A Possible Zephyr Improvement In Light Of The New Gliding Ability

[DespoticDanks]

So, I was playing last night on my new Nova Prime and discovered just how easy it is to double jump and then glide across the map. As I generally play Zephyr, I quickly recognized how much about her is being degraded by the new parkour system. The vertical bullet jump is her Tail Wind through and through, and her ability to effectively fly across the map quickly and easily is replaced by gliding.

 

Now, here is my thought - allow Zephyr the ability to control her gliding. Presently, when you glide, the A and D keys do nothing, so it could be fairly easy to adjust Zephyr and give her the ability to turn left and right with those keys. I mean, she's got wings, and flaps, controlling her movement through the air would make total sense!

 

Now, will this fix the issue between bullet jump and Tail Wind? No, I think not. But I do think it is a viable improvement to help balance her back out in light of the parkour system.

 

Obligatory hopefully DE will read this. Any thoughts fellow Tenno?

 

Reddit post here - https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/3finyx/a_possible_zephyr_improvement_in_light_of_the_new/

Edited August 2, 2015 by DespoticDanks

[Drazhar14]

Good idea. I'd like the ability to actually control where you fly instead of just boosting in one direction like Zephyr currently does. Would make her feel unique again since bullet jump is basically her first ability like you said. 

[RavenCorella]

Definitely supporting this one. 

 

Also, they should considerably increase the range, and if you get too close to the ground, it should still keep you above unless you recast the ability. That would give zephyr what it needs. 

[Ninjamander]

I would also add reduce the energy cost to 10 energy (like the old excal super jump)

[DespoticDanks]

I would also add reduce the energy cost to 10 energy (like the old excal super jump)

 

Speaking of Tail Wind? Perhaps, but with efficiency and Flow, you can easily spam it.

I am not talking about Tail Wind though, but the gliding that is a part of the new parkour system - something that every warframe can perform.

Edited August 2, 2015 by DespoticDanks

[RavenCorella]

Yes, it definitely costs too much energy to just 'dive' or dash forward. 

[Clowee]

This would be good.

[FelisImpurrator]

Speaking of Tail Wind? Perhaps, but with efficiency and Flow, you can easily spam it.

I am not talking about Tail Wind though, but the gliding that is a part of the new parkour system - something that every warframe can perform.

Tailwind reduction would also be nice, though; especially since Efficiency does not play nicely with her 3 and 4 at all, not with Fleeting Expertise.

 

That said, I absolutely approve of making her additional passive massively increased air control when parkouring. Zephyr should be the queen of movement in any system, because that is her role and her primary niche.

[DespoticDanks]

Tailwind reduction would also be nice, though; especially since Efficiency does not play nicely with her 3 and 4 at all, not with Fleeting Expertise.

 

Easily resolved by just running a standard Streamline, at least imo.

[FelisImpurrator]

Easily resolved by just running a standard Streamline, at least imo.

I tried it. Tailwind is fine, Divebomb is still awful (as fun as it is), but what about her 3 and 4? That stuff is expensive, especially at 30%.

[Vlad]

EDIT: Removed my comment, I don't believe it fit in well here. Sorry!

Edited August 2, 2015 by DedMech

[DespoticDanks]

I tried it. Tailwind is fine, Divebomb is still awful (as fun as it is), but what about her 3 and 4? That stuff is expensive, especially at 30%.

 

I find with the flow mod and duration (I use Constitution) you can manage your energy pretty well. Enemies normally drop enough so as long as you're picking it up, you're fine. And the extra power duration helps keep things going longer so you use them less.

[FelisImpurrator]

I find with the flow mod and duration (I use Constitution) you can manage your energy pretty well. Enemies normally drop enough so as long as you're picking it up, you're fine. And the extra power duration helps keep things going longer so you use them less.

Mm. I should try redoing my build, then. Although dang, it is tough to get Jet Stream as close to max as possible, which would be really fun with Tonkor...

 

Back on topic, I actually think gliding should be steerable on every warframe - but Zephyr should take all air maneuvers to new heights (pun intended), with the ability to turn much more sharply and maneuver during a jump much more nimbly than any other warframe. Maybe a little less "floaty balloon" and a little more "agile hovering" like a hummingbird.

[OnlinePhenome]

Tail wind got it's range and speed nerfed, though. Unless DE made Tail wind's speed scale with power strength.

[Viedra_Lavinova]

 

So, I was playing last night on my new Nova Prime and discovered just how easy it is to double jump and then glide across the map. As I generally play Zephyr, I quickly recognized how much about her is being degraded by the new parkour system. The vertical bullet jump is her Tail Wind through and through, and her ability to effectively fly across the map quickly and easily is replaced by gliding.

 

Now, here is my thought - allow Zephyr the ability to control her gliding. Presently, when you glide, the A and D keys do nothing, so it could be fairly easy to adjust Zephyr and give her the ability to turn left and right with those keys. I mean, she's got wings, and flaps, controlling her movement through the air would make total sense!

 

Now, will this fix the issue between bullet jump and Tail Wind? No, I think not. But I do think it is a viable improvement to help balance her back out in light of the parkour system.

 

Obligatory hopefully DE will read this. Any thoughts fellow Tenno?

 

Reddit post here - https://www.reddit.com/r/Warframe/comments/3finyx/a_possible_zephyr_improvement_in_light_of_the_new/

 

 

I really like this idea! I hope DE sees this. Tail Wind is kind of useless now, and Dive Bomb is more useful than before now.

 

Tail wind got it's range and speed nerfed, though. Unless DE made Tail wind's speed scale with power strength.

 

I thought Tail Wind, Slash Dash, and Tidal Surge distance was based on power duration?

[climatiseur]

Yes.

 

And reduce the energy cost of Tailwind and Divebomb to 10 would be much more fair.

[weirdee]

Divebomb is not as useful because its primary use is to fall faster (it's not going to hurt anybody by a significant amount and the augment wastes a slot while not being as effective as other abilities that do the same thing) and melee slam attacks now actually accelerate you downwards really quickly. Probably about as fast or even faster. With a melee slam radius mod, it could actually be even more effective if you're using a weapon made for it, and if it's a dagger, the instakill mod applies to slams also. It's not really salvageable in the system as it is. It might just be more worth it to rethink that ability slot.

 

Tailwind's main issue is that more than one cast will cause Zephyr to drop like a rock from gravity suddenly normalizing. This also happens after a few seconds of aimgliding. These are systems that are meant to apply to normal frames, but still somehow affect Zephyr. The first issue has never been fixed, and the second one has just been created, and both of those things have to go before we can start talking about how this update helped Zephyr. Even so, extended aimgliding is slower than running with a fast frame (an issue Zephyr already faces with normal glide movement), and the same issue that Zephyr runs into on most maps, ever much more present here, is that they are designed for normal frames to move in and gliding causes mostly wall and doorframe crashing due to the inability to avoid low doorways and narrow entrances without completely coming to a stop, so instead of moving faster, you end up lagging halfway behind on the map while other frames will just run past while wondering where their friend is. This is made worse by the fact that most solid objects are not designed to come into contact with a flying bird, and will completely stop movement if touched, instead of sliding past it with some loss of speed due to friction.

 

If anything, now that everybody can glide, it doesn't matter if Zephyr can glide slightly farther; the distance provided now is enough for most purposes, and the small subset situations where Zephyr might have an advantage (if at all, considering how far one can get with the number of jumps and the acceleration those provide with a regular movement frame) are made lesser by the sudden drop at the end which makes no sense for Zephyr. Even then, the extended gliding will still most likely cause Zephyr to wipe out on a protruding object and most of the time you are forced to stop where normal frames would, thereby nullifying that advantage.

 

The main advantage Zephyr had in the old system is that repeated slideflipping was easier to maintain, allowing Zephyr to accelerate with each flip and actually rush forward faster than any other kind of movement except for maybe coptering, but that's gone now.

Edited August 3, 2015 by weirdee

[climatiseur]

Divebomb is not as useful because its primary use is to fall faster (it's not going to hurt anybody by a significant amount and the augment wastes a slot while not being as effective as other abilities that do the same thing) and melee slam attacks now actually accelerate you downwards really quickly. Probably about as fast or even faster. With a melee slam radius mod, it could actually be even more effective if you're using a weapon made for it, and if it's a dagger, the instakill mod applies to slams also. It's not really salvageable in the system as it is. It might just be more worth it to rethink that ability slot.

 

Exactly, you just reminded me. After the update I noticed that merely just jump (or bullet jump, can't remember well) + melee slam now activate heavy impact. With all the damage melee weapons can do now, Divebomb has become more and more useless.

 

I suggest giving it back the former mechanics - damage is calculated by how many times you spent airborne, rather than speed. With the introduction of movement 2.0, the old mechanics actually gives her more advantages right now.

Edited August 3, 2015 by climatiseur

[Guardian_Legion]

i have to agree. i mean i love zephyr, she is my main. But.. Tailwind and Divebomb are kinda useless now apart from the very short lived knockdown. I kinda feel that a different way to fix the issue would be to have Tailwind augment her aggressive cc since tornado completely wrecks in the defensive cc department. now i have a few ideas on how this might work and I'd like to know what people think.

 

what if the midair tailwind had two effects added to it? one would be that it pulls in enemies that it passes just like a real wind tunnel does and that would pull them into the slashing damage that it does as well. and also the second one ties into my idea for divebomb, have her midair tailwind when it hits a surface cause a radial knockdown similar to fusion moa blasts, giving her an oh S#&$ button while giving a new option instead of divebomb.

 

now i do feel that divebomb at this point is useless the ground tailwind knockdown doesnt even combo with divebomb knockdown due to the animations of enemies getting back up so what if we replaced it with an ability for zephyr to enter a mod similar to achwing where she flies freely but it steadily drains energy.

[RavenCorella]

YES! Like hellions. Especially since we've seen it's doable since the latest U17 bugs. I triggered the archwing bug myself by accident a couple times while farming Regor, and I gotta admit, it was pretty fun flying around.