread in General, I realized my post could be better served here on the Feedback Section. So here is a breakdown of my findings on Equinox's skills.

 

Edit: Further discoveries have shown Equinox to be strong in one instance, which is Maim. Refer to my post on Page 3 to find out more.

 

Metamorphosis: Its night transformation offers very little extra shields/health that runs on a timer. Its day transformation offers a decent amount of damage and speed boost, but in order to activate it, you must switch between day and night, which is slower than most cast animations, and you can be interrupted out of it.

Outclassed by: Rhino's Roar, Volt's Speed, nearly every tank skill

 

Rest and Rage: While in night, Equinox can sleep enemies which opens them up to finishers, but the range is so poor it might as well be a single cast ability. It is far inferior to any kind of wide range, non-line of sight CC such as Radial Disarm, Bastille, or even Sound Quake. Its finisher state can also be achieved much better with Vortex. While in day, Rest and Rage takes on the role of a Speed Nova, that shares the same poor power range as night form. If you really want one particular enemy to take a bit more damage and move faster, this skill fits the role of a single target Molecular Prime.

Outclassed by: Vauban's Bastille, Vauban's Vortex, Nova's Molecular Prime, Excalibur's Radial Blind, pretty much every CC Skill.

 

 

Pacify and Provoke: One of Night Equinox's better skills, it offers a damage reduction for enemies that come into range of the skill. However, the damage reduction is limited by its range and power strength, while Trinity's is not. The skill also drains energy when more enemies come into range, while Blessing is a one-time cast. Day Equinox offers power strength to allies with this skill. My tests have shown a 50% increase in power strength with max power strength mods (284%). While this seems useful, it is greatly outclasses by Rhino's Roar and any single-target augment mod such as Freezing Force. Also the skill drains energy quickly with no efficiency mods, and it requires allies to stay in range to receive the buff.

Outclassed by: Trinity's Blessing, Rhino's Roar, Any augment mod

 

Mend and Maim: One of Day Equinox's better skills, it offers constant minor slash damage to enemies, but soaks up ally damage which builds up infinitely which can be released at any given time to deal massive radial slash damage.  However, this build up to this final radial slash is long or short depending on the HP of enemies, and it is affected by enemy armor and resistances.

The minor slash damage Maim inflicts on enemies only happens when enemies first enter Maim. They are staggered for a bit and then recover from Maim's initial slash proc and continue on. This serves as a "speedbump" of sorts; slightly delaying the enemy before they close in on Equinox's position. Overall, Maim is Equinox's finest skill.

 

Night Equinox however, gets the short end of the stick with this skill, and its Mend does no damage to enemies, but simply saves up a heal that it can release to recover allied HP. It does not restore shields or give any extra health over maximum. It is far less useful than Trinity's bless, which offers health, shields and damage reduction or even Oberon's renewal which offers health regeneration and also extends ally bleedout time. Both of these skills are instant cast while Mend requires enemies and two casts to use.

Outclassed by: Trinity's Bless, Oberon's Renewal,

Efficient in: Massive radial slash damage, temporary CC

 

Conclusion: Equinox is a confused mess that offers "viability" in the form of being able to do many things poorly, but in nearly every instance it is completely outclassed by other frames and brings nothing unique to the table. Its only saving grace is Maim, which is very viable for very high level enemies, but I doubt DE wanted such a unique concept to be another "press 4 to win" frame. Having a strong 4 that clears rooms is the lease unique of all abilities and doesn't absolve Equinox's borderline useless 1-3 skills and 4 in night form.

 

While I understand the developers wish to make a frame that fits the theme of Ying and Yang (two polar opposites), it is quite disappointing to say the least, when none of the skills save for one are useful to the point where they showcase the need to change from Ying to Yang. Day mode is far superior to Night mode in any situation, and every frame is superior to Equinox period, in all situations but one.

 

In short: Equinox needs a major buff in every department but Maim. Having only a good 4 is an extremely shallow design choice, especially given the concept of "Ying and Yang".

Edited August 2, 2015 by Politz

[-Amaterasu-]

Pretty much this only thing I might disagree with is maim if you have a team of damaging frames maim can "steal" their damage and you can always use that on other enemies one saryn got me to like 80k before

Edited August 1, 2015 by -Amaterasu-

[Brynslustafir]

I absolutely support buffing equinox. I want to like it, but I'm having a hard time finding things to like.

[rechot]

his 2 i thought was a single target spell cause it was so bad. The frame is going to need a good buff to be good

Edited August 1, 2015 by rechot

[Kethus]

Are you mistaking Oberon with Nekros? Nekros can revive from a distance, Oberon can slow the bleedout.

[The_Raall]

not to mention it's passive... you get 2 health when pick up 25 energy orb and vice versa. that's worst passive I have seen yet. it does fit the character but that is almost close to nothing

[Sieg]

Are you mistaking Oberon with Nekros? Nekros can revive from a distance, Oberon can slow the bleedout.

 

Thanks. I wasn't aware Renewal no longer revived allies.

 

@BrotherLeluchio

 

I wasn't even aware she had a passive.

Edited August 1, 2015 by Politz

[Z123FFSS89]

I agree with this. Metamorphosis cast time should be 1sec. Rest needs a huge buff to its range. Also, does maim/mend have a percentage cap? My percentage always resets at 65k(no matter how much power strength) which gets annoying because I'll rush into a crowd thinking I'm about to nuke and I get laughed at.

[Kalizy]

If Maim had a % damage plus an X amount of raw damage , It would be more than good for the warframe.

[tris1]

I have not tryed it but by reading the skills description and from others looks likes it's not to good

[xLordKogax]

Rest should work as a moderate range AoE 

 

Night/Day cast speed needs major buff

 

Night mode should give a passive effect for stealth companions as Shade or Huras grant 100% chance to activate cloak while night is activated and You dont fire your weapon. (MinorTweak) for Stealth purposes since you only recieve a small shield and health buff for a short time.

 

Maim is the most viable ability soo a damage increase may be reasonable to make Equinox really stand out.

 

I really think rest should have an AoE instead for CC which can help this frme alot and give her an edge on stealth

[stoybot]

Pacify and Provoke: One of Night Equinox's better skills, it offers a damage reduction for enemies that come into range of the skill. However, the damage reduction is limited by its range and power strength, while Trinity's is not. The skill also drains energy when more enemies come into range, while Blessing is a one-time cast. Day Equinox offers power strength to allies with this skill. My tests have shown a 50% increase in power strength with max power strength mods (284%). While this seems useful, it is greatly outclasses by Rhino's Roar and any single-target augment mod such as Freezing Force. Also the skill drains energy quickly with no efficiency mods, and it requires allies to stay in range to receive the buff.

Outclassed by: Trinity's Blessing, Rhino's Roar, Any augment mod

 

My Hydroid would appreciate a 50% power strength buff. In fact, I'd even take Equinox over a Nekros for my 2-Hydro farming runs. Other than that, yeah, I pretty much agree.

[Sieg]

Rest should work as a moderate range AoE 

 

Night/Day cast speed needs major buff

 

Night mode should give a passive effect for stealth companions as Shade or Huras grant 100% chance to activate cloak while night is activated and You dont fire your weapon. (MinorTweak) for Stealth purposes since you only recieve a small shield and health buff for a short time.

 

Maim is the most viable ability soo a damage increase may be reasonable to make Equinox really stand out.

 

I really think rest should have an AoE instead for CC which can help this frme alot and give her an edge on stealth

 

I agree, but I'm hesitant on Night Mode having an indefinite invisibility. It would encourage an Equinox to just turn on night mode, turn on Pacify, then go afk.

[Sieg]

My Hydroid would appreciate a 50% power strength buff. In fact, I'd even take Equinox over a Nekros for my 2-Hydro farming runs. Other than that, yeah, I pretty much agree.

 

Rhino's Roar would buff your Hydroid 50% at base strength. It wouldn't even need any power strength mods. It would also buff your weapons, your melee, and allow you to move around while roar is active. Equinox requires max power strength to give you 50% to your powers only. It also requires you to stay in range of Equinox and requires energy for every skill cast while in the presence of Equinox, and to keep the skill up, which can be difficult when Equinox is running Blind Rage.

[stoybot]

Rhino's Roar would buff your Hydroid 50% at base strength. It wouldn't even need any power strength mods. It would also buff your weapons, your melee, and allow you to move around while roar is active. Equinox requires max power strength to give you 50% to your powers only. It also requires you to stay in range of Equinox and requires energy for every skill cast while in the presence of Equinox, and to keep the skill up, which can be difficult when Equinox is running Blind Rage.

 

Roar doesn't buff power strength, only damage, so it would be useless for a Pilfering Hydroid.

[AngriestOwl]

Soo how about this for a buff?
1) Increse duration of buff to 1 min regardles of duration, so both "side" can benefit from their buffs

 

2) For what it is is ok but it need bigger AOE, so how about this. Both skills can be use the same as now but if use on ground it weaker (shorter duration) but have bigger AOE, while when use one enemy directli it a lot stronger but it have the same AOE range as it have now.

 

3) Increse Dmg reduction + x% armor buff for night (more enemy in range bigger armor buff), and provoke grant team +x% to stats (np +25% hp,shield,power,dmg)

 

4) Mend give overshield and relese AOE that put enemy to sleep (the same as 2 but bigger range), While day...ummm i idk i like it as it is, but it would be nice if power affect the speed of slash dmg

Edited August 1, 2015 by Kristofelus

[(PSN)DesecratedFlame]

Called it.

[Clowee]

I dont know about the equinox yet.  Havent put enough time into learning it after only like 1 day.

 

I like the night form because i think it looks cooler and my cape isnt all buggy.  I often find myself putting things to sleep that I could just be killing on my Zephyr.  The heal seams awkard and not very useful as it takes forever to setup.  The Damage Resistance seems kind of neat, but again I could just accomplish the same thing on my Zephyr.

 

I hear dayform is better (unless you like looking cool and wearing a cape).  Maybe i'll check it out soon.

 

I think ultimately the best way to make Equinox work is probably going to involve some degree of switching between forms on the fly and using day/night together.

[-InV-igo95862]

Roar doesn't buff power strength, only damage, so it would be useless for a Pilfering Hydroid.

 

50% power strength to Pilfering Swarm gives 50% loot chance.

 

Nekros has 90% chance to drop loot and can cast it several times on one corpse.

 

Nekros far better choice.

[stoybot]

50% power strength to Pilfering Swarm gives 50% loot chance.

 

Nekros has 90% chance to drop loot and can cast it several times on one corpse.

 

Nekros far better choice.

 

I've not tested it yet, but it depends on how it's applied. Is it additive or multiplicative? Even if it's additive, it's still quite powerful. A max power strength Hydroid can have a guaranteed 4-loot roll - as opposed to 84% chance - with a 34% chance to drop 5 times the loot. Is that better than running with Nekros? I'm not sure, but I'll definitely run some tests.

[Sieg]

Roar doesn't buff power strength, only damage, so it would be useless for a Pilfering Hydroid.

I see that now. Provoke may not be totally useless if it does increase the chance for more loot from Pilfering Swarm. It does need more than 50% for it to be tremendously useful though.

[Sieg]

I dont know about the equinox yet.  Havent put enough time into learning it after only like 1 day.

 

I like the night form because i think it looks cooler and my cape isnt all buggy.  I often find myself putting things to sleep that I could just be killing on my Zephyr.  The heal seams awkard and not very useful as it takes forever to setup.  The Damage Resistance seems kind of neat, but again I could just accomplish the same thing on my Zephyr.

 

I hear dayform is better (unless you like looking cool and wearing a cape).  Maybe i'll check it out soon.

 

I think ultimately the best way to make Equinox work is probably going to involve some degree of switching between forms on the fly and using day/night together.

 

I fully agree. Equinox needs to be able to switch instantly between modes instead of the arbitrary 2 seconds or so of waiting to commit to a switch. There are many things wrong with Equinox but clunky abilities only makes things worse.

[----Fenrir----]

I agree. Currently I honestly don't see much use for this warframe. It's not a solo frame, it's pure support, yet it skills are so lacking that I don't see any reason to take it in a group since it can not really fill any of the standard roles (CC, damage, support). I gave it some thought and came up with a few changes that would go a long way in making this frame viable:

 

1) Have Day and Night form have differences apart from the skills they can use (armor, energy, HP, speed, and stuff like that to spice things up)

 

2) Increase the range of "Pacify and Provoke" by a HUGE amount. Pacify could actually be useful with proper range and scaling. Equinox could basically act like an "Ancient Healer" and make allies take 90-95% less damage at around 200% power strength. That would be really useful to have. But the range would need to be increased a lot for this. With the current range the team would basically need to stay next to each other to have anything from this buff and even then it would only really work in very small rooms. And when you plan to basically just stay close to each other all the time you might as well take Frost.

 

= Range with just "Stretch" would need to be high enough to cover bigger rooms for the skill to be useful.

 

3) Change "Mend", his Nightform ult to restoring Energy instead of Health. This would actually make it useful and make Equinox an alternative to Trinity.

[stoybot]

Has anyone figured out Pacify's damage reduction cap? I'm assuming there is one because with power strength mods, you can go over 100% damage reduction. Trinity's 99% Blessing, while extremely good, falls off at the very high end, and currently the best damage reduction can be provided by using Blessing and Link in conjuction for 99.75% reduction. Trouble is... it only works for Trin herself. If Equinox's Pacify provides anywhere near 75% reduction, then she would be quite useful. Now, I'm aware that, outside endless missions, such high level content doesn't exist yet - and 99% is good enough for raids - but it isn't something to be ignored.

[----Fenrir----]

Has anyone figured out Pacify's damage reduction cap? I'm assuming there is one because with power strength mods, you can go over 100% damage reduction. Trinity's 99% Blessing, while extremely good, falls off at the very high end, and currently the best damage reduction can be provided by using Blessing and Link in conjuction for 99.75% reduction. Trouble is... it only works for Trin herself. If Equinox's Pacify provides anywhere near 75% reduction, then she would be quite useful. Now, I'm aware that, outside endless missions, such high level content doesn't exist yet - and 99% is good enough for raids - but it isn't something to be ignored.

 

The problem is range, it's not affecting teammates but enemies, the result is kind of the same but with ranged enemies the range is already quiet bad at it is and furthermore requires teammates to stick very close to Equinox. And when you don't plan to move you might as well use Frosts globe.

 

The energy drain is also insane and not sustainable without a Trinity. Honestly, just deploy one of those "Ancient Healer" specters and you got basically the same effect for "free" and in a way that long range enemies can't bypass by attacking from outside the abilities range.

Edited August 1, 2015 by ----Fenrir----